Day 0: The prologue

When I last wrote, I was excited about the trip I am about to take up and down the state of California. Priorities, however, can quickly change.

My mother was recently admitted to the hospital for what discovered to be fluid in her lungs.

She spent three nights there as doctors also treated her for anemia by performing a blood transfusion. I talked to her on Tuesday and she sounded as if nothing had happened. In fact, she was full of energy thanks to the new blood.

But I still worry. Going home now has a new aspect to it since this is the second time in a year where she has been admitted to the hospital due to complications from her diabetes.

My last night in Long Beach gave me a reminder of my last night at home before I moved. It was Independence Day and before I left for Southern California I was able to see the fireworks show in Tracy, Stockton and a white flight community called Discovery Bay.

From the Press-Telegram offices on the 14th floor of the ARCO Center I was able to the show next to the Queen Mary. It reminded me of that last day.

Tomorrow, I begin my trip. I'll update with thoughts on that day. So far, I'm already sort of dreading it. I'm looking forward to get away from work, don't get me wrong. Especially after I worked 10 of the last 11 days (quiet Feenstra) where I had to design special pages and make adjustments to new guidelines set in place by my company.

What I am dreading is the weather. My first stop is Fresno (insert your own joke here) to see my sister Clemencia and her family. The high tomorrow is expected to be 111. The stop after that is Turlock, where my sister Carmen and her family live. On Friday the temperature will level off at 101.

The high in Long Beach today was 77.

But that is what family is all about.

Miles traveled today: 0

Miles traveled total: 0

My upcoming road trip

On July 5th 1996, I took the next step of my life, independence. I was moving to Southern California looking forward to the fall semester at Cal State Long Beach. With the help of my sister Deanna and her Ford Explorer, I packed up what I could of the first 18 years of my life.

I left my home at 7 in the morning and my parents, not surprisingly, were not emotional. I was the seventh of the eight children to leave the house – and the sixth to go to college – so it is not like they didn't care, they had just seen it before.

Since then, I've been home very rarely. The last time I was home as May, 2006. Before that, I came home in the summer of 2003. Before that, I couldn't tell you.

Eleven years later, July 5th 2007, I begin a new journey. It will be a trip that will help me reconnect with my sisters and their families in the Central Valley of California and will eventually send me home. (I'll also be at the UFC PPV event in Sacramento on Saturday, but that is work related.) But that is only the first part.

The last leg is a trip of discovery. After I leave my sister Rosa's in San Leandro, I will drive the scenic Pacific Coast Highway back home. Starting on Marin County side of the Golden Gate Bridge I will come back to Southern California, making several stops and spending nights in Monterey, San Simeon and another place I have yet to decide on. Any suggestions?

So I have a brand new digital camera with a 4 GB memory card and a sense of adventure.

I'll let you know how it goes.

For the first time in a long time

For one night, I was a fan again.

I've watched sports all my life and for the first 20 years, I lived and died with my teams. Then I worked as a sports reporter where you become inundated with sports. You see the inside of sports and realize how trivial it is. You see the professional athletes as they are; you see and hear parents complain about their children's playing time or not having their name in the paper and want to tell them it's not the end of the world.

I had this revelation a month into my first reporting job working in Reno, Nev. I had just moved there and was away from my girlfriend for a month when 9/11 happened. I realized what sports should be; a diversion from the problems and stress in your life.

I needed a diversion in a bad way. I had just had one of my worst days and a "hangover" day in the office and needed something to make me feel better.

When I arrived at the Anaheim Convention Center Saturday night to watch my alma mater Long Beach State play for the Big West Conference Championship in men's basketball with a berth in the NCAA Tournament on the line, it gave me the drama and excitement I needed.

While waiting for the game to start, both the LBSU band and the Cal Poly band were taking turns. I had a good feeling about this game when I heard the 49er band play The All-American Rejects' song "It Ends Tonight." The song seemed fitting knowing LBSU was favored to win and remembering the lyrics: "I give the final blow/when darkness turns to light/it ends tonight."

Meaning: Goodbye Cal Poly.

But LBSU couldn't find the basket for a while and at one point trailed by 10 in the first half before getting within five at the end of the first half.

By then the old me came out. But this was a different feeling. I was old enough to see the San Francisco 49ers with four Super Bowls and was excited about each of them. This time, I was a part of Long Beach State since I graduated from there. Naturally, I wanted to see them succeed.

The second half was all Long Beach State as they would go on to win by 11, 94-83. I did rush the court and I have never experienced something like that. It was exciting to be with students and alumni celebrating with the players on the court jumping around in unison. I congratulated the players and got several high fives.

It was hot, it was dangerous, but it was electrifying.

Now, I usually don't spend a lot of money on sporting events. I go to Dodger games when the Giants are in town, but sit somewhere safe but at the same time not that expensive. For the championship game I spent $35 for the ticket, another $9 for parking and $15 more for a conference championship shirt. But being on that court after the game was priceless.

But it was fun to walk out of my journalist clothes and enjoy the game as a spectator. I felt like a child again watching my team. But this time it was in person.

Now, if I can only get a ticket to "The Dance."

Lunch with a Playboy centerfold

Before I get into this story, I have to thank my friend James Melroy for allowing me this once in a lifetime opportunity. The only picture right of that lunch was taken by my cell phone camera, not the greatest quality.

Working at a newspaper, you have a lot of opportunities to do things that the common person can't. I've gotten to ride on the Goodyear Blimp and stand next to Anna Kournikova to name a few. Sometimes the opportunities are presented to you and sometimes you find them.

For James, his love and knowledge of pro wrestling, and mixed martial arts, has earned him the respect of those who work for those companies. So when the WWE recently came to Los Angeles for a Pay-Per-View, James was able to get an interview with wrestler and soon to be March 2007 Playboy centerfold Ashley Massaro.

I was second in line for this chance and was invited when James' first choice was unable to make it. On Saturday, when I had lunch with him, he asked if I was interested and like any adult heterosexual male I said what time should I pick you up for the interview.

We arrive at the Marriott in downtown Los Angeles on Monday and met up with James' contact from the WWE who set up the interview. We met the lovely Ashley at a restaurant inside the hotel and order lunch. James conducts the interview and while I'm trying to act as normal as possible. I can't really do much because James is doing his work so I have to look of into the distance, listening in. I just didn't want to be caught staring at her.

However once the food arrived, I did pass her the peppermill. James likes to point out that, "I gave her something to grind." She is very personable especially for feeling under the weather during the interview.

The WWE picked up the bill for lunch, which was another highlight for me since I can say Vince McMahon bought me lunch.