We started off the day with a four-hour bus ride. Although we were only in this hotel for a week it felt like several and as the long travel bus picked us up at 11 this morning we said "so long" to Fresno and "hello" to Los Angeles.

We arrived at our hotel in L.A., and quickly situated ourselves in our rooms, dropped our bags, and headed off to a team meeting where Coach Bob explained the importance of time management during practices and etiquette while on the UCLA campus.

I could tell the girls were getting excited when Coach was talking about everything we were going to go through in the next couple of days. Afterwards, some of the girls went down to the fitness center to work out, others watched movies in their rooms while the rest tried to catch up on some needed sleep for the much anticipated days.

This was considered a travel day, a day off from softball physically even though mentally I don't think it left any of our minds.

Tomorrow the real work begins with a practice at Loyola Marymount, a "dress rehearsal" for Thursday's one-hour practice on UCLA's field and some extra hitting to keep us all in check. We're finally where we've wanted to be all season, at regionals about to participate in postseason.

Now, as Coach says, "It's time to show them we belong here."

Tomorrow's practice, phase I.