Read the Press Release (Note that the link will take you to the Variety website)

The closest we were to getting into the Super Bowl was about $1000 each and just outside the perimeter of the security fences (see picture above). We didn’t actually go to the game, just too expensive, but we thought we had a good idea that would help us get some tickets. Unfortunately time and supplies impeded the process. Our idea was to make two signs and stand in front of one of the main entrances or parking lots; one sign would read something like this:

“Season Long Fundraiser: $7,000 donated”
“31 NFL Stadium Tour in one season: $50,000 spent”
“Seeing the Super Bowl with two free tickets: Priceless”

The second sign would read:

“Need Two Free Tickets”

We thought it was unique signage that told some of our story and might get people to laugh and at least stop to talk to us. Actually, we thought this was genius! So with that plan in mind, we set off to the nearest Publix, one mile away, on foot. To our surmise, Publix did not have any poster board, so we booked it back to catch the train, and were pretty discouraged at that point. The triple decker train was packed full of mostly Saints fans but almost entirely of people going to the Super Bowl. But I was impressed with the process from getting to the stadium from the train; they had scores of free buses to take us to the stadium. It was much cheaper (only $5) than taking a taxi. I had a parking pass but no car (no RVs were allowed for the Super Bowl), so I gave the pass to our neighbors in the RV park who were going to the game.

So with no real plan and a few beverages in Nolan’s murse, we just mainly took in the sites and people and asked around for tickets. We found one for face value ($800) but that was only a single. I trusted that guy because he was sitting next to the ticket, I think one of his friend’s bailed or couldn’t make it in. Some others were a little more suspicious so we were hesitant to purchase anything. We ended up having no luck, so we took a cab to the Hard Rock Casino complex to watch kickoff and the game. Table limits were down, people were scarce, and we had a direct view of the game and audio, so it was a unique way to watch the game. And with that, our season came to an end with an anticipated machtup of the two best teams in the NFL. I don’t need to recap the game since many people had a better vantage point than I, but the Saints fans were pretty excited about their first Super Bowl appearance and win. We constantly heard “Who Dat?” all night long. We are actually heading to New Orleans now to take part in the Victory Parade today that starts at 5pm. It should be a week-early Mardi Gras party tonight.

On the eve of the Super Bowl, we just got some internet and some time to write a little recap of the Pro Bowl and the South Florida sunshine (or lack thereof). My father was able to join us for the annual NFL All-Star game being played on the mainland for the first time in some many years and the first time being played before the Super Bowl. It was an excellent opportunity for me to see the game since it is difficult to get to Hawaii where the game is usually played. The morning of the game, I was invited to a Fan Forum setup by the NFL to talk about the Pro Bowl and the NFL season in general with the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. It was a unique experience afforded to me by the AZ Cardinals because I had season tickets and a ticket to the Pro Bowl. Luckily I was able to bring guests and Nolan and my father enjoyed hearing one of the most powerful men speak about football topics such as the Pro Bowl, tailgating, NFL International, salaries, increased costs, and a slew of other general debatable topics. Afterwards, Mr. Goodell was kind enough to take a picture with Nolan and I as we presented him with a 31 Stadiums T-shirt. Unfortunately he didn’t have an Super Bowl tickets for us, so we are still in search of those highly coveted tickets.

After the Fan Forum, we headed down to Sun Life Stadium and parked next to the commissioner of another sort, Commissioner of Tailgating, Joe Cahn. He has a new show out all about tailgating on TLC, called Tailgate Takedown. We setup our final tailgate there by him and enjoyed the spit that the south Florida weather was giving us. So we packed up the gear and headed to the game to see a stadium filled with star players and very little tackling. I thought that it might degrade the game a little not having the Super Bowl players playing, but the game is far from competitive. So with that, it is more of a vacation for the players and their families to go to Hawaii every year. I think it is better for the fans and NFL in general to have the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl in the same city. Another good point that might make the game a little more interesting would be more emphasis on charitable organizations receiving donations for outstanding plays, possibly going as far as each individual player has their foundation he is supporting. The game will never garnish the effort that the season warrants, but there are small ways to make it exciting and fun to watch. We stayed until the third quarter and the rain was too much. AFC, on the shoulders of Matt Schaub, won the Pro Bowl this year and I am happy that I got that chance this year to finish the season in South Florida for two weeks.

