So, here it is. Last Saturday night, Sharon, David, Davis and I were supposed to go to the Baylor football game. Davis was SUPER EXCITED about it, because lots of his friends were supposed to be there, and so he had been looking forward to it for WEEKS!
Well, that afternoon, it started raining cats and dogs, and Sharon broke the news to him that we probably wouldn't be going, because it was raining much too hard. He got extremely upset, so Sharon told him that we would go ahead with everything as planned, and just see what happened.We packed up our "tailgating picnic" (cold chicken, PB&Js, pasta salad, pickles and grapes and headed on over.
Thankfully, it had stopped gushing and was just drizzling by the time we got to the stadium. They were having something called "Touchdown Alley" for the kids before the game, and that started at 3:30 - we got there at 3:45, and there was hardly anyone there - the game started at 6...
At 5, we headed back to the van, got out our picnic, and sat in the van to enjoy our delicious supper. As we were eating, the rain started getting harder, and about halfway through our dinner, the bottom fell out. (Needless to say, at this point, I was VERY sorry that I had not either #1 - just stayed at home, or #2 - brought my own car... :P ) However, Sharon had different plans - she had packed ponchos - we were going to see this game no matter what. We "poncho'd up" inside the van, and tucked our stadium seats up under the ponchos so they would stay dry as we walked through the flood waters to the stadium (FYI - we had to park in a grassy field that had quickly turned into a marshland with the rain; also, if you've never witnessed central-Texas rain...well, let's just say I hope you don't ever have to... :) Anyway, here, even a little bit of rain leads to deep water everywhere, because here in Waco, we're in the pits - meaning that we are like a little bowl that is sunken down past everyone else, so the rain has nowhere else to go, and just puddles on us - our backyard can "flood out" if it rains for a good 30-45 minutes).
Off we went, wading through the highwaters to Floyd Casey Stadium - home of the Baylor Bears. Also, I had made the mistake of wearing jeans on this outing, as it was VERY cold, and I had dressed accordingly for the cold...not so much for the rain. So, reaching down deep and finding my inner-80s child, I rolled my jeans up, letting my converse (no, they aren't hightops :D) shine...along with my blindingly white legs :D...as we traveled to the stadium.
When we finally made it all the way around the forever-long fence to the ticket gate, and under the heaven-sent awning, David went off in search of something, and Davis began urging Sharon and I to go with him to find our seats. We finally gave in, seeing that the rain had somewhat slacked off, walked up the ramp, and the MINUTE our feet touched the concrete, the rain began pounding us! It was blowing sideways, and it felt like hail as it slammed into our poor, unsuspecting bodies! :( It HURT! We all quickly turned tail and ran right back down the ramp!
We ran into David, and as he and Sharon stood there debating on what to do, Davis was begging them to stay and watch the game, and I was praying with everything in me that God would deliver me from this horrendous situation! Unfortunately, He had other plans for me that evening, and they made the decision to go on back out and see how long we could tolerate it. Thankfully, by the time we got settled (having kept our wonderful stadium seats under our ponchos the entire time, we swung them around to our backsides - them still under the ponchos - and lowered ourselves to sitting, so we at least had dry bottoms! :)
Thankfully, a little before the end of the first quarter, the rain slacked off, and by halftime, it had stopped all together. It sprinkled on us a little bit toward the end of the 3rd, but we stuck it out through the entire game, to see Baylor beat the Kent State somebody or others 35-21 (I believe... :) ).
Sharon also spent the first half of the game explaining football to me, so by the second half, I rather enjoyed watching it, and was really getting into it! :)
So there ya go. One more thing to mark off my "bucket list"...
#1,987, 642 - Watch a football game in the pouring rain ;)
Love y'all!
What we, here in Hewitt, call "drowned rats"... :)
haha this made me laugh :) and that would be Kent State (an Ohio team) that Baylor beat (and the score was 31-15 according to Kent State's website) just in case you want to be completely accurate in your posting. haha love you
ReplyDeleteVanessa, your writing ability absolutely astounds me. I felt like I was right in the middle of the game, getting pounded with rain. What a memory! I love you!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Marcia