Battling the Elements: A Rainy Homecoming Adventure

Rainy but we have a tent

Saturday was Homecoming at Washburn University. The forecast for the day was rain all day long. That did not stop Carrie and I from going out to tailgate and watch some football. Carrie was a judge in the parade, so we had to get her out there at 9:45 to get instructions on judging. Yes, it rained the whole day and at times it poured so hard it was difficult to see the scoreboard or south end of the end zone. We persevered through the rain and stayed almost to the end.

There were three weather delays because of lightning strikes. We made it through the first two weather delays. However, the third delay occurred with about one minute and forty-five seconds left in the game, with the Ichabods facing a third down and trailing 14-13. When the third weather delay occurred, we decided to head home and listen on the radio. We got everything packed up and we were almost home when we listened to the end of the game.

Cold Carrie with Lots of Blankets

While it rained the whole day, I did not get cold until about the fourth quarter. My feet started to get a little cold after standing in puddles and mud in our corner.  We had to try and keep Carrie warm, so we gathered all the blankets and put them on her for the second half. She is a trooper going out to games with me this year. We had a blast tailgating and cheering on the Ichabods and I think Carrie enjoyed a parade for the first time in her life. She has never been a big fan of parades, but I think she liked judging and being actively participating in the process.

Carrie Judging the Parade

There was a good turnout for the parade even with the rain. The kids that did show up had all the candy they could collect. As we were leaving the game at the end of the day, I could see candy that had been thrown out during the parade on the ground, so it had not all been collected. It had been a while since Washburn had done a Homecoming parade. It was fun with around 95 entries and there was a good crowd around along the route. It was good to see and fun to see others out for the parade.

This will be out last game of the season. We will miss the game on November 9, so we said our good-byes until next season to Jonny who has been our tailgate neighbor for as long as I can remember. We told him there might be others in our spot for next week, but we would miss it. 

A frustrating season for sure for the Ichabods, but we had a great time tailgating and cheering on the Ichabods all season. We even made it to another stadium to watch them this year. We are ready for basketball season to start.

Until next time, have a great week!

Air Supply, Hurricanes, and Ham Sandwiches: A Weekend in Houston

Rainbow on way to KC Airport

Carrie and I made what was supposed to be a quick trip to Houston, TX to see a concert and also see our friends. We left for Kansas City to stay at a hotel Wednesday evening; on our way, we saw the rainbow stretching across the sky. We actually saw a double rainbow, but the second one was a little difficult to see in our picture. It was beautiful. The rainbow was forecasting that we would be stuck in Houston after the weekend due to the hurricane.

Cash and Cooper

We arrived in Houston Thursday morning following connecting flights on American Airlines from Dallas to Houston. No direct flights on American Airlines to Houston, so we wanted to get points to and stayed with American Airlines for our flights which was actually cheaper than trying to do another airline that was a direct flight. We had the chance to meet the newest member of the Flora family, Cash (pictured in the background to the right), and of course Cooper (in foreground to the right). Cash is about six months old and full of energy. We had a fun time getting to know Cash. It reminded me of Oliver when he was a puppy with all the toys everywhere. 

Tommy Cooking Burgers

On Saturday, we were able to enjoy a pool party at Tommy's house where he cooked us burgers. It rained most of the morning but cleared off enough where we could get in the pool. This was just a rain storm moving through and unrelated to the hurricane that was moving into the area Sunday evening and Monday morning. We had a great time spending time with Tommy and then Chuck and Melissa also were able to join us that day too.

Selfie at Air Supply Concert

The purpose of our trip to Houston was to attend Air Supply on Sunday night. The hurricane was due to move into Houston Sunday night into Monday morning. As the days led up to Sunday, we wondered if we should leave Saturday or Sunday morning, but then flights started being canceled and the decision was made we would attend the concert. On our way to the concert, it rained like crazy and we debated about turning around although it was a rain storm and not the hurricane, it was intense.