Now we will continue the search for the ever elusive Super Bowl tickets. If you are reading this and know anyone in South Florida with a few extra, let us know. Thanks!

So after a few weeks of rest, recovery, and a marathon, I am back in Florida with Nolan and preparing for the Pro Bowl. We are in South Florida, and then tomorrow, on Sunday, we have a special event the morning of the game. Since I was a season-ticket holder for the AZ Cardinals and I was going to the Pro Bowl, the NFL asked me if I wanted to attend a Fan Forum with the NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell. Of course I said yes and will be taking Nolan and my father with me to attend on Sunday morning. We are excited to give our input and then to watch the Pro Bowl that evening. We will have the RV in the RV Lot 8, west of Sun Life Stadium (yes, the stadium changed names again). We look forward to the celebration of finishing up the goal of 31 stadiums in Miami with the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl.

Here are some memorable quotes from the trip. Some are toned down a little for our PG audience, and others might be paraphrased slightly due to the lack of memory we had.

1) “I like your plaid shirt!”

2) “I don’t want to park over there, I just really want to valet this!”

3) “No, I don’t want your lettuce. I’m not a rabbit!”

4) “It doesn’t matter if it’s small, you are not a deer, you are a human, it still smells!”

5) “I want to punch mother nature in the mouth!”

6) “What marathon?”

7) “Beer bong for the lady?”

8 ) “He was great. Cutie too! Didn’t notice that. His eyes, didn’t notice those either. You’re married, not dead. Was he married?”

9) “Hope I didn’t scare you last night. HAAHAHAAHAHAHAAhah!”

10) “Bear Down! Bear Down, devil woman!”

Now that some of our favorite moments are out of the bag, we will talk about some of our worst, most embarrassing, or most disappointing moments of the four-month long trip.

1) A trip consisting of over 30,000 miles in four months will definitely put some strain on any vehicle. I thought that with relatively new RV with low mileage would handle the stress. Unfortunately I was wrong and while traveling the Oregon coast, we experienced some RV issues, namely it was blowing white smoke in abundance out of the exhaust. We took it in for service and were told that the engine was going out, but it could make it to our next destination but with a lot of white smoke. We ended up driving through San Francisco during rush hour with the white-billowing smoke. Truckers, strangers, and environmental-friendly Prius drivers pleaded for us to pull over. Others were more blatant with their disgust and gave us dirty looks and the finger, it was quite embarrassing. The assessment we received earlier that day was wrong and the RV barely made it to LA and would not go any further. It ended up having to be towed to Phoenix and the engine and transmission were rebuilt.

2) A few things that go along with the RV lifestyle are not very luxurious. One of those is dumping the grey and black water about once to twice a week. Well one time at the beginning of our trip, Nolan was dumping the water as I was holding the end down with my foot. The hose was actually two hoses connected together and Nolan was lifting up on the hose when the two hoses disconnected and some poop water got on his foot. It was pretty disgusting, but hilarious at the same time. We both gagged a few times, but looking back on it, you had to laugh. Another time, we were at a dump site at a gas station and had the hose hooked up when we started dumping. Well we didn’t realize that the dump was full and it started to back flow around the dump site. We had to quickly shut it off but some of the bad water still over-flowed. It smelled pretty terrible and we high-tailed it out of there!

