Bucket List: LSU Game With My Dad

A few years ago, a friend challenged me to write a bucket list - a list of things I'd like to do before I kick the bucket.  Here is the Bucket List I wrote in 2014.  

Every year, for as long as I can remember, my dad has gotten tickets to LSU Football games.  I have such fond memories of going to the games with him.  I remember meeting up with some friends of his before the game and having so much fun tailgating.  I remember trying deviled eggs for the first time and loving them.  I remember sitting in the stands "watching" the game although when I was little that really meant watching people around me and occasionally watching what was happening on the field.   And asking Dad a lot of questions about the game, penalties, etc.

Last year, as Dad was talking about the football games for the season, I felt nostalgia for the fun I had had with him at those games.  They were such good memories and I missed that experience.  I realized that I hadn't gone to an LSU football game with him since I was in college and decided that I needed to add an item to my Bucket List - Go to an LSU game with my Dad (plus tailgate and eat deviled eggs).  

Unfortunately, we live about 9 hours away from him and we only travel home in July and December so we miss out on the entire football season.  Last year I tried to work out a way that we could visit on a game weekend but we already had conflicts scheduled on those weekends.  It was just too late to change things around and make it work.  So this year, as soon as the game schedule came out, I started talking to Dad to make plans to come for a visit on a game weekend.  He was a little hesitant to agree to it at first.  For the last couple of years he has been giving the tickets to my brother to use and he has just been watching the game on TV at home.  But he said if I came over there then he would go to the game with me!  I told him we also had to tailgate and have deviled eggs :)

With the game schedule and our kids' various activity schedules, we decided that it would be best for me to fly to Louisiana on my own.  Stuart had a lot going on at work and Nicholas had an important hockey game that weekend so it wasn't a good time for them to go out of town.  I was a little nervous about getting through the airport and flying by myself so I kept putting off actually buying the plane ticket but Stuart encouraged me on and helped me find the best itinerary.

The kids seemed excited to ride along to take me to the airport....


...until it was time for me to actually say good-bye and then this happened...


She broke my heart and it was hard leaving all three of them, especially since I was so nervous about just finding my way through the DFW International Airport on my own.  But I'm a big girl and managed to find my gate and get on the plane without a major incident.

The flight was nice.  It always amazes me to look down on the clouds!


I took this picture just to show the kids the way the gas and particles in the different layers of the atmosphere act as prisms to reflect and filter different wavelengths of light.


You know you must be in south Louisiana when you start seeing all of the curvy rivers cutting through the landscape.  


It was dark when we landed but I was able to snap this picture of the Baton Rouge skyline at night.


On game day, we had some breakfast and grabbed some deviled eggs from a local deli.  But somewhere along the way, we got a little behind schedule and ran into some heavy game traffic on the interstate.  We realized that we wouldn't really have much time to tailgate once we got to the stadium so Dad opened up the deviled eggs and started snacking on them while we sat in traffic.  He pointed out that it was just like tailgating.  We were eating in the car before the game and we were surrounded by other LSU fans.  Yep, just like tailgating....


We got to our seats just fine.  The weather was gorgeous.  The temperature was great.  And I was just giddy to actually be sitting with my dad in Tiger Stadium about to watch an LSU football game!


The LSU Golden Band from Tiger Land took the field before the game.  As usual they were amazing.  I teared up a little as I sang the LSU Alma Mater with my Dad but the rest of the music was just exciting!  Geaux Tigers!

The game was great and we won!  LSU 33 - ARK 10!!!


I am so glad that Dad agreed to go to the game with me and that we worked out the details to make it happen!  It was such a fun day and I had a great time with my Dad.  I love you Dad!

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