Day 14 (Final Day of Driving)

14 days, 13 nights, 5,244 miles, a half dozen hotels, dozens of restaurant, hundreds of songs on the radio we never want to hear again, the Rocky Mountains, the swamps of the Bayou, the plains of Kansas, the big cities, the small towns, various parking escapades with a 30 foot trailer and van, and the sweltering heat and humidity of the southeastern United States in August and we made it! We’re alive! Tired and worn out, but extremely satisfied with the trip.

The trip went great. We didn’t have any car problems, device problems and no tickets! The trip really couldn’t have gone much better. We did come to the consensus that we won’t be going to any restaurants anytime soon. Getting back to a normal way of life will be our sole priority over the next several days. At some point soon we do have to get in the lab and unpack the equipment and look at the data.

On behalf of Seth, Jackie and I, we would just like to thank all of the turf managers and stadium directors for being so gracious. They were tremendous hosts and extremely helpful in the whole process. Whether it be lending us equipment or providing refreshments in the scorching Southern heat, all of the stadiums we visited made our jobs a lot easier. So, thank you so very much.

Day 13 (Driving from Hayes, Kansas to Evanston, WY)

After a very long day of driving, we made it to Evanston, WY (about an hour and a half east of Salt Lake City, UT). Today was really long, but that leaves only a little bit of driving left in the morning.
Nothing really exciting happened today. We were in the zone pretty much all day. We stopped about 3 or 4 times and made some really good time, considering we’re carrying a 30 foot trailer over the Rocky Mountains.

Tomorrow morning we’re planning on getting a really early start. If we get on the road by 7 am we should be back in Boise by 1 or 2 pm. We’re almost home.

Day 12 (Testing at Texas Stadium: Home of the Cowboys)

The last several days here in Dallas haven’t been that hot believe it or not. The last time I was in Dallas in the summer it was oppressively hot and humid. Of course today, the day we’re scheduled to test at Texas Stadium, that Texas heat I remembered came back with vengeance. Texas Stadium is a partial dome. What that means is it’s enclosed over the seating and open over the field. This translates to extremely hot sun beating down on the field [where we were] and no air circulation. Today was our fastest day of testing. We had great incentive to hustle along. Our penalty for staying around too long would have been heat stroke.


Since we finished testing early we decided to get to driving a day early. It was either have two 15 hour days or distribute that time over two and a half days. So we voted to do a bit of driving today. After getting a bit of food in our system, we hit the road again. We put in 8 hours of driving today and made it all the way to Hayes, Kansas. Not too bad. Tomorrow will be a long day since we’d like to make it through most of Wyoming.

Day 11 (Off Day in Dallas)

So with our final day off, Seth and I decided to use our time wisely and do a bit of laundry. We had to wash some of the essentials necessary for the rest of the trip. Jackie was a bit smarter and packed accordingly. Either way we’re all going to just squeak by with enough clean clothes.

Other than that we did a bit of exploring of the city. We went to the West End of the city, which is the historic/touristy end of town, and walked around the "grassy nole" where the Kennedy assassination occurred. I’d been to the site before so I provided the expert analysis of the scene. I provided the conspiracy theories associated with assassination. I’m pretty sure I have a couple convert conspiracy theorists.

We also did a bit of souvenir shopping. Jackie got all into the Texas cowboy thing and decided to get a cowboy hat. Seth got some Texas gear as well. My weakness was the Bass Pro Shop. Jackie didn’t quiet understand why Seth and I were like kids in a candy store in there. And yes I bought stuff there. Stuff I probably don’t need NOW, but some day they’ll come in handy and I’ll thank myself then. Tomorrow is our last day of testing, then the short drive home to Boise on Friday (and by short I mean really really long). Hopefully all the testing goes off without a hitch and we make it back to Boise in one piece. Wish us luck!

Day 10 (Driving from NO to Dallas)

The drive today went smoothly. The first part of the trip had us driving through the Bayou. We drove about 120 miles over bridges through the swamps of Southern Louisiana. On our way through, we didn't see any characters that looked like the ones depicted in that Adam Sandler movie Waterboy. So we can neither confirm nor deny the portrayal of the local people that live in the Louisiana Bayou. One thing that was interesting was the fact that this was the first time in my life I’d ever seen dirt road off ramps off a major highway. That's right, DIRT ROAD off ramps. Not too safe if your going 60 mph with a 20 foot trailer.


These 8 hour days of driving seem to get easier and easier for us. I think we’re actually kind of getting used to it. But don’t get me wrong, if we had some other way of getting our testing equipment to the testing sites we’d be on the next plane going there.

We got into Dallas, TX at about 5 pm and made our way downtown to grab some dinner. Tomorrow we have our final day off before testing and making our final two days of driving. It’s crazy how much we’ve jam packed into this week and a half. But we’re still not done yet, almost though.

Day 9 (Testing @ the Superdome in New Orleans)

Testing today went great. The stadium was extremely close to the hotel we’re staying at, and loading all the equipment went a little easier than previous times. The turf at the stadium was actually just recently laid down and we were the first people to really be on it, besides the installation crew. Getting details on the turf was pretty easy this time around because not only did we have the turf manager, Chad Wilker, but we also had the turf installation director from Sportexe (the company installing the turf at the Superdome).

Being in the Superdome was great. I was really nice to see how they’ve recovered post-Katrina. A matter of fact, it was really nice to see the city of New Orleans recover post-Katrina. The area we stayed in, and the French Quarter from what was told to us, was not badly affected by the storm. But driving into the heart of the city you could still see some of the damage left in the storm’s wake.

Overall I think we all really enjoyed New Orleans. It had great food, entertainment, and most of all, people. We really couldn’t ask for more.

Tomorrow starts another day of driving. We drive from here (New Orleans, LA) to Dallas, TX. It’s about another 8 hour drive to get there. These past couple days have turned out to be a great opportunity to power up and make that final push for this last bit of the trip. Next stop, Texas Stadium: Home of the Dallas Cowboys!

Day 8 (Taking it easy in the Big Easy)

Today’s day off was great for all of us. We were finally been able to sleep in past 7 am and not worry about being somewhere. After breakfast, we took the opportunity to do a bit of exploring of the city. We went down to the French Quarter and checked out some of the historical sites. When we got there we first walked around Bourbon Street. From there, we checked out Jackson Square where a lot of musicians and artists set up for the day. I walked around the square to look for some art to bring back. Seth and Jackie went to the St. Louis Cathedral to see the unique stain glass windows of the cathedral.

Today served as a great way to rejuvenate. It was great to finally sit down and not be planning the next move. Seth got an opportunity reorganize, Jackie a chance to write some postcards and me to catch up on the blog. Tomorrow we’ll be ready to get going again, and finish this second half the trip strong.