The down side to a one year gig in the D.C. area is doing cross country moves in consecutive summers. The up side was getting to a lot of games that I otherwise wouldn’t have last fall.
I caught the Irish at home against B.C. and on the road at Pitt. Meeting up with my Dad "The Coach" and some buds in South Bend was great. I definitely need to do get back there more often. I also made two trips to Lane Stadium with my Hokie fanatic brother-in-law The Deer Hunter. I also capped off the season by attending the Army Navy game with a great American that comments here as Marine53. Good stuff all around. It all made the Weis 6-6 farewell tour a little easier to take. Just a little....
This fall I will have to jump back into my old routine of hitting the bowl games in San Diego and Phoenix. I do love that the early game kicks off at 9:00am on the West Coast. I am not sure yet if I will be able to squeeze in a trip to South Bend but despite my better judgment I am contemplating going up to the Coliseum again. I also need to get up to Orange County to watch an ND game with the wise one OC Domer.
Over the course of the next week I will be sprinting across the country solo with my tools and an air mattress to spruce up the new headquarters. The rest of the team will be taking a more leisurely journey across the U.S. two weeks later so that I can knock out my to do list. Epoxy on the garage floor and a new custom work bench are at the top of the list. A man needs his space.
I will admit that I got the better end of the deal there. The younglings require frequent stops for head calls and what my two year old future quarterback refers to as "fench fies" and "chockit milk." The poor kid is screwed this time around as the wife is prone to handing out fruit and veggie bags. Fench Fies will be scarce without me around to lobby for him. As an aside, the little guy is already deadly accurate with a Nerf from 15 yards. Kiffin called and asked about him the other day.
It also goes without saying that I prefer my 100 some odd channels of Sirius to the never ending dialogue of kid movies emanating from the back seat. Donkey was relatively amusing the first time but on round 50 I can’t deal. Is that really the same guy that did Delirous? I am certain that the wife will even things up with some nice hotel bills. That woman doesn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on some room service.
While my phone is more than adequate for leaving comments I generally try to shy away from banging out posts with my thumbs. As a result things may be quiet around here for the next couple of weeks unless LB Coach, Rocket89 or our latest addition to the team Mouth Of The South dig something up to discuss.
So here’s the plan. Let me know if there are any must stop restaurants or attractions that I need to hit along the way.
Day 1- D.C. to Blacksburg. Just a warmup lap to check all the systems. It will also give me one last night of kicking it with the Deer Hunter. He will likely insist on taking me back to the Hokie Museum at the Merryman Center to gaze at Beamer’s Jersey and watch old Mike Vick highlights. We will follow that up with a few beers back in his man cave which features wood paneling, a nice bar, multiple TVs and an attractive blend of Hokie paraphernalia and stuffed animal heads.
Day 2- Blacksburg to Little Rock. This 12 hour leg is not for the feint of heart. I will stop as infrequently as possible as I blaze through SEC country. If you see a an F-150 dragging a trailer and driving Bo Duke style that would be me. Convenience stores with pickled pigs feet on the counter are to be avoided. I am however considering getting some afternoon exercise by stopping for gas in Knoxville with a "Kiffin Rules" T Shirt on.
Day 3- Little rock to Dallas. On to Texas! Once across the border I will switch from bad coffee and jerky to Big Red and Goodart’s Peanut Patties. A stop at a small town DQ for a Dude and a Vanilla DP might also be in order. That evening I will be hanging with the man responsible for the OFD header FiveNCS. He and I go back to the 2nd grade. No doubt we will spend the evening on his back porch killing a case and talking about what his Huskers are going to do.
Day 4- Dallas to Lubbock. The Hub City has a tractor beam that randomly grabs relatives of mine. In this case I’ll kick it with an assortment of them. The little sis will headline. She told me that they finally went wet and shut down the strip. Bummer, that place was cool. Where else can you get a jam up chopped brisket sandwich at a drive through liquor store? I plan on going out to dinner that night decked out in Pirate gear. Dedfischer is Spanky’s still down there by the campus?
Day 5- Lubbock to El Paso, the home of the Coach. I love to talk college football and no one is more entertaining in that capacity than my old man. The Great Pass of the West is also home to some of my favorite restaurants. I might stick around there an extra day just to gain a few pounds. The Little Diner, Rosco’s Burger and The San Ysidro Mission all deal in serious groceries. Knowing the Coach he will also have a case on ice, fresh torts and a brisket that he smoked all night ready to go when I pull up. Deal me in.
Day 6- El Paso to San Diego. The Coach is jumping in for the last leg. I should just bring a tape recorder and get him to tell stories about some of his encounters with various college coaches that were out on the recruiting trail back in the 80s. Those would make for some good posts.
Maybe we should stop and pay homage to The Thing for once. Screw it, we’ll just keep trucking across the desert. I love the Southwest but El Paso to San Diego is a rough leg. We might have to pull into Yuma, Arizona to eat at El Pappagallo to rally. That place has the best salsa to ever grace a tortilla chip. With a recharge we will barrel over the dunes, blast past the drug plaza known as Mexicali and climb over the big hill into San Diego. Then it will be full on Bob Vila time. Once I get settled maybe I’ll go track down Lloyd Lake and get the REAL inside scoop.
I will let you know if anything really interesting happens along the way. See you in the comments…..