Road Trip

Happy Friday Friends!

I hope & trust this post finds you all having a great day on this beautiful Fall Sunday!

Last Saturday, October 3rd, I had a remarkable, so very blessed, experience. My 19-year old & 15-year old (at the time...he turned 16 on Friday!) Tender Warriors, Payton & Gehrig, and I took a road trip to Baton Rouge, LA to watch one of Payton's high school teammates play for Eastern Michigan against LSU in Death Valley. What a day!

The plan was we would leave around Noon. Well, the 48-year old kid was fired up and ready to go much earlier. I had already watched the start of Game Day on ESPN and by the time Payton & Gehrig woke up, I was ready to go. By around 9:30 a.m. we were off!

Excitement filled the car and our conversations as we began the first part of our trip. We talked about football, what Tiger Stadium was going to be like, what we were going to do, etc. We saw a car with Arizona license plates and the sticker from the same church we went to in a small town about 40 mils south of Phoenix. We all got excited and looked at the people in the car as we drove by...like we would know them or something! We didn't know them but they were wearing purple LSU shirts, no doubt headed to the same place we are going!

The trip was strange in that there was no arguing, picking on, etc. that has punctuated so many other trips. It was just 3 dudes enjoying each other, talking about life, excitedly looking forward to seeing an old friend and a football game in one of college footballs grand stadiums.

On this trip I learned that Payton is not really fond of bridges. This became hilarious when we came to the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge which is 18.2 miles long, the second-longest bridge in the US and fourteenth-longest in the world by total length. Payton's concerns quickly gave way to the wonders of the swamps below us. To 3 people who have spent the majority of their lives in Arizona, this was unreal.

I don't think I will ever forget seeing Tiger Stadium the first time, or the excitement that filled the car, as we reached the top of the last bridge heading into Baton Rouge. It was beautiful.

We drove straight to the hotel where Eastern Michigan was staying. We got to spend about 30 minutes with Payton's former high school teammate. We talked about school, life in Michigan, his family, etc. It was so good to see and spend some time with him.

The boys and I then headed over to LSU. What an absolutely beautiful campus! We found a place to park and then headed to find a place to eat. We found our way to the Student Center where they had a whole bunch of restaurants - not the Cajun food we had talked about eating all the way over but we were so hungry it didn't matter at the point. As we walked, people were tailgating everywhere. I quickly figured out, if there was not a sign on a piece of grass that read "No Tailgating" it was fair game. After getting something to eat we headed to the stadium. We walked around the stadium over to the team shop so Gehrig could buy some LSU gear. On the way we caught  the Tiger Walk, just as Coach Miles and the Tigers were arriving. We then headed over to the exhibit that held Mike, the Bengal Tiger that is LSU's mascot. After taking some pictures I turned around to find a rope had been lifted behind me with another one about 10' away on the other side of the sidewalk. We quickly hurried to the other side of the rope and then waited...for what we did not know however something was certainly about to happen here. Within 5 minutes the Tiger Marching Band came through...what an experience!

We then decided it was time to head into the stadium. After finding our seats Gehrig and I went and got an Alligator Po Boy & Jambalaya...some Cajun cooking after all! Having worked for so long in college athletics it was really neat to just sit in the stands with two of my boys and just take in pregame, to enjoy it all. The pregame warm ups, the band, hearing the crowd sing "Louisiana Saturday Night" and "Callin' Baton Rouge"...it was just awesome!

The game was much more competitive than I think any of us expected. LSU was only winning by 8 at halftime and pulled away late to win it 44 - 22. Eastern Michigan had represented themselves well, forcing LSU to play their starters late into the 4th quarter. It was also neat to be sitting among the families & friends of all the Eastern Michigan players. I was reminded once again that we all really are the same...we want our kids to know we love them, that we are there for them and that we are proud of them, no matter what.

After the game Payton wanted to wait and see his friend after he left the locker room. Have you ever had the experience when one of your kids is wanting to do the right thing and you are really wanting to do something else? You see, at this point it is 9:30/9:45 p.m. I am thinking, "if we get out of here right now we can be home by 2:00 a.m." Payton is thinking, "I know my buddy could use a hug and to see a familiar face one more time." I agree that we should go and wait. One by one the players come out, hug their Mom's, Dad's, Aunt's, Uncle's, etc. The last player out of the locker room, literally!, was Payton's buddy. He gave each of us a big ol hug and we talked about the game. We walked him to the bus, gave him another hug and told him how proud we are of him. We then headed to our car.

We began the trip back home a little after 11:00 p.m. Gehrig just laid down in the back seat and was asleep before we even got out of Baton Rouge. Payton told me he was going to stay awake the whole way and visit with me...this lasted about 40 minutes. He was out cold. About an hour into it I was hurting, bad. Neither one of the boys would wake up. Finally, I called my Beautiful Bride. She woke right up and talked to me for more than 2 1/2 hours as I drove home. At about 3:15 a.m. I pulled into our drive...an awesome day had come to an end.

Obviously there are a lot of special memories for me from this trip. There are two thoughts I want to share with you:

1. If you have the chance to get in the car and go somewhere with your kids, take it. Payton, Gehrig & I are never going to forget this day. We might all have different "favorite" parts however the point is we did it together. That is what we all cherish...that we were together.

2. Kathy has been there for me since I was 17-years old and she is still there for me today. Please don't think I was mean for calling her or that it was a grind for either one of us. That 2 1/2 hour phone conversation? We talked about our kids, the state of our family, our relationship, our hopes, goals & dreams, we told jokes - good & bad ones...we just totally enjoyed one another. I recognize how blessed I am to have such a remarkable woman on this life journey with me and I thank God every single day for her. If you are blessed to have someone on your life journey with you, please cherish them and the moments, all of the moments, with them. Not every great moment has to be something big and spectacular...sometimes it can just be one long phone call at the end of an unforgettable day.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can.

Have a great day, a wonderful week and please cherish your precious families.

Kev