We didn't really want to eat at the hotel so we thought we'd have some pancakes at Denny's ..... OMG they were the most delicious pancakes I have ever tasted! Aden had choc chip and they were delicious too but I think they would have been too sweet to have a plate full of them.
After brekkie, we also has to organise our ride to the basketball game we were going to. University of southern California (USC) vs Texas Christian University (TCU)
That done, we were really shortening our day as we had to leave for the game, which was in LA 45 minutes away, at around 4.30-5.00 (as Mark was having heart failure we would get stuck on traffic and miss the game!)
He did offer to hire a car and drive us there.......NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Are you freaking kidding me we'd rather pay the exorbitant fees for the car to get us there!
We decided to leave Disneyland until tomorrow so we could have a whole day there and watch the fireworks this time.
When we last were in LA in 1993, we stayed at the Holiday Inn, and we thought we'd go and check it out and everything other way of South Harbor Blvd.
Our hotel was still there and I wouldn't have recognized it at all! Mark and his uncanny knack to remember everything, started sprouting lots of tidbits about our last time there! The hotel is now called the Red Lion and Mark said it hasn't changed that much, but I must've had baby brain because I cannot remember it at all! There was a few discount outlets along the way but we are savvy on our prices now and not so quickly impressed with prices. Or to part with our dollars.
We walked for miles and miles with no complaining as there were things holding our attention along the way.
I was happy to spot a massive Target and we headed on in. I went straight to the makeup section and bought a good supply of stuff to sustain me for 202.
I showed my camera to a guy in the electronic section and he agreed with me, that there must be something with the auto part of the lens not the actual camera. He showed me a couple of things to do with the camera to get me thought the rest of the holiday and while I was there I bought a new 16GB SD card and a small camera bag ( to stop me throwing the camera in my handbag)
That done we (me) needed a coffee break and some internet and maccas was just up the road.......
We got our fix and just couldn't face the walk back to the hotel so we caught the bus back.
We had a little rest ( remember Mark dragged us out of bed just before 7!)
And got ready for our pick up to the game.
As the school kiddies are on holiday there was hardly any (according to our driver) cars on the road. I couldn't agree though as there was thousands of cars on the road! Traffic was moving though and we got to our destination 2 hours BEFORE the game! We gave it to Mark good and proper and then set off to explore and grab dinner.
We walked for a while and didn't see anything so we turned around and headed back the other way and tried to find something for dinner that appealed to us all. Patrick's choice was the Fatbuger restaurant! Can you believe there is a place actually called that!!!?
People were actually in there too!!!
We decided on a shared Taco Bells and Pizza Hut restaurant.
The boys all had a "personal" pizza which is the size of small here and I had a rice and bean burrito OMG I have never tasted anything so delicious in my LIFE!!!! And the kicker is....... Dinner cost us $16.45!!!!!! We spent over $80 on brekkie!! Too funny!
We had a walk back and looked at a few car yards. Aden and Mark cannot believe the price of the cars here, they oooohed and ahhhed and drooled and we were still early for the game!! I spied a coffee house..... I can spot one anywhere!! We popped in for a quick Cappacino and iced coffee (Patrick asked 15 questions before ordering though!)
When we got to the basketball, we were searched, checked and prodded and then told we were not allowed to take our backpack into the stadium..
Mark in his thickest Aussie accent said...."aww mate we are from Ostraya we didn't know!" they checked with security, checked the bag again an let us in but not before Mark telling them Lachlan's team were just let in and they were all carrying backpacks.
When we got in and caught up with the team, Leanne asked how we got in with the backpack as they were not allowed and had to make the trek back to their vans to offload them! Lol
There were cheerleaders and all the boys had their pics taken with them. They had all the covers from sports illustrated framed and hung on the wall along with all the trophies and accolades they have achieved.
We went to our seats and they were pretty good seeings as we just bought them late. We were dead centre facing the bench but up a level. There were plenty of seats on the lower level but I think they were reserved season tickets.
The show that goes along with the game is well worth the ticket price! If this is college basketball ..... I really want to go to a NBL game!!!
It was a good game, although even for a half and the home team took it away.
They had a brass band playing, and lots of activities during the endless timeouts that kept us entertained.
We thoroughly enjoyed the experience and to cap it off Aden bought some shorts in the team shop!
We got picked up by our driver and half way home when the police, over their loudspeaker, demanded we pull over.
When our driver started to move over they then yelled that he had to take the next exit.
Our driver told us he what he had done wrong and that he was going to try and get out of a ticket, by telling a porkie pie, as he had a good driving record and didn't want to blemish it.
It was like something out of COPS and the driver was so apologetic (it was a bit over the top) and the officer came over with a torch and hand on revolver and shined it on our driver and the obligatory "licence and registration please" I must say it took every ounce of self control I didn't think I had not to grab my camera!!!!!
But but but I want to put this on my blog!!!!! Lol
He got let off with a warning and that was our little bit of excitement for the night!
