September 26-27th , 2015
Facts about Homecoming
Homecoming is an annual tradition of the United States. People, towns, high schools, and colleges come together, usually in late September or early October, to welcome back alumni and former residents. It is built around a central event, such as a banquet and, most often, a game of football, or, on occasion, basketball, ice hockey or soccer. When celebrated by schools, the activities vary widely. However, they usually consist of a football game played on a school’s home football field, activities for students and alumni, a parade featuring the school’s marching band and sports teams, and the coronation of a Homecoming Queen (and at many schools, a Homecoming King). A dance commonly follows the game or the day following the game. When attached to a football game, Homecoming traditionally occurs on the team’s return from the longest road trip of the season. The game itself, whether it be football or another sport, will typically feature the home team playing a considerably weaker opponent. The game is supposed to be an “easy win” and thus weaker schools will sometimes play lower division schools.
What happened…
Andrew writes: When we arrived in Bozeman yesterday, I thought it would be a typical one-night stand with our Warmshowers hosts and then we would be off again. It seems that more and more often, our hosts really enjoy hosting and showing us around. In this case, it was Nick and Leslie, both avid climbers. It’s the weekend for these two, so we took it easy in the morning, with Amanda and I taking the lead making breakfast for everyone. Then in the afternoon, I hopped in their car and we drove south to Gallatin Canyon to go rock climbing.
I had climbed a half dozen times both at a gym, as well as outdoors, but I had never before climbed with traditional gear, which includes little wedges and blocks manually inserted into the rock face at random to keep you from falling. Leslie started us off on a route called “Diesel Driver”, which is described as follows:
This is the legendary sandbag of the Canyon. It is really 5.10b. Scramble up the low-angle dihedral to a ledge and then continue up and left on the crack. Pull through the small roof and follow the broken cracks all the way to the top. Gear to 3.5″.
The hardest climb I can remember doing was a 5.9, and then only once. My cycling has gifted me with terrific thighs and calves, but little in the way of the upper body strength needed for climbing. So it was with a little bit of trepidation that I donned my borrowed climbing harness, and too-tight shoes, and set off on my climb. As with cycling, climbing can be more about the journey than the destination. Over 90 minutes, this journey was spiritual, physical, mental, and really fun. There were a few times where I felt guilty for taking so much time out of Nick and Leslie’s day, and I would look down to see them glumly sitting on the ground below, Leslie belaying me. Part of my role was to take out the “gear” that Leslie had inserted into the rocks, and I could barely open and close my hands because of the lactic acid buildup in my arms, let alone clutch the side of the mountain with 3 points while trying to manipulate one of these small metal mechanisms out of a tiny hole. On the really difficult parts I wanted to cry, I wanted to scream in frustration, I wanted to quit; but somehow I just kept going, at my own pace. And so, while I was jubilant when I finally reached the top, I was also very happy to have my feet back on the ground again at the bottom.
Nick was next up; he was done in 10 minutes. Sigh.
We headed over to another route, this one was a bit easier, Nick and Leslie were up and down in no time at all, and I wondered how I would fare. It was 45 minutes this time, and the climb was a lot more fun, particularly since the “crux” or hard part was at the beginning, and then I could take my time to enjoy the rest of it. When it was all said and done, I think we had been gone for six or seven hours. Amanda had gone shopping and toured the town while we were away, and she bought me a “disaster” blanket, which I hope will keep me warm in the mountainous terrain up ahead of us. I guess it’s called a disaster blanket because it would normally be handed out to victims of natural disasters. To look at it though, since it is made up of recycled materials, it does sort of look a little amok.
Sunday being a day of rest, we let Nick and Leslie go out and do their thing, while we spent the time getting all of our kit together for Yellowstone National Park. Ok, we also watched a football game on the laptop. Then we headed out on the town and Amanda took me on a tour. Bozeman is a really nice city, definitely a college town.
The hospitality we received from Nick and Leslie was above-and-beyond, as they allowed us to stretch out our stay for three nights, and they kept us entertained the entire time. I hope that their planned adventure to van, bike, and climb down to Mexico and points beyond works out for them, and we see them again down the road.
Amanda writes:
Hanging out in Bozeman was awesome. It’s one of the first places that I’ve thought ‘I could live here’. Of course the cost of living is out of reach, but it just had such a good vibe. Beautiful homes and well kept heritage buildings. I walked around town while everyone else climbed. I went to the second hand store and found a couple of great shirts and some Ortlieb add on bags that we had wanted. Then I rode my bike over the college to see about getting into the homecoming game. While tickets were completely out of the question, the tailgating was pretty cool. I really enjoyed exploring the town.
Outside of that over the couple of days we spent there I was able to do laundry, and just relax and watch some football and baseball. I was also reminded by some posts on Facebook that it has been a year since my brother died. While I almost feel badly for typing it, I wouldn’t say my life is much different without him. The reality is that we lived very different and separate lives. The only difference for me is that sometimes I feel like he is there with us. Jesse was always so outwardly emotional. What I mean by that is if something was pleasing to him, he wouldn’t hold back on letting the world know. For example if you come around a corner and see an amazing view, he’d blurt out something like “Holy shit! Check out that amazing freegin’ view – that is incredible!” And as he said it he’d be yelling it at the top of his lungs. Some days when I fee like saying that I figure he’s beside me egging me on. Over the last year I know some of my family has struggled with coming to terms with his passing. Part of that struggle stems from his cause of death being unknown. When he first died we thought he may have died from an overdose. After the autopsy and investigation it was determined he did not die from that. In fact he only had prescriptions in his system that were prescribed and he didn’t have any recreational drugs in his system. Sure he had a few more beers in him that would be recommended but I find some relief in knowing he didn’t overdose. While the autopsy report just said ‘undetermined cause’, I figure it was his body just saying; I’m tired. Not the worst thing and I hope he didn’t struggle. I also hope that going forward that anyone in my family that is struggling can rest easy soon. In the meantime I do hope that Jesse is able to join us on our amazing journey.