Sad But True: Regular Season and 31 Stadiums Come to an End!

Well it has been a long and fruitful journey to say the least. We’ve had tremendous support throughout the tour and we have lots of thanks that will be sent out individually. It would take up a few pages to write them all down here. But I am currently on my way back to Phoenix via airplane to START training for the marathon. Part of me wants to run the full, but my body is saying the half. We were a little ambitious saying we would train for a marathon while on this trip. But we will see how the training goes in the next few days before I decide. I could easily be influenced by messages of encouragement, donations for sponsorship, or new legs! Aaron and Nolan are already committed to just doing the half. I’ve had a few decent runs in the past two weeks but nothing very long like I’m suppose to have done. Let’s just say the marathon itself may be pretty entertaining for those watching me run.

We arrived in Tampa on Saturday after picking up a friend and fellow flight school roommate, Matt, from Orlando and headed to the hotel near the stadium. Another friend and fellow pilot, Jason, also came to meet us. In fact, it was about a year ago that the same three guys and my dad were in Tampa for the Steelers / Cardinals Super Bowl game. So it was a mini reunion for the three of us. This time, Tampa was a little more tame and there were no sightings of Condoleezza Rice or Nick Lachey. But we still painted the town Buccaneers red and checked out the SOHO area Saturday night. Our friends Reed and Chima made appearances and the decision to stay in SOHO made the festivities even better. We had some live music and enjoyed some wine and good food before performing the Lloyd Christmas dance all over SOHO!

Sunday started with a wakeup call way too early and red eyes. But we got rolling and headed to the parking lot to set up the tailgate. We stayed only half a mile from Raymond James Stadium, so it made the trek relatively easy, minus the earliness. The Bucs have plenty of parking and we found a decent lot pretty close to the stadium. Looking at the map, I thought we were in Lot 14, when in fact we were in Lot 12 on the other side of the stadium. That might have confused a few people, but everyone ended up finding us, including Fox 13 Tampa News. So having good friends and getting some publicity made the regular season finale a special one. Even though the Bucs are not that good this year, their stadium is great. The stadium itself is nothing special, but the amenities and the room are quite adequate. Plus it is unique in that there is a pirate ship in one of the endzones. Who does that? We tried our darnedest to get a picture from atop of the pirate ship but were denied repeatedly. The game was nothing to write about since both teams weren’t going to the playoffs but having good people around us made it a great experience. Thanks to those who provided tickets so we could all enjoy the game.

Sunday night was a little more interesting than we would have liked and we celebrated the ending to our season long journey. Some shenanigans of the Super Bowl weekend were repeated and we stayed up way too late. Thank goodness for late checkouts! But everyone had a good time and it was a great ending to the four months on the road with some close friends.

Next up is the PF Chang’s Rock n’ Roll Marathon on 17 January in Phoenix and then the Pro Bowl (31 January) and Super Bowl (7 February) in Miami. I have officially made it to a game inside every NFL stadium this season, so the goal of 31 stadiums is complete. The Pro Bowl and Super Bowl will be an added bonus. I will also check out at least one playoff game this weekend when the Cardinals take on the Packers in Glendale. It’s nice to be complete, but a little sad. What are we going to do with ourselves now? I’m sure our parents are wondering the same thing! Just because our season is almost complete, doesn’t mean we won’t blog anymore. I plan to write a little more about favorite cities, stadiums, experiences, and moments of the trip. Stay Classy and thanks for stopping by!