Colts vs Packers

We attended the Packers/Colts preseason game on Thursday, August 26th. We left Eau Claire shortly before 2 and returned at 2:15. It was a long day Friday! The game was amazing but too difficult for Sam and I. We decided never to go to a game like this again where you are cheering for both teams. Plus we took an awful lot of crap from people in the stands. Apparently, you're not allowed to cheer for both teams. And, I thought Viking fans were bad. They were nothing compared to the rude, nasty people in Green Bay. Congratulations Packer Fans! You should all be very proud of yourselves!!!!! I, however, will continue to cheer for both mainly because I can!! The rest of you closed-minded fans can bite me!

Hmm.... Tailgate food. The plan was to make chicken kabobs but after some difficulties with the skewers, including skewering myself, I switched to packets containing mushrooms, onions, green peppers and chicken. The baby red potatoes cooperated with their skewering. I precooked the chicken and potatoes so they just had to be heated. The chicken was marinated with an Italian Beer marinade. Yummy.

I bet you didn't know a cheesehead doubled as a table did you?

Peyton

Chuckie Baby

Me and Denise

Me and Bobber

Our rowdy group. Scott, Denise, Jen, Sam, Bob and Donna (aka my mom) :)

Roadtrip!!!!

Here's the beginning and the end of our road trip to see the Indianapolis Colts Training Camp!!! Boy it was hot but we sure had fun. Ok, I had more fun than Alex as she would probably tell you she didn't have any fun. She would be lying as you will see if you check out the entries below. Be forewarned, they are picture heavy!

Waiting at the light to go onto North Crossing.

On the way back, sitting in Tomah.

Training camp - morning practice

The morning training session started at 9:30. Alex and I got up about 7, donned our tank tops and jerseys and decided to go to IHOP for breakfast. The city of Anderson has a decorating contest going on during the training camp. The IHOP was decorated to the hilt and it was a good place to get excited about the practice. Our Ho-tel (dump) didn't have anything Colts related so this was a nice change. On to training camp....... Colts City was present this Friday morning. I told Alex we would go in the bounce houses later. Wish I would have know they were only going to be there in the a.m. We registered for a couple of things and picked up some free posters. I registered for tickets to Sunday's pre-season game even though I knew we were heading home Saturday. Add that to being an out of towner and I should have won for sure. Which I did! I got the call during the afternoon practice. Woo Hoo! Extra day in Indy!! Alex was not as excited but that's a different story. Back to practice...... When we arrived at the field, only a couple players were there. They were being brought in by golf cart 4 at a time. The crowd by the gate cheered with the arrival of each group of players. We made our way to the opposite side of the field. I thought it better to have the sun on our backs than our faces. Boy was it hot! Even that early. I stood by the fence and started talking to a lady who had been to practice everyday. She had some very interesting stories to tell and gave us some tips for later. I had a good time laughing with her. At the end of practice, the players all left and most didn't sign any autographs. Peyton stayed and signed about 10 but nowhere near where we were standing. Something for next time, I guess.

The first players on the field.

#85 - Pierre Garcon

#44 - Dallas Clark

#87 - Reggie Wayne

To me it looks like he's starting to do the chicken dance.

Signing autographs

Training Camp - Afternoon Practice

The afternoon practice can be summed up with one word. HOT!!! The actual temp was 96 degrees but the heat index was 110. I would not want to be a player in full pads in this heat. We were sweating standing still. This practice was specifically Special Teams. I wasn't aware until the morning practice that the whole team would be there working on drills. It was very interesting and I learned a lot about when we needed to be there and where we should sit for next year. And, that was really all part of why I went this year. I also learned that Alex will not be going with me next year. :)

True view of where we were standing on the top of the bleachers.

Vinatieri to kick. Holder is Pat McAfee.

#93 - Dwight Freeney

#87 - Reggie Wayne

Manning to Collie

My bored, over-heated child!

Offense on Offense drills. Peyton is directing.

She has Ice Cream, she's happy now.

Indianapolis

Saturday, we woke up and packed up the car. It had been raining so I wasn't 100% sure training camp would be going. So, Alex picked Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Oh so yummy!!!! She had scrambled eggs, bacon and hot chocolate. Sound familiar? Next we made our way back to the university but I wasn't sure I even wanted to go. The heat from the day before had made me extra tired and although the cloud cover had lower the temps, when Alex said she didn't want to go, I said ok. I know shocking so you must know I was tired. So we drove directly to Indianapolis. I had decided to just drive around and see what we would find. We managed to find downtown and the stadium. They had one hour parking for the pro-shop. I had Alex use her new watch with timer to make sure I didn't get a ticket. We had a lot of fun at the pro-shop. And, even left before the hour was up. I also asked about stadium tours and found out they are available only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Mental note for another time. We found a Chili's and Alex wanted her baby back, baby back, baby back ribs. lol. And, then we drove around some more and I got more tired and frustrated with not knowing where I could park downtown as I wanted to walk by the capital and the canal. No such luck but we did see them. We also found the zoo and the Indianapolis Speedway. We checked into a Quality Inn shortly before 3. I took a short nap and then Alex and I went to Wal-mart where I found the camp chairs I had been looking for and some other cool Colts stuff. Yes, my house will look like the Colts pro-shop exploded!

She's very happy when I let her suck on ice. I took a nap while she watched cartoons.