Insight.com Bowl - A Success!

At the game

I never got around to blogging about the remainder of our trip to Arizona. Given that we spent more time traveling to and from the state of Arizona then we were actually there, I didn't have much time to post on arrival. We were in Tempe for 2 days. It was amazing. Most of the time we spent doing Insight.com Bowl game events, which the Iowa State Alumni Association did a great job of organizing. In the

On Wednesday evening we drove out to Rawhide, which is a replica wild west town. They had a pep rally with the coach, team members, and other university officials. I wasn't expecting a huge crowd, but it was packed. There were 5,000 fans there for the rally. It was crazy - you couldn't go anywhere because the lines for food and drink were so long. We listened to most of the pep rally and then decided to eat at the steakhouse in this "town." It wasn't anything special, but the food was decent and they had a live band playing, which was kind of nice. After that, we headed back to the hotel.

On Thursday, we go up and got ready for the game. The game was at 4:00, but the pap rally was downtown Tempe at noon. We got something to eat at a local Irish bar, which was amazing. I would barely finish half of my corned beef sandwich, let alone the fries! After that we headed to the pep rally to get our bead, tattoos, and stickers. There were about 10,000 fans at the game-day rally. I can't believe how many people made the trip - many driving both ways to get there! We stayed for an hour or so and walked toward the game. We wanted to get in to check out the stadium and get to our seats.

The stadium was mostly full of Iowa State fans. Seriously, it was like 10:1 Cyclones:Golden Gophers, which definitely made for a better game atmosphere. The pregame was decent - parachuters came down on the field and they had fireworks. I won't say much about the game other than to note that Iowa State won 14-13. It was a close game at the end and could have gone either way, but a win is a win, no matter how ugly. I am just happy the Cyclones won. Otherwise, Todd would have been really upset. He gets so mad just watching the game at home when they lose. I did not want to deal losing after making the trip out.

After the game, we were hungry and found some food at a local bar. The servings were huge and it was super cheap food. We had no clue going there, but we could have split dinner it was so big! After that, we walked around Tempe's New Year's Eve block party. It was huge! We heard this is the biggest block party after Times Square. I am not sure if that is true or not, but it was definitely packed with people, food vendors, rides, activities, and 40 bands. It was $15 just to get in and we had to go through security, which was interesting. There were police in full riot gear, police on foot, on bikes, in cars, and on horse. It was crazy. Someone said that the was a big street fight a few years ago, so they are prepared I guess. We stayed long enough for the fireworks at 10pm (celebrated the New Year in the Eastern time zone). After that we were so exhausted due to the time change, our travel, and everything we squeezed into the trip, we headed back to the hotel. We heard the fireworks at midnight celebrating the Mountain time zone, but we were in bed already. Lame, I know, but we were so exhausted.

I was not excited to go home at all. I LOVED the weather in Tempe and didn't want to deal with work after being gone for a week (the emails were piling up even though lots of people were on vacation, too). But, I did want to get home to my dogs. I always miss them!

All in all, it was a good trip. I was surprised I did made it that far in the car. I don't mind traveling, but driving for 24 hours is not my idea of fun at all. But, I watched a ton of movies, read through my stack of magazines, and kept up my social networking (about the only time I was good about keeping up with that). :) I am hoping we can head back out there to catch some spring training games. I have always wanted to go to spring training, but have yet to make it. Maybe this year??

In the Arizona sun

Tuesday's travels

Back to Tuesday and then the rest of the week. We checked out downtown Santa Fe. Very cool, although cold. Tons of little specialty shops along little streets. In one spot, all the locals set out their goods for sale on the sidwalk. They literally put down a blanket and put out their handmade items, mostly jewelry. If I was more into jewelry, I would have bought some as it was pretty cool.

After checking out many different shops, we grabbed lunch at Blue Corn Cafe. I finally got some good homemade guac and tacos with homemade blue corn shells. We stopped at another pottery store that sold actual kitchenware. I would love to have a set. Still debating as one bowl is $30 and I would still need plates, cups, etc. I may have them ship me one serving bowl at least. It is so cool! We actually watched them make it in the shop.

We were originally supposed to be in the Grand Canyon for a few days, but canceled that on the way and stayed in Santa Fe instead. Part of our 15 hours at home between trips included a visit to PromptCare for Todd's foot. No fracture, just some stretched tendons that made it painful to walk on one foot. He now gets new raquetball shoes, and we decided to nix any hiking for now.

We left Santa Fe late afternoon for more driving. But, we finally made it to Arizona. Unfortunately, it was mostly nightime driving, so we missed all the senic stuff.

We found a cool brewery that all makes pizza. It was 10p - midnight our time - so anything would have been good at that point! After that we crashed. Three days of driving for two days of football was exhausting!!

I love it here!

More in Tuesday's trip later.

