March Madness

This is Dad and my third try at getting this blog posted.  If it doesn't work this time, well, I guess you won't be reading it!

After I failed at visiting Grandma and Jarrell last December, I decided to use some of my spring break to try again.  I was really looking for an escape from the demoralizing political news in Wisconsin that had belittled state employees and made us feel like we were the total cause of the state's budget woes--but I won't get into that here.  I was looking for some therapy away from the mess!

So I loaded up all of Eric/Ashlyn's bins they had left a few months earlier and jumped into our little Honda CRV and hit the road.  After a long day's drive through Nebraska (it never gets any shorter), I stopped for the night in Ogallala.  Since I had watched BYU (and Wisconsin and Florida) win their first round games on Thursday evening, I knew that there would be a game at the Pepsi Center in Denver that would certainly be good therapy for me.  So when I got up on Saturday morning, I set the gps to the Pepsi Center and headed off.  On the way, I found lunch--my favorite Mexican dish, green chile-smothered stuffed sopapillas.

Later that afternoon I checked into a Townhouse Suites on the west side of town, (compliments of our Marriott Points) and headed back downtwon and browsed the huge REI on the river before finding parking at the Pepsi Center and entering the arena.

The game was great and the enthusiasm electric.  Jimmer's 3's were pretty awesome, too.

Did I mention that I managed to catch the last third of the Colorado Rapids vs Portland Timbers season opener.?

The next morning, I headed across the mountains and worked my way to Buford.  Although there wasn't much snow until I got partway up the river, there was plenty of snow around the cabin and guesthouse.  It was great to see Grandma and Jarrell as well as their guests, Eric and Ashlyn.  We spent some relaxing time, the highlight was watching Ashlyn X-C ski for the first time and Eric skiing with anklet socks on.  "no I don't need to get more socks!!!"  Was it any surprise when he came back and said "I sure wish I had some socks"  Some dads will never get the respect they deserve!

On Wednesday, the madness of March hit again and I found myself in the CRV heading down the road again.  Later that evening, while eating another "StuffyS" (that's what was on the menu, so I tried the mystery dish and was pleasantly surprised to find my favorite dish again!) I texted Ellen and said, "he CRV is pulling to the right and I just entered northern Texas."  Knowning that my contacts where only good for about 12 hours, I only used one until the evening, then changed eyes.  After a long night (and I thought Nebraska was long) I found myself driving through Dallas/Ft. Worth somewhere around 3am and then sleeping in the car in a park for about an hour somewhere in west Louisiana.  Morning rush hour found me maneuvering through Shreveport but without any problems.  I hit New Orleans about 2pm and found the Comfort Inn that I had reserved online while taking a morning breakfast stop at McDonalds and their free wi-fi.  I was too wired to catch the several hours of sleep I had hoped for so I headed over to the New Orleans Arena and worked my way past the $200/ticket scalpers lining the sidewalk.  I managed to buy a legitimate ticket from the box office for a fraction of the cost and was pleasantly surprised to see Row 5 lower section printed on the ticket.

Nice view, huh?  Why was I there.  Well, the four teams included:  BYU vs Florida, and Wisconsin vs Butler.  Except for the last, I have some pretty strong connections to the four who were playing for the lucky elite eight spot.  The tie game between BYU and Florida was exciting, and I would have certainly hoped Florida would have experienced the true Jimmer, but it was worth the overnight drive to be there and watch them lose.  Wisconsin's poor showing agains Butler was disappointing but I was getting so tired by then, it didn't really matter!

The next morning I briefly walked through the French Quarter and then hit the road on my way home.  Of course, I had to get a sampling of Gumbo and bought four flats of fresh strawberries picked right down the road from the stand.  I drove until Memphis and stopped for the night.  It was a pretty creepy Comfort Inn and threatening rain so I didn't see any of that city.  The next morning the thunderstorms that had rolled in during the night were still acting up so it was rainy and drizzly for the morning drive.  It didn't help that the gas pump overflowed by two gallons while I was checking the oil and everything smelled like gas for the next few hours.  About mid-morning, somewhere south of St. Louis, I hit a hail storm with pea/marble size hail.  I thought for sure the CRV would be damaged, but it survived without a dent.  Later, while driving through St. Louis, a blizzard hit, which made the going quite tought.  About an hour further north, the snow ended and the landscape returned back to clear and normal.  I made it as far as Rockford before my eyes gave up for the day.

The last morning went quite uneventful and I ended up in Marshfield mid-afternoon.  It was good to get back home, but I really enjoyed the brief March Madness that my spontaneous decisions gave me.  Of course, company would have been nice (and Sara is still fuming mad that I didn't tell her I was making the trip back in Feb. when she put in for her work schedulel!!) so maybe next spring, I can plan ahead more.  Oops, Ellen probably will take the keys away from me before March madness begins again.