University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
NCAA Champion Bruins Go To Washington - Day One
September 12, 2010 | Gymnastics
Sept. 12, 2010
UCLA's 2010 NCAA Championship Gymnastics and Softball teams are in Washington DC along with over 30 other NCAA Championship squads for a White House ceremony honoring championship teams and student-athletes from across the NCAA. President Barack Obama will congratulate the student-athletes on their accomplishments in the classroom as well as on and off the playing field in a ceremony Monday evening. UCLA senior gymnast Allison Taylor documents the Bruins' first day in Washington DC.
It's a great day to be alive and be a Bruin! Watch out Washington, DC... UCLA's #105 and #106 championship teams are here!
After an early wake up call and a long day of travel, softball and gymnastics has officially arrived and we are ready to meet Mr. President! The LAX terminal was PACKED with early morning travelers heading back home for the start of a new week. Enter: Bruins. We made our way through the curling security line and into the terminal to grab some breakfast just in time... we were STARVING!
During the flight, softball players and gymnasts were interspersed with regards to seating arrangements, so it was a really good opportunity to start to get to know each other a little better. Most of us did a combination of sleep, read, or watch a movie to pass the time since it's a pretty long flight. Shout out to Katie Schroeder who, for the first half of the flight, thought (Jim) Foody was a creeper because he was talking to all of the girls... she wasn't aware that he was our coach!
When we walked out to meet our bus upon arrival, we ran into the Stanford men's volleyball team, who is also here to meet President Obama. This made us even more excited about our trip to the White House tomorrow.
The bus ride was definitely interesting! The softball girls were singing and doing their team cheers for the first part of the bus ride as we were doing our best to vocally keep up with them. Man, those girls are crazy and I LOVE it! Our bus driver gave us a mini tour on the way to the hotel to give us a preview of what we're going to experience tomorrow. To quote our bus driver: "I'm not a tour guide, but I know more than you guys do." Thanks, Bob.
After we got to the hotel we were allowed to venture out on our own for dinner and explore our surroundings a little since we are literally going to be here for about 24 hours. The area around our hotel is absolutely gorgeous. I just love the architecture! We walked through DuPont Circle to get to a small Italian restaurant, where we had some delicious food and enjoyed the nice weather.
We have another early wake-up call tomorrow morning to tour the city a bit and get a private tour of Congress. We will then come back to the hotel, beautify ourselves, and head out to meet the President! We are excited and honored to be here in DC with the softball girls, and we're looking forward to a special day tomorrow! I'll let ya'll know how it goes. GO BRUINS!
Players Mentioned
