Seattle Kraken vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Antoine and Nikki got a hold of me back in August asking if I was interested in the Penguins game scheduled for leap day the next year and I told them of course.  They were able to get me two tickets, one for me and one for Mom since we are the Penguin fans.  He kept me in the loop until it was time to transfer money/tickets. 

As it got closer to the game, Antoine got a hold of me and sent me the tickets.  I got money from Mom and Venmo'd Nikki the money for both tickets. I asked my boss if I could take a half a day so we could get up to Seattle at a decent time and she said that would be fine.  Mom also took part of the day off so we could get up there early.

Both, the Kraken and the Penguins, were coming off of huge wins earlier that week.  The Kraken with a shut-out win against the Bruins, which was a big deal, and the Penguins with a huge OT win over the Canucks, who were leading the western conference.  I was hoping they would bring that excitement and competitiveness into the game we were going to.

That day, I worked until 11:30, I went over to Rhonda's house to let Murphy out, it was kinda raining so I wore my rain jacket, let him do his thing and then went home to eat lunch while I waited for Mom to get to the house.  She finally rolled in, and we left in the Escape around 1ish.  We hopped onto I-5 north and was glad to see hardly any traffic and no stopping!  Yay!  

We saw the Seattle skyline as we rounded the last long corner on I-5.  I was hoping traffic through the convention center area was chill.  Thank goodness it was.  We got off at the Seattle Center exit and followed it to the parking lot right outside of MoPop and the entrance near the Armory.  I got out and paid for the rest of the day which was pretty cheap during the weekdays.  I got my receipt and placed it on the dashboard.  I asked Mom where she wanted to go first since we arrived earlier than I thought we would.  We got into town around 2:15 which was pretty good.

I saw there was a new virtual cache, International Fountain (GC9P6WK), at the fountain near Climate Pledge Arena, so we walked there first.  I read what I had to do and got the answer and then the subsequent photos we needed to prove we were there.  It was a chilly day, but I am glad it wasn't raining. 

Mom had talked me into getting onto the Monorail to head to Pike's Place Market and the Waterfront.  We purchased our roundtrip tickets and found a seat.  It took us less than five minutes to get to Westlake Center.  We got off and wandered around the shops inside.  Last time I was inside of Westlake Center everything was closed. 

We made our way down to the market and spent some time inside.  It's always fun to see the seafood, flowers, art and other wares people were selling.  We walked down to the gum wall and down Post Alley to the stairway that took you to the Waterfront.  The breeze was even cooler.  We went into a few shops, I bought some stickers from a souvenir store, Mom took some pictures, and we decided to eat at the Ivar's Fish Bar for a late lunch/early dinner.  The seagulls were intense!

We finished up our food, went into a couple more places and then walked back up Post Alley and back to the market.  We started making our way back to Westlake Center so we could get back on the Monorail to the Seattle Center.  We wanted to get to Climate Pledge a little earlier, so we didn't have to rush with the crowd or have to stand in lines.  We didn't have to wait long to get back onto the Monorail and within a few minutes we were back at the Armory.  We made the short walk over to Climate Pledge and found an entry to go through.  I scanned our tickets on my phone, we quickly went through security and into Climate Pledge.  I still can't believe how nice of an arena this was.   

We walked to our seats and the game was going to start in about 45 minutes.  It was fun watching both teams warm up...the pucks hitting off the walls and the posts echoed throughout the rink.  Hockey is just so much more epic in real life than on the television.  They finished up warm ups as the seats filled up with fans.  There were a lot of Penguin fans in Seattle.  No matter who ends up winning, both Mom and I win because we were rooting for both teams.

We watched the hype up video, the starting line ups and was excited to see the face off at center ice to begin the game.  Sidney Crosby was usually Pittsburgh's face off man, and he generally wins a little bit more than half of his face offs when he attempts them.        

As the game got going, you could tell both teams just got off of a big win.  The defense was pretty tight.  There was a lot of back and forth with some great plays that didn't end up in the goal for either team.  The Kraken ended up on a power play and Oliver Bjorkstrand scored a wonky goal past the Penguin's goalie Tristan Jarry with about 10 minutes left in the first period.

The foghorn blared and the Seattle fans erupted!  

The rest of the first period was more back and forth until the clock hit zeros.  We were up 1-0 and Mom and I stayed in our seats during first intermission.  We watched the entertainment they had on the ice until the players came back on and did a quick warm up. 

