Nationals Park

The mountain road was under construction and we had been stopped for nearly 30 minutes. With the car in park and the emergency brake engaged, I got out and wandered with my camera. Cait and Richie followed. I snapped a few unexciting photos and looked around for those famous trees. "You have to see the trees," we had been told. "There's nothing in the world like them. " Until now we had seen only dogwoods and birches, all of which seemed pretty tame. A nearby ranger directed us back to the car, saying the line would start moving soon.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - One of the perks of living in Philadelphia is the luxury of showing up to work every day without being surrounded by tens of thousands of New Yorkers. So imagine how Ty Wigginton felt one day in Baltimore when he sent a fly ball sailing over the outfield wall, only to be greeted as if he had finished the last of the corned beef. "I can remember hitting a home run one time that gave us the lead at home," Wigginton said yesterday, "and then hearing boos.

VIERA, Fla. - Sick and tired of watching their ballpark overflow with Phillies fans, the Washington Nationals implemented a ticket plan earlier this month that ticked off a lot of people in the Philadelphia area. The Nationals' idea was to limit sales to their own fans for an early-May three-game series between the teams in the nation's capital. We'll have to wait and see how that idea works. Look for plenty of Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee jerseys in attendance at Nationals Park anyway.

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal. " - Declaration of Sentiments, 1848   SENECA FALLS, N.Y. - When I was growing up, the only noteworthy falls in Upstate New York that I knew about were at Niagara. Seneca Falls, in the state's Finger Lakes region, was as anonymous as Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. The history that was made in Seneca Falls in 1848 - the first women's rights convention in the United States - was not mentioned in the textbooks my schools provided.

Recently, the Washington Nationals, a club that ranked 20th in attendance in 2011, filling on average less than 60 percent of their stadium, announced that there were some fans whose money they'd rather not take. In hopes of preventing the annual migration of Phillies fans to the Nationals stadium, Washington has implemented a "Take Back the Park" plan that would restrict sales of tickets to 2012 Nats-Phillies games to fans whose credit cards are tied to D.C., Maryland, or Virginia zip codes.

Valley Forge National Historical Park has a new superintendent. The National Park Service announced Thursday that Kate Hammond, now the superintendent of Little Bighorn Battlefield National Historic Site in Montana, will supervise Valley Forge as well as the Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site in Elverson. Her new assignment starts in early March. Hammond replaces Mike Caldwell, who was named deputy regional director of the National Park Service Northeast Region last year.

PATERSON - A waterfall in the heart of northern New Jersey's industrial complex that was once featured on The Sopranos was dedicated as America's 397th national park Monday. The 77-foot Great Falls in downtown Paterson inspired generations of newcomers to America and was memorialized by the poet William Carlos Williams. It was given the national park designation in a ceremony attended by New Jersey officials, local schoolchildren, U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, and the head of the National Park Service.

Who needs yoga when watching a slide show of America's national parks induces an immediate sense of serenity? Name: Fotopedia National Parks. Available for: iPhone and iPad. What it does: Turns 3,000 beautiful photos from professional photographer QT Luong into a slide show, travel tool, and gift resource (prints are for sale). Cost: $2.99. What's hot: The photos were shot with a large-format camera. It's easy to get lost in the elegance of the photography, but don't forget there are tools within the app to keep it interactive.

SEAN BURROUGHS hit a two-run home run and Ian Kennedy pitched seven scoreless innings to lead the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks to a 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals last night, in a game that started 21 minutes late because of the East Coast earthquake. Kennedy (16-4) allowed six hits, struck out eight batters, and also had a single and a double at the plate. It was his eighth win in his last nine starts and ended a six-game Arizona losing streak. J.J. Putz pitched the ninth for his 31st save.

7 p.m., Nationals Park, Washington. TV: Comcast SportsNet. Radio: WPHT (1210-AM), WUBA (1480) Spanish. Pitching matchup: RHP Roy Oswalt (5-7, 3.84) vs. LHP John Lannan (8-8.3.55) OSWALT vs. NATIONALS: Oswalt looked a lot like his old self last weekend in an 11-3 win over the Nationals. He allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings and struck out five - his most K's since June 12. This will be Oswalt's third start since a layoff of 5-plus weeks due to bulging disks in his back.