Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Fight On State
After one of the worst driving experiences I ever had, we ended up having a great weekend at PSU. We left really late, thinking it was a good idea to wait until the tornadoes stopped before hitting the road. Of course, that just left us with lots of wind, heavy rain and flooded roads to deal with. There were trees in the road, winds that practically blew us off the Turnpike and deep water causing cars to stall in the middle of the interstate. We made it all the way to Altoona before discovering that every road between there and State College was officially closed due to flooding. That's not what we wanted to hear at 2:30a.m. After hanging out at a gas station for about 20 minutes we just decided to go for it and picked the one road that wasn't known to be closed yet. Of course, about 3 miles down the road there were police with flares telling us the road was closed from that point on. However, we told them where we were going and they said we could turn off the road here and follow that road back to the highway. About 20 miles later and driving through a small number of mini-lakes, we got to State College. Even the main road through State College (322) was closed at one point, but I know my way around that town, so it wasn't a problem. 5-1/2 hours for what normally takes maybe 4. But we made it to the hotel at around 3:30a.m. Whew.
BF: "I'll bet a lot of people cancel this weekend."
Me: "Honey ...It's Penn State Football. They'll be here."
I was right.
Amazingly, we woke up to a bright, sunny morning. The rest of the weekend was absolutely perfect. PSU beat UCF 37-13. They're gonna have to shape-up though if they want to beat the Big Ten teams coming up. They were sloppy, but they still won.
Hooked up with a couple of my best friends from back in the day. Went to our favorite bar (Zeno's) and saw our old favorite band (The Screaming Ducks) who still turn up every now and then, and can still rock like nobody's business. Had a fantastic time. We always do.
Grilled stickies at The Diner...a little shopping...back to Zeno's so the BF could watch the NASCAR race. Time to go home. The expected 4-hour drive (including dinner) was flawless.
We're thinking of stopping by again, while traveling between R.E.M. shows in NYC and Pittsburgh. They're playing Northwestern that weekend though. Finding a room is pretty much impossible. I'd probably have better luck asking Stipe and Co. for a ride from NYC->PGH.
Did I mention the Stickies? Did I mention the thousands of hot hot hot college boys? They didn't make them like that when I was in school. The boys that is. The stickies are every bit as good as they were 20 years ago. The boys are better though. Unfortunately, we were only able to fill the trunk with stickies.
BF: "I'll bet a lot of people cancel this weekend."
Me: "Honey ...It's Penn State Football. They'll be here."
I was right.
Amazingly, we woke up to a bright, sunny morning. The rest of the weekend was absolutely perfect. PSU beat UCF 37-13. They're gonna have to shape-up though if they want to beat the Big Ten teams coming up. They were sloppy, but they still won.
Hooked up with a couple of my best friends from back in the day. Went to our favorite bar (Zeno's) and saw our old favorite band (The Screaming Ducks) who still turn up every now and then, and can still rock like nobody's business. Had a fantastic time. We always do.
Grilled stickies at The Diner...a little shopping...back to Zeno's so the BF could watch the NASCAR race. Time to go home. The expected 4-hour drive (including dinner) was flawless.
We're thinking of stopping by again, while traveling between R.E.M. shows in NYC and Pittsburgh. They're playing Northwestern that weekend though. Finding a room is pretty much impossible. I'd probably have better luck asking Stipe and Co. for a ride from NYC->PGH.
Did I mention the Stickies? Did I mention the thousands of hot hot hot college boys? They didn't make them like that when I was in school. The boys that is. The stickies are every bit as good as they were 20 years ago. The boys are better though. Unfortunately, we were only able to fill the trunk with stickies.
