Penn Staters

I have always been a proud Penn Stater-- since I can remember our fall Saturdays have been scheduled around kickoff times. There have always been get togethers with other PSU fans, pounding on walls of a certain double house on Edgewood Place, trumpet fanfares from my Pap with every score and countless other Penn State memories. Attending college there only solidified what I already knew-- I am a Penn Stater. 

The past few years have been tough on those who love Penn State.  The changes in the football program have been difficult to watch, especially this year as the effect of the NCAA sanctions hit the hardest.  Everyone knew that this would be a tough year, and that it has been.  But it hasn't stopped us from loving it- from taking clients and friends and family to cheer on our beloved Nittany Lions right along side of us.  To support all of the kids who made a tough choice to stick with the University they loved when they had an option to walk away. 

 

We had planned to attend this past Saturday's game and ended up having a ticket to be able to take Joshua along with us.  He is becoming quite the PSU fan, and has attended two other games with us this season.  We knew it was going to be cold, but we hadn't exactly planned for the snow that would impact our plans.  On Friday afternoon, as Jason had spent the majority of the day getting our tailgating supplies packed, cleaned and organized, and as I had been in the kitchen preparing food for the tailgate, we got a message from my cousin, Stephanie, who told us that there had been major impact to the parking for the game.  All the grass lots around the stadium were closed-- so that meant BAD news for us (and about 100,000 other people who were planning to park there).  The alternate plan was that you could park in one of 6 other lots around greater State College and catch a shuttle to the stadium and back.  I detest waiting in lines, so I was pretty sure that I wasn't interested in waiting with heaven only knows how many other people, in the cold, for a shuttle before the game, and especially not after it!  So our initial reaction was the scrap the whole thing and watch the game in our comfy sweats from the warmth of our own living room.

 

Until...

 

The idea hit us that perhaps my Dad's cousin, Dan, might have a parking pass available.  We knew that he had great parking, on macadam, which was like holding a winning lottery ticket for this particular game.  After making a phone call to him, he told us that we were welcome to it.  Mom picked it up for us and brought it to our house the next morning since she was coming to hang out with the girls while we were at the game.  Jason re-packed everything for the tailgate into the Suburban, which was a feat unto itself.  Believe me when I tell you that we could not have fit even so much as one more glove into the back of the Suburban.  Most of our passengers fit into the car with us on Saturday, and Libby and Zig rode over with Steph and met us there.  By a stroke of amazing luck, she also had a pass in the same parking lot.

We had a great time tailgating with friends, and enjoying the company of family.  We were all feeling a bit like stuffed sausages based on the number of layers we were all wearing.  I lost count at 5 on my top of three on my bottom, along with fur lined socks and sub-zero appropriate boots.  We had gloves and hand warmers and hats and everything else you could possibly imagine to brave the cold.

 

We had some very fun neighbors at our tailgate who had quite the set up (including a three pot crock pot that had me drooling for sure...such a cooking nerd).  We had to borrow ketchup and mustard from them for our hot dogs because someone (...me) forgot to pack ours when I packed the cooler.  But they also had something called the "Gin Bucket" that they shared with us...it was a mixture of gin and Sprite that they were drinking from with turkey basters (Saturday after Thanksgiving, so this seemed appropriate...HA!)  We all thought it was pretty funny, and there are rumors that it might make an appearance at the family Christmas party at Stacie and Noah's house. 

When it was game time, we bundled up in a few more layers and headed to our seats.  We all had blankets and definitely needed to use them to stay warm.  Although the game totally stunk...from play #1 when Michigan State returned our kickoff for a touchdown...it was still a great day, and one I will remember for a long time. 

We got home and got unpacked, and it didn't take long for our little Nittany Lion fan to find his spot on the couch, in his warm PSU flannel pants and robe.  And this was what we found only minutes later.

Until next season, PSU!