Last weekend the Lopez clan hit I-90 East for yet another Lopez Family extravaganza. All six of us (well...7 if you count my sister's bun in the oven) piled into the Toyota Sienna, with the new pop up camper trailer in the back and hit the road to Pullman (a 7 hour drive - one way).
For those of you who know Matt, my brother in law, you know that the Cougs are not to be taking lightly. For as long as I have known him, Cougar Football would rank high, if not the highest, on the list of all-time-favorite-pass times. I am talking a die hard. The man has flown my sister all over the country to watch the first game of the season, not matter what the cost. He LOVES it. So the family decided to take this 14 hour road trip to see just what the fuss is all about...we were to attend our very first Coug football game.
This being my first time to step foot in Pullman, I have very low expectations. After all I have heard to two repetitive things about this school:
1. They party hard
2. Extra curricular activities (besides partying) was cow tipping
So needless to say, when we drove into town I was pleasantly surprised. I saw hills, green trees, a beautiful campus and lots of young people with energy that can only be given off in a college town. We parked our car and trailer in the overflow parking lot near campus (our accommodations for the weekend), and hit the town walking. First stop was dinner: Stella's, the land of amazing Pizza and Calzones. After dining on our fab pizza (I recommend the Birkenstock) we began to soak up what was to be a common sight for the Cougar weekend as we toured the campus: clusters of young college students, screaming, cursing and just pain ol' having fun all around us. Matt was an amazing tour guide...full of random facts about the buildings and landmarks. We put in miles and miles and I am happy to report that I was taken away by the campus. As I said above, college campus' give off this vibe of energy and exuberance. WSU was no exception. You could almost smell the individualism, new experiences, youth and learning in the air. I was astounded at the Student Union Building...the x-box players, the full size movie theater, the Rock Band playing hard with their audiences pounding free Full Throttle's, one after another, the Bookie (Barnes & Noble), the goreous view of the Stadium...it was quite impressive. We headed back outside for a closer birds-eye view of the stadium...preparing ourselves for the game yet to come. Then, the peace and solitude quickly ended as we ventured to the land of skimpy clothes, high heals and foam parties: Greek Row.
My adorable cousin Matthew, is a "pledge" in one of the fraternity houses at WSU...a freshman this year (gosh they grow up so fast). I couldn't tell you which one, because they all sound the same to me: Phi Betta Kappa, Delta Phi Betta, etc, etc, etc. Anyways...my determined mother thought it would be a great idea to visit Matthew, so she gave him a call and passed the phone to Matt to get directions. So there we were, 6 (7) gawking, plainly dressed (as in wearing jackets and tennis shoes not the obvious college wear of short skirts (girls) and no shirts (boys - headed to the foam party), out of towners walking down Greek row looking for cousin Matthew. Finally we stumbled upon him and he took in his family (like it or not, here we are) with amazing grace. Luckily, he was on "risk management" (making sure the "brothers" aren't getting out of control) so he gave us a tour of the frat and the run down of what it's like to be a "pledge." After a bit, we parted ways and headed back the 2 miles to the camper trailer...after all we did have to rest up for our game the next day.
The game, I am sorry to say was a bit of a bust. Cougs lost to the Oregon Ducks 63 to 7 or something terrible like that. However it was great fun to finally capture the true experience of being at a game ourselves. Plus I got to eat the best ice cream ever from WSU's very own creamery, as well as work out in the state of the art recreation center, and analyze the cheerleaders moves with my sister (I may have caught a collective 10 minutes of the game). After wards, we hit up Stella's for yet another dinner, then back up to the Student Building for a free viewing of Get Smart (hilarious).
For those of you who know Matt, my brother in law, you know that the Cougs are not to be taking lightly. For as long as I have known him, Cougar Football would rank high, if not the highest, on the list of all-time-favorite-pass times. I am talking a die hard. The man has flown my sister all over the country to watch the first game of the season, not matter what the cost. He LOVES it. So the family decided to take this 14 hour road trip to see just what the fuss is all about...we were to attend our very first Coug football game.
This being my first time to step foot in Pullman, I have very low expectations. After all I have heard to two repetitive things about this school:
1. They party hard
2. Extra curricular activities (besides partying) was cow tipping
So needless to say, when we drove into town I was pleasantly surprised. I saw hills, green trees, a beautiful campus and lots of young people with energy that can only be given off in a college town. We parked our car and trailer in the overflow parking lot near campus (our accommodations for the weekend), and hit the town walking. First stop was dinner: Stella's, the land of amazing Pizza and Calzones. After dining on our fab pizza (I recommend the Birkenstock) we began to soak up what was to be a common sight for the Cougar weekend as we toured the campus: clusters of young college students, screaming, cursing and just pain ol' having fun all around us. Matt was an amazing tour guide...full of random facts about the buildings and landmarks. We put in miles and miles and I am happy to report that I was taken away by the campus. As I said above, college campus' give off this vibe of energy and exuberance. WSU was no exception. You could almost smell the individualism, new experiences, youth and learning in the air. I was astounded at the Student Union Building...the x-box players, the full size movie theater, the Rock Band playing hard with their audiences pounding free Full Throttle's, one after another, the Bookie (Barnes & Noble), the goreous view of the Stadium...it was quite impressive. We headed back outside for a closer birds-eye view of the stadium...preparing ourselves for the game yet to come. Then, the peace and solitude quickly ended as we ventured to the land of skimpy clothes, high heals and foam parties: Greek Row.
My adorable cousin Matthew, is a "pledge" in one of the fraternity houses at WSU...a freshman this year (gosh they grow up so fast). I couldn't tell you which one, because they all sound the same to me: Phi Betta Kappa, Delta Phi Betta, etc, etc, etc. Anyways...my determined mother thought it would be a great idea to visit Matthew, so she gave him a call and passed the phone to Matt to get directions. So there we were, 6 (7) gawking, plainly dressed (as in wearing jackets and tennis shoes not the obvious college wear of short skirts (girls) and no shirts (boys - headed to the foam party), out of towners walking down Greek row looking for cousin Matthew. Finally we stumbled upon him and he took in his family (like it or not, here we are) with amazing grace. Luckily, he was on "risk management" (making sure the "brothers" aren't getting out of control) so he gave us a tour of the frat and the run down of what it's like to be a "pledge." After a bit, we parted ways and headed back the 2 miles to the camper trailer...after all we did have to rest up for our game the next day.
The game, I am sorry to say was a bit of a bust. Cougs lost to the Oregon Ducks 63 to 7 or something terrible like that. However it was great fun to finally capture the true experience of being at a game ourselves. Plus I got to eat the best ice cream ever from WSU's very own creamery, as well as work out in the state of the art recreation center, and analyze the cheerleaders moves with my sister (I may have caught a collective 10 minutes of the game). After wards, we hit up Stella's for yet another dinner, then back up to the Student Building for a free viewing of Get Smart (hilarious).
My balloon visor...it was 80 degrees and we were sitting in the direct sunlight. Good think Nick always has balloons in his pocket.All in all the weekend was awesome! Well worth the drive over there...but what can I say...I am a sucker for family time, new experiences and delicious food!
The boys - Wow...there's a lot of legs in this pic!
1 comment:
Yes! GO COUGS!!!!!!!!!!!! Sella's has the best calazones and you had ice cream at Ferdinands! Love it! It is a "rebuilding" year for the Cougs - perfection on the field just takes time.
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