3:30 a.m. -- The Jeep's all packed and I'm off on a mini-vacation of sun, fun and baseball! I love driving in the middle of the night, where traffic is minimal and I can listen to an AM radio station from Cleveland, among others. Nothing good this morning from 1100 AM, though, so I stick with old reliable Art Bell. Tonight, Art is discussing with one of his "scientist" guest how the movie Mission to Mars reveals the conspiracy that NASA is hiding concerning the origin of life on Earth and ancient civilizations on the red planet.

	Sunrise over south Georgia.

6:30 a.m. -- As the sun rises I stop for gas in the small town of Adel Georgia. Stupidly, I get into a low-key discussion with the clerks who just got off the plane from Iran about gas prices. I didn't realize there were still stations that charged more for credit than cash, in this case five cents a gallon more. It was silly to even try, especially considering the BP station was called "Frog King."

7:20 a.m. -- I cross the border into Florida, and it's just as I remember as a kid where the atmosphere automatically changes: it is warmer, bluer and greener and the air is fresher. I notice that for peace of mind there are call boxes every mile along the interstate for stranded travelers, and never once do I see a broken-down car on the side of the road.

Best Billboards Tifton, Georgia has dozens within 100 miles of the town featuring such enticing promotion as Turf Grass Capital, Top 100 Small Cities, Award-Winning Hotels... --------- We Bare All nude bar has a number of billboards with such seductive offers as Couples Welcome, Good Food (what is this place, Cracker Barrel?), Adult Toys (my kind of Happy Meal)...

8:30 a.m. -- Stop at a Rest Area outside Gainesville, put on a T-shirt and shorts. For the next three days I would not wear pants or a long-sleeve shirt, until I return to Georgia and 50-degree weather.

10 a.m. -- I made such great time that I was already within a half-hour of the Kansas City Royals' spring training home, and the game doesn't start until 1:05 p.m. I stopped at Palisades Resort Golf Club and hit two buckets of balls in the sun and breeze.

Ponce de Leon may not have found the Fountain of Youth, but that hasn't stopped the millions of retirees from looking. Every mile along the highway in Central Florida there are cloned retirement communities with signs promoting "Great Living" and featuring pictures of happy senior citizens playing golf and tennis. I gotta tell ya, the advertising worked, I'm ready to move down there now! It might be fun, but I think I'd miss seeing people under 50. Ogling at 65-year-old women is way in the future! I needn't have worried about only seeing my elders, though, since it's Spring Break. There were plenty of sexy co-eds enjoying their time in Florida, and I came across hundreds on the roads, in the restaurants and at the ballparks (although they were mainly with guys at the games).

11:45 a.m. -- Lunch at Wendy's down the street from the ballpark. This was another instance where I noticed that people really look at you strange if you go somewhere by yourself. Is it really that weird to eat lunch or go to a movie at Noon alone? I don't think so. Maybe the patrons at Wendy's were just upset that I was wasting table space, being that there were only four-seaters available in a packed house.

	Happiness is baseball.

12:15 p.m. -- Great, the first thing I see when I arrive at the game are two clowns (well, two guys wearing those colorful clown wigs) protesting John Rocker and the Braves. One was wearing a New York Yankees jersey (go figure), and each had a sign stating that Rocker should be kicked out of baseball for being a Nazi. Yeah, a relief pitcher (not a politician, not a journalist, not the pope) makes some stupid comments and these guys want him banned from making a living. Who's the fascist?

As I arrive, there's a golf course across the street from the stadium! Wish I'd known that earlier.

1:05 p.m. -- Game time! I have great seats (only $8 by the way) in the fourth row box seats, next to third base and beside the Braves dugout. The crowd is half-and-half Braves and Royals fans, but when the game begins it's clear that most just want to see pure baseball at its finest. We weren't disappointed, either, as there were big hits and acrobatic defensive plays on both sides.

The sentimental favorite was Andres Galarraga, returning to Atlanta this season, having sat out last year with a cancerous tumor in his back. The Big Cat is having a good time, and knocked a two-run home run in the first inning. Thunderous applause ensued.

	Fans vie for Braves catcher Javy Lopez's autograph.

The crowd, though, is small, only about 5,000 fans attend most spring training games. It's so much quieter than the constant buzz of 35,000 at Turner Field in Atlanta. This is good, though, since the players are much more accessible and willing to sign autographs. I didn't try to get any, though, despite being so close to the field. I left that to the dozens of kids lined up along the walls.

Today's star of the future: K.C. centerfielder Carlos Beltran. 1999's Rookie of the Year has an incredible arm, throwing out speedy Reggie Sanders in the sixth inning from deep centerfield. The ball never bounced, either, just a straight shot from his arm to the plate. Amazing.

Runner-up star of the future: Braves wunderkind utility man, George Lombard. I'm not sure about his defense, but he can hit and run like Willie Mays. He would have had an inside the park home run had not the third base coach held him up.

	Lombard stranded on third.

A couple of other highlights: Braves infielder Ozzie Guillen obviously had the best time, joking around with fans, players and the umpires all game long, enjoying the playful atmosphere of preseason. The Royals' Jeff Reboulet made a sprawling catch over the tarp, three feet in front of me in the fifth inning. This is good, since I never saw the ball once it was popped into the air, and would have been embarrassed if the ball had plopped me in the back of the noggin as I hid like a little girl!

3:20 p.m. -- Without radio or TV to accommodate, the spring training games go by much quicker. K.C. and Atlanta finished in just over two hours.

Because of my seating arrangements in relation to the big yellow ball in the sky, my sunburned body looks like an abstract painting. I'm really red on the right side of my head, the tops of my knees and strips of my forearms. This is even a farmer's tanning disaster.

5:15 p.m. Dinner at a Chinese Restaurant that had a decent buffet. I was pleased when the two ladies at the counter thought I was one of the baseball players. Then again, before correcting them they asked if I went to the football game. So maybe I shouldn't be so flattered.

	Where I stayed on my Holiday: It didn't make me smarter. But I did feel smarter.

Overnight I stayed at the very nice Holiday Inn Express, the official spring training home hotel of the Royals. I just love staying in hotels, with the big king-size comfy bed and cable TV on any channel I want with the volume turned up. The room even had a patio on which to kick back and relax.