Diesel Tailgate |
2003-2024 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home | PSU tailgate | Newsletters | Visit PSU | Ford | Boats | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
§ Planning § Newsletter § Know your Tailgaters § Awards | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Go to 2023 newsletters
2022 Tailgates: MSU Maryland Ohio State Minnesota Funeral Northwestern Central Michigan @Auburn Ohio Bobcats Blue/White Season Summary: 2022 was a 10-2 season and we faced-off and defeated no.8 Utah in the Rose Bowl on 1-2-2023. We eneded the season ranked no.7 in the AP Poll. This was the first season beer was sold in Beaver Stadium. Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue viii MSU11-26-2022Official quote:
This game was Senior day and the first post-Thanksgiving game since Covid happened.
"Breakfast-all-day"Chad and I got up to State College around 4:30 on Friday and it was an easy drive in the daylight for once. We all had dinner at Suz's: Potato soup, salad and Shari brought over tater tot casserole. Chad and I went to Volleyball with Maryann and Marjea. It was senior night against Purdue and the girls won in 5 sets. The scoreboard was wonky and wasn’t working for most of the tournament.
SaturdayThe weather wasn’t bad at all and staying in the 50s, but we already planned for a House gate. In the morning, I hung up mirrors and pictures with Larry’s help. We enjoyed Breakfast meats and watched the Ohio State/Michigan pregameWe opened the first gift drop from Toby then had White elephant #1. For Game time we took 3 cars to the stadium. Again, I was the late-car.
We parked in the ORV lot with my car. We left at 2:30 for a 4 pm kick and had no problems getting into our seats 1 hour before kick off. There was another gift exchange after the game and I enjoyed more breakfast food, since this was our “Breakfast-all-day” tailgate. As it was the last tailgate of the season, everything must go. Sunday:We helped Suz put gear downstairs and went home.For the Glory, Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue vii Maryland11-22-2022Official quote:
The Rv lot was closed Friday due to hurricane Nicole https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Nicole_(2022)
but it didn’t really matter because a House gate was planned for this game.
"Would you rather be a whore’s side duck?"Friday:Chad met me at my house and we took my car for the trip. We drove up in pouring rain and stopped at Rick’s sports bar for dinner. The remainder of the drive was more rain, fog and wind. I started to hydroplane a few times due to bad drainage.We arrived at Suz’s around 9 PM and the rain backed off a little bit just as we showed up. “Welcome murderers,” was the greeting from downstairs. Suz, Larry Carol and Jess were there when we showed up. We watched Drinkmasters on Netflix before calling it a night.
SaturdayThe day started around 9 AM with breakfast casserole and cottage bacon. We had Spaghetti and meatballs before the game. At 2 PM, we headed over to the game. I was the late car.It was 55 when we left the house and the rain started when we pulled into lot 18. The rain backed off in the second quarter, but it started again with about 3 minutes left in the 3rd and continued through the end of the game. There was a Backwards (Counterclockwise) wave in the 2nd half and Sweet caroline. There was a weird personal foul penalty and Franklin did 15 push ups for yelling at Clifford. The combined PSU and Maryland bands performed together for veterns’s day halftime show. The sum of the weather really did a number on me. I only had about 10 more minutes left in me when it was time to go. We took Nick and Todd back to Suz’s in about 33 minutes. Back at the house, we enjoyed Italian beef while watching the TCU and Texas game.
This week’s discussion centered around weird questions, like: "Would you rather fight a horse-sized duck or 100 duck sized horses?" Which devolved into: "Would you rather be a whore’s side duck?" It was a fun evening. SundayWe opened the box from Carol’s estate sale and salvaged what we could. I went home with a national championship coke bottle. We drove home through flurries even though it was 39 degrees and got home by 2.For the Glory, Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue vi OSU halloween10-29-2022Official quote:
"RU Hungry?"FridayChad and I left my house around 4:30 PM with Chad’s camper and we went to the Sheetz near my house for food and fuel. I-80 was closed near Brookville due to a big accident and we detoured off the highway to keep moving, but the detour added 30 minutes. We dropped off the newly-fixed canopy and beer at Suz’s house then parked in the RV lot. Row 3 east. We were rv #453 in the lot for the big weekend.Since it was halloween, I put on my Doc brown costume and we walked to the bus stop to head downtown and get some dinner. The conversation on the bus went something like this: “Are you hungry? “ “Yes, where do you want to eat?” “Are you hungry?” There were tons of costumes out downtown
Next, we went to Doggies to see Velveeta. This time, there was only a 15 minute line. Velveeta was playing inside when we got there for the 2nd set. The 3rd set was all heavy metal and it was awesome. We didn’t get pizza and left after 1. We got back to the RV lot at 2:09 AM. SaturdayThere was frost and it was 30 deg F at 8 AM.There was an announcement earlier in the week about schedule changes and our double away game trip for next year is gone. We were walking over to the tailgate at 8. We found Toby, Todd,Scott, Michelle and Elizabeth on our walk over. For this week, we were in spot 2955 on grass, which still had frost on it. Lots of folks were starting early because of the noon game. For breakfast, we had bacon and waffles. and later, adult lunchables. This week was 90’s fun and music, included:
It warmed up for game time and the jackets could come off. There was a flyover that we didn’t see. This week in the stadium was a strip out We had a real chance at this game until about 5 minutes left. Turnovers killed us.
