Fall, Foliage, Football and Family!

For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.  For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.  ~Edwin Way Teale


We had another home game at VT against Miami, and BOY was it a game!! We finally won, but not without a lot of excitement, it was one of the best games we have seen....down to the last few seconds and last few inches!! It is absolutely true what they say about football being a game of inches!!  The crowd was really into this one, it was nearly deafening...but so much fun!!

After only a week, we could see a difference in the trees on the drill field.  The temperature was in the low 70s which is perfect football and tailgate weather!  We had breakfast among the trees of blueberry or strawberry pancakes and sausage.  For lunch we had grilled salmon caesar salad!!  What a great day we had!!

Multiple colors in this tree

Of Course, the vet student enjoyed the weather....studying!!

The Highty Tighties continued their practice

Brad couldn't resist the leaves!!

Jess had to grab some leaves....and rays!!

Grilled Salmon Caesar Salad...Hokie Style!!

This was a coast guard helicopter that did the flyover of the stadium....he was a Hokie!!

Since we had a 3 day weekend, we headed on over to Winston-Salem to visit with Hubby's daughter Stacey and her husband Steve.  You can see some trees changing along the drive!  The scenery was beautiful along the rolling hills!

Pilot Mountain, near Winston.  It was called 'Mount Pilot' in the Andy Griffith Show!!

Stacey and Steve had made arrangements for us to go to a play put on in Salsbury, by the community theater that they are members of.  We got to see Dream Girls!!  They did a tremendous job, and they are all volunteers...they do it for the community and seem to have so much fun doing it!  We got to tour the whole theater, backstage and see how it is put together!!  Of course we had GREAT seats, we felt very special!! When it was over, the actors all came out into the audience and visited with everyone! What a blast we had!!

After the play, we went back to Steve and Stacey's and Steve cooked us a great dinner and they showed us pics of their recent trip to Rome and Venice and talked about the trip and what they saw...we just had a great time!! We don't take the time to visit with them nearly enough...we will have to do better, it seems that everyday life just keeps us too busy!!

When we got to our hotel in Winston-Salem, this bus was parked outside!! I was afraid that we were going to have some excitement that night, but all was quiet!! I never knew they had their own RV!!

Hubby's mom likes to decorate the outside of her house with seasonal wreaths and flowers, I went and got fall flowers and leaves to take to her next weekend.  Here is a wreath I picked up for her, I like it so much I might have to get one for me!! Just make a bow and Voila....Fall is here!!  

We go back to VT to play Boston College for Homecoming on the 22nd...I should be able to show a lot more fall foliage then!!  I love the fall!!

::Hugs::

Cheri

Tailgating....Hokie Style!!

"After all, is football a game or a religion?" ~Howard Cosell

We went up to Blacksburg VA this weekend for the first home game at Virginia Tech!! If you don't already know, I have become an avid fan!  Home games for us mean tailgating beginning early Saturday morning, if the schedule works out, we cook out for Breakfast AND Dinner!!  This weekend worked out that way, the game started at 12:30, so afterwards the plan was to have some FROGMORE STEW for dinner!!  Jess had been looking forward to his since she was in India!!

Jess and Brad playing 'corn hole'...(Check out how skinny Brad has become!! He looks AMAZING!!)  He is working really hard to continue with his diet...(even though we (the in-laws) keep tempting him with all this GREAT FOOD!) :)

Hubby and I got out early and setup the site, Jess and Brad came and were able to park beside us, giving us a nice little piece of property for our tailgate!!

Setup and ready to start cooking Breakfast!

 Hubby and I cooked bacon and pancakes, (plain and blueberry) for breakfast!!

Hanging out AFTER Breakfast!!

We were lucky enough to be entertained by the Corps of Cadet "Highty Tighties" as they practiced for their first home game of the year!!  Here is a little 'snipet' for your enjoyment!

Here are the Highty Tighties heading to the game in full uniform!!

Here is the view from our seats!! LOVE IT!!!

Jess and Brad got season's passes too this year....at the 50 Yard line!! How about that for great seats!!

The view from Jess and Brad's seats!!

After we snuffed out Applachian State (66-13), we met back at the truck to start the stew!! We all pitched in to shuck the corn, cut up the kielbasa and adding the flavors and get it to start boiling!!

About the time we got the potatoes and Sausage in the pot with the spices, we looked up and noticed a VERY ominous sky!! 

Hubby quickly got on his laptop and found that we were under a Severe Thunderstorm Warning!!  We quickly decided to pack up and head out to Jess and Brad's to continue our 'tailgate' at their house!! We threw it all in the truck and took off!! By the time we got to their house (10 Minutes) the storm hit BIG time!! Hubby and I got soaked carrying the stuff in from the truck!!  That's okay, we continued our 'tailgate' inside!!  We setup the table cloths and paper platters on the table and continued the stew on Jess' stove!!  I absolutely love to cook outside, but I do have my limits!! :)

Crab Boil, new potatoes and kielbasa sausage...and of course one bottle of beer...your choice of what kind!!

Fresh Corn on the cob, and Fresh shrimp to finish it up!!

Pour it all out into a pan and Dig in!!

The secret to the stew is to add things separately so that it all cooks JUST right!! Of course, potatoes first, then the Kielbasa, let the potatoes cook until ALMOST done, then add the corn, cook (slow boil) for 9-10 minutes....add the shrimp for the last 5 minutes or so!!   I always sprinkle the shrimp with some Old Bay as soon as we take it up... Put butter, cocktail sauce, roasted garlic grinder, salt, pepper and whatever else you want to dress things up with on the table!! It's a lot of fun to make and GREAT FOOD!!


Jess and I are working on the menu for the next home game....in 2 weeks!! I'll keep you posted!!


::Hugs::


Cheri