No flight, no problem: Iowa State fans team up with strangers to drive to Alamo Bowl

The Kays and Albrights were in a pickle.

Weather had canceled their Southwest Airlines flight from Omaha to San Antonio on Wednesday night, momentarily jeopardizing plans to see their beloved Iowa State Cyclones play in the Alamo Bowl.

The solution? Team up with strangers, rent a van and make the 14-hour drive down to the Riverwalk.

Duh.

“We weren’t going to miss it,” Michelle Kay said.  

Until last night, Michelle and Austin Kay of Crescent didn’t know Krista and Nick Albright of Lytton. The Sterks were strangers to Nick Schon. But they all needed to get to San Antonio, so that meant climbing into the car with some soon-to-be new friends, canceled flights be dammed.

“How do you miss the biggest game of the year after a successful season?” Schon said.

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Krista Albright said she and her husband had gone to find their luggage when they found the Kays. Waiting for another flight would’ve taken a whole day, so renting a car seemed like the next best option.

Originally, each couple planned to rent car, but then they thought, Why not just share?

“It just happened so fast,” Krista Albright said. “We couldn't have done it without them.”  

And no, both Albright and Kay said they and their husbands usually aren’t prone to such spoteniety with strangers. But circumstances demanded such.

“This is very out of character, but you gotta do what you gotta do to get to that football game,” Michelle Kay said.  

Schon, another ISU alumnus, found himself in a similar situation in Kansas City. The Texas weather turned rough, and his flight was delayed 20 minutes. Then 40. Then an hour. Then two hours. Finally it was canceled.

He and a fraternity brother he ran into at the airport were waiting in line to reschedule their flights when they started chatting with Brad and Leo Sterk. The fateful suggestion: The flights will get in too late so why don’t we just drive?

So the four of them crammed into a Mitsubishi Eclipse and took turns driving and swapping stories. Schon posted the story on Facebook, and sure enough, one of his friends know the Sterks. Small world.    

The road-trip decisions were both emotional and practical. After an exciting 8-4 season, they didn’t want to miss their Cyclones take on the Washington State Cougars on Friday at the Alamodome. Plus, they’d already paid for their hotel rooms, game tickets and return flights. The Albrights already had babysitters.

More:Meet the Iowa State graduate who left his signature imprint on the Alamodome

Of course, there was also ISU fans’ reputation as loyal travelers at stake. Michelle Kay said staying at home wasn’t an option. Schon knew thousands of ISU fans would be packing the Riverwalk, and he wasn’t going to miss it.

He said he was rewarded with “wall to wall cardinal and gold” when he arrived — short on sleep.

“Just running on pure Cyclone power right now,” he said via phone from the San Antonio Dave and Buster’s, where he was enjoying “an adult beverage.”

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The Kays and Albrights’ overnight trip went smoothly and quickly, the husbands alternating behind the wheel of the black Dodge Caravan. The quartet arrived in San Antonio around noon Thursday. Krista Albright said they weren’t the only ones making the drive, noting a prevalence of Iowa license plates on the highway.

They’ll get to spend most of Thursday in the city, joining thousands of other Cyclone fans on the Riverwalk. Michelle Kay has a loose itinerary from then on.

“Eat good food. Drink Busch Light. All those things Iowa State fans do,” she said.

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