Post game, we enjoyed brisket nachos and played “pass the pigs” We packed up around 7 PM and then walked over to Rec Hall for volleyball for the dig pink game. As always, it was so hot in Rec Hall. The Lion Lights App didn’t work for us in Rec Hall either. The concession stands had different cups than Beaver Stadium, so I got some to bring home. The Lions lost in 5 sets We walked back to RV lot and arrived 12: 30 Am SundayThere was frost again. We made breakfast in the RV. On the way out of town, I returned the RV batteries that I brought during the previous game to Walmart because they were the wrong size.We picked up the cooler and ice cream from Suz’s and got sweet potatoes from Larry and were on the road by 10 For the Glory, Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue v Minnesota Homecoming10-22-2022Official quote:
"Ulysses S. Grant"ThursdayThis was our second multi-RV tailgate of the year. Alaina and I left Pittsburgh at 4 and dropped off Zoe with her parents. We meet Rich and Nell at home Depot at 8:30. The drive was great with nice weather and pockets of leaves that weren’t past peak foliage yet. The RV lot attendants gave us plenty of options for parking, and we ended up in row 1, Spots 5-6. We set up and stayed in our RV for the evening. Alaina got me a new PSU camp chair as an early birthday gift. I was hoping to get one last weekend with my current RV batteries, but they went dead overnight and we woke up cold.
FridayRich and I took some beers and headed over to the Meat lab. They were passing out Jalapeno hot dog samples as part of the sale. We went to Happy valley brewery for lunch and then headed out to Seven Mountains winery for the first time since the 322 bypass was finished. It was much nicer and easier to drive than before. Afterwards, we stopped by Suz’s house to drop off stuff for tomorrow then to Walmart to pick up new RV batteries and allergy meds for Rich. We made a stop at the Creamery and it was the first time that we had to park above the ground floor in the parking deck. We headed back to the RV lot and set up tents and TVs in the early evening. Chad arrived around 8:30 PM and we watched the Phillies game on TV outside.SaturdayWe had a morning breakfast at RVs. It was a cool morning with frost, but warmed up quickly and ended up being a hot day. We needed shade. Around 10:30 AM, we rolled over the day lot with the wagon. This week’s spot was 1873 for Ulysses S. Grant. This week’s theme was, Pub fun. This aisle was really tight and many cars were coming in super late. A girl at the next tailgate got her foot run over by one of the many old people who came in late (and drove with the windows up). This was the White out and the first tailgate for Charlie, Suz’s nephew. We were also joined by both Deena and Dena (2-e Deena and 1-e Dena). Many of us took a walk around the midway and there were freebies being handed out everywhere. During pack up, the new 10x20 canopy broke because people tried to push the legs together before all of the latches were unlocked. This game was the debut for Lion lights on the PSU athletics app. It didn’t work for me, but it was neat to see the effect of around 10,000 synchronized lights in the stands. Apparently, there weren’t major issues last week, because they were still selling beer in the stadium again. I did see that 4 folks got walked out for being too drunk. Eli Rogers and Trace McSorley were on the sidelines for the game. There was a lot of Booing in the first quarter for reasons that I now can’t remember. Blue band didn’t play post-game.
