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.