2002 Alamo Bowl

26 Dec 2002 - My first trip as a graduate, no longer a student of any sort. All my new "adult" adventures call for a new travel log. This adventure takes us to San Antonio. For what may be one of our last family road trips, Mom, Dad, Cassie & I packed the day after Christmas to begin the drive to Texas. We got a later start than usual because we had to drop Sadie off at the kennel. Through Wisconsin, the little bit of Minnesota and all of Iowa, we got good weather. Kansas was a different story. We weren't supposed to get any poor weather on the way down. Instead, we got hammered by snow. It made the roads slow and we lost time on the way to our stop for the night, Oklahoma City. When I wasn't driving, I napped, read the 2nd Lord of the Rings book (just saw the movie twice) or looked at the paper. After it got dark, there really wasn't much to do except watch the snow and traffic, and daydream. I made a quick call to the guy I'm seeing (Bob) to say hi. We finally pulled into our hotel at 10:30 pm.

27 Dec - After getting breakfast, we headed south once more. It was pretty foggy for a while. The skies were clear and bright when we got to Texas. It got a lot busier traffic-wise the further south we drove. We finally pulled into San Antonio around 4:30. We had a bit of difficulty finding our hotel. The Embassy Suites here is beautiful inside - lots of tile and iron work. After getting settled, we drove to the downtown Riverwalk. The larger trees had multicolored Christmas lights streaming down from them, twinkling as night fell. We walked along until we came to an Iris pub. It seemed like a fun place, so we stopped for a few pints. I must be becoming a lightweight again, because that beer hit me pretty hard. There was a guy playing the piano and singing songs. He'd play the fight son whenever Colorado or Wisconsin scored a "touchdown" (a tip was put in a marked bucket). He got Cassie up there to do the motions to the Unicorn Song with him and two others. After that, we went in search of a place to eat dinner. Every place had a pretty long wait, because the whole area was packed with people, including lots of fellow Badger fans. We found a place to eat, got margaritas and food. After dinner, I started to feel a little sick and tired, so we headed back to the car. We found one of the Cows on Parade and got a few pictures. I called Bob to say hi and then we went back to the hotel. I crashed pretty well when we returned, but because Cass chose to sleep on the fold-out bed in the other room, I got the double all to myself. Sweet.

28 Dec - (I'm writing this the next morning because I honestly couldn't keep awake any longer). Wow, what a day that was. I don't think I ever thought it would end as it did. We slept in this morning, which was more than nice. Once we got ready to go, we headed out under the cloudless skies to a little artisan's village. It turned out to be a lot less than we expected, so we didn't stay long. We next drove downtown to the Mercado to have a look. Cassie got some neat stuff, like a sun mask to add to her collection, but I didn't find any silver jewelry I was interested in. We then drove over by the stadium to scope out parking and ended up leaving the van there. Since it was around 2 in the afternoon, we walked towards the Riverwalk to a mall where we found a place for lunch and got to watch some of the Eagles-Giants game. You could tell there were a number of Packers fan there because of all the cheering when the Giants won. (If the Pack wins on Sunday, they get home field in the playoffs). Cass and I found a Forever 21 store in the mall, the best source for cheap going out clothes. I got a top for New Year's Eve, but it took quite a while to pay, so we didn't shop much more after that. we walked along the rest of the Riverwalk that we didn't get to before. We stopped at a "British Pub" to kill some time before the game. Cassie and I walked next door where we found a gift shop that sold magazines. I picked up a couple. After a bit, we made our way back to the van. From there, we gathered up our stuff and walked to the stadium. It is a very interesting looking dome... Got in and found our seats - high up on the lower deck, on the goal line, but at least among mostly Badger fans. There were some Colorado fans behind us. Each seat had a pack of inflatable Thunderstix (strange things - they're just tubes of inflated plastic, but if you hit the upper part together, they make a resonant tympanic sound). Cassie & I played with ours a bit. They're so annoying, but really hard to put down. After all the pregame stuff was over, we settled in. Cass & I went down and said hi to Kendra [Kaiser], who was sitting with the rest of the band in the end zone. The "student section" was right next to them. The Badgers got the ball first and were driving well until Bollinger threw an interception that was returned 91 yards. Ugh. After about half of the first quarter, Cassie and I went down to be with the other students. We just went in a row near the back, and right in front of me were two of my ME friends (Hackel & Doyle). And right then, I looked a few rows down and saw Krista [Hongisto] and Jen [Hrycyna] (friends from Rapids and/or the dorm). I got a picture with both groups each. Not only seeing them was neat, but it was amazing how many people I recognized in the small section. I guess it comes from being so old. The Badgers finished the first half with a 21-14 lead over Colorado. Half-time was okay - our band rocked, their band, not so much. Once the band returned to their seats, I grabbed Kendra and brought her over to Krista and Jen. It was nice to sit stand and talk to them. The Badgers decided to leave their game in the locker room and gave away two more touchdowns. We just could not seem to get a break. And we were getting upset because they kept showing the Colorado band, cheerleaders and fans on the Jumbotron and rarely us or ours. Grrr. we finally got into desperation play during the last two minutes. Down by a touchdown and we needed to score. I don't know how it happened, but we made two long 4th down situations. The last one was precluded on 3rd down by an incompletion on the goal line that just slipped through the receiver's arms. Right then, I thought we were done. You don't get two chances like that. But then on 4th and 12, Bollinger threw a completion to Darren Charles at the 2 for a first down. Badger fans went nuts. And then to score the typing points moments later... We went into overtime. We won the toss and elected to defend. Colorado went on offense and to our amazement, missed their field goal attempt. Right then, we new we'd have the game. Our offense went out there and our kicker made the field goal. I was screaming and jumping around with everybody - it was so cool. I really didn't have any expectations for the game. We were 8-point underdogs coming in, playing the #14 ranked team. Ha! 'Bout time they played just above the level of the competition. Cassie & I went back over by Mom & Dad for the award ceremony and 5th Quarter. Oh, that was so much fun! We finally left the stadium after 11:30 to make our way out through traffic and back to the hotel. We then ate dinner (leftovers) and stayed up until 1:30 am to watch the highlights on Sports Center.

