Before the meeting I had a chance to have dinner at Renee's Diner -- a great little place in downtown Lakeport. Great apple pie!

I spent Wednesday evening in the high desert city of Hesperia, where the City Council voted to oppose Propositions 94 to 97. The drive was a little nostalgic for me since my Fliegner Grandparents lived for two decades in the next town over -- Victorville.

After the City Council meeting I stopped off at Los Domingos -- a pretty good Mexican restaurant in downtown Hesperia.

Good Start to the Year

The USC Trojans defeated the University of Illinois Fighting Illini 49 to 17 in the Rose Bowl today.

This marks the sixth straight appearance by USC in a BCS Bowl Game.

I've been to five out of six of those games. USC screwed me out of tickets to the 2006 Rose Bowl (but I'm not bitter).

USC has won five out of six of these BCS Bowl appearances -- losing the 2006 Rose Bowl to Texas.

Today ESPN named the 20 most exciting Rose Bowl games ever (since they started playing in 1902).

The Number One most exciting Rose Bowl game ever was the 2006 Rose Bowl. (Like I said -- not bitter.)

First stop upon arriving at the Rose Bowl was breakfast in the Clubhouse of the Brookside Golf Course.

This nice Illinois fan, from Galesburg, ended up sitting with me and my guest, Sky Johnson, while we had breakfast. Her family was crowded around the next table watching a bowl game on TV and she seemed to want a little break from them.

Sky grew up in Champaign and seemed thrilled to be surrounded by so many people from the plains.

A fountain at the Brookside Golf Course just north of the Rose Bowl.

As best I could tell from outside the fence, the University of Illinois pre-game party looked pretty fun. I especially liked it when the leader of the band from Champaign pointed out images of the party were streaming live on-line and begged for someone back home to FedEx out some mashed potatoes and gravy because "all there is to eat out here is sushi."

These three apparently didn't get the memo that the NCAA and the University of Illinois have banned images of Chief Illiniwek for being racially offensive.

They also wouldn't pose for me because I was wearing a USC cap.

Perhaps they thought I would post the photo on my blog and make a snotty comment.

You know you're in your seats early when they haven't even started the clock to count down the last 90 minutes before kick-off.

The Trojan Marching Band enters the stadium.

The USC Song Girls had roses in their hair before the game began.

The Rose Queen and her Court.

Emeril Lagasse was the Grand Marshall of the Rose Parade. With all due respect to Mr. Lagasse, why in the world was he chosen as Grand Marshall? Bam!

A Navy Seal delivers the USC flag during the pre-game ceremonies.

The Trojan Marching Band takes the field before the game.

Traveler was on hand today -- and was pretty visible because of USC's high-scoring offense.

Former USC Quarterback Matt Leinart (in a black shirt and blue jeans, with his back to the camera directly behind a photographer squatting down) and Will Farrell (posing for a picture in a red cap and red jacket on the far left of the photo) had two of USC's five side-line passes.

F-18s fly over the Rose Bowl Stadium before the game in perfect formation.

The University of Illinois Band faces the USC crowd with Illinois fans (in orange) behind them.