My favorite team, the Chicago Cubs, had their pitchers and catchers report to Mesa, Arizona, to prepare for the 2008 season. This used to be about my favorite time of the year. For eight years in a row, before marriage, I traveled to Arizona to see spring training workouts and games in late February or early March.

It's a great time. The various team facilities are close together, and it's easy to go to see the Cubs in Mesa one day, then go to Tempe for an Angels game the next day. In between, maybe I'd visit Fitch Park, where the Cubs' minor leaguers work out with various instructors. It was there that I got Ryne Sandberg to sign his book SECOND TO HOME.

The other thing I would do when I went for these vacations would be to make a mid-week excursion to some part of the state. I traveled to the Chiricahau Mountains on one trip, also seeing Tombstone and a bit of the Tucson area. On another trip I went up to the Grand Canyon and spent a couple days there. On yet another I went to the northeast corner of the state and tooled around the Navajo reservation, visiting Canyon Du Chelly, Monument Valley, and the site of a crater near Flagstaff (I can't think of the name of it at the moment). A beautiful area, very sparse, high desert.

One of my favorite mid-week trips was to Sedona. I did that at least three times. It's a beautiful area, steeped in the red rock, with stunning mountains and plenty of day hiking to be done. Also fun if you're into shopping, which I am not crazy about. The drive north of there on the scenic route through the mountains is one of the prettiest drives I've ever done.

And then back to Phoenix, and baseball. What more could you ask for? Except for a World Series appearance for the Cubs, that is...