Sorry, Pennington family — had to find a star in Dallas and stomp on it. #FlyEaglesFly
After bidding adios to Austin, it was time to get back on the #RoadToOmaha — though that road only led me about ten miles north before I had to stop for the famous Round Rock Donuts.
I stopped at the famous doughnut place around 7 a.m. on a Monday. Being on the road warps your sense of time, so I didn’t know it was Monday, nor that it was so early in the morning. As I walked in, it was very clear that I was not part of your typical 9-5 Monday morning grind, and the owner promptly asked what I did. I said I was in town to cover the Longhorns and was driving up to Omaha for the CWS — to which my order of a chocolate doughnut and apple fritter was multiplied. “Your first time here? And you’re from Philly? You have to try it all! Tell those boys to hook ’em for us!”
Thank you, Texas, for nourishing my insatiable sweet tooth.
After rolling through Temple, Texas, I stopped in Arlington with one mission in mind — finding a Dallas star so I could step on it. Hey, blame it on the Bucket List. It was a bit harder than I imagined and after stumping a few of the staffers with my request — yes, sir, I would like to find a star on the ground — I found the next best thing.
I took the Nolan Ryan Expressway back to the highway before transitioning from the great SEC campus tour to the Big 12 campus tour, hitting Norman, Oklahoma. I spent the evening walking around a cloudy, rainy Oklahoma City before jumping back on the #RoadToOmaha, stopping in the Sooners’ rival Stillwater, home to Oklahoma State. I then made my final stop before Omaha — Lawrence, Kansas — where I visited one of the holy spots in college basketball, Allen Fieldhouse.
Food and football — not a bad day on the #RoadToOmaha at all.
Sarah N. Higgins 