Nomad Life - Day 58

Many months ago, I made plans with John to attend the Notre Dame versus Arkansas football game on this day.  Actually, the game (along with a flight I have in October out of Los Angeles) factored heavily in the decision to being my Nomad Life.  As a result, it felt very strange to be waking up for this milestone!  I was out of bed by 0500 (without an alarm) and spent about an hour reading and doing Duolingo exercises.  After getting gear together and donning Notre Dame clothes (and hats for both me and John), we were ready to depart Bella Vista (0730).  First, though, we headed over to Thaden Airfield in Bentonville, where we planned to eat breakfast in the shadow of many General Aviation aircraft.  Since the restaurant, Louise, didn't open until 0800, we had time to walk around on the boardwalk trails near Lake Bentonville - there were lots of birds singing nearby on the beautiful morning!  Strangely, we saw a huge number of Tesla Cyber Trucks parked nearby (we learned later that they were connected with an upcoming Airshow).  Once the cafe opened, we ate breakfast (I had eggs benedict).  Our waitress was the happiest and cheeriest person I've yet met on the trip and she expressed her excitement about her job at the airfield.  We were finished eating just before 0900 and headed south out of town on SW I Street.  On the way, we passed Game Aerospace, which specializes in amazing composite stunt aircraft design and manufacture.  Once we were on I-49, we drove south to Fayetteville with minimal traffic until just before we reached the University of Arkansas.  After waiting in a major slow down on a two lane residential street, we started seeing people walking towards the football stadium and it gave us clues that there was some parking in the area.  First, we tried to take advantage of some lots that advertised their spaces for between $25 and $40 - but all of them ended up being full.  Instead, we ended up parking in a residential neighborhood that was next to the Dollar General on Garland Avenue and then walked a short distance to the stadium.  On the way, we encountered lots of Razorback enthusiasm but also saw a lot of green and blue shirts.  Since we still had almost an hour before game time, John and I walked around in the tailgating area, looking for ND fans, but were ultimately unsuccessful.  Instead, we saw lots of Arkansas fans enjoying tailgaters and by-invitation tent parties - it was very crowded!  At 1015, we entered the stadium on the west side (it was easy to get inside there) and located our seats after climbing almost all the way to the top of the stadium.  The weather was spectacular, with clear skies, a light breeze and temps in the mid-70s.  During the following hour, the seats around us filled with Notre Dame fans but the rest of the stadium turned a bright crimson (with tinges of white) as the vibe amped up in anticipation of the game starting.  As the National Anthem played (1110), we were treated to a wonderful fly-by by two F/A-18 Super-hornets (which I believe were from the VFA-143 Pukin' Dogs).  Once the game began, Notre Dame took an early lead and the temps began to climb.  The game was very entertaining and it was fun to watch the home team fans doing their chants of “Wooo Pig Sooie” (known worldwide as a Hog Call) but I commented to John that Arkansas didn't seem to have a very enthusiastic (or fearsome) fan base in attendance.  He replied that he had no frame of reference because it was his first College Football Game.  It was great, then, that he was able to go with me!  At end of first quarter, we went to explore the end zone balcony (cooler and different views than our nosebleed seats) and get some beer.  Unfortunately, we found found huge lines everywhere we went.  As a result, we ended up standing in a line for almost a full quarter of the game.  Again, the lack of fan enthusiasm was on display and it was actually difficult to tell there was a game going on inside the stadium (it was sooo quiet).  John brought up the scoring page on his phone and it was clear that there had been a series of Fighting Irish successes.  By halftime, Notre Dame had taken a sizeable lead and we watched people (mostly in red or white shirts) walking away from the stadium.  Our wait for the beer was finally over, just before the third quarter began, and I realized that I was no longer hot and sweaty (the tunnel where the beer was for sale was cool and pleasant).  Despite our inability to get food (those lines were just as bad as the beer lines), I felt recharged by the time we returned to our seats.  During the second half, we were treated to a much slower pace of play (clock management) but saw some more scoring.  We also got to see the aircrews of the F/A-18s and cheered when two of them revealed their Notre Dame shirts that had been hidden by their flight suits.  Unfortunately, we also saw a horrific injury to a Razorback player...  The stands throughout the stadium were mostly empty by the fourth quarter, although the Arkansas band played valiantly throughout the losing battle.  There were enough Fighting Irish fans that it almost sounded like a home game at times - I convinced John to stay until the end of the contest and there were high fives all around after Notre Dame won.  With the game complete (1430), we decided to walk back to our car and, because we'd parked in a really good location for departing Fayetteville, had very little trouble accessing I-49.  After clearing some traffic near the city limits, it was mostly smooth sailing back to John and Laura's home in Bella Vista.  After we arrived (1545), I relaxed, did laundry and visited with John's neighbor, Tom H, who was an amazing artist, private pilot and author.  We had a great time chatting (lots of mutual interests and he had a painting of a T-2 Buckeye).  As I was leaving, he gave me one of his books and autographed it for me.  Back at the house, I did some blogging and finished up my laundry.  At 1800, John and Laura drove me to Bentonville for dinner.  Prior to our departure, there had sort of been a debate about which restaurant (they had several favorites) but they eventually settled on a place called Pedalers Pub, which was a crowded pizza venue with a well stocked bar.  The restaurant had delicious pizza (I pigged out a bit on that because we'd missed lunch).  I also tried several different beers from the Ozark Beer Company (two were directly recommended by our server).  As we had all week, we enjoyed some great conversation and talked about upcoming travel plans.  We were finished eating by 2000 and returned to John and Laura's.  After arriving, I spent some time packing up my car and thanking my friends for the wonderful visit to their town - we made vague plans to get together again soon and I hope we can make it happen.  I played with the dogs for a little while and then did some reading - bed was just before 2230.  What a great week in the Natural State!