By any measure, I live in the middle of nowhere. It takes me nearly 30 minutes to get to a grocery store, which makes it absolutely wild that we live equally far from the second largest football stadium in America. The fandom from Penn State fans is equally impressive as it is terrifying. Our small town would need to borrow many friends from neighboring towns in order to fill our stadium. The actual attendance allows for more than double the population of State College. Six days out of the year, the fandom can be annoying on days when you’re trying to actually do life. On other days, the Fandom is infectious and the students creates a FOMO that reminds me of the FOMO I used to conjure up myself when I was in college.

In an effort to prove that I don’t need to hike every weekend, I took my kids to the cultural phenomenon that is Big 10 tailgating. For over a year they have been asking me when they can go to the giant stadium we can see from anywhere. Today is the day. I introduced them to tailgating as we cooked chili over the stove and tossed the ball in between cars. A memory, I imagine, all central Pennsylvanians should experience more than once.

In an epic piece of foreshadowing, Everest found a four leaf clover before the game, hinting at the successful outcome.