Rose Bowl Trip 2015-2016

Words by Amy, pictures by Joel.

Full picture album on Flicker.

December 28, 2015

We had a 6PM flight scheduled on American Airlines to LAX via DFW in first class (second leg on the new 787 Dreamliner with lie-flat seats), but snow and sleet cancelled everything out of Cedar Rapids. Tried to rebook, but there were no seats available until January 1, which would be too late.  Had the agent check Chicago and other mid-west airports: no go. We got together with Bob and Laurie –  Bob’s nephew called from San Diego and said he was scouring the Web and saw availability out of Minneapolis. So Joel called American, and viola! Four first-class seats had opened up out of MSP at 5AM, via Phoenix. Yeah!

December 29, 2015

Both Silbers and Barnums had given away our basketball tickets for the Hawkeye game tonight – Big Ten opener against number-one rated Michigan State,since we were supposed to be in LA. So we had them and Diane and Robert Handler/Becker over for dinner and game watch. Iowa won!

December 30, 2015

Left Cedar Rapids around 11AM to drive to Minneapolis. Stopped in Mason City and went the the Meredith Willson home and museum at Music Man Square. Had ice cream there.

Drove to Bloomington, MN and checked in at the Holiday Inn Express using their Park and Fly so we could leave the car there while we were in California. Had dinner at Sawatdee Thai restaurant. Tried to go to bed early since we had a 3:15AM shuttle to the airport.

December 31, 2015

Plane was a bit late leaving, but no problems with the flight. The flight stopped in Phoenix, but the same plane continued to LAX, so we weren’t concerned about missing our connection! The first flight had a breakfast service and we got entrees that we are pretty sure are from Buddy’s Kitchen – the company where Gail is a food scientist!

Arrived in LA around 9:30AM and parted ways with the Silbers for a while. We rented our car and then drove to Topanga State Park and got on the Los Liones (Leones) trail, which was in the hills near Santa Monica. Trail had great views of the coastline and the LA skyline.  Total hiking distance of about 3.95 miles with an elevation climb of about 1200 feet.

Then we drove back along the Pacific Coast Highway to Will Rogers Beach and walked some more.

We then headed to our hotel – the Residence Inn La Mirada in Buena Park. Hungry and tired, we had an early dinner at The Pint House in Fullerton. The town was getting ready for a New Year’s Eve celebration, but we finished dinner and went back to the hotel around 8PM local time. Woke up to the sound of fireworks at midnight!

January 1, 2016

We drove to Atlantic Station, which is the southern terminus of the Gold Line light rail. Free parking. Took the train to the Memorial Park station in Pasadena, then walked to the Rose Bowl. We walked around the golf course and enjoyed the beautiful morning. Got into the stadium two hours before the game, beating the crowd at the heightened security lines. Before the game, the Goodyear blimp flew over the stadium, followed by a B2 bomber flyover. We sat with the Silbers, Bill Hurwitz and Bob’s fraternity brother, George.

The game sucked. After the game, we reversed our route back to Atlantic Station, then drove back to the hotel. That night, we ate at Zankou Chicken in Anaheim – a very interesting casual Mediterranean place.

January 2, 2016

We slept in a bit, then drove to San Juan Capistrano. We toured the old mission and then walked to Dollar Tree to get Amy some sunglasses.

Then we drove to the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness park and did a nice hike. Total hiking distance of about 3.22 miles with an elevation climb of about 450 feet.

Then we drove along Highway One – the Pacific Coast Highway along the coast up to Huntington Beach. We ate an early dinner at Fish Camp, then walked on Sunset Beach to watch…. the sunset.

We then drove back to our hotel’s general area and tried to find an ice cream shop. The first place we tried, Honeymee, was inaccessible because the shopping center it was supposedly in (we never saw it) had absolutely no parking spaces open – it was a total zoo (remind me never to contemplate moving to Southern California). The second place, Frostbites, was about four miles away and had plenty of parking. It was only 6PM, so they weren’t busy inside. They had sorbets and you could mix chocolate or vanilla soft-serve. They gave lots of samples!

January 3, 2016 

Packed up and checked out of hotel by 8AM, then drove to Pasadena to view the Rose Bowl floats. We got there early and beat the crowds. Another beautiful morning.

Then we drove to Eaton Canyon and did another hike, up to a waterfall. This trail was very crowded with people and dogs, so even though it was scenic, it was not a great hike. Total hiking distance about 4.16 miles with an elevation climb of about 885 feet.

Then we decided to find a deli for lunch. We thought about Langers, but they close on Sundays, so we drove down to Canter’s Deli. And who do we see standing outside? The Silbers, along with Kris and Ken Siegel and Donna and Barry Butters. It was a mini Cedar Rapids convention.  They had already eaten and were going to walk to the nearby LA Farmer’s Market.

We ate lunch (half pastrami sandwiches and soup) and then walked to the market ourselves to meet up with the group again. Siegels and Butters then went their separate ways and Silbers and Barnums walked around a bit and then walked to Laurie’s grandparents old home, which was near Canter’s. Laurie talked a bit about her family history, including some very interesting anecdotes about Ken and Barbie dolls and the family that owned Mattel.

The four of us then hopped in our car and drove to the corner of Pico and Robertson, which is a Jewish neighborhood. Amy and Laurie bought some items at a kosher market (kasha for Amy and turkey gravy for Laurie). We dropped Silbers off back at Canter’s, then we drove to Pho Show, which is a hip Vietnamese restaurant on Sepulveda in Culver City. We were probably the oldest people in the joint.

We then drove to the LAX Mariott for our last night in Southern California. Joel returned the rental car and walked back to the hotel, and met Laurie and Amy in the concierge lounge for desert (Bob wisely decided to skip dessert and try to get to bed early!).

January 4, 2016

We took the 4:15AM hotel shuttle to LAX. Smooth 6:15AM flight to Phoenix, but when we went to our connecting gate, we discovered that American Airlines had substituted a different plane for the one on which we had assigned seats. The bad news is that the row where the Silbers were supposed to sit didn’t exist on the newer plane and there was only one other first-class seat available. So Joel took one for the team and sat in 21B, a middle seat in coach. First class had meals, again most likely from Buddy’s, while Joel used his airline status to finagle a free egg-salad sandwich (not from Buddy’s) and glass of red wine.

We landed in Minneapolis around 1:45PM local time, got our luggage and rode the hotel shuttle back to the Holiday Inn Express.  Drove back to Cedar Rapids with a pit stop in Clear Lake/Mason City, arriving home, safe and sound before 7PM.