The second period was scoreless but there were some exciting moments and some almost great goals.  Both defenses were on that night which made for an offensively boring period.  I wanted more goals and action, but I know every game is different.  I do enjoy body checking up against the boards, especially if it leads to a fight.  Sadly, no fights this time around.

Both Mom and I sat at our seats during second intermission. We were both a part of the giant flag that moved its way around the bottom level of the arena. It was fun to be a part of that. I was hoping for a bunch of scoring in the third period. 

We didn't get a lot of scoring, but Alex Wennberg scored a powerplay goal 8 minutes into the third period.  The Penguins started playing with a little more authority to make up that 2-0 deficit. I was really hoping the Penguins would score at least one goal, but time ran out and Grubauer picked up his first shutout in almost two years.  The Kraken grabbed the points to stay relevant in the playoff race.

The Penguins had 33 shots on goal, 16 hits and 8 penalty minutes while the Kraken had 28 shots on goals, 11 hits and 6 penalty minutes.  Pittsburg had 3 powerplay opportunities while Seattle had 4 and they took advantage of theirs.  Faceoff wins for both teams were about even.  The shutout ended the Penguin's 3-game winning streak.

We walked around the arena and then back out to the Escape, which was nice we didn't have to walk that far but getting to I-5 south took a bit.  Once we got onto the freeway, it was pretty much smooth sailing home. 

It was a great day to be a hockey fan!  I was excited to watch both my teams play, especially Crosby!

Next Adventure:  Crab Feed and Grandma Karen's Birthday Party

Parkland Geocaching with Bev

I had a free weekend and wanted to go out and do something.  Ben was on shift, Mom was at Saturday sew and surprisingly, it was a decent weekend in the Pacific Northwest for late February.  I asked Bev a few days prior if she wanted to go on an adventure to Parkland to pick up some caches.  She said that would be fun and she was happy to get out of the house for a little bit.  We chatted about which caches we were going to get, what time I would pick her up and where we would start.  Both she and I made a list of caches we needed since hers differed slightly than mine did. 

I got up, got ready and headed out to Rainier to pick up Bev around 10 a.m.  She was ready to go, and Bob told us to have fun.  We both hopped into the Escape and drove out to Parkland.  We chatted about random things along the way.  I wanted to start at PLU and get the Adventure Lab done first.  We found a place to park along the street and walked to our first location.

It was chilly while we walked around campus gathering the answers to the five waypoints. I've been to PLU twice before, once for a yearbook thing in high school and a few years ago I went to the ICSEW conference with work.  The Adventure Lab took us to some sculptures, the clock tower and some really cool buildings.  It ended up being a nice walk around campus.  We went back to the Escape, checked the next closest cache we both didn't have.

After Game Party (GC8H170) was right up the street outside of Farelli's Pizza.  We parked along the side of the street and got out.  We walked to the coordinates and had a heck of a time zeroing in on it.  I checked just about everywhere and then had an idea.  That is where the nano cache was, up high on the crosswalk signal.  I had to jump up to get it.  We opened it up and saw that the logbook was full.  We squeezed our names on there, rolled it back up, got the lid on it and jumped back up to put it back. 

We got back onto Hwy 7 and headed south to the Starbucks.  We pulled in, parked and got out to find Third One From North (GC9ZRET).  It was a fake sprinkler head.  It was a quick grab once the muggles went in to get their coffee.  Bev made the find. 

We moved onto the next one, Bad Golfer (GCABG50).  We drove down Brookdale Road to Mayfield Park.  We found a place to park alongside the potholed dirt road, got out and made our way to the posted coordinates.  According to the past logs, it looked like people had trouble spotting this one because it blended in well.  I told Bev it was probably going to be up in the branches of the Douglas Firs, and it was going to be hard to spot.  There was a guy, his daughter and a dog playing fetch while we looked for it.  We looked and looked and looked.  We were pretty close into throwing in the towel when Bev got a good view of it.  You really had to be in the right spot to see it.