SundayIt was a rough morning. During the pack up, I noticed that my fridge/freezer had stopped working. When we picked up my cooler from Suz’s, I borrowed some ice packs to get our food home safely. All of our ice cream melted. Also, the boat tank for the generator fell over in an odd way and leaked gasoline onto the leaf pile that we were parked in. I picked up the 10x20 canopy to fix at home and then we headed back to Pittsburgh.For the Glory, Tailgate Newsletter Volume IXX Special Issue Annette's Funeral10-08-2022Mary "Annette" Martin 1943-2022 "You are missed"FridayAlaina and I left Pittsburgh after work and had a late dinner of salads and wraps at Suz’s house. We stayed with Shawn and Shari.SaturdayThe service was at12:00 pm at Koch Funeral Home 2401 S. Atherton St. State College, Pennsylvania, United States After the service, we proceeded to the cemetery Centre County Memorial Park Cemetery. Since it was so rainy during the previous week, the graveside ceremony was near the road. It was a cool and overcast day. Since it was parents weekend, the luncheon was at the WE ARE Inn in Phillipsburg. We all sat in a very well decorated room at the front of the inn. Service was slow for our big party, but I was glad that we could spend some more time with everyone before departing for Pittsburgh. Rest in peace, Annette. You are missed. For the Glory, Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue iv Northwestern10-01-2022This season, I started using mnemonic devices to remember our parking spots, because they changed from week to week. This week, it was James K Polk to remember spot 1846. Maddy’s mom had passed earlier in the week. I remember being at work when I got the message and it really hit me hard. It’s been a hard year. FridayClare was with us this weekend because my mom was traveling to Atlanta to visit my cousin. Chad was late to meet me and we dropped cooler at Suz’s. Suz was out of town this week for her aunt’s funeral. Jess asked me if I could show up at a tailgate without a dog. We parked in RV lot east end and headed downtown after getting it warmed up and letting Clare out.
We headed down to Doggies Pub (formerly Rathskeller) and waited in a fast line. Velveeta was playing outside in the courtyard and it started to rain. We got pizza at Canyon Pizza and made it home at 3:45 AM. SaturdayThis was our annual Oktoberfest tailgate. There was German music and a bratwurst bar, with many different types of brats, buns and spreads. We also had a nice selection of beers or “Little bits of awesomeness”.Maddy also brought a bunch of lottery tickets to share with the crew. I won $5. Thanks Maddy! Graham Spanier stopped at our tailgate to ask for directions. I talked to him briefly, but did not shake his hand. He was selling copies of his book a few tailgates down. It looked like he paid someone to set up a tent, table and chair, because no one else in his spot was interacting with him. A heavy rain started at 2 PM and continued for the rest of the day.
The game was poorly attended due to the weather, since the rain was predicted. It was the first time for beer sales in the stadium. Lines were long to get a wrist band and beer. Post game, we packed up the RV and headed home when traffic died down. I was home at 12:30 am SundayAlaina and I went to the Steelers/Jets game on Sunday. Two days of tailgating! We saw the Steelers fan who later died on our way out of the stadium.For the Glory, Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue iii Chalupa Memorial Tailgate09-24-2022Official quote:
"I miss you, Little Dog"
ThursdayWe left Pittsburgh at 3:30 PM. Alaina left early to drop the cat off at her parent house (long story) and then caught a ride with the McArdles to meet me on route 22. We ended up meeting in New Alexandria after they got caught in some traffic. Rich and Nell got stuck in traffic and also forgot to pack their TV, so we met at walmart while we waited and picked one up. It was cold and rainy when we arrived.I built a knock-off lego nittany lion in the RV with the boys while we waited. It was 9:30 before they got into town. We parked in row 1 towards the middle of the lot in a cold rain and enjoyed a few drinks inside before it was bedtime. FridayWe met the neighbors parked next to us with the bikes. They had kids at PSU and at Clemson.The morning was windy and cold and Rich and I walked over to the meat lab with a backpack cooler of beers. The girls remarked that it was like we were going off for our first day of school. The entire group headed downtown for lunch at Federal Taphouse and then flair shopping. Back in the RV lot mid afternoon, we enjoyed steaks for dinner. Suz, Jessi and Cari stopped over at the lot to drop off food and beverages for tomorrow. We all took shots from the Fireball keg that Rich and Nell brought. There was a “Ma! The meatloaf flag” from Wedding crashers in the row behind us. SaturdayIt was much warmer for game day. We continued setting up for the day and I found mice in the RV that had made a nest in our folding chairs. There were police horses walking through the lot in the morning.For the memorial tailgate, we had a taco bar, Mexican beers and margaritas. We had table decorations in festive Mexican colors. I set up a memorial for Chalupa between my slide-outs. It started with balloons with his name. I set his ashes in his favorite blanket on his camp chair. Rather than speak, I wrote a 3 page eulogy of my favorite tailgate memories with him for people to read.