3) One aspect of our trip was to see the nation and some of the national parks. That is one of the reasons we decided on the schedule because it brought us from Minneapolis to Seattle, so we could see Mt. Rushmore, Yellowstone, and Glacier National Park. We also decided to do it early so weather wouldn’t hamper us. Little did we know, that we would hit a blizzard in early October in the Northwest. It really limited our site-seeing during that week. First we stopped by Mt. Rushmore and it was a beautiful day and we got some great pictures. Then we headed for the East Gate of Yellowstone. On the way we hit a snow storm, but it didn’t seem too bad just yet. Further and further up the mountains just before the pass, the snow was getting heavier and we saw a car off the side of the road that obviously slid off. At that point we asked ourselves if this was a stupid idea, and of course we ignored our intuition and drove on through the thickening snow. We saw a tractor-trailer ahead stopped and a highway worker in front of him who waved us on into the other lane. We didn’t think twice about why the trucker was stopped and kept going. Well there was a small hill just after and I tried to gain as much speed before going up it. We didn’t quite make it to the crest of the hill and started sliding backwards towards the trucker with a foot of snow on either side of the road. Luckily the brakes held about halfway down the hill and Nolan and Aaron helped guide my turn-around to retrace our route back to the highway. After experiencing a little anxiety from the slide, I was entertained to see Nolan, with his converse, sliding and falling down on the icy road as he guided me. Needless to say, we only saw a little of Yellowstone and missed out entirely on Glacier National Park.

4) Biloxi! That is all I can say!

5) On our way to Pittsburgh, we picked up a few friends for the first weekend. So we had five people sleeping and living in the RV for about five days. Little did we know that having five people in that close proximity is not a good thing, especially when you throw in little sleep, tailgates, and new cities. On the third day, everyone was in bad shape with some sort of sickness. The RV was nicknamed the “Petri Dish” because it held all the germs of these five people and no one could overcome the sickness while on the trip. I think someone almost died! Once we dropped the other two off and were able to get out of the RV a little more, we got better. It was a rough start, with the strenuous schedule and colds, nonetheless.

6) When we got our first oil change in Savannah, GA, the guy told us that we needed to get the plugs and harnesses replaced to get better gas mileage. I thought that was strange since we tuned the engine prior to leaving. Well it took us about a week to find a place that would work on the engine. So we rolled into Dallas on Thursday evening to drop off the RV at a Southwest International. We thought this was a great deal since we wouldn’t have to worry about parking it in downtown Dallas. Well a few days later and a couple calls, we found out the RV wouldn’t be ready until Tuesday. That was still okay, but we wouldn’t have the RV for the Dallas Monday Night game. Not a huge deal as long as we got this work done. Well Tuesday turned into Thursday morning, and after spending four extra days in hotels and having a rental car, we started the RV only to find the engine temperature soaring through the roof. It was raining and now it seemed that the International repair place did not do anything except waste our time. Another hour later, they finally figured out the problem and we were off. At first, the engine seemed to be doing better, but then it just sounded worse and worse. The batteries were dead and it continued to seem that this company did nothing but cause us heartache and trouble. I still wonder if this stop helped exaggerate the engine problems we had about a week later.

7) The publicity we received for the trip in the beginning was incredible and more than we ever expected thanks to Veteran Tickets Foundation. We had several interviews even before we left Phoenix. When we got to Tallahassee, we received a message from ESPN about doing an interview or story on us. Well we didn’t have tickets yet to the game and they wanted to know where we were sitting. So we purchased three tickets just prior to the game and left a message with the contact. That was the last we heard from them. I think we got back to them too late and our chances with ESPN were thwarted for the first weekend, and as we learned, for the rest of the season. It was pretty amazing being contacted by ESPN the first game, but it was highly disappointing that we never did get on the ultimate sports channel. We remained hopeful but our optimism with getting on ESPN dwindled every weekend.

8 ) Having an RV makes it a little difficult to just pull in to a friend’s house and spend the night. There is a lot to worry about with parking and making sure it will fit. Most places we were able to figure something out. Other times we were left with only a few options: Rest stops, Walmart, and Flying J. Walmart made sense because we had to get supplies for the tailgates and the trip, so it was easy and convenient. We only got kicked out of one Walmart lot in Monterey, CA, but we did come across a few “No Overnight Parking” signs that prolonged several already late nights. Flying J’s were also convenient because they have RV lanes for gas and also Propane and a dump site. So we spent several nights in the RV friendly Flying J parking lot. Rest stops were pretty horrible to sleep in because it was terribly loud and usually no one slept well. There were a few times that the only option was a rest stop. Our worst experience was when we encountered a blizzard in Montana and couldn’t drive any further, so we stopped at a rest stop and turned the generator on so we would stay warm. Besides all the truckers idling all night, the carbon monoxide detector started beeping in the middle of the night. We didn’t know if it was our generator exhaust or the diesel trucks causing the detector to pierce our ears, but we turned the generator off and froze the rest of the night. Luckily no frostbite, but it was a miserable night.

