I was the last to leave and the first to arrive in LA.

Unlike the Greyhound riders, my travel experience was awesome. I took a flight from St. Louis early yesterday morning and was in LA before noon. The two-hour layover in Vegas was the definitely highlight of my travels. I’d never gambled before so I made a beeline for the slots. I invested $5 and quickly won $20. Sweet success! The noise and lights of the machines are addicting… it was hard to step away while ahead. Then I hopped on bumpy one-hour flight to LA and was here by 11:30 a.m. The time-space continuum was definitely on my side.

After arriving I had a couple hours to get settled before heading to the Beef Bowl at Lawry’s The Prime Rib in Beverly Hills. Josh Birnbaum’s dad drove me there and I experienced LA traffic for the first time. The six lanes of traffic are the busiest in the U.S. but he was an expert at weaving in and out of traffic. He showed me all kinds of landmarks, my favorite being Inglewood (Dr. Dre songs were stuck in my head for the rest of the day) and the Larry Flint Publications building which was HUGE and incredibly classy. I also saw the Academy of Motion Pictures, a lot of trendy people, a lot of homeless people, cactuses the size of trees and the ocean.

The Beef Bowl was epic. A huge red carpet was rolled out and the Lawry’s staff lined both sides to welcome the team when they arrived by police escort. With all of the commotion, press, flashing cameras and the long red carpet, a passerby might have thought Lindsay Lohan was in the mood for some beef. The restaurant was completely shut down to the public for about two hours while everyone got their fill.

We got back to Josh’s house to upload our photos and stories before walking down to the beach, which is literally a block away. I forgot how loud and calming the ocean is. Even with the smog, the air smells cleaner and fresher than Illinois.

These are mountains over Nevada. Taken with my iPhone.

Slot machines at the airport in Vegas.

This was epic. I was only able to finish less than 1/3 of this.

Sometimes the reporters and photographers wear matching outfits while editing. All that time on the bus must have brought everyone closer together.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 29th, 2007 at 1:11 pm and is filed under bowl season, Rose Bowl. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.