Click to read Thank you to everyone who had something nice to say or a memory to share. It really meant a lot to me that everyone misses him too. For breakfast, Suz brought breakfast burritos.
It was quickly game time. I missed coming back to the RV and him not being here. The afternoon brought full sun. He would have enjoyed the weather today as many people were sitting in the sun. He would have found a lap to sit in. Carol pointed out a rainbow in the sky for him. For lunch, we had a Taco/Burrito bar and Maddy made the famous Mexican shepards pie. We also deep fried stuff. Shari joined us in the evening and we had more shots from the fireball keg. SundayI had a moment on the next day missing him during pack up when I’d normally walk him over to the truck to bring it to the RV. A wave of emotions hit me like a ton of bricks when I got the truck back into the RV lot.After we left, it started to rain and made for a wet drive home. Thanks again to those who attended or wished that they could attend. Chalupa really would have appreciated this tailgate. For the Glory, Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue ii @ Auburn09-17-2022Official quote:
"We can just park anywhere?"
This was also my first football road trip without Chalupa. While I didn’t take him to Wisconsin last year, he went along on many of our away game trips and I wish he was with us. WednesdayThis trip was going to take a while to travel, so I met Chad at 5 PM on wednesday to start heading south. We got dinner at Crockett in Morgantown. After a little more driving, we stopped at the New River Bridge visitors center for the night. Overnight, it got foggy and the temps dropped down into the 50’s.ThursdayWe made breakfast in the RV then explored the canyon rim visitors center, before continuing south to the Becklye exhibition coal mine. We took the underground train tour of this now defunct coal mine and miner’s village. Life was very hard for the men that worked these mines. We ate lunch in the RV in their parking lot, then headed south.The route from Beckley kept us on RT 19 winding through WV, even though we could see I-77. We passed the spot where we saw the RV wreck in 2010 and finally crossed into VA in the afternoon. We traveled through Wythville and onto I-81 and into TN and I-40. We crossed through Knoxville, passed my old office and other alma mater in the late afternoon sun. Around 8 PM, we were in Chattanooga and stopped at north river brewing company for dinner and I got some moon pie porter to go. We were planning to go to the International tow and rescue museum in the morning and briefly decided to stay in their RV parking spots overnight, but opted to camp at Walmart near I–24 because the neighborhood looked a little rough. It was a good decision, as there were many campers at the Walmart, including a 40 footer behind an S-10. It was another cool evening. FridayAfter waking up, I took a lap around the parking lot to get my blood moving and found myself missing my little dog. He hadn’t been to Chattanooga since 2008, but would have enjoyed this cool morning walk while looking at the wispy fog rolling off and evaporating off of lookout mountain.We had breakfast in the RV, then mosied over to the international towing and rescue museum. It was a neat museum full of old and odd towing equipment and toys and displays. In the gift shop, Chad recognized Bella from Wrecked, who was manning the cash register. We left Chattanooga and headed south again to Atlanta. I got a call from Cari, who had just landed, but couldn’t get a rental car, so she had to Uber to her hotel and likely won’t now be coming to go with us to the Alumni Mixer. We arrived in Auburn at 2:30 Central time. It was hot and sunny. We met Matt at Walmart then headed to the hay Fields. Their lot was “Total Anarchy.” You could just do whatever you wanted to. We waited for a bit at the entrance waiting for what we thought was a lot attendant to tell us where to go, but it turned out, it was just some guy with a golf cart. Everyone just parks wherever they wanted to and lots of other “reserved” spots of whatever size they wanted with orange or caution tape. Even though the lot didn’t open until 2 PM, there were already at least a hundred RVs there. After some driving around, we parked at the north end of the lot in an “L” shape to make the most of the shade. As we got set up, we saw two F-18 practicing for the flyover tomorrow. After 5, Chad, Matt and I drove to the Alumni mixer in Opelika. We didn’t stay super long, as the small bar was very crowded with Penn Staters and we had plenty of space back at the RV lot. I got my picture with the Lion on the way out. Back at the Rv lot, Matt grilled up burgers and was joined by Patrick and Irwin, who were also with us on the bama 2010 trip. Chad and I took it easy. Matt and the boys went out to the bars and made it home at 4 AM. SaturdayThey are slow starters here. I was expecting hordes of people to start rolling in at 0800, but it was after 1000 before most people started showing up.We made Breakfast sandwiches and watched college gameday on the outside of the Tiffin. “You’ve got a nice set up here” was heard from a lot of folks walking by. Paige joined us, followed shortly after by Cari and marianne. I heated up some sausage and potato breakfast casserole and enjoyed some drinks outside on the rapidly warming day. It was quickly time for the Alumni tailgate that was about 2 blocks north. They had plenty of sweet time and we got VIP lanyards with PSU rosters. We didn’t stay terribly long and continued to the stadium. The sea of friendly fans was stopped at the intersection for the band walk. We stopped at a nearby auburn tailgate and chatted with them over a beer. We said goodbye to Paige and went into the Stadium. We were in our seats in section 60 with plenty of time to see all of the pre-game festivities. There were 3 very large sections of Penn State Fans. They actually had a War eagle fly a lap around the filled stadium.
