The team buses making their way to the stadium. We were parked right beside Porter Rd which made for great access to seeing the team. I caught a great peek at JoePa sitting in the front seat!
Jason and Ian "warming up" with a few...
Two Jacks...back where it all began!
What a game! Let's first get the celebration out of the way......WE WON THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP!! Watching Penn State handily beat Michigan State (what we all thought would be a much tougher game than it ended up being), was a great ending to a really fun PSU season.
Every day last week, the temperature forecasts dropped by 2 degrees. By the time Saturday morning rolled around, they were calling for highs of 25 degrees with a brisk wind and snow. And, just when you hope the forecasters are going to be completely wrong, they hit it right on the nose. It was frigid....with winds that went right through you, and measurable snow on the ground an in the stadium. It was a test of a true PSU fan! As we got settled in at our tailgate, we heard on the radio that it was the coldest football game at Beaver Stadium in 20 years. We had a wonderful day. We were set up in a fantastic spot right off of Porter Rd. I think we got lucky because there weren't too many idiots who were there as early as we were, but it made for quick ins and outs, which means a lot when you're trying to get home. We quickly got our crock pot going to heat up the soup---- the saving grace of the day. You can't believe how great "hot chwicken soup" (as Joshua calls it) tastes when you're slowly freezing to death. Stephanie came by to visit with us- always a highlight of a day at Penn State. And then, Lindsay and Ian made their way up to the stadium from their rented apartment on Allen Street. We laughed a lot, reminisced a bit, and ate some soup and hamburgers before packing up to get in to the stadium.
A highlight for me was that we were a little later going into the stadium than usual. As we came through our gate, there came Joe Paterno on the golf cart from the media room making his way to the press box for the game. We were close enough to touch. He's a legend and an icon and I just thought it was so cool to be that close. He was going fast, and my fingers were far too numb to have been nimble enough to snap a picture, so you'll just have to believe that I'm not fibbing about this. Besides, there are witnesses...
Now, for the comical part. The only way that I can tell you how COLD we were is to tell you what I was wearing. You know that episode of Friends where Joey comes in wearing everything Chandler owns? "Hi, my name's Chandler. Could I BE wearing anymore clothes?" (It's the commando episode.) Well, that was me. A human marshmallow. Keep track if you wish, but this is what I was wearing (all at the same time!)...and I was STILL cold.
Feet: regular thick socks, thermal socks rated for up to 30 below zero, insulated boots (purchased especially for the occasion by my very intelligent husband) rated to 40 below zero.
Legs: under armor leggings, long underwear, jeans. (It's good that I've recently worked on losing weight.....7.5 pounds down in case anyone wonders....or else I wouldn't have had a prayer of buttoning my jeans with the extra layers on. Thank goodness for small miracles.
Top: (this is a riot) under armor turtleneck, long underwear shirt, turtleneck, regular heavy sweatshirt, hooded sweatshirt, heavy fleece.
Hands: Three pairs of gloves with hand warmers in each of them. Extra hand warmers added at half time when the first started to wear off.
Head: Heavy winter hat AND ear band, scarf tightly wrapped around my face to keep the wind from hitting it.
Seriously....this is how I was dressed. And I was still cold. But it was a great day at PSU that we'll remember for a very long time. Hope you enjoyed the pictures.
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