Location, location, location (Phoenix edition)

PHOENIX -- Saturday turned into one of those perfect spring training days that I couldn't have drawn up better had I sketched it on a cocktail napkin. After some free hotel breakfast, we said goodbye to the golfing contingent of Bill and Paul, and the rest of us set our sights squarely on baseball for the rest of the trip.

With bright blue skies and a temperature in the low 80s, we got to Maryvale Baseball Park nice and early. The Brewers / Royals match-up obviously wasn't one of the marquee games in the Valley, so we had plenty of room to sprawl out in the right field berm.

MLB Network reporter and occasional OnMilwaukee.com blogger Trenni Kusnierek joined our slightly bleary-eyed group, and we spent the game catching up, talking general baseball smack and doing a bit of work-related tweeting -- the social media side of this trip has been very intriguing. Not everything makes it into these travel blogs, but Twitter give me a chance to really report right from the scene.

On the field, Yovani Gallardo turned in a sparkling performance, leading the Brewers to a 1-0 victory with a solo home run. We saw both Jim Edmonds and Corey Hart make nice grabs on the warning track, and even though the game flew by, I soaked in the action as best as possible. We also claimed bragging rights for the year, as Oscar is a Royals fan, and this game had been previewed and discussed for weeks.

After a short drive back to our home base, the Sheraton Crescent, I had plenty of time for a soak in the hot tub.

The Sheraton is an interesting property, and it's easily the most centrally-located hotel (for Brewers fans) I've stayed in over the years. It's not a ridiculously high-end resort like last year's Intercontinental Montelucia, but the rooms are vast and it sports a number of unique features (care for a game of squash or a spin on the water slide, anyone?) that set it apart.

Clean and reasonably priced, it's a most realistic option if the Brewers games are at Maryvale or points farther west during your stay. And I don't just say this because the Sheraton graciously hosted our group, but if you're not going to splurge on a five-star hotel, you'd likely be very pleased here.

Next, we headed out to Four Peaks Brewery, 1340 E. 8th St., in Tempe for dinner. Four Peaks is one of those traditions that stretches back to our first trips out here. It's a great brew pub and pizza place that's usually packed, but amazingly, we didn't have to wait too long for a table of nine. I really love this place, and it seems to have an annual grounding effect on our team, since we use this dinner as a chance to catch up on everyone's lives during the other 11 months of the year (this group comes in from all over the country now).

At about 9 p.m., we trekked north into Scottsdale back to Coach House, one of the city's oldest bars. Yes, this was our third visit this year, but it's just a fun place and worth of repeat pit stops. Here, the five remaining guys undertook a silly, yet time-honored tradition, in which we vote for the trip's MVP, of sorts -- the dude who exemplifies that winning attitude of the perfect spring training fan. In 12 years, I'd never won, but this year I did. OK, so maybe we still act like teenagers sometimes, but I was thrilled and gave a moving award speech to anyone who hadn't already moved onto a different topic.

Finally, we made the short trip to Trader Vic's at the Hotel Valley Ho. I've stayed at this hotel before, and it's just so super cool. Trader Vic's, a kitschy concept anyway, takes it up a notch at HVH. I just can't get enough of this property and hope to stay here again in the future.

This morning, Corey and Oscar departed, leaving just Eron and me here for our final 24 hours. I honestly don't know what we'll do after watching the Brewers take on the White Sox (again at Maryvale), but it might be a little more sedate than the last few days. Randy Wolf takes the mound this afternoon, and I'm excited to see the Brewers' biggest off-season pickup pitch

While the sun's recharging rays keep me going, I'm also ready to be home soon. So one more day in paradise, then back to reality. I'm sure, somehow, we'll leave nothing on the table.