Idaho Football and

Fall Foliage

Today was a great day for getting out and spending time with labmates...as if I don't see them everyday during the week too. My morning started out with a trip to the farmer's market, which is basically a couple dozen (or less) people who set up tables at a park and sell things from fresh foods to photographs to jewelry. It's rather small, especially when compared to Syracuse but there is some good fresh food there. I ran into Christy at the market and she invited me to join her and Molly later to hike the Wind Cave trail...sounded like fun to me if the football game was over or really boring by then.
I made it to the second half of the women's soccer game, which was a decent game. We ended up winning too so it was pretty nice. For lunch, I decided to check out the Ag Day Barbeque (remember, we are an agricultural school). Although it cost me $8, I figured it was worth it because the money goes toward a scholarship and I could eat whatever (and as much as) I wanted. I tried a lot of different meats and most were really good...must make a difference in how they are cooked...which is why the Dinosaur is so good. So I stuffed myself, grabbed a few yogurts and milks, and booked for the game that was starting soon.
As I was walking to the student section in the stadium, I passed Andy (labmate), Greg (whom Andy lives w/ and I played b-ball w/), and Manning (Greg's son). Even though they were there w/ Andy's parents and grandma, they invited me to join them. Seeing as how I really didn't care whether or not I sat in a Utah State section, I joined them...plus they are cool people. We found Andy's family and a way to get to them w/o getting stopped by a security person looking at tickets...since we got in free w/ our student IDs, we didn't have tickets for the "posh" seats (note extreme sarcasm). Andy's parents and grandma had all gone to Idaho for school and are big Vandals (yes, that's their nickname) fans. We sat in front of the Idaho marching band and it was cool hearing music during a decent portion of the game...USU's marching band played maybe once during the game other than at halftime. Since my Aggie pride is somewhat limited and I was at the game because I wanted to watch a football game...I cheered for good plays in general whether they were Utah or Idaho. It was great because I focused more on the good stuff happening and had more opportunities to get excited. I highly recommend this way of watching sporting events as it is less stressful and more fun. I even did the Idaho fight song...it's rather simple so it didn't take much to figure out and remember.
The game itself started out really well since the two teams are both really bad D-1 teams. Utah actually played well in the first 5 or so minutes and scored a couple of touchdowns. From then on, it was mostly Idaho. Of course, I didn't care as long as there were some good plays happening. The game remained exciting despite the score (Utah losing by a good amount), so I decided to stay instead of meeting Christy and Molly for some hiking. It was a great day for a football game...perhaps even a little too warm...and I had a great time. Sure beats sitting among strangers and cheering for a losing (and pathetic) football team.
After the game, I figured I should either do work or go hiking. I chose the latter and figured I would take the Wind Cave trail and possibly run into my labmates. Just before reaching the hollows (the wind "cave"), I saw them on the trail. They waited for me and joined me at the "caves" for a bit. We took a couple group shots of us on the top with the fall foliage in the background. Christy and Molly are birdwatchers so they were identifying any birds that they saw. I was impressed because my eye is not keen enough to spot birds very well much less accurately id them...unless it's a turkey vulture or some such other easily distinguished bird...the smaller ones, like finches and warblers, all look pretty much the same to me...small. I'll have to learn some things from them.
All in all it was a fantastic day full of fun and camaraderie. Now there's just making sure I do some schoolwork on Sunday...