We did it again.
Cesar and I, along with his brother Adrian this year, loaded up the RV for our 2nd Annual 49er road trip.
We hit the 49er v Rams game on October 19 and once again, it was an adventure! Narrow LA streets, parking in South Central, just a typical road trip for us.
We drove down from Santa Clara on Saturday with the idea that we would wither find an RV park nearby or if we could, park at the team hotel and hangout there for the evening. About halfway down to LA I got a call from Steve, saying he might have a room at the team hotel for us to stay in, but he wouldn't know until they go there. Which was no problem, we were still 3 hours away and they had just landed in LA.
So we made our way down I-5 and over the Grapevine, which the day before had been closed because of wild fires, so we got a little bit lucky there. And they weren't joking, as we drove over the Grapevine the flames from the fire were right there on the side of the freeway.
We made it into LA, and then we had to go downtown, in the RV, to get to the team hotel. So that was a bit of an adventure, a 30+ RV driving through downtown. At one point Adrian had to become our blinker and open the window and signal we were coming over. So that was entertainment.
Made it to the hotel, which was smack-dab in the middle of downtown, which meant the only parking the hotel had was underground. So the RV was not gonna make it down there. We found a parking lot about 2 blocks away and talked to the guy working in the booth, at least we think he was working. He told us the lot was open 24 hours, and was only about $9. Score!
We parked the RV, went into the hotel and Steve was able to find us a room. So we unpacked, and did what you should always do on a road trip, hit the bar.
Got some food, plenty of drinks and watched as some players and media folks lingered around the hotel restaurant and bar. We saw George Kittle come down and visit with people, some people from the NFL Network, it was pretty cool.
We enjoyed the rest of the night and in the morning made our way to the LA Coliseum. I had never been, so checking off another football stadium was cool. And at this point in the season the Niners were 4-0 and some good feelings were starting to surround this team, but this was going to be a big test. The Rams were the defending NFC Champs, they were playing at home and coming off a bye.
I had been looking for and RV Parking pass for a couple weeks, but couldn't find one. So we were just gonna take our chances that we could find a place to park somewhat close to the stadium. We drove over early to find a place, plus tailgate a little.
We there and a guy with a sign for parking yelled at us. At first he said $200 for parking. Keep in mind we were crawling along in traffic as we are talking with this guy. We told him it was too much, so we continued to crawl along near the front of the Coliseum. Then another guy jumps foward and says $100.
The parking passes I was looking at but weren't available were around $80-100, so this wasn't crazy expensive. So we said sure, he told us to take a right at the next light and follow him. So we did. He's literally in the middle of the street, running in front of us, waving his hand. We take a right, then a left, nest thing you know we're in a neighborhood in South Central. Driving down the street you can tell that every house had turned their front yard into a parking lot, and everyone had a sign for parking, most for $40.
As our "parking guy" continued to run and wave us forward I slowed up near a lady who was holding a sign for parking, $40, and she had no one in her yard. So I asked her, how much to park. She said, "$40." I said, "for this? Only $40 to park the RV?" She said, "yep." So I honked the horn and gave our running parking guy a wave that we were gonna park here. He came back to us upset that we weren't going to his place, but for a $60 savings, plus he was going farther then we already were. Blah, blah, blah, we ended up giving him $20 because he was being such a pain in the ass. He left with $20, we were parked. BOOM! Time to set up the tailgate.
NOPE!
Just then a LA parking cop pulls up and tells us we can't park there. What?!?! Did we get swindled, what's happening. The husband of the lady who had told us to park there, went over to the cop and next thing you know he said we were good, no problem. Not sure exactly what happened, but we were parking in South Central, about to tailgate, not a whole lot was "as expected."
Flipped on the NFL Red Zone and watched some of the morning games. Adrian manned the Traeger as he cooked up tacos, which were AWESOME!
Then, a phone call. From Steve. He asked if we wanted field passes. I told him "Heck yeah!" He said he only had 2, would that be OK. I told him, of course, we'll figure it all out.
So we finished up our tacos, packed up the RV, gave it a little blessing hoping it would still be in the same condition when we returned and headed towards the stadium. Quick, 10-12 minute walk got us near the gates, so I asked an attendant "Do you know where Will Call is?" He looked at me really strange and I wasn't sure why until I looked directly behind him about 10 feet and in huge letters were the words "Will Call." Got it.
We made our way into the stadium, and Adrian and I made our way down to the field. I yelled at Cesar and next thing you know, BING BANG BOOM we were all down on the field!
And as the stadium filled up we realized that there was going to be a ton of 49er fans in the stands, and there were. About 65-70 of the stadium was Niner fans.
The Niners won the game, we enjoyed every minute of the game, then it was back to the RV. Daylight savings time was over, so it was getting dark around 6:00. The game was over at about 4:30 and we went and met Steve and the players near the buses. We hungout there for a little bit, then back to the RV.
HALLELUJAH! It was still there, right in the front yard. All the wheels still on. Nothing seemingly missing, so we jumped in, the sun was setting and got out of there. PHEW!
No one was tired, so we decided just to start heading home, and if we got tired we'd pull over and spend the night. Turns out we didn't need it. We listened to the Astros v Yankees playoff game on the way home and got back to Santa Clara around midnight.
It was another fun, exciting adventure.
Big win. Team hotel. Narrow streets. Parking dude. Tailgating in South Central. All fun pieces to the road trip story.
Now, let's wait until April when the schedule comes out again and see if we can do another!
