Tailgating on Saturday

What time should we get to Ames then, in your opinion? Coming from 2 hours away, want to do as much tailgating as we possibly can.

If I had to guess I would say 1:00. Anytime after that and it's going to be really busy up there.
 
What time should we get to Ames then, in your opinion? Coming from 2 hours away, want to do as much tailgating as we possibly can.

Friday night? I mean..... you said you want to do as much tailgating as possible, right?
 
where are my best chance to get a parking spot if we get there later, like 5 or so?

Yikes, by that time I imagine most public lots will be full. Right before you go over the Squaw Creek Bridge on S 4th St there is a grass lot. This is usually one of the last ones to fill in and will probably be your best bet. You could also probably park out by the towers and walk over as well.

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Yikes, by that time I imagine most public lots will be full. Right before you go over the Squaw Creek Bridge on S 4th St there is a grass lot. This is usually one of the last ones to fill in and will probably be your best bet. You could also probably park out by the towers and walk over as well.

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Thanks. My wife is not into tailgating, so I am sure getting to the lots at 1 is not going to fly. In the past we have parked at the old K-mart, but that looks like a long walk at 11 at night
 
Thanks. My wife is not into tailgating, so I am sure getting to the lots at 1 is not going to fly. In the past we have parked at the old K-mart, but that looks like a long walk at 11 at night

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Question for you tailgating vets:

Is there anywhere that a general (non donor) person like my friends and I can tailgate prior to 1, or are we stuck with getting in line for G2/G3 at 12:30?
There is a lot on the north side of so 4th just past the creek. It should be open early I think.
 
Thanks. My wife is not into tailgating, so I am sure getting to the lots at 1 is not going to fly. In the past we have parked at the old K-mart, but that looks like a long walk at 11 at night
Then why bring her? The tailgate IS football foreplay.
 
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They will be open early. Last year the haunted forest was full by 2:00. Not sure if it matters to you but there will be a TON of students in and out of there.

After a couple of years ago, there was an incident where the dean of student affairs had to get involved and after that, the owner no longer lets vehicle/buses full of students in. Three years ago we parked down there for the Halloween game as it was least muddy area there. It was a mass of college students and cops came in a hauling out minors left and right. It has been really nice the last couple. Super nice people that run it. We have a season parking pass there so we can set up whenever we want. I noticed this morning they have the back of the lot roped off. Don't know what that is about.
 
Are there any kind of shuttles going from the Gateway hotel to the game? It seems just a little too far to walk.
 
After a couple of years ago, there was an incident where the dean of student affairs had to get involved and after that, the owner no longer lets vehicle/buses full of students in. Three years ago we parked down there for the Halloween game as it was least muddy area there. It was a mass of college students and cops came in a hauling out minors left and right. It has been really nice the last couple. Super nice people that run it. We have a season parking pass there so we can set up whenever we want. I noticed this morning they have the back of the lot roped off. Don't know what that is about.

Crazy, I can remember maybe one or two times when I've seen the cops in there. Last year the Haunted Forest was a train wreck for the UNI game and was pretty much the nail in the coffin for moving down to the G4/G5 lot. We've parked in the haunted forest lot for over 10 years and have a great relationship with the people who run the lot. My biggest issue was that they don't put any money back into the upkeep of the lot. What used to be grass is now dirt, sand, and weeds and they also don't have enough caibos. I don't know who they have contracted to clean them but they do a really crappy (pun intended) job and after a couple of games they are really disgusting.
 
Was just down there this morning and it pretty green. It probably could have used a mowing but by the end of the year it will be dirt anyway. We just go over to the kybos by the sand volley ball courts or us guys just head to the creek on the other side of the haunted forest set up. I did notice on all the gravel paths in the grass lots have been sprayed down with some sort of solution to keep the gravel dust down.
 
Resurrection of an old thread to start a new one-

As it has rained most of the day and I have seen pictures of parking lot at Farm Progress Show -woof! Calling the lot a soupy mud hole......
Just wondering for us GA grass lot folk if this rain today and possibly Friday will jack up our tailgating festivities. How much more rain can fall there in Ames for it to screw us out of a proper tailgating scene??
 
Resurrection of an old thread to start a new one-

As it has rained most of the day and I have seen pictures of parking lot at Farm Progress Show -woof! Calling the lot a soupy mud hole......
Just wondering for us GA grass lot folk if this rain today and possibly Friday will jack up our tailgating festivities. How much more rain can fall there in Ames for it to screw us out of a proper tailgating scene??

It doesn't look promising at all. More rain tonight and Friday too it looks like.
 
Thinking about parking in the student lots Saturday. IF the rain allows this, how early does it normally fill up?
 

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