We got back onto Brookdale Road for Fighter (GCAB9JH).  It was at a really busy intersection but luckily, there was a small gravel lot nearby so we could park safely.  This cache had several DNF's so I told Bev that we might not have a good chance, but we were sure going to try.  There was a ton of trash in the area and the coordinates were terrible.  I really had no idea where to look.  I managed to make my way around to the fire hydrant and I moved some garbage around with a stick.  I actually thought the cache was garbage when I poked it with a stick.  I could not believe I found the cache.  I told Bev, we signed the log, and I got a picture of it just in case the cache owner needed proof. 

We got back to the Escape and looked on the map to see where the next one was.  It was in the cemetery off of 138th.  Spirit Quest:  Trinity Lutheran Cemetery (GC9PRGE) was almost on the backside of the cemetery.  We found a place to park and went in through the gate and followed the road to the cache.  There were some people there visiting their loved ones.  We made our way to the coordinates, and we made the grab.  On the way back, I unfortunately, stepped in some dog poop.  I hate it when pet owners don't clean up after their dogs!!  I tried my best to get it all off the bottom of my shoes before getting back into the Escape.  Ughhh!

Our next stop was at Lucky's, a hamburger joint, off of Hwy 7, to grab Get Lucky (GCABQVC).  The place was busy, so we had a hard time finding a parking spot.  We parked off to the side where the mud puddles were.  I got out and used the mud puddles to rinse the rest of the dog poop off my shoes.  We started looking for the cache and had a really hard time zeroing in on it with the coords.  The coords took us to the corner of the fence each time.  We didn't see anything, so we moved out our search radius. Once we did that, we found the red bison tube hanging behind Lucky's bus.

We checked the map again and saw there was one over in Gonyea Park, near Tammy's house.  My brother also used to play baseball on these fields as a kid, so I've been to this park a few times over the years.  Grammie used to call it gonorrhea park. We found a place to park and got out.  We noticed a guy and his son were hitting balls at the field closest to us.  We almost got hit by a foul ball.  It took us a while to find Hey Batter, Batter (GCA6ZKP).  We almost gave up, but we did eventually find the nano after some hardcore searching of the bleachers.

Not too far away from the park, we stopped at a Bridge Too Far (GC737D1).  I got out and found it myself because Bob and Bev found it years beforehand.  It was a quick grab across from where I parked the Escape.

The next one, 1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (GCACTTK) was at the intersection of Tule Lake Road and Spanaway Loop.  We parked at Washington High School and walked over since that was the safest place we could have parked the Escape.  It took a little bit to get over there because we had to wait for the crosswalk to change.  This cache was favorite point worthy because of the fish artwork and the faceplate cache that blended in nicely with the surroundings.  I could see how newbies could miss this one.

We backtracked a bit for the next one, mostly just because it was easier grabbing it on the way back through, GRC (GCACTA9), was another park and grab.  It was a 3D printed tube the cache owner had hidden inside of a guardrail.  It actually took me a few minutes to find because they hid it in an obscure spot along the guardrail.  I got our names on it and put it back how I found it.

We continued down Tule to Parkland Prairie (GC3NCT6).  It was a small nature preserve with a tiny parking lot.  This was another one Bob and Bev previously found.  She sat in the Escape while I went out and grabbed it.  I got to see a lady walking her cat on a harness.

We got back onto Hwy 7 and drove south to Sprinker.  They were remodeling the play fields, so the parking lots were torn up and there were gates everywhere. Luckily, the parking lot to where we were going to enter the forest was available.  We've both been here in the past to grab caches but now a lot of them have been archived, making room for new ones to be placed. We made our way to Geo Gnome (GCA0X7V).  It was a little over a half a mile which was not too bad.  Sadly, any park you go to in this area has garbage tossed around. We made the find and walked back to the Escape.  There were other caches in the area, but we didn't have a lot of time to get the others, so we saved them for another time.

Afterwards, we ended up at Spanaway Lake Park, just on the other side of Military Road, so Bev could use the restroom.  We thought about grabbing the cache in the park but decided not to because of the walk.  We also saved this one for another time.

We did have time for a couple more before heading home, so we chose to go to Enchanted Island on Spanaway Lake.  I've been out this way one other time, many years ago.  We followed the GPS to the island.  Bev told me that her grandma lived near Enchanted Island and pointed out where the house approximately was on the opposite shoreline. She said she had a great time hanging out there as a kid. Once we got onto the island, we found a place to park, Bev stayed in the Escape while I got out and attempted to look for Enchanted Island (GCA1FQP).  The coords were awful.  They bounced all over the place.  I finally looked at some spoiler photos after wandering around and coming up with nothing.  I finally got to the correct bush and found the black bison tube hanging off one of the branches. 

