BYU Trip (9/13/2008)

The UCLA vs. BYU game was an enjoyable, albeit disappointing trip to Utah. We arrived in Salt Lake City Friday night, and quickly hopped on a bus that drove us to the same hotel that the team was staying at.  We quickly changed to perform for the Fan Travel members, a group that is always high-spirited and fun to perform for!  Our hotel was located in the small city of Provo, an area that is extremely quiet and low-key in comparison to the bustling streets of Westwood.  After exploring Provo and grabbing a quick bite to eat, most of the members of the Spirit Squad chose to turn in early, due to the fact that we had an early call-time the following day.  On game day, we all met up for breakfast in the lobby of the hotel before heading over to BYU’s stadium.  We walked for quite a distance, and on the way mingled with many BYU fans and several UCLA supporters.  We were happily surprised to find that most of the BYU fans were extremely welcoming and just as excited for the game as we were!

Despite the fact that our team was unable to defeat the Cougars, the Spirit Squad did it’s best to rally our amazing fans that had traveled so far to support our team.  The Cheer Squad was able to stunt, tumble, and help our yell crew member and mascot lead cheers.  After the game, we returned to the hotel for a night of relaxation before our flight the next day.  Sunday morning, a couple of us went for a short jog to the campus to look around a bit.  Although the campus was mostly deserted, we enjoyed looking at all of the architecture and landscaping.  Later on, we discovered that most of the stores in Provo are closed on Sunday, so we had difficulty finding places to eat.  Finally, after leaving the hotel, the entire squad took a quick detour on the way to the airport to stop by the state capital and of course, take pictures stunting in front of the ‘Welcome to Utah’ sign!  Overall, we had a great trip to Utah, and hopefully next time we will leave with a win!

-Caitlin