By Jason Feldman

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- When word leaked that Brett Favre had hopped a private plane from Mississippi to Minneapolis on Aug. 18, it didn't take long for Jeff Palmer to make a phone call.

That call went to Josh Fjerstad, a good friend and fellow Vikings fan.

"Jeff called right away to see if I wanted to go to Lambeau," said Fjerstad, who said yes without hesitation. "Then he called back to see if we should get some more people to come along.

"(My reaction) was, 'How fast could we buy purple No. 4 jerseys?'"

Those were available within days of Favre's signing with the Vikings after 16 years in Green Bay and one in New York. Within hours, plans for Palmer and Fjerstad's trip were complete. By the time the chain of e-mails and phone calls ended that August afternoon, seven friends, all Vikings fans, had a can't-miss date added to their calendars: Nov. 1, Green Bay, Lambeau Field.

That's where they were Sunday afternoon, after about four hours of tailgating in a massive lot with a generous view of Lambeau Field. It was the perfect setting to cap the perfect trip. Five of the seven in the group were making their first visit to the most famous football field around.

The group made the trip in Fjerstad's motorhome on Saturday afternoon, after watching Kasson-Mantorville defeat Rochester Lourdes in a Section One, Class AAA high school football playoff game on Saturday morning.

They had to hold their breath in the second half Sunday, but they weren't disappointed. The Vikings built a two-touchdown lead by halftime and held off the Packers in a 38-26 victory.

"This is unbelievable," Randy Carlsen of Kasson said while making a 360-degree turn to take in the sea of purple and green in the tailgating lot west of the stadium. "It's like a combination of the circus and the state fair, and it's still three or four hours before the game starts."

Three of the seven were wearing their purple No. 4 jerseys and, again, they were not disappointed. Favre passed for 244 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

"I had mixed emotions" when Favre signed with the Vikings, Carlsen said. "I never really cared for him when he played for Green Bay. I always respected him, and I'm not sure we (the Vikings) would be where we are without him."

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