Our family road trips following the Texas years have been far and few between as my cousin Martin used to say, but March Madness brings the passions that are often an impetus for wild yearnings to be a part of something bigger than our living rooms. Before you could say Go Gamecocks, Carl and I were passengers in our Grannymobile being driven by Pretty to watch our Gamecock women’s basketball team play in the Sweet Sixteen in Albany, New York, a mere 853 miles from our home in West Columbia, South Carolina.
We were welcomed by North Carolina, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York on our trip – but Virginia’s Blue Star Memorial Highway pet rest area was Carl’s personal favorite. Pretty and I oohed and aahed over the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia between the Blue Ridge mountains to the east and the Alleghenies to the west while Carl slept in the back seat. He missed breathtaking vistas during that 140-mile portion of the trip but didn’t seem bothered when he woke up in West Virginia.
Gamecock mascot Cocky cheers with fans at team send-off in their Albany hotel on Game Day, Baby!
Associate Head Coach Lisa Boyer and me in hotel lobby
(hm. I possibly had cocktail before this picture was taken)
Head Coach Dawn Staley leads team through hotel lobby to bus
basketball buddy Brian, me and Pretty in MVP Arena on Game Day
basketball buddy Robert with new Gamecock friends we met at game
Brian, Robert, me and Pretty thrilled as Gamecock women wins in Albany send them to 2024 Final Four!
Consider the 2023-24 South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team which at the end of the regular season + the SEC tournament + the first two games of the 2024 NCAA women’s basketball tournament + the Sweet Sixteen + the Elite Eight = the only undefeated team on the road to Cleveland, Ohio, for the Final Four. Go Gamecocks!
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We’ll be watching March Madness this weekend at home from our living room – still trying to catch our breaths from road trip – catching up with laundry, too.
(Thanks to Robert, Brian, and Pretty for photos used today.)
I'll Call It Like I See It 
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