It is so nice here. Our hotel room rocks! The only downside is that this appears to be the Minnesita fan hotel, so we are a little out-numbered. But this hotel us fabulous!! Tempe Mission Palms! Our room is huge with the most comfortable king bed ever, flat panel tv, and French doors that open to overlook the courtyard. The courtyard is full of palm trees and orange trees. Todd picked an orange to eat, but said it was a bit sour. The fitness center is unlike any other I've seen in a hotel.

We are right on the ASU campus. This place is beautiful. Why again did I stay in Illinois for school?? :) The stadium is just 3 blocks from our hotel and one block off the main campus eating/shopping strip. Green St and Kirkwood have nothing on this place. It is amazing. We ate pizza at a local brewery last night. It was the coolest place. I need to take more pictures.

I went for a 5-mile run on campus today. So beautiful. Running through palm trees with sun and 50 degree temps doesn't hurt either. Amazing! I didn't have any troubles with the elevation either. A little tight in the chest, but otherwise fine! It is funny because the locals all appear to be bundled up in ugg boots and coats while all the Minnesota and Iowa fans are laying out by the pool in swimming suits. Too funny! Supposed to be mid 60's today. We might have to go shopping for shorts - it is too warm fir jeans. :)

I told Todd I would gladly move here. Too bad one of his top competitors is actually at ASU. Boo!

Monday adventures

On Monday night, we stopped in Santa Fe, NM. Todd loves this city and we wanted a break from driving. We arrived and got a room at The LaFonda hotel downtown. The hotel is a historic one. The rooms were small and older, but definiely cool. The room numbers outside the door were hand-painted tiles (locally done, I'm sure), the bathroom was almost all tile, too. Everything matched the Indian/Southwest theme in the room. The headboard and wall paintings all had the same flower motif. We took some pics, but I'll have to post those later. The workout room was small but nice and Todd used the outdoor hot tub even though it was only 30!! The hotel gave us a deal on the room because we said we looked at prices on priceline.com, which was awesome!

We did some research and picked a Mexican restaurant to eat at that had received tons of great reviews. It was horrible! The service was bad and very slow. The food was only average and pretty expensive. Plus, it was freezing in the place. Even Todd was cold, so that says it all! The worst part was the guacamole, or lack there of. I LOVE guac! Tons of the reviews went on and on about their amazing and fresh guac, which was another reason I was all for the place!! They ended up running out of it by the time we got our food (1.5 hours after ordering). The waitress offered to bring me some avacado. Seriously?!?! If you have avacado, make me some guac! Ugh! And this was a Monday night at the place, not even a weekend night! I felt bad for the family with kids as they waited a long time and were definitely restless. The only good thing this place had going (IMHO) was the live music. My negative review is already up on tripadvisor.com.

Surprisingly, there is no 3G in Santa Fe even though it is the state capitol. Also, because of all the pubelo-type buildings with thick walls, a signal was hard to come by. But, it was better than the "no service" words that kept flashing on my phone as we drove the interstate across the entire Texas panhandle. Thanks AT&T.

On the road again

Spent the night in Tulsa last night. This place did get a lot of snow! Driving through Missouri there wasn't much snow, so we were thinking there was no way Oklahoma was pretty much shutdown over Christmas. But, there are huge piles of snow all around Tulsa. The hotel check-in lady said they got about 7 inches in 3 hours. Crazy!

They do not know how to plow roads here! The interstate only had one lane cleared with the second lane only partially cleared of ice and snow. The exit ramps were dangerous - snow piled in the lane and covered in ice. Seriously? This is two days after the storm moved out. Maybe they are low on salt and sand? Who knows. The good news is the roads to Oklahoma City are better.

We are back on the road headed west again. At least it is cold out. It is unbearable for me to travel in the summer! I sit in a windowless office all day, so to be in the car when it is so nice out is very hard for me. Definitely less difficult in the winter! We stayed in a Hampton Inn, which we are both fans of! Not too expensive, decent beds, free breakfast, and a workout room. Nothing fabulous but a good deal for the price!

I missed the photo op, but there was a sign on the tollroad for Free Restrooms 14 miles ahead. Too funny! Apparently, if you pass the free toliets you may have to pay. LOL

Heading south

We are definitely getting south. Just finished off some pulled pork, corn, and fries from Buckingham's in Springfield, MO. Somehow I got the spicy instead of the sweet sauce. My mouth is still in fire! Apparently, this place has the best BBQ in the area, including the Ozarks. Todd saw the billboard a few miles outside of town and was sold. He is a fan of trying the loacal places. It was good, but the best BBQ award (in my book) still goes to Smokin' Jack's Rib Shack in Bloomington! Awesome meat, cornbread, and mac n' cheese. Mmm. Now, I need to find us a hotel with some sort of fitness room...

Quote of the Day #1

There are a lot of Ohio State fans on the interstate going to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA. My fav quote of the day so far:

CMR: I can't even imagine driving to Pasadena. That's like a whole day of driving paste Tempe.

TVR: Trust me, you'll know what it feels like by the time we get to Arizona.

LOL! He's probably right. I'm already bored.