Three Beautiful Things 10/25/19: Day Trip to the St. Joe, Calder Store Rest Stop, It Was Bound to Happen

1. I parked the Sube at the Bull Run Trailhead of the Trail of the CdAs, sprang into Byrdman's rig, and we headed down Highway 2 and eventually turned off at the road that goes along the St. Joe River heading to Avery and took a stunning side trip up Marble Creek and then Boulder Creek. On the way, we stopped at a few places along the Chain Lakes. Everywhere we looked, the western larches (out here we also call them tamaracks) were aflame, lighting up the hillsides with gold. Up Boulder Creek a huge logging operation was wrapping up on a very steep hillside. Both Boulder and Marble Creek ran strong, filling their canyons with sound of rushing water. Our stops were fairly frequent and several times I wanted to step outside of the constraints of time and the responsibilities I have back in Kellogg and not leave the St. Joe River basin. But, that's not the way things work and we kept moving on. I posted a few randomly chosen pictures at the bottom of this post and if you'd like to see more of my pictures, they are posted on my flickr page, here.

2. Byrdman's second cousin, Jeff, runs the Calder Store Restaurant and Lounge and we stopped in to visit Jeff, drink a couple of beers, and to enjoy a hamburger and fries. We sat down at the bar. A guy there who was helping the superb bartender, Julie, make Jello shots, told us Jeff was in the house and soon he appeared, took a stool, lit up a cigarette, and he and Jim yakked and got caught up on stuff. There is nothing modern, fancy, or shiny about the Calder store. It's rustic and friendly, featuring a menu of solid bar food (burgers, sandwiches, fish and chips, chicken strips, etc.), tacos on Tuesdays, and prime rib some other time -- not sure when -- maybe the weekend. Jeff used to cook at the Ground Round, now Nosworthy's Hall of Fame, and several years ago decided to take his talents to Calder and run this place and be the cook here. There's some live music in the summer, karaoke and dart tournaments in the colder months, plenty of Jello shots, two dollar bottles of beer, and a ton of friendliness and local color. We had an awesome visit.

3. I guess it was bound to happen. At some point, the Nationals would have a game when they didn't come up with hits with men on base and when the Astros would touch up one of their pitchers a bit. It happened tonight and the Astros won Game 3 of the World Series, 4-1. While the Astros' 36 year old veteran Zach Greinke isn't the overpowering pitcher he used to be, tonight, for nearly five innings, he mixed his variety of spinning pitches with the occasional fastball and kept the Nationals' hitters from mounting any sustained rallies. Once Astro manager AJ Hinch thought Greinke was spent, the Astros' bullpen took over and the Nationals couldn't sustain any kind of offense against the five hurlers who pitched in relief.

It was a tough night for the Nationals. Ryan Zimmerman nearly got beaned when Josh James lost control of a fastball that sent Zimmerman spinning to the ground. Zimmerman was slow to gather himself and return to the batters' box. He struck out. Trea Turner hit a foul ball that ricocheted directly into his groin. He dropped to the ground. Several minutes of Turner wincing, taking deep breaths, gingerly returning to his feet, and regaining his equilibrium passed before he returned to the plate. He also struck out. Catcher Kurt Suzuki suffered an injury to his hip flexor as he scooted laterally to block an errant Fernando Rodney delivery. He remained in the game until Rodney retired the Astros, but then took himself out.

On offense, the Astros didn't overpower the Nationals. They scored single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th innings. Jose Altuve scored twice. Michael Brantley knocked him in both times. Robinson Chirinos homered.

In the end, it was pretty simple: the Astros got three timely hits with men on base and the Nationals only came through once.

It was bound to happen some time.

Here are a few pictures from yesterday's road trip: