So on Saturday after I posted that first installment of the TR--
We ran downstairs to grab some breakfast. Of course the Mississippi State players were all over the place. Mark had come back up after talking to Todd Blackledge in the weight room and also he got to talk to the head coach of Miss State- Dan Mullen- who was Florida's Offensive Co-ordinator until this year. So he was happy.
We met up with lots of fellow Gator fans in the dining area and sat around drinking coffee with them chatting away.
A Miss state fan- a man with three boys- sitting next to us said - "hey- y'all been over to Florida's hotel to see the players yet?" and we said no- that we didn't know where they were staying. He told us it was 30 minutes form our hotel and told us the name.
We mapquested it, jumped in the car and went to where he told us they were. When we got there, we went around the side of the hotel and they were right in the parking lot, going thru their plays.
YAY!
We jumped out and of course there were cops and security everywhere-- there wasn't any of that with the Miss state players, LOL. The police were telling all the spectators "No Pictures"- but before I heard them say that- I snapped these two---
Tebow was around the corner with the offensive line and the security around him was SUPER tight. So we didn't get up close to him, but we did see him. I did get a couple of the other players to wave to me-- Brandon Spikes and Joe Haden.

Who are my other favorite players. Then they were finished practicing and so they went inside.
I had to use the restroom and so I took the kids inside and found it- but it was behind a velvet roped off area. There were other people in the hallway and as we were going into the bathroom I heard a cop say "CLEAR THIS HALLWAY NOW." so I assumed Tebow was coming thru. We hurried up and finished and I took a peak out the door and there were tons of players filing down the hallway. I opened the door and came face to face with Aaron Hernandez and Drew and Mcat squealed. Mcat b/c she thinks he's "hot"- Drew b/c he thinks he's a dang good player.
(He's massive in person, btw).
So they rushed us out to the velvet ropes and there were a ton of kids standing there with stuff they wanted autographed.
We hopped into the car and headed back to campus.
Some pics of the tailgating scene at Miss State---
we really liked this little college. The tailgating there was REALLY REALLY good.

We were quite impressed. Lots of people and most of them were really nice. We got a lot of genuine "Welcome to Starkville!" and a whole bunch of "Welcome to State, y'all." Which I thought was really nice and classy.
There were only a few really obnoxious fans and most of them were drunk frat boys who were ringing their dang cowbells as we walked past right in our faces. And once one started, they all started.
I had an interesting conversation with one of them, asking him why they were ringing their "bovine bells" when their mascot was a Bulldog.

They acted like they weren't really sure (Duh- even I know why they hold that tradition) and so said It was to "Call the Gators in".
I said "Well, honey we're here, thank you so much for giving us such a grand welcome we really do appreciate it" . The look on his face was priceless. He was trying so hard to be irritating to us and I was thanking him for welcoming us.

You just cannot win a battle in the art of what we call being "nice-nasty" against a Charleston girl. We are taught very young how to do it with style and.........grace. LOL.
So as we were walking the campus- I noticed a group of Gator fans standing near the stadium. I realized that they must have been waiting for the players to come up. We waded thru crowds to get there- and in the next 30 minutes while we waited- the crowd swelled to thousands, easily. We were right up against the Eighteen wheeler-
and the cops came thru and said everyone needed to be on the other side so the buses could come thru.
So we went to the other side and everyone began pushing and shoving b/c they were mad that all of us on the other side had gotten in front of them.
I have to stop here and say that the majority of the people standing there- those thousand sof people- most of them were Mississippi State fans.

We encountered the same thing at Arkansas when we saw the players last year. All of their fans were clamoring, pushing our fans out of the way in order to get a picture of.... you guessed it.
Tebow.

I'll never understand it. I could no more care about seeing, getting a picture of, autograph of- etc. any other team's players. I don't care how great they are. He would be the enemy!!

Herer's a cute picture~
So in all of that pushing and shoving going on- Mark got totally displaced and separated from us. I had all the kids and Drew was getting out of sorts b/c he hates crowds. I looked up and Mark was in front of me on the other side and motioned for me to come over there.
We ran over just a few seconds before the wail of the sirens started. It was like a divine intervention- there weren't as many people where we were- and the buses pulled up one behind the other, right in front of us. And the doors of the buses were right in our faces.
Here they come!
We were standing right at the second bus and as it came around the corner, I looked inside the front and saw Tebow. I told Mark- he's in this one- and it stopped- right in front of my face. If we had've been on the other side-------- we would have missed seeing them all together.
So all the players get off the bus, and the last one to get off was Tim. You should have heard the roar when he got off the bus. Everyone in tandem yelled "TEBOW!" Mark said "Oh my gosh he's like a rock star".
He got off, looked around, grabbed his bag and was escorted inside.
Awwwwwww. cute.
So we went inside the stadium after going to get all of our stuff out of the car and found our seats. We were 28 rows fromt he field.
Gooood seats.
We were allowed to go down tot he field behind the fence and watch as the players wrmed up and I got this pic of Tim--
Here's when a cool thing happened.
Once I got back to my seat, I looked up and Mr and Mrs Tebow, Timmy's parents- were being escorted to their seats- only a few rows down form ours. Drew spied them and asked if he could go talk to them. So down he went with his sisters- and here's some pictures I took-
I went down there as well- and we talked for a few minutes and took pictures all of us together. She is so itty bitty and teeny tiny. I had my arm around her in our picture and she had hers around me, and I thought oh my gosh- she feels like a little bird- how in the world did she ever give birth to Tim??
They both were just so very kind and so interested in what Drew was saying to them. He told them------ this almost made me cry- I don't know where he came up with it-- "Tim is my hero--- he has been such a blessing to all the Gator fans and we have been very lucky to have him on our team."
Awwww. Spoken from the heart of a ten year old.
so we watched the game, hated a few plays of it, but we won and that's what matters, I guess.
Loaded up the car the next day and headed home.
It was a great trip.
Thanks for reading my novel.
hahahahahaha.