Tennis is definitely my favorite sport to play and to watch, so naturally, the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells is an event that I look forward to going to every year! This event always tends to re-ignite my love for the sport and help re-inspire us to be on court more consistently.
This year we could only manage a day trip due to our work schedules, but I am just glad we got to go. Palm desert is now just about two hours (each way) away from us, so we could make it there and back for a day trip with relative ease.
Tristin’s dad took the train from Santa Barbara on Wednesday so he could come along as well. That night, we had a few friends over for a delicious dinner made by yours truly. Upon Tristin’s request, I made this amazing Honey Ginger Apple Shredded Pork from PaleOMG. Unfortunately, I was too hungry to think about snapping a photo, but take my word for it…it’s super easy to make and delicious. We also made a giant salad, grilled asparagus, and sweet potato mash to go along with the pork.
On Thursday, we woke up early, made a breakfast fit for champions, and set out to the desert (Eggs, paleo bread for me, bacon, fruit, and fried plantains in coconut oil with cinnamon – I can’t get enough of these plantains lately!).
We scoped out the draws and the schedule, and made our way to the practice courts to check out who was around. We stumbled upon Sam Querrey practicing first. As we continued along, checking out a few players practicing, we found out that Andy Murray was out on the court.
Since he wasn’t playing the day we were there, I was stoked to get to see him at least practice. It ended up being better watching him practice than watching a match because we were way closer than you can ever usually get in a match!
We stayed there for a long time watching him and Benneteau practice/play a set.
Afterward, we headed over to a smaller stadium to see Joao Sousa and Ivan Dodig play their second set before making our way to the main stadium to watch Mardy Fish and Ryan Harrison battle it out in a an exciting 2.5 hour match. We were extremely happy with the seats we ended up being able to get in the loge section. Nothing fancy, but a good view.
After that match, we walked around the grounds, watched the entertaining Byran Brothers play in their band and perused the shops (I had no idea they had a band…random!).
Satisfied, we decided to make one more walk around the grounds and practice courts and then started our drive home with a stop at Chipotle for a quick and easy dinner.
It ended up being a nice day with beautiful warm weather and some quality tennis. We were happy we got to continue our yearly tradition, although it was only for a short time this year!
(thanks for the photo bomb of our best picture…not!)
Fit To Wander 