Air Supply

The concert venue announced earlier in the day that with the hurricane moving into Houston, the concert would start at 7 and end by 9 pm. Sure enough, they started at 6:57 pm and with one encore, the concert was done by 8:45. We had a great time with a good crowd considering what was moving into the area. This was the second time Carrie had been to an Air Supply concert and my first time attending an Air Supply concert. We had a great time and it was fun singing to so many songs we had heard for so many years. Our friend Javier was supposed to join us, but he was unable to make it because of work. 

Encore by Air Supply

I am so glad that we made the trip to see Air Supply. Good idea by Corrie! We wondered prior to leaving Topeka if we would be stuck down there, but we were hoping for the best. We had a great time at the concert and left the venue to blue skies, birds chirping and no rain on our way back to the house.

Monday morning I awoke about five-thirty or six as there were a couple of power blips that caused the fans to stop for a brief moment. Luckily I got up, checked work email, and send a couple of messages saying we were delayed because a short time later, internet was knocked out and our cell phones were not getting any signal either. By six-thirty, the rain and winds were beating against the window and causing the power to flicker every now and again. We never did lose power at the house but the wireless in the house was out and would remain out until after we left.

Tommy lost power at his house, where we had the pool party, and so he came over to Corrie's house. We spent the morning watching the news of reports coming out of Houston from flooding, trees down, etc. So many people were stranded in locations where it had flooded and had to be rescued or they just left their car where they got into trouble. The reports of power outages grew through the day with over 2 million people without power. 

Tommy and John Eating

The reports were not to leave the house unless absolutely necessary, so we remained at the house. Corrie had stuff at the house for us to eat, so Carrie made Tommy and me dinner of grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. They were good! Following dinner, we went back to watching the news to see what was happening. Tommy got a hotel to stay in so he could have internet for work, so he left us to head to the hotel.

Our flights had been rescheduled to Tuesday and then we received notices that those flights had been canceled and rescheduled for late Tuesday. We did all leave the house to eat out for lunch on Tuesday. Many places still without power, no wireless at the house, and phones not working, we had to drive around to get cell signal to call places to check if they were open or when we were driving we would see which spots were open. As we were finishing up eating, we checked that our flight for later that afternoon was still on schedule and through conversation, we realized that instead of IAH airport we were now at Hobby airport. Good thing we checked and Corrie said something or we would have gone to the wrong airport.

Drinks at Airport

Following lunch, we went back to the house for a while before Corrie drove us to the Hobby airport. We hung out at the airport as we got there a few hours before our flight not knowing how busy security would be to get into the airport. We found a spot to have some drinks, read, and I caught up on work email with the available wireless. On our way to the airport, it was crazy to see all of the places in Houston without power. Gas stations that looked like parking lots with cars waiting for gas and cars going down or around the block waiting for gas. 

We were again flying from Houston to Dallas before arriving in Kansas City. We arrived in Kansas City after midnight and got home around 2 in the morning. A crazy final ending to our trip, but glad we were able to fit it in to make the concert, see our friends, and have stories to tell.

Until next time, have a great rest of your weekend and a wonderful week.

Weekend Ramblings as the End of May Fast Approaches

It is hard to believe that this is the last full week of May. Have to be careful not to blink or summer will be over before we know it. The end of May certainly has brought a lot of rain to the area and the outlook for more rain the next week too. With all the rain brought to light the fact that I need to get out and clean some gutters. We do have protectors on our gutters, but the back and the front gutters were overflowing with water during the heavy rain we received Thursday night. I am hopeful to get in gutter cleaning before the next big rain.

Carrie and I are searching out camping sites for future camping weekends. We have our eyes on a few locations and continue to review various camping gear that we want to buy for our camping adventures. We loved the first adventure so much, we cannot wait to go again. As we look at upcoming dates, we review the weather and hope to have nice weather for our second adventure. We are event talking about camping in September for our wedding anniversary and making plans to do so in Arkansas possibly. Nothing confirmed for September, but we are reviewing options and will be making a plan soon.

A lazy weekend for me around the house Saturday and I hope to do some work Sunday as I mentioned earlier. The Royals game is currently in a rain delay as I write this Saturday afternoon, but hoping they can get the game in and get a much needed win.

Until next time, have a great week and talk to you again next Sunday.