Family, Football, & Snow!

It’s been several years since we’ve spent Thanksgiving with any of our family members so how nice it was to be invited to our nephew Ron’s place in Lamar, MO, and be close enough to accept! Thurs. morning we drove the RV about 120 miles north from Branson to his ranch. Ron’s dad is Russ’ brother, and it’s probably been a little over 10 years since we’ve seen him which was when he visited us at our home in Lancaster, CA. He and his lovely wife, Kim, have roughly 200 acres, 23 head of cattle, and 3 horses. When not working their fulltime jobs, they have spent every minute working the ranch, building a temporary barn/house, erecting fences, and clearing brush. Long range plans include building a log cabin and barn for the horses. Upon arriving we were greeted by their dogs, Oakley and Lucy, who were anxious to meet Mikey and Abby! And they were anxious to meet the horses and cows!! Ron deep fried a turkey, and Kim cooked up a yummy potato casserole dish, homemade rolls, green beans, and asparagus. Kim’s parents, Caroline and Henry, joined us as did her son, Austin, who was home from college, along with his new Australian Shepherd puppy named Junebug…an absolutely adorable cutie!! The food was great but it’s the company that makes the meal special, and we were blessed to spend it with such wonderful people.

We spent the night in our RV parked alongside their house. The next morning Kim had to work, so we took Ron and Austin out to breakfast. On the way he drove us past the home in Lamar that was the birthplace of Pres. Harry S. Truman. When we returned, Ron gave us a driving tour of his property. He’s an avid fisherman and hunter and has half a dozen deer stands scattered throughout and stocked his 3 lakes with croppie. Ron brought along his AR-15 rifle so Russ could do some target practice, which he hasn’t done in over 40 years. Finally it was time for us to hit the road for Kansas City. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit, though brief, and hopefully we’ll be able to visit again soon.













Earlier in the week the weather forecast for Sat.’s football game was to be in the 50s, but by the time Fri. arrived, the forecast was for rain and/or snow flurries with a high of 44. Quite frankly, I don’t believe it ever reached that high, hovering more around 35! We were excited about this game against the University of Kansas Jayhawks as we were the definite favorite to win. The Tigers had already clinched the Big 12 North Division title to play in the Big 12 Championship next Sat., but this game against KU is a huge rivalry and a matter of pride. Known as the Border Showdown (formerly Border War), it is the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi (going back 150 years), and the second-most-played rivalry in college football history. Former Kansas coach Don Fambrough when once urged by doctors to head across the state line to Kansas City, MO, for medical attention, exclaimed "I'll die first!” Missouri's former basketball coach Norm Stewart would have his players spend the night in Kansas City, MO, before playing at Kansas, and going so far as requiring the team bus to buy its gas at a MO filling station as he did not want to put any money into the KS economy. Russ has tried to follow that philosophy as well though in Oct. we did spend a week in KS but spent as little money as possible!

Gameday had arrived, and we dressed as warmly as possible even wearing longjohns under our slacks. One item that I had not given away when we hit the road was my pair of fur lined waterproof boots and boy was I glad of that Sat.! We also packed a couple of rain ponchos in the camera bag to be on the safe side. The game was being held at Arrowhead Stadium, home to the Kansas City Chiefs pro football team, and we were to meet Dave Wells and his girlfriend, Madonna, in the parking lot for some pre-game tailgating. Dave was the person responsible for helping us get tickets for all these away games we’ve attended and had our tickets for this game. The game was to start at 11:30 AM but we had heard horror stories of the traffic jams that generally occurred with these games. Our campground is only 20 miles from the stadium, but we left at 8:30 to be safe. As we exited the off ramp, snow had finally found us and flurries began to fall. Though there were several hundred cars already parked in the various lots at the stadium, the traffic was smooth flowing. The powers-that-be had devised a more streamline system this year, and we were parked by 8:30. As luck would have it, we found Dave within a few minutes as he was parked only a couple rows up from us. His daughter, Jessica, her boyfriend, Alan, and a couple other friends (all Mizzou grads) were already well into the tailgating spirit! Alan made me some yummy fruit drink that he swears had lots of vodka in it but you sure couldn’t taste it! LOL

Dave, Madonna, Russ, and I decided to walk over to the Missouri pep rally tent and got there just in time to see what is known as the Tiger Walk. Two hours before kickoff, fans are encouraged to join the band, cheerleaders, and Golden Girls to greet the team as they make their way off the bus into the stadium. Quite a nice crowd had assembled, cheering the guys on, and then slowly ventured into the very nice, warm enclosed tent. Hmmm, maybe we should just stay in here and watch the game on one of the many TVs? Soon the pep band arrived followed by the cheerleaders and the mascot, Truman, leading everyone in the Missouri fight song and all several other traditional songs and cheers to get everyone pumped for the game. Rousing speeches were given by the Chancellor and the Athletic Director, and then it was time to head into the stadium though game time was an hour away. We knew security would be tight slowing down entry into the stadium but totally understand the need. As we climbed the spiral ramps towards our seats, we could see the traffic lined up out on the main road and were really glad we arrived early. As we found our seats, the flurries began to mix with a slight rain, so we put our plastic ponchos on over our coats. The rain let up but the snow came down the entire game, coming down even harder with about 8 minutes left to go, but never did stick. Because I had been busy taking pictures, I didn’t keep my hands under the poncho and consequently my gloves got soaked, and Russ' feet were cold and damp in his tennis shoes.

With an attendance of over 79,000, it was an exciting game, especially in the 4th quarter, but unfortunately the Tigers did not prevail. The outcome was a major upset with the Jayhawks winning 40-37, and the KS fans going wild. This was to be the Tigers’ year and that was part of the reason we chose this particular time to follow the team. They’ve done very well but not as well as had been anticipated by many. And though a win this Sat. against #2 ranked Oklahoma Sooners may be improbable, it’s not entirely impossible. Stranger things have happened. But to those who would criticize the team and the coaches, we remind them that the team still had a winning season, is playing for the division title, and will be playing in a Bowl game. This class of 2008 has the most victories by a senior group in the history of the Mizzou program. They have played hard with dignity and class. We’ve had a blast following the team and made some great memories. We are very proud of our Tigers.

The snow continued to fall Sat. night and we awoke to about an inch accumulation Sun. morning. Abby loved it! Mikey wanted to get back inside where it was warm. By the afternoon, most of it had melted. Though there has been no more snow thus far, it continues to be cold with highs in the 30s/40s, lows in the 20s.

As I finish writing this entry, we’re waiting for a call from the local Saturn dealership telling us when someone will be coming to pick us up. A few weeks ago we began hearing a strange noise under the hood and decided it was best to have it looked at before heading to Florida since I will be driving the car from Baton Rouge to Orlando while Russ is towing a trailer behind the RV filled with our storage unit belongings. We took the car in yesterday and turns out it was a pulley system that had broken. The tech said the car probably would not have made the trip to FL so good thing we had it checked. They drove us back to the campground, ordered the part, and this morning fixed it…all under warranty.

Sat. will be the Big 12 Championship held here in KC, MO, and our friends Steve and Patty are driving in from St. Louis to attend the game with us. We’re looking forward to seeing them and cheering on our team. Regardless the outcome, I’m sure we’ll have a good time as friends always do. Because as Russ has written previously, the game is meant to transcend time and is really not about wins and losses, but about relationships and traditions.