9) Driving through Texas three times!

10) There was one more reason why Dallas left such a bitter taste in our mouth and we almost lost one of the touring members because of this. We rolled into Dallas late and after dropping off Aaron and our stuff at the hotel, Nolan and I drove to the Southwest International shop. Again it was late, so no one was there to help us with parking so we drove around trying to figure out where to park. Nolan tried to pull into one parking spot but realized it was too tight and backed out. He didn’t pull out enough and then started to drive forward and the rear passenger side back swung wide and hit a barrier pole creasing the back panels. He told me he was done and flying back to Florida. Luckily several others and I talked to him and convinced him to stay. The creased panels were still functional so basically we just added a racing strip to that side. A little battle damage was expected!

The best of the worst…

Worst Outdoor Stadium: Oakland – Alameda Coliseum, Raiders

Worst Indoor Stadium: Metrodome, Vikings (Twins are getting a new stadium, what about the Vikings?)

Quietest Stadium: Georgia Dome, Falcons (Both teams didn’t make the playoffs)

Worst Game: Seahawks vs. Jaguars (Blowout)

Worst Tailgate: Titans vs. Chargers (Christmas evening and freezing cold; not a good combination for people to come tailgate)

Worst Popcorn: Dallas Cowboys (it was a little burnt and had a lot of kernels)

Worst RV Parking Location: Gainesville, Gators (Unless you are a booster, we had to park 2 miles away)

Worst Interview: Cincinnati (I don’t think it ever aired, it was that bad!)

I’ve done some running in my days, but never a marathon. In fact, the most I’d run before last week was an Army ten-miler in Iraq a few years ago, and I was hurting for days after that. So needless to say, I was a little worried about the PF Chang’s Marathon I promised to run. I was afraid for my nipples bleeding, my feet blistering, and hitting the “wall” between miles 17 – 20. I trained a little during the four months on the road, and when I say a little, I mean maybe two to four times a month, so the looming marathon was heavy on my mind the last weeks of the trip. I even considered dropping to the half depending on how the training went the two weeks prior. I did a few two-a-days and then went for a long 13-mile run. I made the mistake of trying new socks for that run and got huge blisters on either foot. That sidelined me for a couple days, and then I did a few low-mileage runs before I jumped back into the long run. I did a 15-mile run the Tuesday before the marathon and felt pretty good, so I made the decision to run the full. It was also easier to make that decision because we had a lot of support from friends and family. The best marathon decision I made was taking three days off after that 15-mile run and then doing a slow 4-miler on Saturday followed by drinking 96 oz. of beer watching the Cardinals play a terrible game and lose to the Saints. People always say you should “carbo-load” before a long race, so that’s what I did! Aaron’s training went about the same minus the blisters.

Well, race morning came and went and my nipples never bled, my feet never blistered, and I never hit the proverbial wall. The race went well and Aaron and Kate finished the half marathon and my dad and I finished the full marathon. It was a great accomplishment for all of us and am excited to have the strenuous race behind me. My family and friend’s support really did give me the motivation to finish the marathon, so thank you to those that pledged. Below are the official times of Aaron, Kate, my dad, and I.

Official 2010 P.F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half and Full Marathon Times for the Thompson Family:

Aaron: 2.32.17
Kate: 1.50.44
Leon: 3.52.28
Nate: 3.39.45

Watch the video (Note that the link will take you to the KMBC website)

First off, I would like to thank everyone for their support during the last four months for the 31 Stadiums Tour. We have raised over $5,000 and have had an incredible journey going around the nation seeing friends, family, football and promoting two excellent foundations with the CPT Joe F. Lusk II Memorial Fund and the Veteran Tickets Foundation.

