So today is day one of my trip to Dallas with my Dad to see the Cowboys play the Bengals.  Everything has been INCREDIBLE!!!

We left Burlington super early (Dad drove up last night) and got to Dallas around lunch time.  We were kindly picked up at the airport and wisked to the DFW Marriott where we checked in.  Luckily our room was ready early and we were able to get right in.  We then met Ronni and the rest of the Maximum Sports Connection staff as we checked in with our tour group.  Much to my surprise we not only picked up our dinner and game tickets, but we even got some shwag: a great duffle bag (my new gym bag), t-shirt and lanyard (which would get us into the Maximum Connection events).  After a tiny bit of settling and some lunch, Dad and I headed out to tour the (still under construction) brand-new Cowboys Stadium!  This thing looks like a space ship in the middle of the prairie!

And let me just tell you, we had some interesting travel companions with us!  On our way to the stadium, someone asked the bus driver if he would stop for a beer run, and guess what - we did!  There were probably 50 people on the bus, and at least half of them invaded Beverage City.  The bus driver thought it was hysterical, and they all tipped him handsomely!  As part of our Cowboys Stadium tour we were meant to make 3 stops (you can't get inside yet, as it's still under construction).  At the first stop 3 of our tour companions wandered away to Wal-Mart (about half a block away) to do some shopping.  Why, is beyond me.  Unfortunately, it took the bus driver SO long to round them up, that we didn't get to do the other two stops on the tour, so this is the only side of Cowboys Stadium we saw.  But it's HUGE!  It will seat 80,000 and can expand to 100,000 for events such as Super Bowl LXV!  We did make one other pit stop at The Cowboys Pro Shop Outlet, but we don't need to talk about that. 

Once back at the hotel Dad and I passed the time until dinner watching Myth Busters and waiting for the Cowboys to arrive!  Turns out that the DFW Marriott is where the entire team stays the night before the game.  Even more amazing, turns out that their secured parking lot and entrance were right outside our window!  Dad and I sat and watched as the players arrived and walked right by us!

Those are some sweet rides!  Kevin Burnett owns the black Corvette with the license plate reading SACKED and the CXT (which I think looks like Optimus Prime) belongs to Marc Columbo!

At dinner, things got even better!  Dad and I had opted for the "big" package, which included dinner at the hotel and autograph signing with a "mimium of three players".  We were totally expecting the third string long snapper.  Well, we got three defensive starters: Kevin Burnett, Jay Ratliff and DeMarcus Ware!  On top of that, two alumni players came as well: Charlie Williams and Larry Brown (Super Bowl XXX MVP)!  There were folks from other tour groups buying tickets to get into our dinner!

First there was a radio show where audience members (including yours truly) got to ask the players questions.  Which was followed by an autograph signing session.  We lucked out, Dad selected a table on one side of the room, near the back.  Turns out we were called up to do the autograph signing by table number, and we were sitting at number 3!

That's nosetackle Jay Ratliff in the brown and linebacker Kevin Burnett in the Yellow.  

The dude in white is DeMarcus Ware (he didn't think I was allowed behind the table since he was in the middle, so he told me to hop up!)

After dinner our alum players showed!

  Here's Dad with Charlie Williams and his SUPER BOWL RING!

  That's me and Larry Brown!  And my awkward attempt to take a one handed photo while holding on to the HUGE ring!  It was so blingin' that it flashed back at the camera - thus the poor quality of the photo.  All of the players were super awesome!  I was surprised, they were super relaxed, easy going and so gracious!  They were interested to chat with us and take photos and didn't make us feel like crazy fanatics at all.  It was super cool.  Once dinner and all the autograph signing was over Maximum Sports held a raffle for 30 people to get to tour Valley Ranch (the Cowboys training facilities and offices) the day after the game.  You had to be present to win, and many folks had gone to bed, but we ended up being lucky and made the cut!

So far, this trip kicks butt!  I can't wait for the actual game!