BYU v. UVA Trip

Richard here:

Several months ago our friend and real estate agent, Steve Hales, asked us (and about 200 others) whether we wanted him to get us tickets to the BYU-UVA game. We most certainly did.

With that our fate was set.

We had purchased tickets for the 31st day of August in the 2013th year of our Lord.

Now planning trips these days is not like what it used to be. Some of you may know Luke's dislike for car rides and sleeping in the car. So we did our best to plan out the day to accommodate Luke's nap schedule.

The drive was quite nice and Luke ended up actually taking a 30-minute nap, for which were were grateful.

We arrived in Charlottesville around game time and with a distinct lack of parking available, we paid a local for the privilege of parking in the backyard with several other latecomers. A nice bonus, though, was that it was quite close to the stadium.

The stadium was a sweltering 95 degrees with no wind and high humidity. Just a tad uncomfortable. We decided we would take turns with Luke in the shade of the concourse. Just as we had finished watching two plays and as Emily was walking up the steps toward the concourse, an announcement was made that there was lightning in the area and that the stadium had to be emptied. I chased Emily down (for fear of losing her in the crowd) and we headed to the concourse with everyone else.

After a few minutes, Emily suggested returning to the car to get some of the odds and ends we forgot in the first trip to the stadium.

A few minutes after we got to the car, it started to ran with thunder and lightning. We spent the next two hours safe and dry but also cramped and listening to update after update that the players could retake the field soon.

After the rain had let up for some time (about two hours later), we decided we may as well walk around the grounds at UVA. But by the time we were passing the stadium a steady stream of fans was heading in. The players were back on the field. And so we followed them in. We then had about five minutes of football watching until half time.

Then started the rain. "Hey, this isn't so bad," we thought. "Good thing we brought an umbrella." Well the umbrella worked for maybe two minutes. With the umbrella failing to save us from the downpour, we headed to the concourse. As it turns out, that is where everyone else was too. With the assistance of some kindly folk, we were able to shimmy our way into a corner out of the rain but with a view of the game on the scoreboard.

Despite our desire to work our way out and head home, we were not well equipped with stroller in tow to spawn upstream through the masses. We waited instead for the rain to let up. And when it did, we decided it was time to get our tired selves home for bed.

Again, Luke surprised us by falling asleep in his car seat on the way home. He slept the whole way. And when we got home, he went straight to sleep in his crib. Huzzah!

We later learned that the Cougars had not prevailed against the Cavaliers. Alas!