I asked Bev if we should get one more and she said yes.  We looked at the map and saw one over by the old Kmart complex.  We got onto Hwy 7 and continued south. Cache Cloud (GCAK9Q2) was on the highway side of Happy Nails and Spa.  We found the cache very quickly and got our names on it.  Bev found 17 caches and I found 19 for the day.  It was a great haul.  

We got back onto Hwy 507 and stopped in Roy to move my cache to the city park.  I figured it would be safer at the park than in town.  Bev and I picked up the cache from a few weeks back and drove to the city park.  I had no idea there was a park out there.  I ended up hiding it under the footbridge so no one could see it and it was covered up from the weather.  I took some coordinates so I could update the cache page when I got home. 

We drove into Rainier the back way and took Bev home.  I hung out for about an hour chatting about stuff and visiting.  I headed back into Lacey shortly after.  I got home, fed the kitties, changed my shoes and went grocery shopping since we were out of food.  I went to Costco first, then Walmart and finally Winco and to home. I unloaded the car, made some food in the air fryer, watched the Kraken lose, logged the caches, talked to Ben and Mom, did some laundry, got some reading done and then went to bed.  It was a long day.

Next Adventure:  Seattle Kraken vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

Ben's Picnic Birthday Party

I asked Ben several months ago what he wanted to do for his birthday.  I sorta kicked out a BBQ/picnic theme (even though this is the wrong time of the year for that kind of a theme), and he said sure. I always have a hard time getting him to come up with themes or things to do when his birthday comes around.  We came up with a day on the weekend to celebrate it and asked people to set aside that day to come over.  We ended up picking Saturday instead of our usual Sunday to accommodate everyone from out of town.

I asked Ben what kind of BBQ food he wanted, and we talked about possibly doing our own burnt ends. We looked into it and decided we didn't have the equipment, time or the real know how.  We then looked into some of the BBQ places in the area and that if the price was decent. We decided to get three proteins from The Flaming Pig in Tumwater.  Nicole, Lindsay and I were going to try this place on one of our "lunch meetings" when we worked at work, but Covid ruined that.

The day before, I went to the store and grabbed all the food we needed to make ourselves and decorated part of the house.  We would have to decorate the rest the next day because we have naughty cats.  I got a corn muffin mix, stuff to make Oreo pudding pies and a pair of small watermelons to cut up.  Once I got home from the store, I made quick work with making the corn muffins, the Oreo pies and cut up the watermelon. I set out the cans of beans so I wouldn't forget about them. 

Ben invited Josh to come over too, and he was going to bring some tomahawk steaks.  Our understanding is that he was going to prepare them at home and finish them at our house.  

The next day, we got up, finished up the decorations, got the table cleared off and made sure we had everything.  Ben drove into Tumwater to pick up the food.  I paid for it with my hard-earned dog money.  Josh arrived and there was a miscommunication with cooking the steaks.  Our BBQ wasn't clean yet, so he had to make them on the stove instead.

Everyone started to arrive, but Ben's family was late for some reason.  She was in charge of the potato salad, plus she made some cookies, just for fun.  When they finally showed up, we made fun of them for being tardy to his party.  She added to the party fund jar and brough Ben's Christmas present which was a gun case for his airsoft rifle.  It apparently took up too much room in the car when we went to the beach house during Christmas. 

I had set out the corn muffins, the watermelon, beans, the chicken, pork and burnt ends and corn and found a place for Trish's potato salad.  I told everyone that food was done.  Everyone grabbed their baskets and filled it with food.  Everyone loved the ant decoration I bought from Amazon.  It looked like they were carrying food away.  I had stuck strawberries onto them.  Ben and Josh got the steaks done and added them to the food table.

We ate our food, talked about weird stuff and had hockey playing in the background.  It's always nice getting together.  We asked Erika questions about the baby, we briefly talked about the wedding, upcoming trips, moving and other things as they came up in conversation.  We cleaned up and I got the pies out of the freezer so they could thaw out a little bit.  People sat in the living room and watched hockey for a little bit.  

