Another year, another tailgate, another game, another win!! There’s nothing like college football! The big event last week was the annual Missouri/Illinois football game Sat. at the Edwards Jones Dome. Once again we committed to taking the RV downtown to tailgate before kickoff, which was 5 hours later this year at 7:30pm. We spent most of the week preparing for the party with several trips to Wal-Mart and Schnuck’s deciding on a menu of bratwurst, Italian sausage, homemade gumbo, and pork rib tips with all the usual sides and plenty of beer, wine, and soda.Russ wanted to get there early enough to pick his spot and park the way he thought b
est, in other words facing north/south instead of east/west to best maximize afternoon shade. So at 6:30AM (yes, you read that right…Am) with Scott, his dog and ours, and the cat loaded on board we pulled out of the campground, making a stop for diesel and ice before heading downtown, and arriving about an hour later. We got the RV situated, got the ribs started on the slow cooker BBQ pit Scott loaned us, got the regular BBQ pit set up, put out the awning and all the chairs, so that when the parking attendant arrived about an hour after we did, it was going to make it very inconvenient for us to move and turn the RV to face the opposite direction. He and Russ had quite a discussion about it, but in the end the guy let u
s stay put.Since we arrived so early, I cooked breakfast for the 3 of us, and we had plenty of time to organize everything for the party. Our first guests arrived shortly after noon, and the festivities began in full force. Russ plan worked out great, and we had plenty of shade all afternoon. Steve assigned himself as assistant cook, and in spite of our initial reservations in serving it, the gumbo was a huge hit, and everyone seemed to have a great time.
As 6pm rolled around, we started putting stuff away and getting ready to head over to the stadium…along with thousands of others! Scott was going to stay with the rig and the dogs watching the game on our outside TV, and he said that from time to time others who hadn’t gone to the game came by and watched with him. Russ and I changed into our specially ordered Mi
zzou Gold Rush t-shirts and off we went. The streets were packed with folks walking from several parking lots with Mizzou and Illini chants filling the air. Once we got to the entrance, everything slowed down with the masses of people waiting to get through the turnstiles.As we entered, the at
mosphere was electrifying! People going up the escalators and standing along the balconies were leading cheers of M-I-Z to which we below responded Z-O-U, and the sound reverberated throughout. The Illinois fans would occasionally try to break in with their own cheer but generally it didn’t last very long, even though th
ere were plenty of them as well. Our seats were about ¾ the way up towards the end zone, but there really doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the place. Attendance actually exceeded last year’s by over 4,000 for a total of 66,441. The game was great (though there were some who griped about t
he Mizzou defense), and we won 52-42! After the game several folks headed back to the RV to drink, eat, and socialize some more while waiting for enough vehicles to leave so we could get the coach out. We finally got back to the campground around 2AM. What a great but long day!
he Mizzou defense), and we won 52-42! After the game several folks headed back to the RV to drink, eat, and socialize some more while waiting for enough vehicles to leave so we could get the coach out. We finally got back to the campground around 2AM. What a great but long day! 
A short time ago we finally made the decision to follow the Missouri football team around to some of their games this fall. We secured tickets through a friend of a friend for games in Lincoln, NE, Austin, TX, Waco, TX, and Kansas City. If the Tigers are doing well (and there’s no massive snow storms), we even have tickets for the Big 12 Championship game in KC at the beginning of December! It’ll be fun to see some other campuses and visit at least one other state we never have (NE). 
Earlier in the week I caught up with some of my high school friends, first meeting at Diane’s house, then grabbing a bite at Rizzo’s Italian Restaurant. We’ve made plans for a birthday barbecue at Dana’s house to be held in a couple weeks celebrating all our birthdays since we never get to do that together!
A couple days later I visited Alice and Bill Riley, parents of my lifelong friend, Linda. Unlike last year, Bill is no longer living at home but rather in a nursing home about
4 blocks away. After a minor infection sent him to the hospital a few months ago, Alice realized that she really couldn’t care for him by herself 24 hours a day any longer. I stopped by the house first to chat with her, and while we were catching up, Bill called and wanted to know where his “girlfriend” was, and Alice told him I was right there. LOL When we arrived at his room, of course he wanted his hug, then we ventured down the hall to a very brightly lit atrium area they call the Bird Room, I guess because they have a couple caged birds. Alice had made arrangements for us to have lunch with Bill, so for the next hour till it arrived, we chatted and caught up. The stroke he had a couple years ago has not affected his mind, and he surprised me with being very much up on current events, talking about Hurricane Gustav possibly hitting Louisiana, and other things. Lunch was pretty bland and commercial, but I was there to spend time with two wonderful people not for the food. As you can imagine, he hates living there but realizes it is necessary. Alice visits him every single day for several hours at a time, and 3 of their kids live in the St. Louis area and visit often with their kids. (He’s very proud of his grandchildren!) Linda and her brother, Wayne, live out of town but visit as often as they can.
Our friend, Rick, stopped by later that day to visit and share some Steak ‘n Shake, and the rest of this week has been pretty low key since I was feeling a little under the weather. But next week is already booking up with plans so we’ll be back in gear with more to report!
A couple days later I visited Alice and Bill Riley, parents of my lifelong friend, Linda. Unlike last year, Bill is no longer living at home but rather in a nursing home about
4 blocks away. After a minor infection sent him to the hospital a few months ago, Alice realized that she really couldn’t care for him by herself 24 hours a day any longer. I stopped by the house first to chat with her, and while we were catching up, Bill called and wanted to know where his “girlfriend” was, and Alice told him I was right there. LOL When we arrived at his room, of course he wanted his hug, then we ventured down the hall to a very brightly lit atrium area they call the Bird Room, I guess because they have a couple caged birds. Alice had made arrangements for us to have lunch with Bill, so for the next hour till it arrived, we chatted and caught up. The stroke he had a couple years ago has not affected his mind, and he surprised me with being very much up on current events, talking about Hurricane Gustav possibly hitting Louisiana, and other things. Lunch was pretty bland and commercial, but I was there to spend time with two wonderful people not for the food. As you can imagine, he hates living there but realizes it is necessary. Alice visits him every single day for several hours at a time, and 3 of their kids live in the St. Louis area and visit often with their kids. (He’s very proud of his grandchildren!) Linda and her brother, Wayne, live out of town but visit as often as they can.Our friend, Rick, stopped by later that day to visit and share some Steak ‘n Shake, and the rest of this week has been pretty low key since I was feeling a little under the weather. But next week is already booking up with plans so we’ll be back in gear with more to report!
No comments:
Post a Comment