Cesar and I, along with his brother Adrian this year, loaded up the RV for our 2nd Annual 49er road trip.
We hit the 49er v Rams game on October 19 and once again, it was an adventure! Narrow LA streets, parking in South Central, just a typical road trip for us.
We drove down from Santa Clara on Saturday with the idea that we would wither find an RV park nearby or if we could, park at the team hotel and hangout there for the evening. About halfway down to LA I got a call from Steve, saying he might have a room at the team hotel for us to stay in, but he wouldn't know until they go there. Which was no problem, we were still 3 hours away and they had just landed in LA.
So we made our way down I-5 and over the Grapevine, which the day before had been closed because of wild fires, so we got a little bit lucky there. And they weren't joking, as we drove over the Grapevine the flames from the fire were right there on the side of the freeway.
We made it into LA, and then we had to go downtown, in the RV, to get to the team hotel. So that was a bit of an adventure, a 30+ RV driving through downtown. At one point Adrian had to become our blinker and open the window and signal we were coming over. So that was entertainment.
Made it to the hotel, which was smack-dab in the middle of downtown, which meant the only parking the hotel had was underground. So the RV was not gonna make it down there. We found a parking lot about 2 blocks away and talked to the guy working in the booth, at least we think he was working. He told us the lot was open 24 hours, and was only about $9. Score!
We parked the RV, went into the hotel and Steve was able to find us a room. So we unpacked, and did what you should always do on a road trip, hit the bar.
Got some food, plenty of drinks and watched as some players and media folks lingered around the hotel restaurant and bar. We saw George Kittle come down and visit with people, some people from the NFL Network, it was pretty cool.
We enjoyed the rest of the night and in the morning made our way to the LA Coliseum. I had never been, so checking off another football stadium was cool. And at this point in the season the Niners were 4-0 and some good feelings were starting to surround this team, but this was going to be a big test. The Rams were the defending NFC Champs, they were playing at home and coming off a bye.I had been looking for and RV Parking pass for a couple weeks, but couldn't find one. So we were just gonna take our chances that we could find a place to park somewhat close to the stadium. We drove over early to find a place, plus tailgate a little.
We there and a guy with a sign for parking yelled at us. At first he said $200 for parking. Keep in mind we were crawling along in traffic as we are talking with this guy. We told him it was too much, so we continued to crawl along near the front of the Coliseum. Then another guy jumps foward and says $100.
The parking passes I was looking at but weren't available were around $80-100, so this wasn't crazy expensive. So we said sure, he told us to take a right at the next light and follow him. So we did. He's literally in the middle of the street, running in front of us, waving his hand. We take a right, then a left, nest thing you know we're in a neighborhood in South Central. Driving down the street you can tell that every house had turned their front yard into a parking lot, and everyone had a sign for parking, most for $40.
As our "parking guy" continued to run and wave us forward I slowed up near a lady who was holding a sign for parking, $40, and she had no one in her yard. So I asked her, how much to park. She said, "$40." I said, "for this? Only $40 to park the RV?" She said, "yep." So I honked the horn and gave our running parking guy a wave that we were gonna park here. He came back to us upset that we weren't going to his place, but for a $60 savings, plus he was going farther then we already were. Blah, blah, blah, we ended up giving him $20 because he was being such a pain in the ass. He left with $20, we were parked. BOOM! Time to set up the tailgate.
NOPE!
Just then a LA parking cop pulls up and tells us we can't park there. What?!?! Did we get swindled, what's happening. The husband of the lady who had told us to park there, went over to the cop and next thing you know he said we were good, no problem. Not sure exactly what happened, but we were parking in South Central, about to tailgate, not a whole lot was "as expected."
Flipped on the NFL Red Zone and watched some of the morning games. Adrian manned the Traeger as he cooked up tacos, which were AWESOME!
Then, a phone call. From Steve. He asked if we wanted field passes. I told him "Heck yeah!" He said he only had 2, would that be OK. I told him, of course, we'll figure it all out.
So we finished up our tacos, packed up the RV, gave it a little blessing hoping it would still be in the same condition when we returned and headed towards the stadium. Quick, 10-12 minute walk got us near the gates, so I asked an attendant "Do you know where Will Call is?" He looked at me really strange and I wasn't sure why until I looked directly behind him about 10 feet and in huge letters were the words "Will Call." Got it.We made our way into the stadium, and Adrian and I made our way down to the field. I yelled at Cesar and next thing you know, BING BANG BOOM we were all down on the field!
And as the stadium filled up we realized that there was going to be a ton of 49er fans in the stands, and there were. About 65-70 of the stadium was Niner fans.
The Niners won the game, we enjoyed every minute of the game, then it was back to the RV. Daylight savings time was over, so it was getting dark around 6:00. The game was over at about 4:30 and we went and met Steve and the players near the buses. We hungout there for a little bit, then back to the RV.
HALLELUJAH! It was still there, right in the front yard. All the wheels still on. Nothing seemingly missing, so we jumped in, the sun was setting and got out of there. PHEW!
No one was tired, so we decided just to start heading home, and if we got tired we'd pull over and spend the night. Turns out we didn't need it. We listened to the Astros v Yankees playoff game on the way home and got back to Santa Clara around midnight.
It was another fun, exciting adventure.
Big win. Team hotel. Narrow streets. Parking dude. Tailgating in South Central. All fun pieces to the road trip story.
Now, let's wait until April when the schedule comes out again and see if we can do another!
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