We gathered up Ben's presents and he found a spot on the couch to open them.  My brother, sister and grandma ended up getting him some junk food because they didn't know what to get him.  So, he got a bunch of Dr. Pepper, Twizzlers nubs, Chex mix and some peanut butter cups.  I told him that's what he gets for not giving people ideas.  Haha.  We all had some Oreo pudding pie and loitered around for a bit. It hit mid-afternoon and everyone was ready to go home and enjoy the rest of their weekend.

We thanked everyone for coming over and Ben and I cleaned up the house.  I had an idea to go try a new(er) brewery in the area that I have been following on social media for a while. It is called Matchless Brewing, and it is out in Tumwater.  We piled into the Escape, and we headed out.  It was kind of hidden away in the industrial part of Tumwater over by the Pick-a-Part.  We did manage to find the right building and we went inside.

We both ordered a beer, I got the Triplecicle.  There weren't that many different beers to choose from, a lot of IPA's.  We aren't that big into IPA's but that one would have to do.  

We played rummy, drank our beers and chatted about wedding stuff.  We were only 5 months away and still had a lot to do.  Afterwards, we went home and enjoyed the rest of our weekend.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Next Adventure:   Parkland Geocaching with Bev

Super Bowl LVIII Party: Chiefs vs. 49ers

We've been holding a Super Bowl party here since the 2021-2022 season.  Let's recap the last eleven Super Bowls of where we were, who we were with and what we ate.

2012-2013 - Ravens and the 49ers.  I remember the power going out in the stadium during this game and Baltimore prevailed. I was watching the game with Mom.  We made some homemade pizza, had chips and dip.

2013-2014 - Seahawks and the Broncos.  I was so excited for this game.  I wanted the Seahawks to win a Super Bowl so badly.  This was my first Super Bowl I spent with Ben.  We went over to his friend's Walt and Wendy's house to watch it.  They had quite the spread of food, prizes and decorations.  They went all out!  I really thought this game was pretty evenly matched.  I was expecting a close game.  The game was not close, and the Seahawks curbed stomped Peyton Manning and the Broncos 43-8.  Defense wins championships.

Ben and I went to the Super Bowl parade on the Tuesday after the game.  Once was enough for this lifetime.

2014-2015 - Seahawks and Patriots.  I hate Tom Brady with a passion.  We watched the game over at my parent's house and we ate nachos.  Ben came over to watch the game with us.  We had this game won until the last drive.  We made a huge mistake that everyone will always remember.  They should have handed it off to Lynch on 2nd and goal.  We were so disappointed.

2015-2016 - Super Bowl 50.  Broncos and Panthers. We were happy to have the Broncos win this game because we were so sick of how whiney Cam Newton was.  We also suspected that if Peyton Manning won, he would retire.  Ben and I watched it with Mom over at her house.  We had nachos again and enjoyed some of the weird commercials.  The Broncos did end up beating the Panthers and Cam Newton threw a tantrum on the sideline. Too much dabbing and not enough football. 

2016-2017 - Patriots and Falcons.  We went over to Walt and Wendy's house again.  Again, they go all out for the Super Bowl parties, lots of food, decorations, etc. We ended up purchasing a dining room table and chairs from them since Ben and I didn't have one for our new place and they were getting rid of their old set.  We were really hoping the Falcons would hold on to their giant lead.  We watched some pretty impossible plays made by the Patriots over the course of the second half.  The Patriots were supposed to win and sadly, they did.  It was a very stupid game that went into overtime.  We drove home in the snow with a new dining room table and chairs.   

2017-2018 - Eagles and Patriots. This was the first time we were invited over to Liz's mom's house for their Super Bowl party.  I went over there with banana bread and stuff to make nachos.  Ben drove separate because he had to go to work.  There was a lot of food and a lot of people. I had no idea there would be that many people.  I met her mom, aunt, sister, brother and her nieces and nephews. I had already met Darren and their kids.  I found out Liz's brother was a Patriots fan, so we really hoped that the Eagles showed up so we could rub it in his face.  It was a wild game, and it went down to one play called the Philly Special.  A trick play that sealed the Super Bowl win for the Eagles.  I was so happy that the Patriots lost the Super Bowl.  We celebrated loud.  I thanked Liz for the invite.

