Adventure: To The Heart of Texas

Last week I spent four days traveling with the Pacific men's soccer team as they participated in the NCAA national tournament. The NCAA selection show was last Monday and we were paired against the #1 team in the nation, Trinity (Texas) because they are in our region, not the greatest luck but we were headed to the warmth of San Antonio, Texas.

It was a whirlwind Monday and Tuesday as the coaching staff got flights and hotels booked and I got out the necessary press releases and stuff done so I could be gone as well.

Wednesday, after I slept for 3 hours the night before, we were on the bus on the way to the airport at 4:15 am PST. Since we could not get any direct flights to San Antonio we had a 3 hour lay-over in Phoenix, which then increased due to flight delays. We made it to San Antonio around 6:00 pm CST. Being the only female on the trip I got my own hotel suite, it was glorious!

Thursday was a pretty relaxed day, scheduled homework time in the morning allowed me to get a run in and relax before they had a short practice at Trinity's field. After the practice we headed to downtown San Antonio to see the Alamo and Riverwalk. However, the guys didn't shower before we went down there. So not only did they smell, but we did a downtown tour in record time! I would have enjoyed a longer time at the Riverwalk, but I can't complain the trip was free to me. For dinner we ate at an excellent Italian restaurant.

Friday morning was same thing, but the afternoon was game time. We played the 5:00 match, I took some video and game notes to make my story writing easier following the game. Pacific was defeated 3-1, but played fairly well. They did play the #1 team in the nation, who has scored the most goals in the nation as well, and kept them to one of the lowest scores they have had all season.

After the loss our tickets were booked home. We left San Antonio at 5:20 am CST, had a lay-over in Denver and made it back to Portland by 12:00 PST.

Let me tell you the time change was not fun. I hadn't fully adjusted to daylight savings time and then early flights and the central time zone threw me off a bit more! Saturday and Sunday I slept a lot and feel a bit better on the time, but my days are still off!

I did enjoy getting a chance to travel and cover the team I have been with all season in their last match.