National Championship!!! Roll Tide!!!

I was able to relax in Tuscaloosa for a few days before practice started. The practices were scheduled to be pretty long, but we spent some of the time talking about the trip, and then we got out early! It was so nice. Plus, we were able to practice in the indoor football facility, so we didn't have to be out in the cold. It was so great to hang out with all the girls again. I'll never miss practice, but I will definitely miss the girls.
We met at Moody and hopped on the bus to the Tuscaloosa Airport, where we went through a sort of abbreviated security check and walked straight out to the plane. I love to fly, and I got to sit with E.O. and R.W., two of my good guard friends. I also got to sit by the window, which I love. :) I think the runway was little short or something, because as soon as the plane started moving we were accelerating and lifting off. They played Yay Alabama over the PA system as we took off, which was amazing.
We landed in Long Beach, and had the rest of the evening off! E.O. really wanted to try a place called In-n-Out Burger, so we got directions from the concierge and walked a few blocks down Cahuenga Blvd. It was so cheap and delicious!
Then we walked back towards the subway platform and took the Red Line to Hollywood and Highland. It was so great, we shopped around, I found an awesome purse at Nine West, we saw Graumann's? Chinese Theater and I found Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe and Rock Hudson. We grabbed a milkshake at Johnny Rocket's (the waitstaff seemed strangely hostile, and we weren't wearing anything UA, so it must have been personal) and just walked around until it was time to head back to the hotel and grab some sleep.
We had to get up pretty early on Wednesday, a lot of running around to do. We took a picture in front of the Rose Bowl in full uniform, went to practice, and then put our uniforms back on for a parade through Universal Studios. The parade was supposed to be a short pep rally, instead we looped through the whole place a couple of times. We were pretty exhausted. Definitely a little dehydrated. But after that we got to go back to the hotel and freshen up, and then I headed out with E.O. and J.P. to eat at Universal Studios and walk around. We ran into R.W. on the way, and joined her group to try the Simpson's simulation ride. I was paranoid up to the very last second that it might actually be a real roller coaster. It was actually pretty fun, as long as I'm actually stationary I don't mind being tossed around in a simulation, lol.
After that we joined the band for a guided tour of Universal Studios. We all piled onto a series of trolleys and had a private tour of the back lot where they actually film movies. It was pretty cool, they had a lot of special effects along the way for fun. We also had to stop at one point because they were filming for Desperate Housewives, so we saw Wisteria Lane and everything. :) I don't follow that show like I do with some others, but I definitely watch it sometimes, so it was pretty cool to see the actual set.