Day 2

After about 4 hours of sleep we slowly got going this morning, opting for breakfast before showers.  When in Phoenix one must eat as the Phoenicians do, which this morning meant breakfast burritos, complete with garlicky salsa, and passion-orange-guava juice. I had gone 45 years, 4 months and 16 days without encountering this nectar and now twice in two days in separate states.  Between this juice and the mangoes from Tanya's dad I won't need any tropical fruit for a while.

I had a make-your-own waffle for dessert.

Speaking of Tanya's dad, he also set us up with these delicious pastries made from phyllo dough. He must be half Greek. Who knew?

Our plan was to make the 7ish hour drive to Albuquerque in time to watch the MSU game on TV. That would leave us halfway to Norman with another day to get to our next game. But by the time some extensive blogging was completed, showers taken, bookstores visited, merchandise purchased, cars fueled, and sammiches eaten, plans changed. Our short term goal became much more modest:  make the 2 hour drive to Flagstaff so we could see part of the State game. If we drove past there for the sake of getting miles behind us we would likely not hit another sufficiently populated city in time to catch much more than the last quarter of the game.  At which point I would have already won the total point pool.

Speaking of sammiches, our stop at Subway was only partly for food. We also needed some wifi for Sean's laptop so we could list our Colorado/Colorado St. game tickets for sale on Stubhub. Since these were the hottest tickets of our 4-game itinerary we decided to purchase them yesterday morning to eliminate the risk of being shut out in Denver after a 12 hour drive.  We actually sold them for a bit more than we paid for them.  So we paid $6.24 apiece to attend the ASU/Weber State game and we were paid 36 cents apiece not to attend the Colorado/Colorado State game.

We enjoyed the drive north from Phoenix, including some breathtaking views. Northern Arizona is actually really beautiful. Of note, it's the first time on this entire trip that I've seen anything that could legitimately be called a tree.

The BW3 in Flagstaff became our viewing location.  I had the Four Peaks Kilt Lifter Scott ale. It's no Dirty Bastard.

During the game I was able to research the local secondary market and discovered something I already knew I needed.  But I couldn't convince Sean to get rid of his pillow, laptop, and scattered bags of pogey bait to make room for it.

We took the left turn and arrived at our hotel just before 1:00 am.  I don't know if Albuquerque has a good side of town, but I do know that we didn't drive through it when we got off the highway.

The plan is to be on the road no later than 7:30 tomorrow morning. That's so we can see some of Oklahoma's campus before the game. We'll see.

Day 1.5

By the time we got settled in to the hotel room and set the alarm for 3:45 am it was 11:45 - leaving a scant 4 hours of sleep, which would allow us a half hour to wake up, shower and pack before hitting the road by 4:30. If successful in getting up and out on time, that would give us enough time to drive up to Denver in time for kickoff, plus a total of 15 minutes for gas/bathroom/food breaks, finding parking, and walking to the stadium.

I spent the first two hours after setting the alarm trying to fall asleep, coming tantalizingly close on several occasions. Sean spent those two hours in the bathroom catching up on two days' worth of blogging backlog.  I spent the next two hours successively rolling around my bed in a fruitless attempt to find a position that might somehow magically induce slumber.  Sean spent the next two hours in his bed enjoying the benefits of success on his first try at the same exercise.

When the alarm went off the second time (post - snooze button) I had to wake Sean up, which only confirmed what I had concluded: it made no sense to drive through mountains and for half a day on two hours of combined sleep, only to arrive late to a game that we can barely stay awake for, then take on another 12 hour drive the next day to Norman, OK. We had a short conversation, then both went back to bed.

Sean's ludicrous claims

Well, it was just a matter of time. Sean's claims about my making him wait at the airport and drinking beer for breakfast are worthy of a Jackie Childs response.

Though for the record, we were eating breakfast at 11:30 Eastern time. And that's almost noon.

Day 1

After landing at LAX I cooled my jets waiting for Sean, who was late in dropping Tanya off.  Drinking chain craft beer only takes up so much time, so I thought I'd survey the local secondary market for some deals. I found an item I hadn't previously known that I needed but I couldn't convince Sean to ditch his vacuum cleaner and Ganna's old houseplants to make room to haul it in Rhonda the Honda.

So we just made our way to Ontario for the night.  Sean tried to get us into the same hotel we stayed at for the Rose Bowl, but they were booked.  Instead, we stayed just down the street at a place that was eerily reminiscent of the Belvedere Motor Inn in Lexington Park, MD. Except the Belvedere didn't have a tile roof, palm trees, and mountains in the background.

Like his experience at the Belvedere more than 35 years ago, Sean spent much of his time at this hotel on the potty.  By the way, Sean also snores.

When in southern California one must dine as a southern Californian.  Which at this place meant ramen, eggs with hot sauce, and passion-orange-guava juice for breakfast.

I polished it off with a make-your-own waffle for dessert.

Speaking of deserts, we headed east out of Ontario toward Tempe to catch the ASU/Weber St. game that night. Along the way, we drove through the Joshua Tree National Park.  The ranger dude who collected our entrance fee at the gate surely cringed to see yet another couple of white guys listening to U2 as they rolled up to the booth.

The scenery was spectacular.

Palm Springs is way off in the distance at the bottom of the tallest peak.  Sean and I figured it's a nearly 5000 foot drop from where we're standing to the floor of the valley.

If I'm going to be a blogger I guess I'm going to have to take a selfie every once in a while.

I still get francis just looking at this picture.

Seanzie giving Skull Rock the pick.

After an incredible drive through a desert that stretched on for as far as you could see, we made our way back to the interstate, where we feasted thanks to Tanya's dad.

If I ever have sticky rice and mango again in my life, it won't be as good as this stuff was.

As the sun set we made it to Sun Devil Stadium.
If you've seen the Phoenix area before, you're familiar with the terrain - generally flat land with mountains popping out of the ground here and there.  The stadium, right in the middle of a metropolitan area, is built between two such eruptions.  

Sun Devil Stadium houses Frank Kush Field.

As the legendary head coach at ASU the former All-American defensive lineman was undoubtedly influenced by his playing days at MSU, inlcuding his role on the 1952 national championship team.  His MSU experience no doubt had its mark on ASU's program over the years.  Among his contributions, apparently, was a strong design influence on the Sun Devil Stadium men's bathrooms.

Speaking of football stadium bathrooms, the temperature had fallen to a balmy 104 degrees at kickoff.  At that temp even the toilet seat feels warm when you sit down.

We stayed to the end of the game, largely to see which one of us would win the final quarter in a $1 total points pool between us, then headed to our hotel only blocks away.  We got to the room around 11:00 and set the alarm for 3:45 so we could hit the road by 4:15 to head to Denver.  A prompt departure would give us 15 minutes over the course of the day for gas, food, and potty breaks while still making it to Mile High Stadium in time for kickoff.

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly

Seanzie gotta take pictures.

Uh, thoithlike, you're late, Dumath!

Even later

Sean reports that it'll be probably 40 minutes later than his earlier estimate.

Mmmm, pilsner beer.