barkley

Let's go back to October 30th. MLS semi finals. At the end of that day, my Philadelphia Union were going to the finals, but unfortunately GOING to the finals in Los Angeles as LAFC won the right to host.

So that night after blasting my "Driving From Footy Wins" playlist through the streets of Chester, giddy as all get out, and I mean giddy, my co-conspirator and I went home and texted until midnight and decided, what the heck, let's go to LA. We had game and tailgate tickets on Sunday night. On Monday we decided on a flight itinerary. By Wednesdays we had our LA Hotels. On Thursday we were in the air on the way to LA.

That was one of the best weeks ever. Just starting off from a high and not coming down. My resting heart rate graph on my fitbit is hilarious. There are other Union folks on our plane. We don't know them but we all give a little cheery acknowledgment to each other!

Friday, we plan for like an early dinner, early to bed. We had a tailgate to get to at 9:00 AM. Then she's like, "Oh wow! Guster is playing tonight in LA and there are tickets available for $5. So we made a deal, as long as we were in bed by 11, it's AOK. So off we went to see Guster! And true to her word, round about 10 o'clock, we got into a lyft back to the hotel. (that she is seeing them in NYC in a few weeks was easy for everyone to make that deal.)

So game time! There is no parking because of USC homecoming and their stadium is in the same complex and they take priority. We don't have a car, but it was a thing! We met nice LAFC fans on the metro. We tailgated. We marched to the stadium! This is by far, my favorite part of games! The march in. Flags waving, megaphones leading the chanting, and when we make the wrong turn and have to double back, "We fucked up! We fucked up!"

The game itself was AMAZING. Like beyond amazing. Like everyone who has no skin in it was saying, "wasn't that the best final in maybe forever?" We tied it up! We went to 30 minutes extra time. We got a goal with just minutes left and we were up a man!! WE WERE GOING TO BE THE CHAMPIONS! OMGOMGOMG I HUGGED EVERYONE WITHIN A TEN FOOT RADIUS... and then Gareth Bale did the thing that he does. And then there were penalty kicks. Our #1 in the league goalie versus the guy from LaSalle that was our backup 5 years ago who just got put in cause their starter broke his leg clattering into Cory. We got this right? Right?

Dear reader, we didn't have it. It was great up until it wasn't. And then there were tears.

We got back on the metro, and I said, let's never get off. So we just rode it until we came to Santa Monica. Saw some Union fans we knew. Hugged them. Watched the sun set over the ocean. Went to a bar and had terrible calamari with great breading and watched the Phillies. Ordered more beer and more terrible calamari. Still chewy. Go figure. The Phillies were losing on the TV in the darkened bar under the Christmas lights.

We got a ride back to the hotel. Ran into more fans in the lobby. "Let's hug it out." Watched the Phillies lose the world series in private. What a day. I always wondered what it would be like to spend all that money to go to one game and to not have it go your way. Turns out, I would do it in a heartbeat again. I fucking loved it.

It's still not a true answer though because it was such a good game filled with four glorious minutes where we were totally going to win. What if we were down 6-0 in the first half? ya know?

I also hedged my bets by going to Oregon. "Since we are almost there, do you mind if we pop up into Oregon?" We stayed for a couple of days. I didn't feel like risking bad snow mountain pass weather to go see crater lake, so we opted for the rainy hail pelting coastal tour, and it was delightful. Went to a brewery in a hardware store. Walked a mile back in full moonlight on the beach. I stood on the same beach that Keanu and Patrick Swayze stood on. I went to Powell's books.

But most importantly, for those following my state shennanigans, I now have 49. Hawaii, here I come!