2018-2019 - Rams and Patriots.  We went over to Liz's mom's house again.  This time Mike and Sandra were also invited, and Mike likes the Patriots.  Gross. I learned that many people attended this event, so this time I brought banana bread, brownies, cupcakes and the ingredients to make nachos.  Her mother and aunt made tamales and Sopas. Both were amazing!  Hands down, this was the worst Super Bowl I have ever seen, and we all survived the terrible play call from our (Seahawks) last Super Bowl.  The game was boring, the two teams played terrible, and the score ended up being a measly 13-3.  I thanked Liz and her mom for hosting. 

2019-2020 - Chiefs and 49ers. I rooted for the Chiefs because I hate the 49ers. I honestly was excited for a Brady-less Super Bowl.  The game was pretty average for the most part, nothing that exciting nor exceptional happened.  We invited Josh over for nachos.  Heather would have come but she was at work.  Erika came out of her room a few times to eat some food but had no interest in the game. The Chiefs beat the 49ers by 11 points.  

Then Covid happened and it ruined everything including our sports.

2020-2021 - Chiefs and Buccaneers.  This game no one cared about unless you were a Chiefs fan or a Tom Brady fan.  Yes, Brady decided he didn't want to be retired anymore and wanted to go to another team, so the NFL rallied behind TB to make sure they got to the Super Bowl. I was so angry that we had to suffer through another Brady Super Bowl.  JUST GO AWAY!  Ben and I had a quiet afternoon with the game on, but we were both working on other things such as chores, hobbies and eating nachos.  I was hoping the Chiefs would show up and break Brady's legs, but that sadly didn't happen.  It was another uneventful game.  The Buccaneers took that one 31-9 and nobody cared.

2021-2022 - Bengals and Rams.  We were pulling for the Bengals since they have not won a Super Bowl and the last time they made it to the Super Bowl was 1988.  We were hoping to see a different Super Bowl winner this time around. We invited Mom Dad, Josh, Heather, Trish, Ed and Amy. Doug was in and out from his room. We had croissant sandwiches, all the sandwich fixings, chips and cookies.  The game was super disappointing because it seems like the NFL has a way of letting things happen to sway the game to the team they want to win.  The Rams spent a lot of money to win this Super Bowl, and it happened for them with some suspicious calls that went their way in the 4th quarter. 

2022-2023 - Eagles and Chiefs.  Our TV literally died a few days before the Super Bowl, and we had already invited people to come over to watch the game with us. It's a good thing we still had Erika's Germany TV in the extra bedroom.  We pulled that out and set it up on one of my wooden TV trays.  It wasn't the prettiest set up, but it did the job. We made pulled pork in the crock pot, served them on slider buns, Josh made mini burgers, we had chips, Heather made a dessert, and I made Nutter Butter football pudding cups. The food was pretty good.  Ed, Amy, Trish, Mom and Dad also came. Doug made an appearance.  The game was pretty average up until the 4th quarter again.  It went down to a holding call that went the Chiefs way and they were able to kick a last-minute field goal to win the game by 3.  This was also the first time we played the grid game.

This year, 2023-2024, we decided to host another Super Bowl party and invite everyone over for a baked potato bar.  I am trying to make it different, so we aren't having the same thing every year.  I had Heather and Josh bring chips and dip, Mom made tiny pigs in a blanket and some Valentine's Day cookies. I made an invite on Facebook and invited the rest of our guests just so we knew how many people were coming.  

The game started at 3:30 on CBS and we had to watch the Chiefs and 49ers in the "Swifty Bowl", which we weren't too thrilled with, what the nation really wanted to see was a Detroit/Ravens and what I wanted to see was a Detroit and Bills Super Bowl.  The halftime show was Usher.  

I cleaned the house, moved tables around, decorated (slightly, since the cats would get into it) and went to the store the day before.  I made sure to grab all of the stuff we would need for the food.  I spent some time making some banana bread on that Saturday as well.  

The day of, we got up around 10 and started finishing up the house and the decorations.  I put the tablecloths onto the tables and made sure Wade stayed off of them.  Ben and I got the potatoes cleaned, stabbed, oiled and wrapped up. We made about 12 of them put them on sheet pans and set them aside.  We did a few more preparations and then Josh and Heather arrived around 1.  We made fun of them for arriving so early. 

