Back in '93, I got a call from an AU alum on the Thursday night before the AU/Hog game...he wasn't going and wanted to know if I wanted the 2 tickets....I of course asked the wife, she agreed and we lit out from north Ala. on Friday morning.
We stopped to fill up with gas about 15 miles north of the house, and I got in a conversation with the attendant. "We're headed to Arkansas for the AU game", I told him....he replied "I hope you got plenty of clothes". Bumfuzzled, I asked him why and he told me he had just seen the weather on TV, and a snowstorm was headed that way. Wifey got a little cautious here, bet we headed on anyway.
Drive all day, and finally get to Ft. Smith...bought a half a case of beer and checked in a Holiday Inn. I started drinking beer and we both noticed it was getting getting cold in the room....fiddled with the heat...called the front desk...guy came to the room and told us the heat was broke...we said forget it and left....decided to push on to Fayetteville.
I understand they have built a new 4 lane up that mountain from Ft. Smith to Fayetteville since then, but back then it was a 2 laner all the way. Wife driving slow because she's scared of the mountain... it's getting dark... me drinking beer....we're going straight up a mountain on a 2 lane road with no shoulder to pull off on and a long way to fall if you do. Oh, did I mention it's now snowing...heavy snow....Oh, and I gotta pee out 3 beers out by now.
So, we now see a sign in the headlights...."Slow down...10 people killed on this road this year"...the "10" on the sign was like at a baseball park where they could change the number as more cars fell off the mountain. Immediately, the wife slows down her speed from 40mph to around 32, as I decide to pee in the empty beer can I was holding....I decided to crawl in the back seat where I would have more room, and I'm looking back and peeing in a beer can...as I'm relieving myself, I notice a line of cars behind us at least a mile long....I turn around and look and there's no cars in front of us. "Speed Up...You're holding up cars", I yelled. I get the standard wifey answer....something about sticking something up my ass. 3 beers do not fit in one beer can, so I'm pouring pee out the window and filling it back up again....damn, I'm finally relieved and we head on at 32mph up the mountain backing up the traffic more now as it's snowing harder than ever.
All the while, wifey was asking me where we're gonna stay when we get there, and my standard answer was "ah, we'll get a room somewhere" fully knowing I didn't have a clue....never been to Fayetteville. So when we get there she asks me where to go. We could see downtown Fayettville, and I noticed a highrise Hilton or Sheraton...can't remember which, but it was about the tallest building in the city...."Go that way toward that hotel" I told her. Of course, she said "are you kidding, you know they won't have a room tonight"....we go anyway...
While she's staying in the car, I go inside the hotel....It must have been "Hogfest" or something cause I see a bunch of older Hog alum running drunk around the lobby with their pig hats and snouts on....go to the desk and tell the fellow that I don't have a reservation, but I need a room for 2. When he quit laughing, he said "Sir you really should have made a reservation some time ago". I expalined to him I was aware of the reservation system, but didn't have one. "Sir, do you realize it's homecoming here this weekend, and we are fully booked"? "Nevertheless" I sighed.....
All of the sudden while looking down at his books, he says "Wait just a minute", and he walks to the back room. Now, I'd never bribed anybody for anything, but I was desperate as I grabbed a $100 bill out of my wallet and was clutching it in my hand as the guy walks back to me and says..."You gotta be the luckiest fellow in Fayetteville tonight"....couldn't believe it...he had a room on the top floor.
When we awoke Sat. morning, I was like a little kid at Christmas....running to the window to see how much it had snowed.....what a sight! Downtown Fayetteville covered with snow and we had the best view of it all from several stories up.
After driving to Wallyworld and buying boggin's and gloves and such, we headed off to the stadium where we watched AU kick that Hawg ass.....