Now, my brother and I have signed up for the PF Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Half and full Marathon, respectively, in Phoenix, AZ on 17 January. Yes that is less than a week away and the training originally planned has been lacking significantly. I have been running a few times the last two weeks (before that it was pretty sporadic) and it is going about as well as you can imagine. The reason I write is that we are looking for pledges per mile to support our marathons. Or you can pledge one amount to donate. No amount is too little, and if you can help support us and the Foundation, the sign up is under the “Pledge” tab above. The more we raise per mile, the more motivation I will have to run the entire marathon. Just to let you know how the training has been going, here is a list of the last few weeks and my run times:

24 Dec: 4 mi 30:45
25 Dec: 3 mi 22:30
28 Dec: 100 m x 10
1 Jan: 2 mi 15:00
2 Jan: 5 mi 37:30
6 Jan: 5 mi 38:45
6 Jan: 3 mi 24:00
7 Jan: 8 mi 1:02:45
8 Jan: 13 mi 1:45:00 (now I have two big blisters)
10 Jan: 3 mi 25:15
11 Jan: 3 mi 24:15
11 Jan: 10 mi 1:23:15
12 Jan: 15 mi 2:08:00

As you can see, I have not put in the recommended mileage, but will continue to train this week and have fun completing the strenuous test of the 26.2 mile marathon. Thanks again for your past support and helping me accomplish some incredible goals.

Every time you mention our trip to someone, they always ask what is the best stadium, the best tailgate, the best fans, or the best overall experience. It is a very difficult question to answer since we are at one game for one day and there are so many different variables that can define the “best” about a stadium, a game, the fans, or a city. Because our experiences are defined by who was at the tailgate with us, what the weather was like, what teams were playing in the game, and what parking lot location we found, I will provide a list of some of our best moments while traveling the country. These are in no particular order and are from my own view point. Aaron and Nolan’s best moments probably differ slightly. So here we go:

1) In St. Louis we did an interview on the Saturday morning prior to the game. It was a little tough getting up early and looking presentable after going out the night before. But it was a blessing that we didn’t fully realize until the next day. The owner of the Rams, Lucia Rodriguez, saw the interview and told her people that she wanted to meet us. So on Sunday, we got a good parking spot next to the stadium (I contacted a parking guy the week before so he was expecting us), and immediately had people coming up to us saying they saw the news and loved the story. We had fire fighters, police officers, former military, and everyone else asking about our story. It was hard to set up the tailgate we had so many people coming by. Then some of the Rams personnel found us and told us that we were going to be escorted onto the field to meet the owner. We had to leave the tailgate early, but we went on the field and were introduce to Mrs. Lucia Rodriguez and then she presented us with Rams jerseys with CPT. LUSK printed on the back. It was truly a remarkable gesture that left me speechless. Aside from that, we were invited to the Clarkson Jewelers Club, were interviewed at half time on the field and aired on the Jumbo-Tron, and watched the third quarter from field seats. Amazing!!

2) In Indianapolis, we contacted the “Blue Crew” to find parking and a good tailgate location. Immediately they were on board with our cause and invited us to hang out at their bar on Saturday and then to park in “their” (they lease a lot for football season) lot for the game on Sunday. They also invited Aaron to be a judge in their annual cook off. We couldn’t have hand picked a better location and group of people to hang out with prior to the game. They welcomed us with arms wide open and even presented a Blue Crew flag signed by its members, an Army Flag, and an American Flag. Also, they contacted the Colts and got me on the field for pre-game activities and a slot on the Jumbo-Tron that aired just before the end of halftime and told our story to the stadium. It was an awesome experience and just made us wish we had contacted more fan clubs along the way.

3) Greenman in Colorado Springs, Phoenix, Baltimore, Green Bay, and Philadelphia!

