Jimindy-In-Indy

I woke around 530am and could hardly believe I had only another hour or so to sleep. I felt fine, just tired. That last hour went by quickly. Although I didn’t really want to, I begrudgingly rolled out of bed at 630am and headed downstairs to get my Sunday underway.

I started a pot of coffee then stepped briefly onto the deck. It was cool but gorgeous. Hardly a cloud in the sky. Once the coffee was ready I enjoyed a cup at my PC. I also organized my personal electronics for our day trip to Indy. I poured and delivered coffee to Mindy, who asked to be woken just before my run, which was roughly 705am. I wanted to be on the road for Indy by 830am.

I wore a short-sleeved shirt, shorts, and my new running jacket. It was somewhere close to 50 degrees. I was comfortable for the entire 3 mile run. I took notice of Darwin’s house, wondering if her got around to replacing that trim board he showed me the morning before near his chimney. Didn’t appear that he got to it.
Mindy was out of the shower by the time I returned from my run. It was about 745am. Before heading up for a shower I made sure that I had the email with Goose the Market’s address in downtown Indy. I planned to stop there in hopes of picking up some Three Floyd’s Gumball Head. Didn’t take me long to shower and dress. I opted to wear my oldest Viking jersey, Warren Moon’s #1, circa 1995. I wore a soft white t-shirt underneath for comfort.

Unprompted, Mindy whipped us up some eggs while I showered. Glad she did. I was hungry. Unfortunately, I was also drowsy and my sinuses were still bothering me, though significantly better after taking a Zyrtec the night before.
I placed 4 bottled waters in my new Viking cooler along with a mini ice pack. We left the house at 831am. According to Google Maps, Indy is a 169 mile drive, and all but the last .5 mile on I-70 west. Mindy agreed to drive initially so I could try and get some more sleep. We both had to pee just 40 miles into the drive. We stopped at the route 72 exit, the 1st of two exits we take for Yellow Springs. What a relief! I never did fall asleep but did rest my eyes. I began feeling a little better as we near Indiana. I asked for a 2nd pee break about 130 miles into our drive. Once again, Mindy had to go too. We stopped at a Burger King about 30 miles shy of our destination. What a relief! Any time I take sinus meds of any sort I have to pee a lot. Just how it is. Funny, I peed right before we left home and then twice on our 170 mile drive. I had to pee again once we parked. Compare that to our 660 drive home from the Outer Banks when I required only one pee stop.

Mindy insisted that I drive us into Indy. No problem. I drove the final leg, or 30 miles. The last time I drove to Indy was 15 years ago on a Time Warner Business trip where we stayed downtown for a conference at the RCA dome. Back then Indy’s downtown seemed eons more developed than our own. We’ve, no doubt, closed that gap some, but they still get the nod. I attribute all of that to having professional sports. I had originally thought we’d hit the Goose the Market carryout before the game. It was supposedly only 2.0 miles from the stadium. Once off the freeway I pulled over at a meter on Pennsylvania Ave to engage my Google Navi app. It’s buggy and took several tries to find a GPS signal. After several minutes it finally grabbed a hold. Looked further than I expected. It was already 1135am. I changed our plans. Wanted to head directly to the stadium.

We asked a couple decked out in Colts garb that parked just behind us how far the stadium was from where we currently sat. They were friendly and shared that it was close – “3 blocks that way and another 3 blocks that way. Said they always park there. It’s close enough and best of all – free! Cool. We double checked the meter kiosk and confirmed it was indeed free parking. It was.

We followed the crowd, though as we neared the stadium people seemed to be going all different directions. And because we were in the heart of downtown, we couldn’t readily see the stadium until we were right up on it. Right away, one will notice how well kept the old architecture is in downtown Indy. Lots of beautiful memorials to see as well. And just as one might expect near an NFL stadium, lot of party venues. Of course we were in a sea of Colts fans, too, but all of them were friendly. As I often do in unfamiliar surroundings, I was a tad nervous and short, just like I am on vacation prep day. Not sure why that is – anxiety? Perhaps.

We made our way up to the stadium which itself is a beautiful landmark. The stadium was extremely loud and lots going on. There was very loud music playing on the stadium sound system and then a love drum core nearby as we passed through the ticket gates looking to find our way to our section and seats. Our seats were in section 613 – the top section, row 9, seats 7 & 8. And while they were high up there, they were right on the 50 yard line behind the Vikings bench. Really, ideal for seeing the entire game unfold. Before we headed to our seats, Mindy wanted something to eat. We each got a hot dog near our section. I took notice of the restrooms, which were there at the entrance to our section as well.

My stomach had butterflies. Felt uncomfortable, really. I chalked it up to the Zyrtec. By the time we were in our seats it was already 1230pm. We watched both teams warming up. I brought two pair of binoculars so we could both play I spy. It wasn’t long before they rolled out an American flag as big as the football field for the singing of our national anthem. The singer, whose name I can’t recall, sang it operatic style. Bad in my book! They had a military helicopter hover just outside the giant sliding window overlooking downtown immediately after. That was cool! The stadium, by the way, has a retractable roof and that sliding window. Both were opened for the day’s game. And why not? The weather was spectacular. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and it was somewhere near 75 degrees. Perfect!