29 Dec - We drove a long, long way today. We left San Antonio around 7:15 and headed north. There really wasn't anything eventful during the day's drive. I didn't feel that great and didn't eat much, but I did drive from Tulsa to Rolla, Mo. That was long, and like Mom before me, I was fighting this wind the whole way. We stopped for the night in St. Louis, which will give us a much shorter day tomorrow.

{transcribed 1/6/2020}

Outer Banks 2002

23-24 March 2002 - As this was my last spring break in college, my parents allowed me to spend the week with my friends. After a lot of searching and discussing, Nag’s Head, NC, because the destination for Kendra, Paul, Anne, Jessica, Jim, Kyle and myself. We got an oceanfront cottage that was quite a find. Since we couldn’t check in until Sunday afternoon and the drive was going to take about 19 hours, we left after dinner. Kendra, Paul, Anne and I were in Kendra’s car; Jim, Jess and Kyle were in Kyle’s. We met up in Janesville to go over the route, then we were really off. I drove the first leg from Madison to Indiana. I tried to sleep a little when I wasn’t driving or navigating, but I don’t think I ever really fell asleep. We stopped about every three hours to change drivers, get gas and stretch our legs. The drive actually wasn’t all that bad – the roads weren’t congested much and the weather was good. Both cars had CBs, so we were able to keep in touch with each other as we drove and if we got separated. {When we drove into Ohio, Kyle started chanting, “Oh-HI-oh OOOooo,” to which a random trucker replied, “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore!”} Sometime around noon on Sunday, Paul left our car and we got Jess. Sweet – all girls car. That led to a battle of the sexes of sorts. I spent some time reading and crocheting. We finally made it to Nag’s Head. The rental agency was nice enough to let us check in a half-hour early. We drove up to the cottage – a little yellow box on stilts right on the oceanfront – maybe 50 ft from the waves. It had a full kitchen, living room, three bedrooms and a great view. I got the room with a double all to myself {selfish me…}. We went to a crab house for dinner. I ate the only vegetarian options on the menu: salad and baked potato. Half of us went to K-Mart and the Brew-Thru while the others went to get food. I didn’t feel all that well afterwards. I started to watch the Academy Awards with everybody, but I got too tired and went to bed.

25 March – I slept in this morning. This morning, we went to an equipment rental place, where Kyle and Paul got wetsuits and boogie boards. We got back, and they played with those while the rest of us played frisbee and made a sand castle. I went in and took a nap for a while. Then I took a shower and sat around for a time. Kendra and Paul went out to get dinner on their own, and the rest of us went to the grocery store. We came home and cooked a feast of fettucine, alfredo, veggies and wine (they had salmon, too). That was really good. When Ken and Paul got back, we played drinking games until around midnight when I went to bed.

