Los Angeles Sportscation

The LA Lakers playing at Staples Arena.

The second leg of our fall sportscation brought us to the mega-metropolis of Los Angeles.

Wayne and I are very familiar with the area because we lived here in the suburbs. I was born and raised in nearby Compton and Wayne came to Los Angeles in the early 1970s to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California. That's why he is such an avid USC fan. My dad went there as well for graduate school, so I can root for the home team as well.

USC men's basketball vs. Northridge.

Our choice of Southern California as a sportscation destination had two purposes: one was to attend USC sporting events, the other was to get some sunshine and warmth. We love our float cabin home on Powell Lake in British Columbia, but a break from short cloudy days is welcome this time of year. Plus, our tans are starting to fade.

This trip began with USC football at the University of Oregon, then followed the team home to LA. We drove to Eugene, but left our car at the airport and caught an Allegiant flight direct to LAX. We rented a car and headed to the Raddison next to the USC campus. This hotel gave us easy walking or Metro Rail access to all the sports venues.

Our Hotel Travelling Meal Kit packed to go.

Because we were staying in a hotel for an extended period of time, we brought along our traveling meal kit. We stopped at Ralph's on the way out of the airport area and purchase breakfast and dinner items for the first four days. I keep a log of which hotels have refrigerators and microwave ovens. If there's no refrigerator we use our folding cooler bag. If there's no microwave, we purchase deli meals that don't need cooking. Check it out here.

USC vs. UCLA women's volleyball game.

The USC vs. UCLA football game wasn't until the following Saturday, so we used the week in between to watch other sports: USC men's basketball, USC women's volleyball (they won the Pac-12 title), a Laker's professional basketball home game at Staples, and the exciting USC pre-game Bonfire Rally on campus.

We also drove to Lancaster to visit Carl and Lori, friends from Wayne's teaching days at Mt. San Antonio College. Lori made us a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings! And we spent the night getting caught up since our visit last year. We are thankful to have such good friends.

USC Trojan football at the LA Coliseum.

Finally, it was Saturday and time for the USC vs. UCLA football game. We walked over to the Coliseum (home to the 1932 and 1984 Olympics), missing all the traffic and parking headaches. A 40 to 21 win by USC was the perfect culmination to a week long sportscation with the added bonus of some fun in the sun.

Do you ever take theme vacations? Do you like to follow high school or college sporting events? If not, consider giving it a try. -- Margy