4) In San Francisco, we had just gotten the RV back and picked up a few lovely ladies and were feeling good about the trip again. We had also been in contact with personnel from the 49ers and also an assistant coach, Dave Fipp, who provided us with pre-game field passes, a personalized note, and a yellow ribbon pin with the 49er logo on it (only 100 were made and handed out at that game). Once we were on the field, I got the chance to meet Coach Fipp and talked to him for a few minutes before he had to go to the locker room. It was a very cool experience and he ended up giving me a game ball.

5) We did a hand full of interviews, but there was one in particular that led to big things that we did not expect to happen. In Kansas City we met up with a few amazing people that worked for the VFW and they connected us with a news station out of KC and we did an interview at the tailgate prior to the Chiefs game. The interview went well and then we had a great time watching football and spending time with our newly found friends. The next day we were contacted by CNN and they aired the interview the next day. CNN also wanted to do a live interview the next week with Heidi Collins. It was a huge step in gaining publicity and getting our name and cause out there. That interview in KC also brought about the interview in St. Louis and some other possible projects.

6) Having grown up a Notre Dame fan, I’ve never been to the campus. I’ve always wanted to go to a game there and this was an opportunity to do just that. We drove from Chicago with a few friends and my parents and their friends also came to the tailgate and game. We had a great tailgate area, a little far from the stadium, but plenty of room and had an awesome time with a lot of people stopping by. Then we went to one of the best games of the entire tour sitting pretty close to the field. The whole experience being in such a storied stadium and being apart of that great game, was unreal and unforgettable. And for that to be my first experience at Notre Dame, I was impressed. And then the next day we went to the Bears game with about twenty friends and family and had one of our best tailgates of the tour. Pineapple Pina Coladas, spicy hot mustard, brats, American Dogs, Tri-Tip, shrimp poppers, peanut butter fudge, great people and front row tickets. Forget about it!

7) The best thing about being from the Military Academy is going to the Army / Navy game. It was my first game as an alum and we went all out. Many friends flew or drove in for the game and we had an amazing time. No sleep, lots of food and beverages, and great friends made the weekend amazing. It was so amazing that Sunday I had a difficult time keeping my composure.

8 ) Our first field experience happened in Jacksonville. We were went out to the field about two hours prior to the start of the game. We were there so early the players were still in shorts practicing. We were all pretty excited and walked around the entire field and even took pictures with cheerleaders. It was even better because the Jaguars were playing the Cardinals so we got to see our home team run out onto the field. Also, we got to stay on the field for the National Anthem and a flyover. It was truly amazing to be on the field for both and I had goose bumps the entire time. It made me feel so proud of where I had come from.

9) A reunion of sorts happened on Nov. 15 in Glendale, AZ when we returned to the valley and had many friends and family and some of the Veterans Tickets posse come join us for the tailgate. VTF hooked us up with a parking spot near Westgate and we enjoyed ourselves with great food and great company. We even got to go on the field for pre-game activities. It was a fun game and tailgate and the Cardinals won!

10) The most professional tailgate setup happened in Washington DC for the Redskins game. We all worked together to set everything up, cook the food, and enjoy ourselves with a few friends. We had the satellite TV outside for the first time in months; We had food warmers with cheese steak, dip, and meatballs; We had the water pong table going strong throughout the tailgate; and we had the heater stoked up to maximum to keep our guests warm. We had everything setup before all our friends came by so we looked like professionals. And we should, since it was three months into the trip. Three strangers stopped by and hung out the entire time prior to the game, we were that good! Actually they were awesome and gave us some great tickets.

And here is my best of list…

Best Outdoor Stadium: Lambeau Field, Packers

Best Indoor Stadium: (Tie) Lucas Oil Field, Colts and U. of Phoenix Stadium, Cardinals

Loudest Stadium: Louisiana Superdome, Saints

Smartest Fans: Indianapolis Colts

Best Game: Notre Dame vs. Washington

Best Tailgate: Chicago Bears

Best Popcorn: Notre Dame

Best RV Parking Location: Eastern Market, Detroit

Closest RV Parking: Oakland (though we did not have the RV, we parked the Batmobile with the RVs and right next to the Stadium)