WCT 1.1: whew!

 [WCT is “West Coast Trip”; this is first of the year and the first day.  Clearly, there’ll be more]

We’re in LA.  The purpose (to tamper expectations of glorious food porn, though this morning’s breakfast was pretty good) is to see Purdue basketball.  They played today at USC and then again Tuesday at UCLA. 

For those of you who don’t know. Purdue won the game, 69-64.  They were down 14 in the first half before coming back to lead at halftime, then gave that lead up in the second half only to come back AGAIN and win.  It was a nerve-wracking, maybe even exciting, game, but we can do with something tamer Tuesday.  Please!

FYI: it was a very partisan Purdue crowd.  K guessed 75/25 Purdue, but I’d say closer to 60/40.  But it was more like a neutral court game than a road game. 

About that.  K is an inveterate (I could have used other terms, but I’m trying to be nice in blog one of the trip) listener to Purdue, especially basketball, podcasts.  One of them said there was an event before today’s game for Purdue and she had me get on the alumni site and found it.  It was at a place called the Lab Gastropub and it was RIGHT across the street from the gym.  

We arrived right at noon — starting time of the event — and the place was already packed with people in black (not so much gold).  I was in white.  K was in her yellow tee.  We didn’t get the memo. ):  (at one point as I was standing in the drinks line, two guys yelled back and forth about the choice of black — they were both wearing black Purdue hockey jerseys — saying “not sure it was a good move.”  It was sunny and 80 here today).

The woman who was repping the alumni association of LA talked to us and gave us some swag — K put on a chain of gold Mardi Gras beads and a chain of black — and we got in line and got drinks and were about to stand next to a fence for two hours (all the tables were taken) when she says “I’m gong over to see…” I didn’t hear the rest.  Well, I stood watching several minutes as she and the woman (her name was Laurie, neither of us heard [it was noisy and we’re old] her husband’s name) at the nearest table had a chat.  I finally came over with our drinks and K and Laurie spent the next two hours becoming besties.

Laurie and George (my filler) live two doors down from the Painters (if you don’t know, look it up).  They were staying at the team hotel bc Mrs Painter told Laurie where they were staying.  And they are moving “with” the team to wherever they are going for the UCLA part of the trip (you might ask, why ould you move, it’s like 5 miles?)…inside info. 

Other than the not uncommon experience of K chatting someone up (and getting Laurie’s number), one point here is how many Purdue fans were there.  And standing watching the passing crowd, it looked like a huge number of them going to the game, unaware of this delightful event. :)

Before that, we went to breakfast.  Bc I may want to go back, the name of it was Met Her at a Bar.  If you are wondering, there’s a place across the one street called The Night We Met, and a place across the other way Met Him at a Bar (which seemed to be a real bar).  It was a “cute place” (I was told; I don’t understand such things), but the food was both good and clever. 

Here’s my best pic, of the guy next to me’s breakfast: 

This was called the Flintstones waffle..  You will recognize why.  I didn’t admonish him for not finishing his ice cream…

His companion had this to drink: it is one of their mimosas which you could order with an infused cotton candy ball.  I have no idea, but it looked pretty interesting.  FYI she sucked down three mimosas at 10 in the morning like she was…well, she sucked them down.  I don’t want to lose readers with the possible metaphors there 🤣

We went more mundane. 

That’s their maple waffle and their Eggs Benedict, which, of course, they put on a waffle.  We enjoyed them both.  

And, flashing back, unlike the trip from France last month, yesterday’s flight out went pretty well.  The bad part, the most nerve-wracking, was we sat at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton airport, on the ground, in the plane, while they figured out if some mechanical thing was okay.  We had an hour and 25 minute layover in Charlotte; we were 55 minutes late leaving Avoca (the name of the town, giving it the designation AVP).  

Of course, originally we were coming in gate B6 and leaving out of B2, but then both changed, so we came into C12 (the farthest down the concourse) to A12, a long way down A concourse.  

We got there in time to walk right into line and board — they were past our group number already.  Whew! 

But it was a nice flight; they gave us drinks and biscotti TWiCE (we got nothing, and LIKED it, from Paris). 

The apartment is in Korea Town (on booking.com is is labeled “Glamorous apartment in Ktown” — I’m wondering how that works, but I guess it does, since we are staying here); I checked the neighborhood out and Reddit wasn’t 100% for hanging out here, but it seems fine.  One multicultural aspect: there’s a Korean BBQ across one street and a Mexican grocery (we went in there last night and had to work on our Spanish) on the other. 

Okay, we are back to the beginning of the trip yesterday.  We get to the airport, check our bags (thank you American Airlines for giving me free bag check), and K goes to the bathroom.  I’m standing, waiting, wearing my Purdue pullover, and this guy comes out, clearly going to wait for his partner, and he’s wearing IU gear.  He said something to start the conversation and then she came out and she had on IU gear (including, and I’m not making this up, a pair of leggings? That went up to mid calf that were red with white IUs all over them!!! :).  Well, K comes out and we talked for several minutes; we found out they had been to the Rose Bowl but were NOT on their way to Miami, they were going to see their daughter run a marathon someplace in Georgia.  So, they said see ya and went to check their bags…

We’re walking away to the escalator to security and K says “remind me who they were”…and I said we’d just met.  “Oh I thought it was someone you knew, a fraternity brother or something.”  😂😂 

And that’s a quick two day blog.  We are having coffee issues (the Korean apartment has a Mr Coffee but neither coffee nor filters and the Mexican grocery had no filters either).  #firstworldproblems.

Tomorrow, wine country.  Manana.