News : Cross-country baseball journey brings family to Vinton, reunites old friends

Andrew and Kent Clinkingbeard display the collection of caps from their baseball trip.

A baseball vacation briefly reunited old friends Tyra Clinkingbeard of Colorado and Becky Williams o

For 18 years, Tyra Clinkingbeard has been planning this year's summer vacation.

She was born in Washington, D.C, where her father worked for the government. She and her husband, Kent, who has coached high school and college baseball for many years, traveled from their home Colorado to Washington, D.C., with their son, Andrew, who is heading to college — and college baseball — in a few weeks.

But they took what many would call the scenic route.

Along the way, the family visited 23 states and many Major League Baseball cities.

And they also had an important stop that had little to do with baseball: Vinton, where Tyra spent a few hours with her best friend, Becky Williams.

Approximately 15 years ago, Tyra and Becky taught together for less than a year in Yuma, Arizona. But in those few months at the same school, they became fast friends and best friends.

But both moved away. Becky came to Vinton, where she is an AEA consultant for many Iowa school districts. Tyra and her family moved to Colorado, where she and Kent are both special education teachers.

But over the years, the two kept in touch. Letters and Christmas cards, and in more recent years, emails, phone calls and text messages kept the two connected over the distance.

And when Tyra planned the baseball stadium trip, she knew it had to include Iowa — for two reasons.

So last week, after visiting the Field of Dreams, the Clinkingbeards came to Vinton. Becky and Tyra spent a few hours catching up, talking about the changes they have experienced since Yuma.

Then the Clinkingbeards headed westward again, as their six-week vacation came to an end.

In all, the family visited 23 states. They watched the Colorado Rockies, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington, D.C., Nationals, the New York Mets and Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Chicago Cubs. They also visited Cooperstown, Ohio, to see the Hall of Fame. They wanted to see the Reds and Twins, but they could not arrange their schedule to be in Cincinatti or Minnesota when those teams had home games.

In each city, the guys went to the baseball games; Tyra went shopping.

Kent's favorite stop was Wrigley Field; Andrew said the visit to the Hall of Fame was his favorite. For Tyra, visiting her childhood neighborhood in Washington, D.C., brought back many memories.

Vinton was one of the last stops on this six-week vacation before the drive back to Colorado.

They collected souvenirs — especially caps — from each stadium.

"I've been planning this trip since he was born," said Tyra. "We wanted to take a vacation after his senior year. The guys wanted to see the stadiums and I wanted to show them D.C."

In a few weeks, Andrew will go back to Arizona, where he will attend Arizona Western College and play baseball. His parents will go back to teaching in Colorado. Kent is taking time away from coaching so he can spend more time watching Andrew play.

Andrew's father was already coaching baseball when he was born. He was holding a ball when he was a baby, and by age 5, he was hitting surprisingly well for his age. One time a Japanese team was visiting the college where Kent was coaching. One of the star players from that team offered to pitch to Andrew. The 5-year-old hit a line drive at the man, knocking him down. As a high-schooler, Andrew played first and third base on a team that went to the Colorado high school state tournament this year.

Here in Vinton, Becky Williams says she is becoming a bit more of a baseball fan as she keeps up with what is happening with the Clinkingbeards. Among the heirlooms in her family is a baseball signed by Babe Ruth and other members of the 1931 Yankees.