Great American Vacation is here in Scottsdale Arizona to catch the baseball action this March 2012. The first game we caught was in Peoria Arizona at the beautiful Peoria Sports Complex; home to the San Diego Padres & the Seattle Mariners. The Giants are hoping that shortstop Brandon Crawford can add some offensive  prowess to his already-stellar defensive game. The Mariners are wondering if  21-year-old right-hander and Spring Training surprise Erasmo Ramirez has the goods to make the Opening Day roster. Both questions might have inched closer to being answered Thursday night in  San Francisco's 7-5 win over Seattle at the Peoria Sports Complex.
Giants starter Barry Zito had a good night, too, giving up two runs in four innings. Both runs came in the third inning, when Zito walked Casper Wells with one out and then gave up a two-run home run to left field off the bat of Mariners first baseman Mike Carp. Otherwise, the veteran lefty gave up four hits and struck out four while walking two.The Giants opened up the floodgates in the sixth off the struggling Kuo, with Nate Schierholtz singling in a run to tie the score at 2 before Crawford hit his first homer of the spring, a towering shot onto the grass beyond the right-center-field wall.The Giants added three more runs in the seventh against Seattle reliever George Sherrill. Brandon Belt singled in a run and Roger Kieschnick drove in two more with a base hit. The Mariners cut the lead to 7-5 in the bottom of the frame on a Wells sacrifice fly and a Carp RBI fielder's choice.

MESA, Arizona Friday March 16, 2012 -- GREAT AMERICAN VACATION caught the circus in Mesa at Ho Ho Kam Park. The weather was spectacular, the Chicago ladies in town for the game looked amazing. It was a close exciting game with Full Squad Action.
Aubrey Huff hit a tiebreaking RBI single in a two-run fourth to spark the Giants to a 3-2 victory Friday over the Cubs in front of 13,245, the largest crowd this spring at HoHoKam Park. Chicago's Matt Garza, making his third start, had his longest outing this spring. The right-hander gave up two runs on three hits over four innings and struck out three. He was tagged for six runs in 3 1/3 innings in his two previous starts. Anthony Rizzo gave Garza a 1-0 lead when he led off the second with his second spring homer, a towering blast to the left of the center field batter's eye off southpaw Eric Surkamp. 
Garza walked Melky Cabrera to start the fourth and Pablo Sandoval singled. Cabrera scored on Cubs catcher Steve Clevenger's throwing error on a pickoff attempt at first. One out later, Huff hit an RBI single to go ahead, 2-1. Lendy Castillo struck out the side in the eighth, but his errant pickoff throw allowed a third Giants run to score. Surkamp, a contender for the Giants' rotation, struck out four and gave up one run on four hits and one walk over four innings. The Cubs got a run in the eighth when Blake Lalli homered off Ramon Ortiz.

Saturday March 17th 2012 was St. Patrick's Day & GREAT AMERICAN VACATION took in the Angels & Brewers in Tempe. 

TEMPE, Ariz. -- Jered Weaver pitched four solid innings and Vernon Wells had two hits against the defending National League Central champions as the Angels beat the Brewers, 8-1, on Saturday afternoon at Tempe Diablo Stadium. It was the Brewers' third straight loss, and the Halos' third consecutive win at home.
Ryan Braun, who successfully appealed his suspected violation of MLB's Drug
Treatment and Prevention Program last month, made his first road trip for
Milwaukee on Saturday and was greeted in each of his at-bats (he went 0-for-2
with a walk) with a smattering of boos from the St. Patrick's Day crowd. The
2011 National League MVP is now 1-for-15 (.067) with five strikeouts this
spring. 








 

The year 2012 is looking to be a record-breaking year for American tourism.  President Obama went to Disney World last month to voice his support for vacationing in the United States of America; urging Congress to expedite paperwork for tourists to obtain travel visas. With all the chaos abroad, the USA is a safe bet for an unforgettable vacation experience.

Disneyland is opening up a whole land based on the “Cars” movie, a “Little Mermaid”- themed ride and a new 1920s plaza are going in Disney's California Adventure. Over the next five years, the six-year-old theme park will undergo a major overhaul and expansion by about one-fifth, meant to respond to visitors' demands in the Disneyland Resort. The reported cost will be $1.2  billion. “This is clearly a milestone for Disneyland,” said Bob Iger, the chief executive officer.

By then, a Cars Land section will open on 12 acres on the parking lot south of the park. The land, based on the animated movie, will include a major ride – Radiator Springs Racers with a slow start outside, leading to an inside journey and ending with a fast race.

Much of the entrance will be torn out to create a 1920s feel – the way Walt Disney would have seen California when  he moved out from Michigan. The idea builds on the popularity of Main Street in  Disneyland, based on Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Mo.

A new,  indoors ride is based on “The Little Mermaid” with in-and-out-of-water features,  songs and movie scenes that will go where the theater sits. Also, visitors can  see a “World of Color” show of water effects, lighting and music in the lagoon  from a 9,000-person viewing area.

Source: The Walt Disney  Co.  

Getting this website up & running was major accomplishment in 2011. The new year 2012 looks even more promising with the increase in popularity of USA vacation destinations. New York City has surpassed San Francisco as the top US vacation attraction for the first time. GAV (Great American Vacation) will be providing more links to the best New York has to offer for the visiting tourist. The postcard of Times Square from the 1940's (see New York City postcards & click on the postcard of Times Square), that links to the the live webcam of Times Square was very popular for live looks at New Year's Eve in 3D ! Check out the Statue of Liberty postcard to access the "TorchCam"; a live webcam view of New York City from the torch atop Lady Liberty. You can toggle the camera view yourself for closeups & panaramic views.
 
Be sure to check out our new video "Feliz Ano Nuevo 2012 Baja California" on YouTube. We have provided a direct link on our "Videos" page on this website. Just click on this link to start video of New Year's Eve, San Diego Salsa style. 
http://youtu.be/SdC8h1Js7e8  
Travel Well,
GAV