Trish, Ed and Amy showed up between 1:30-2:00.  Trish helped me make the cookie dough dip because she asked if I needed help with anything.  We got out the graham crackers and tried it out.  It was addictive. I got the potatoes into the oven around 2:30 and got the potato toppings ready to go.  We had chives, green onions, chili, cheese, sour cream, butter, salt and pepper.  I made little labels for each ingredient and dessert, so everyone knew what was in each bowl. Once the potatoes were done, I let them cool off and put them into some large bowls and set them on the table with everything else.  Doug and Kenyatta arrived just before the game started.  Mom came after the game had started and Dad showed up almost halfway through the first quarter.    

The first quarter started off scoreless in Vegas with a first drive fumble by the 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, a punt after a three and out with the Chiefs first possession and two punts by each team.  It was rather uneventful.  At the start of the second, the 49ers finished off their drive (it was cut short because of the end of the first quarter) with a field goal by their kicker, Jake Moody.  The 49ers lead the Chiefs by three.  The game was still very young.

The Chiefs next drive was promising, moving the ball 66 yards in four plays, they found themselves on the 49ers nine-yard line.  The ball was fumbled and recovered by the 49ers.  I bet this made Chiefs nation a bit nervous since it should have yielded in an easy touch down. Oops!  The next two possessions ended in punts for each team.

Erika and Zac stopped by to pick up some Valentine's Day cookies after grocery shopping in the second quarter.  They didn't stay for too long but ended up eating some of our food. 

The 49ers next possession ended in a 67-yard touchdown by McCaffery resulting in a converted extra point that extended their lead 10-0.  There was less than five minutes left in the half, when the Chiefs finally put together a successful drive.  They managed to get a 13-play, 65-yard drive right before the end of the half by their kicker Harrison Butker, who launched one between the uprights.  We went into half time with the 49ers leading by 7. 

Wade came out a few times to see everyone.

The halftime show was entertaining and many of the songs that Usher sang brought me back to middle school and high school. The commercials were hilarious, as usual. 

The third quarter in Vegas was a lot of back and forth with mistakes by each team.  Neither were able to progress the ball.  The Chiefs next possession ended up breaking a Super Bowl record on the longest field goal made, 57-yards, cutting the 49ers lead by 4.  San Francisco's next possession ended up in a three and out. Once Kansas City got the ball again, it was short lived, punted and with a huge mistake by the 49ers, the Chiefs ended up with the ball at the 16-yard line.  Mahomes threw it to Valdes-Scantling resulting in a touchdown and a made field goal.  The Chiefs took the lead, 13-10.

The 49ers took their possession down the field in 12 plays for 75 yards and took the lead with a Purdy to Jennings touchdown pass.  The point after was blocked by Kansas City's linebacker but they led in the beginning of the fourth quarter 16-13.

With a little under 10 minutes to go in the 4th, Mahomes fumbled, recovered and then threw an incomplete pass on the play. Somehow, they continued down the field, all the way to the 3 yard-line and he was sacked on 3rd and goal.  They brought in their field goal kicker, and they tied the game 16-all with more than five minutes left in the game.  

San Francisco started on their own 25 and moved the ball down the field with many incomplete passes by Purdy.  The pressure must have gotten to him. They were able to get it close enough for their kicker and he made a 53-yard attempt, putting the 49ers up by three with less than 2 minutes left in regulation.  We were all getting nervous because we really didn't want the 49ers to win but we didn't want the Chiefs to win either.  It was a lose-lose situation. The Chiefs had one more chance to win the game.  They made it down to the 11-yard line with 10 seconds to go but failed to get it in the end zone.  They went for overtime when Butker tied it up at 19 with three seconds left.  The 49ers ended up taking a knee.

In overtime, the 49ers possessed the ball first making their drive down the field to the 9-yard line to kick a field goal.  Then the Chiefs responded by driving 77 yards in 13 plays, to set up a first and goal on the San Francisco 3-yard line.  Mahomes passed it to Hardman sealing the deal for Chiefs nation.  The last overtime game was the 2017 disappointment between the Patriots and Falcons.  This was the first overtime game since the NFL changed the overtime rules for playoff games so that both teams get at least one chance to possess the ball in overtime even if a touchdown is score on the initial possession. 

I handed out the prizes to those who won the grid game, everyone grabbed their stuff and went home.  Ben and I spent some time putting the food and tables away.  I got the dishes loaded into the dishwasher and we went over the living room with the vacuum.  Another Super Bowl down.  We will see how next year plays out.  

Next Adventure:  Ben's Picnic Birthday Party