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Summer vacation
Washington state duo gets chance to follow Kohl’s tourney
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FarkRAPID CITY — Fabiana Vidal and Lance Jacobsen are getting to see the country one youth soccer tournament at a time.
The couple, who work for Promotion Solutions Marketing, based in Washington state, are pulling the Kohl’s American Cup Soccer Experience vehicle around the United States filled with inflatable goals and games to anywhere there is a Kohl’s event. With over 60 different locations to hit this summer, both Vidal and Jacobsen are getting plenty of soccer watching in — but they’ve also grabbed the chance to learn a little about the nation they live in.
Vidal, 35, moved to Los Angeles from Brazil 12 years ago where she began work as a massage therapist. The work had started to wear her down physically so she decided the jaunt around the country with Jacobsen would be a nice break.
“I just thought it would be fun, and it has been,” Vidal said. “Some places there isn’t really anything to do, but then you get to a place like here and there’s something to do everywhere.”
Jacobsen and Vidal have been on the road since March, when they started their trip in Florida.
“We lose count,” Vidal said of all the places they’ve been. “The other day we forgot where we were.”
Jacobsen enjoys the work but doesn’t hesitate when the subject of home comes up.
“We get three weeks off in July,” he said. “This has been an interesting trip, but it will be nice to get home and take a little time off.”
Some of the more interesting things that Vidal and Jacobsen have experienced relate to animals.
“There’s always something interesting,” Vidal said. “The Cajun food in Louisiana was very good. I ate alligator which was something I’d never eaten before. I tried buffalo here which I’d never had, either. That’s probably the most fun – just the culture and customs and dialects that you see in all different parts of the country.”
Vidal’s favorite stop wasn’t even a tournament stay. She and Jacobsen spent some time in Natchitoches, Louis., and fell in love with the history of the area.
“I really liked Louisiana,” Vidal said of the town where the movie “Steel Magnolias” was filmed. “It was very historical. There was a lot of history on slavery and a fort from the war. I also really like it here. We went to Custer State Park yesterday, which was beautiful, and the Native American culture is very interesting to me.”
The Kohl’s Experience, which takes about an hour to set up, will be at Sioux Park through Monday afternoon and is open to anybody that wants to come by and check it out. Some of the tournament’s players could be found taking a few turns on the targets during breaks in the action.
“It’s a good time,” the Huron Storm’s Austin Kasperson said. “I like it because it helps with my accuracy.”
For Vidal and Jacobsen the trip has been a nice change of pace from life in Los Angeles – such as seeing a cow blocking traffic on a highway in Texas - certainly not a typical California road hazard.
“It has been fun,” Vidal said. “We’ve been on the road for three months so it gets hard sometimes, but I’m getting to see a lot of things that I wouldn’t have been able to otherwise.”
Rapid City Revolution goalie Caleb Thomas puts on his cleats as he prepares for a morning soccer game at the Kohl's Cup Soccer Tournament on Saturday, the second day of the event. Ryan Soderlin/Journal staff
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