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Just getting the hang of this "blogging" thing but still struggling with layout, getting photos to go where I want them (like in the right order) and getting caught up to real time. So any words of wisdom or tricks of the trade you experts could share would be greatly appreciated. In the mean time, please be patient and I'll catch y'all up. Yes, I AM talking like that now.

One of the very first things we did when we arrived was to attend a Montgomery Biscuits baseball game. There's a great area downtown where the ball field is located that's right next to the Alabama River. The field itself reminds me a lot of The Salt Lake Bee's field but the seating area seems a bit smaller. Food offerings were much the same but there are plenty of "biscuits" to be had. And yes, the biscuit mascot is amusing.

I'm not sure I can convey what a big deal football is here. There is a high school field in downtown Montgomery that looks like the U of U football field. The whole Auburn/U of Alabama rivalry makes BYU/U of U look like a love fest. We knew we wanted to attend a game at each school while we were here but had no idea Auburn's opener was against Utah State. We knew immediately, THAT was the game we had to hit.

We went early assuming traffic and parking would be a nightmare. It was less than an hour away and as it turned out most of the hard core fans were already there in their RV's and tailgating like there was no tomorrow. I haven't been to a "big" football game in years so I don't know if it's like this all over but the tailgaters were spread out all over the place. Blocks and blocks and complete fields were filled with them. Food, blow up tigers, parties and LOTS of blue and orange. Because they were the reigning national champs and this was the home opener there was an extra bit of electricity in the air. They have an amazing band that kicked things off out on the street and worked it's way down to the intersection for a pep rally. Our timing was perfect as we were right on the road and had great access to the parade, the live radio show and all the pre-game activities. Tickets were the same price through Utah State or Auburn so I ordered them through Auburn because Utah State couldn't mail them to me. We ended up clear at the top of the stadium but they were awesome seats for the band's formations, the "war eagle" that flies around the stadium and the game itself. The small Utah State group however had great seats down close.

We thought the poor Aggies would get their little blue butts kicked but it ended up being a great and exciting game that Utah State nearly pulled out. Tom and I were having a hard time being well-behaved guests as Utah pulled ahead but as we were surrounded by 85,000 crazed Auburn fans we felt it best to not be smug. The reigning national champs are not real big on being defeated by some po dunk team from Logan so you can imagine the mood of the crowd. However, they got lucky in the end and managed to win in the last few seconds. It was a great game and we had a terrific time. We got plenty of sun and enjoyed hanging around after to watch all the celebrating. I was in blue and white but Tom had on his blue & orange Coast Guard aloha shirt so they thought we were one of them. All in all a fun day!