Breakfast again at the sports bar. Our hostess/waitress today is HOT but says she wishes she were still sleeping. I barely slept last night from anticipation for today, somehow I doubt that's why she's tired.
We hop on the 57 north to the 210 west and are in Pasadena before we know it. I'm starting to get the hang of these Los Angeles highways. By sheer luck we take an exit with almost no traffic (Lake Avenue I think) and drive right into the bowl holding the Rose Bowl with almost no delay. One of the advantages of being handicapped is certainly the parking and we are soon parked less than 100 yards from the stadium in lot Badass.
It is 8:30 AM, 5 hours til kickoff and I'm fired up!
| Four Michigan grads, Leaders and Best, Damn Straight. |
We tailgate at my car all morning and up until kickoff. I get a phone call from a hometown friend(Kelly) who happens to be working in the area! She's going to the parade, not the game and I'll call her after the game to do something.
I place about a dozen phone calls, mostly just to say "I'm in Pasadena, It's warm." The Beers slowly disappear, the sun peaks out and I scan the houses in the surrounding hills to pick out my future retirement place. I settle on a Randolph Hearst like mansion on the highest peak in the area.
Gametime arrives, we all scatter to get to our seats in time. Pregame is spectacular with a flyover by an F-117 Fighter, B2 Stealth Bomber and F-22 Raptor.
| Flyover by F-117, B2 and F-22. (picture taken from yahoo photos of the event) |
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| Seats on the 22 yard line, I think I can get used to this. Joe and Forbes are in the front left, 7 rows ahead. | 
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 | Joe and Forby study the flag girls during pregame. |
| Fans prepare to enjoy the Rose Bowl. | 
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I don't think I need to talk much about the game, most people know the result, USC was just about perfect and Michigan looked like a slow Big 10 team. Oh well, the trip was fun regardless.
After another prime rib at Black Angus and a full day of football and tailgating I am beat, but since it's the last night here I feel like I should go out. I call up Kelly and meet her at her apartment. We then head to pick up her friend and look for the Saddle Ranch bar. During the trip we get sidetracked and end up at a Japanese bar to have a beer. Finally we find the Saddle Ranch and as we enter I notice two things. There's alot of guys here, and they're all really big. Damn, I was hoping for alot of chicks and I don't want them to be big.
Slowly it dawns on me why all the guys are here, a large contingent of the football team has chosen this as their watering hole for the night. What are the odds???
 | Myself, Kelly and her friend Vierna at the Saddle Ranch bar. |
We all stay at Vierna's place, the fold out bed for me is able to accomodate about 5 and a half feet of my length, leaving my legs hanging over the edge of the bed, I don't care, I'm exhausted and happy to sleep.
I get up early, go back to Kelly's, grab my car and head back to the hotel. Greg was worried about me, I tell him not to be. We enjoy a last breakfast and prepare to head back through Vegas on our way home.