Awesome game, but the 3rd quarter seems to drag on forever: Game Recap Our band was here too. We headed back to the Rv lot and grilled up some steaks for dinner. Around 9 PM, Chad and I hit the road to try and reduce the overall drive time on Sunday. We hit a traffic jam after Atlanta due to construction. We stopped the night at Cracker barrel in Anderson, SC. Sunday.We got breakfast at waffle house, fueled up and hit the road crossed into NC and around Charlotte to 77. They were harvesting pumpkins in Virginia. Much like the trip south, I feel like we were in WV forever.For the Glory, Tailgating Newsletter Volume IXX Issue i BWW '2204-23-2022FridayThis was our first in-person blue/white game since 2019. The last two years of pandemic had canceled this event and replaced it with a very lackluster virtual event.This year will be different. A normal blue white weekend was scheduled and digital parking passes were sent out in March. We were told that these would only be for blue white.
Larry, Tina and their dog Kuno opted in to join us in the RV lot. Met Rich, Nell and Nathan at home depot in State College around 8:30 PM and caravanned to RV lot. Parked in the end of row 4 and 5. Larry’s transmission wouldn’t go back into gear after we got into the RV lot, so I had to tow him into a spot after I got unhitched. We had some shots on Rich’s tailgate and got things loaded up for tomorrow. SaturdayRich and I headed out of the RV lot at 8 am to meet the group over at the NLI. For the morning convoy at just after 8:15.Jessi, Suz, Cari, Mare, Maddy joined us and we headed over towards the stadium. The lot was still closed, and there was no waiting on the road, so we pulled into central distribution services and waited for about 20 minutes for the lots to open. The digital parking passes seemed to really slow down the process and the guy parking everyone at the end of the row was alternating sides of the aisle, as if he’d never seen groups come together. Our group got separated between both sides of the aisle and around a median, but it was just fine. The grumpy Santa Claus and his parking minions were quickly on to the rest of the row. We ended Spot 1555 and set up canopies and the kitchen before the rain started. The day seemed like it was going to be a cold wash-out, but we were still staying dry while enjoying Donuts, hot coffee, mimosas and hard coffees. We started a game of day pigs Around 11 AM some of us headed over to the midway and also watched the team arrival. Almost like a light switch was turned on, the day warmed up. Velveeta started their set on the stage outside the all sports museum. During the day, we were joined by Jeremy and Heather, Toby, Paul, Nick, Galen, Shawn, Shari and Roxi. This was also our first chance to discuss the Book of Boba Fett and other new Star wars developments. For lunch, we enjoyed Turkey club sandwiches, BLTs, and pulled chicken sliders, a variety of dips and other snacks. We sampled Guinness chocolate mint stout and Southern Tier Thick Mint. Most preferred the southern Tier, except for Nick who enjoyed the oaky flavor of the Guinness. I’d like to say that I could pick out something useful from the scrimmage, but my major accomplishment was scoping out my new seats with Shawn. We left before the end of the game, but they apparently let fans on the field for 30 minutes after the game. Post game, Suz heated up some wings on the grill and we played more pigs until it was time for me to head back to the RV lot. During the warm evening, we enjoyed some more drinks and ended up talking to a couple whot were looking for their co-workers in the RV lot. SundayRich and Nell left early because of Nate’s baseball game.Alaina, Tina and I drove over to the Creamery to get some ice cream to take home. Still unable to get anyone to look at his RV transmission, Larry, Tina and Kuno buttoned down their RV and rode home with Alaina and I. The ride home was almost uneventful, except for the 30 minutes at a dead stop for the Blessing of the bikes in Monroeville. It was a gorgeous day with 80 degree heat for the unpack job at home. Chalupa was not at this tailgate since Kuno was going. My mom watched him.
For the Glory, Planning Info
Go to 2021 newsletters |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Comments, suggestions, or questions about this site? Email Rob at . |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Diesel Tailgate: Get Big! TM |