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With the Rockets enduring a six game road trip on the left coast, Rockets.com asked Ryan Bowen to keep fans up to date on the Houston’s last lengthy road trip of the season. Bowen will be checking in periodically to give everyone in Houston an inside peak on an NBA road trip. Check back often for updates.

Saturday, April 8

After last night’s game in San Francisco we spent the night and bused to Sacramento today. The win made the bus ride a little shorter.

After arriving in Sacramento, we had a meeting at the hotel. Just to give you a visual, our meeting is not in a meeting room with table and chairs, rather a ballroom with regulation court dimensions that have been taped down by Jay and Tony, our equipment managers (I told them I would mention their names today).
After our meeting I headed out in search for a place to get my hair cut. I made my way to the mall and found a Regis Salon. I usually get my hair cut at a Supercuts or Great Clips (something along those lines), but Regis worked out just fine.

After my haircut I walked around the mall a bit and wandered into a sports store and happened to find the golf section. I always seemed to get suckered into buying the hot new driver for summer (which doesn’t make my wife real happy). They had a simulator and the guy twisted my arm into trying a few out. I held off for now, but I really liked the new Ping driver (don't tell my wife). A few stores and a Jamba Juice later, I made my way back to the hotel, where it was time for my workout. I did a lift and run in the workout room at the hotel, which was average but did have a few TVs where I could watch the Masters. It looks like we are in for a pretty good Sunday if the weather cooperates.

When my workout was finished it was time for dinner, and P.F. Chang’s was calling my name. A little wonton soup, lettuce wraps, and mongolian beef later and it was back to the hotel. I am now just sitting in the hotel watching Minority Report and about ready to call it a night. With an earlier game tomorrow, everything is going to get moved up with a 9:15 bus for shoot-around.

Thursday, April 6 (Early)

We just arrived in San Francisco after our game in Portland. It is 1 A.M. and I am just waiting for my bags to arrive, which usually come 30-45 minutes after we get to the hotel. The past couple of days have been pretty busy, with back-to-back games.

Tuesday in Seattle was a pretty typical road game day. Shootaround in the morning, followed by brunch, then some time to rest before the game. On the road I get a chance to get caught up on my soaps. I am a big fan of All My Children, One Life to Live and General Hospital and usually get a chance to watch a little of each, before I take a short nap. The buses left at 4:30 and 5:15. We take two buses over. The first bus is for the younger players and the second for the others. It gives everyone a chance to get shots up before the game. After the game we flew to Portland. It was a short flight and we got in at a good time, around midnight.

On the second of back-to-back games we normally don't have shootaround. When we arrive in a city we are given scouting reports to study and also tape to watch. This is very important to go over, especially on back-to-back games. We had a walkthrough meeting before going over to the arena for the game. Tomorrow is an off day for us, giving the guys playing heavy minutes a chance to rest. However, most of the guys will get a workout in at some point in the day.

Well, that's about it for the past couple of days.

Monday, April 3 (Late)

I got up fairly early this morning and headed down to the workout room in the hotel to get my cardio in for the day. It is very important to get your cardio in if you are not getting many minutes. Our strength and conditioning coach David Macha keeps a close watch on us to make sure we are getting our extra work in and staying with our lifting program. After my workout I returned to my my room to pack and eat a little breakfast before our trip to Seattle. Room service breakfast at the hotel was a joke. Although very good, $30 dollars for pancakes, hash browns and a shot of OJ. Welcome to the Ritz.

We left the hotel at 11 for our two hour flight to Seattle. I decided to play golf on my PSP (PlayStation Portable) this flight. I felt like Phil did over the weekend finishing 30 under in my four rounds and at one point birdying 12 straight holes (if only it were that easy in real life). After arriving in Seattle we had a team meeting at the hotel. With a back-to-back coming up we don't have a lot of court time to prepare.

I finished the day by watching the national championship game. It was a pretty good time. Some of us players, coaches and staff got together at the hotel and watched it. It wasn't as exciting as watching the Texas/USC football game, but fun none the less. It is always neat to watch "One Shinning Moment" at the end to see a recap of the tourney. (except seeing the Northwestern St. guy hitting a step back three to beat Iowa) This time of year is always such a good time to watch sports on TV with the Final Four, opening day for baseball, and the Masters right around the corner.

The rest of the night will consist of studying up on Seattle and watching Deal or No Deal.

Saturday, April 1

I have been asked to write a brief blog about our 10-day west coast road trip which started today. I will try to describe what a typical day is for us, both on game days and off days.

We left Houston today at noon, heading for L.A. for our first of 6 games on this west coast trip. After a win last night, everyone was in a pretty good mood. Our plane is divided into three sections. The coaches sit in the front of the plane, the media and staff in the middle, and the players sit in the back section. There always seems to be a lot going on in the plane.

Activities range from playing cards, talking, watching film, eating, playing video games and reading. (Pretty much like what you would see on any flight, except we have all first class seats and the food is better.) Knowing it was going to be a long flight, I decided to watch Cinderella Man. Good movie!

On travel days like today we typically meet when we get to the city that we are going to. Sometimes, depending on the schedule, we practice first in Houston and then fly out. Today, we arrived at our hotel around 1:30 in the afternoon and got ready for our meeting. Our meeting usually consists of a film session from a previous game, a walk-thru, or both. Today we had a walk-thru that was about 30-40 minutes, going over situations from last night’s (Friday) game and some things to think about for tomorrow (Sunday).

After our meeting I did a short workout at the hotel and I’m now watching the Final Four games. Since Iowa lost in the first round, I really don't care who wins; I am just hoping for a couple of good games.

Well, that's all for today, hope you enjoyed Day 1.