PITTSBURGH — From snowflakes to stranded — for 16 hours on Monday, Taylor Mooney and Bailey Ferguson sat just 26 miles north of Richmond on I-95.
“Terrible just terrible. There was three inches of just solid ice covering the entire road. So anytime we attempted to get out of the vehicle you were just sliding everywhere,” Ferguson said.
The destination for the two was Pittsburgh just in time for the Steelers’ kickoff. This duo left Oak Island, North Carolina, by car after two canceled flights determined to be in their seats for Big Ben’s last home game. It was around 1 p.m. when the trip came to a halt.
“We tried everything. We said okay maybe we will make it after the first quarter, maybe we will make it for halftime, maybe we will make it for the last two minutes of the game that’s what kept us going for so many hours. Just maybe we will get to pull into the parking lot of people celebrating in the parking lot as they are leaving,” Ferguson said.
With limited cell service but a full tank of gas, they hoped for a black-and-gold win from the middle of Virginia alongside hundreds of other travelers.
“If Ben ever sees this we did try our best to be there. I have worn your jersey to every Pittsburgh game in my life. This exact one,” Mooney said, pointing to her jersey.
It wasn’t until about 5 a.m. Tuesday that things got moving and that they finally got off the interstate.
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“It took us an hour to even get going those two miles because so many people had run out of gas or were just asleep in their cars. People were getting out of their cars and knocking on windows trying to wake people up,” Ferguson said.
After a nearly three-day adventure, the two are heading back to North Carolina disappointed but in good spirits.
“That was the highlight the only redeeming factor of our entire trip was that they did win. We were able to say congrats
to Steelers thank you to ben for everything we love you forever. We wanted to be there we tried,” Mooney said.