Our seats were awesome save for one thing. Our two seats were between two guys that each weighed more than 300lbs – no kidding. I had no elbow room whatsoever! We made do. Both guys were polite and friendly. A few rows just in front of us was the self-appointed section Colts cheerleader. He was very annoying. But in hostile stadiums I suppose one has to expect it.

The Vikings won the toss and elected to receive. Alright, but my preference was to defer. We took the opening kick-off and immediately marched down the field giving the Colts a good dose of Adrian Peterson and Percy Harvin. I was impressed. If it wasn’t for a few inexcusable penalties I’m certain we would’ve driven for a TD. Instead, we had to settle for a field goal. Oh well, 3-0 is good.

Unfortunately, the Colts drove for a TD aided along by three stupid bone head penalties. It was 7-3. Soon it was 7-6 then 10-6. Then with just a few seconds left in the half, we let them score a TD – 17-6. Oh boy! I remember thinking that this might be a long afternoon.

The Vikings barely touched the ball in the 3rd quarter. I think we had the ball for a whopping 35 seconds. The only scoring was another Colts field goal. It stayed that way well into the 4th quarter. In fact, there was about 5 minutes left when the Vikings began showing some life and drove towards a touchdown. Admittedly, the first touchdown was after lucky break. The ball was tipped twice – once by a Colt and then by a Viking before landing in the hands of a Viking receiver in the endzone - 20-13.

The Vikings held the Colts again and got the ball back with about 2 minutes to go. We drove down the field again and scored the tying TD with 31 seconds remaining. The Colts fans all around us were flippin’ mad! 20-20. Most predicted they’d lose in OT. I quietly leaned over and told Mindy that we left too much time on the clock. 31 seconds.
Sure enough, we made Andrew Luck look like Peyton Manning, allowing them to drive far enough down the field to get within field goal range. Of course even then we helped them along with another bone head penalty. With 8 seconds left they kicked the winning field goal.  We had enough time for two plays, which we drove to their 45 but time expired. The place erupted. I was a good sport and congratulated the fans next to me.
Slowly but surely we made our way out of the stadium, through downtown and finally back to our car. I Google Navi mapped Goose the market carryout again. I didn’t want to leave Indy without trying to score some Gumball Head. Mindy guided me north via Google Navi to the store. It was smack dab in the middle of a gentrified part of town. Lots of old, but very well kept homes. Just my luck, Goose the Market was closed on Sunday’s. I asked my Droid to guide us home. We had to drive a mile or so through a bad area to get to the I-70 east ramp. No biggie.

We both were hungry and had to pee again. We agreed to stop once we cleared the congested part of the city. Can’t recall the suburb where were stopped. The area reminded me somewhat of Lincoln Village back in the day. We headed to McDonald’s but also planned to pop in the Kroger across the street before getting back on the freeway, making one last stop for some Gumball Head. We opted to eat inside. I ordered a double-quarter pounder with cheese. It was great. Mindy had a Big- Mac. I’m betting we were there for no more than 20 minutes.

Across the street at Kroger, we perused the beer aisle. No Gumball Head, but they did have Ranger IPA which a Barley peep was just recommending Friday evening. I grabbed a six pack. While I headed for the checkout line, Mindy headed for the restroom. The kid working the register sadly informed me that he can’t sell beer on Sunday’s. Great! Suddenly, I was glad they didn’t have Gumball Head. 

We’d gone no more than 25-30 miles prior. It’s a straight shot across I-70. Next stop – home! The drive went fast. Heck, the entire day went fast. I was up before dawn and the sun was already setting in my rearview mirror. Mindy phoned Jimaken as we neared West Jefferson to let him know that we were near so he could bring the kiddies home.
We made great time. Our total roundtrip mileage was 345 miles. My gas gauge rested just below half a tank. I was surprised we did so well. Eiknarf was very happy to see us. Mindy walked the pug while I took the trash to the curb. I emptied both the garage and deck cans too, something we have to do only about once per quarter. Believe it or not, I was still hungry. I put the scallops Johnny sent home with us Saturday evening in the oven on the pizza stone for 20 minutes. They smelt strong! The kids complained when they came in.

I checked all the other NFL scores while waiting on the scallops. They were good, though the rebake left them a little tough. They weren’t that way when we brought them home, as I ate half of one last night just to compare to those we were served at the restaurant. It was hard to believe that it was already Sunday night. Where had our weekend gone? Mindy whipped up lunch salads. While she did that, I changed into my PJs then tuned into SNF – Detroit at S.F. I watched only passively having had my fill of football earlier in the day. Mindy and the kids were in bed shortly after 9pm. I was a few minutes later closer to 10pm.