26 March – It was rather gray and blustery this morning. The ocean was pretty wild. Kendra, Anne and I went to the Gap outlet nearby. Got some nice deals – I got a pair of jeans, khakis, a dress for work and a tank top for only $70. It started pouring as we were driving there and kept on for a little while. When we got back, there wasn’t much to do, so I watched two lectures, read a bit, and played some cribbage. Jessica, Anne, Kyle and I went to buy some salt water taffy. Once we came back, we all went out to dinner at a pizza place. We were the only people there, but it was really good. Kyle, Kendra and Paul went to see Blade 2, so the rest of us came back and chilled around the TV for a while. A few rounds of hearts, then we (Kendra, Paul and I) went for a walk on the beach. Even though there were some clouds, the moon shown really brightly on the shore. We watched the news and played some more cards.

27 March – There was a store sometime last night, but I was only barely conscious of it. This morning dawned cool and blustery, and it stayed that way for most of the day. I watched two lectures when I got up this morning. We played some sheepshead until about 1, when we decided we should do something with the day. We drove over to the Wright Brothers park. The museum was closed for renovation, so we weren’t allowed in. That was disappointing. Instead, we traced the path and walked up the big dune to the monument. The wind was gusting up there – so much so that it made my ears hurt and me not a happy camper. We took some pictures and made our way back down. We decided to drive up to the Currituck Beach lighthouse next. The clouds were starting to clear, and the sun came out to help us admire the huge, gorgeous houses along the way. After a nice winding drive, we made it up there. Since I had climbed it before, I saved my $6 and waited below while everyone else went to the top of the lighthouse. Once they came back down, we poked around the gift shop before driving down to the kite store in Duck, the same one I bought my kite at. Kendra and Paul bought one, as did Anne. We drove back down towards Kitty Hawk. Some people weren’t hungry enough for dinner yet, so we poked in a few shops for a bit. We were going to go to a buffet, but for $19/person, it was too expensive. We drove to the Crabby Shack instead, where I had multiple vegetarian items to choose from on the menu. I settled on stir fry. Yum. The girls went home afterwards, while I ran to Walmart to buy a replacement crochet hook and some charcoal, so we could grill out tomorrow night. I came back and called home to say hi to Mom and Dad. I had some frozen yogurt for dessert, then took a shower. I spent the rest of the evening catching up on my reading.

28 March – It was again cold and windy today, but at least the sun was shining all day. We went over to Jockey’s Ridge once everybody was up and awake. Anne, Kendra and Paul went over earlier than the others to fly our kites. The park was really neat looking – huge expanse of sand and scrub – if it was warmer, it would be just like the desert. The wind was nice and strong. Too strong, actually, because by the time we left, my ears were hurting, and I was cold and cranky. We went grocery shopping for dinner afterwards – everyone else was having grilled seafood, so I got a can of soup. I took a nap while they made dinner. Oh, I forgot that I got up early and watched three lectures. After my nap, I helped a little with dinner and ate mine. We watched some TV after a discussion about leaving. I wanted to leave really early so we got back at a decent time, but the other car wasn’t willing to do that (I was not happy, but I was outnumbered…). Fine, whatever. Went to bed early and did a little reading beforehand. Apparently, we’re going to have one more nice day here tomorrow. I hope so! I could use a little more sun. We hadn’t had warm enough weather to play on the beach since Monday. That would be lovely.

29 March – Our last full day here. I’m happy for that because I am ready to go home. I got up earlier than the rest again, as usual, to watch one last lecture. Slowly, the others started getting up as I had a fight with my laptop. Everyone else took off to run different errands, but I stayed back and read more of “Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.” Really good book so far. After a while, I decided to go out in the sunshine and walked the ~2 miles to the pier up the beach. That was a nice, long, peaceful walk – a good thing because I wasn’t terribly happy with the trip or everyone. After my walk, I did more reading and took a nap. We went to the Black Pelican, a fancier restaurant, for dinner our last night there. Good food – I got a portabella quesadilla. We didn’t actually eat until ~9. When we got back, packed up and cleaned.

30 March – Up early for a long day of traveling. I drove the first leg from Nag’s Head to halfway through Maryland. Very tiring. We got to Madison ~9:30 and to Rapids ~12 am. Long day, but a lot better and faster than the way down. Goddamn Cracker Barrels!

{It didn't sink in until later, but I was in the midst of a bad bout of seasonal affective disorder this trip, which made me and everyone that had to deal with me unhappy. I wish I would have realized it sooner so I could have gotten something for it.}

{transcribed 2/18/2020}