January 17, 2004: the first Las Vegas All American Classic, and Sean McHugh, the senior MVP fullback from Penn State was invited to play...tight end! So number 42, the fullback switched to number 82, a number more in line with the position he will probably play at the next level, and joined a couple hundred college all-stars for a week of fun and games and auditioning for the pro scouts.

But first things first: the main contingent of the McHugh entourage was not to arrive until Saturday morning, having a wedding to attend in Detroit on Friday night. Lorri and I, having an aversion to the Friday traffic on I-15, decided to head to Sin City on Thursday as did the lovely Ashlee, Sean's girlfriend. Since Sean had to practice Friday, Lorri, Ashlee and I took the opportunity to tour part of The Strip. (Mostly the shopping part...)

Here are Lorri and Ash in the garden at Bellagio and later, out in front of Caesars Palace. It was a beautiful day. Earlier, Ashlee and I went for an extended run from our home base at the Stratosphere to Fremont Street downtown and back down the strip. I was pretty tired but Ashlee barely broke a sweat.

The Forum Shops at Caesars are a must see for a  Las Vegas first-timer and here I am with Ashlee at one of the mystical mythical shrines. On the right stand Lorri, Ashlee and the Stratosphere tower.

Later that evening, Sean escaped the rigors of training camp and joined us for further exploration of The Strip. We took a cab to New York, New York (Hey! Isn't that redundant?) where we had a nice dinner. Later we headed to MGM Grand and a few other brightly lit casinos before heading back. It was an early night because Sean had to get back to the team hotel.

Saturday morning was cool, clear and a little breezy as we headed to Sam Boyd Stadium shown in the photo on the left. In the middle photo, Ashlee, Elise and Lauren an be seen at our "tailgate" party. On the right are Kevin McHugh and Mary Burnett.

Lauren McHugh and Katie Burnett; Kevin, Mary, Elise and Ashlee; Katie, Lauren and Lorri. You can tell it was sort of cold by what people were wearing but it warmed up during the game as the breeze died down.

Pre-game warm-ups. Look for number 82.

Me and Kevin; a couple photos of the whole gang (except Sean)

Number 82 takes the field. Our seats were in the first row. Actually our seats were elsewhere but we sat in the first row because no one else was. From there we could yell at Sean. As a die-hard Penn State fan I experienced a moment of Lion Pride when I noticed how most of the players had decals from various colleges stuck all over their helmets. Apparently the players trade them. Neither Sean nor David Costlow, the other Penn Stater in the game, had any stickers on their helmets. Just plain old pure white with the blue stripe down the middle. Classic.

That night we all went out celebrating on the Strip again. Lorri and I are on the right, Sean, his two sisters, Elise and Lauren and girlfriend Ashlee in the middle photo and Sean & Ashlee on the right. Note Sean's t-shirt. It says "Virginia Tech". Well, at least he didn't put a big VT on his helmet.

The group at Bellagio and Lauren dancing down the promenade. She is apt to do these kinds of things. At least she didn't break out in song.

Well, that's the Las Vegas story. Everybody, well, mostly everybody, got up and left on Monday. Lorri and I drove back to San Diego stopping only in Barstow for gas and an In-and-Out Double-Double with fries. Never had a Double-Double? mmmmm good!