BCS National Championship

Finally, pics from the day of the game.  I think they are self explanatory, so Ill leave it at that.  All I'll say is that it is surreal to be in that stadium- such a historical building.  Very cool- and great that we won- it was touchy there for a while... Roll Tide- 13!

Leaving the hotel to head to Pasadena

En Route

Where there!

Gorgeous roses

Who knew Santa would be here

We got stuck behind the barricade waiting for the team to drive in, so we just entered the stadium 2 hours early.

Warming up

I got to walk all the way up to see them, I love these guys!

In our seats

The Rose Bowl

Okay the man in the suit behind the guy in the bright blue button down, is Rick Nuehiesel, UCLA's coach.  His family was watching the game, and his son had on, thats right, a Bama sweatshirt.

The fam after the game, they were sitting in a different section from us, I just thought this was a cute pic

Yeah Alabama!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

And the victim of a long night of partying, and a 4:45 wake up call followed by a 7 am flight and 8 hours of traveling.  It was worth it though!

Cali Day 2

Day two began with an early morning breakfast on the roof of the hotel. Our hotel is called a "boutique" hotel, which means it had only 4 floors and about 50 rooms at most.  The concierges all wore pin stripe suits, which mom thought made them look like extras out of beetle juice.  Our favorite concierge was named Ari, and mom was so appreciative of him and our limo driver that she bought them both books about Alabama football as a thank you.  How about that Southern hospitality.  Hopefully some of the residents of LA found the Southerners who invaded their fair city to be charming and polite, although I'm sure they got their fair share of rednecks from both states.  Likewise, we found 99% of Los Angelites to be nice and welcoming, except for the jerk on the street who told us to go back to our cotton picking and grits eating and that he hoped Texas won- since they obviously don't have cotton or grits in Texas.  Some people are just unhappy down to their core and there's nothing they can do to change that.  Oh well.

View from the roof

Rooftop eating area, where they had a raised garden to die for.

After breakfast, Chase and I went on a walk while the Morris' got ready.  We headed up the hill to Sunset Blvd, to find the Viper Room,  and walk down the strip.  I think we walked about 5 miles over the course of an hour and a half, only to end up on Hollywood Blvd to meet the fam for a little touristy stuff.  How funny that once we arrived at the Chinese Theatre, who should we see but my parents close friends, the Barsteins!

Whiskey a go-go, another famous night club.  This was the "Rock n Roll" section of the strip

View of the Strip

Interesting Diner

Chateau Marmont

Beginning of the walk of fame... Vera Ellen from White Christmas

Of course, the incomparable, Julie Andrews

In honor of the little man

Never could find his star, or his footprints, although Donald Duck had both!

Roosevelt Hotel, where the movie Bobby takes place, or more importantly, where Bobby Kennedy was shot.

Chinese Theatre, what I didn't know is that there is also an Egyptian Theatre, and Sid Grauman was going to build some more "themed" theatres as well.

Kodak, home of the Oscars

I took this pic bc you can see the hollywood sign in the background- can you find it?

Hooray for Hollywood

John Wayne

family pic

The Barsteins and the Morris'!

Harry Potter!

Once we discovered that an In and Out Burger lay close to the theatre, we headed their for a quick bite before driving to Santa Monica for the remainder of the day.  Santa Monica is one of the many coastal towns that lies outside of LA, and we loved a chance to slow down and see the Pacific and watch the sun set.  We found a bar called Lobster with all glass windows to view the sun, where we ran into mom and dad's friends the Dailys.  Then we cruised down the street to Blue Plate Oysterette where we met Emily Ross and Cameron, Chase's cousins, and their friend Marty, for dinner.  What a nice reunion that was.

Yum! (although not as good as Milo's in my opinion)

Beverly Wilshire, home of Pretty Woman, and adjacent to Rodeo Drive

Cool!, Especially since we drove most of Route 66 back in the day in Papa's RV

Old woman rollerblading, she's doing pretty good?

We stopped for a "brew dog" as my brothers say.

Pacific Ocean

Love the mountains in the background!

View of the Sunset at Lobster

Dinner with the fam! So great to get together!

After dinner we headed to a bar called South where their was a Alabama party taking place full swing.  it was so busy that we finally gave up waiting to get in and headed to a place called- well now I can't remember- powder?  for a few drinks before calling it quits.  We had to leave prematurely however because the bouncer kicked us out for something we didn't do- which I wont go into.  It ended up being funny and we laughed about it in the car on the drive home.  William, Chase and I hit the hay while Pman and his friends went back out- William said he needed sleep for the biggest day of his life tomorrow- the day he was born for.  More on that day later..... for now, enjoy the pics!

P, Cristina, and Mase

Hanging out, pre getting kicked out!

Fun time!