This weekend, Sacramento was the place to be. For two whole days, the Mt. Whitney Girls Water Polo team forgot all about the small town of Visalia just south of Fresno. The main goal for the team wasn’t to win the 2017 Grizzly Classic against teams like Granite Bay and St. Francis, it was simply to have fun and loosen up.

Although the Lady Pioneers lost the four games they played this weekend, they were grateful for the experience. It was the perfect way to apply our practiced skills in a real game setting, without having to worry about winning WYL games. Our goal for this weekend was to work on our game against teams tougher than Redwood and El Diamante.

In meeting our first goal, we also met our second, which was to have fun. It started with the ride up, 6 girls crammed in one van, 4 in the other. We listened to music, started inside jokes, and slept… a lot. Once we got to Sacramento, the first thing we had to do was play a game, which wasn’t bad considering what our goals were. After the first game, we all decided to get lunch. I had an amazing turkey and cream sandwich from The Beach Hut, 100% recommend. WE went back to play our second game, then headed to dinner.

For dinner we ate at Buca di Beppo, a lively Italian joint that serves their food family-style. We had caesar salad and chopped antipasta salad, shrimp florentine and ravioli, and chicken saltimbocca, which is actually really good. After dinner we made a beeline for the Arden Fair Mall, where we expanded our collection of crocs and started a mission to find Harvest dresses.

The next day, two of our players had to take the SAT. As Sophie Shirk and Emily Rouse were putting their brains to the test, the rest of our team was playing a game and relaxing in the hotel room. They returned just in time for our last game, in which three of our starting players were sitting out from due to injuries. After that, it was back to that small town of Visalia just south of Fresno.

In my opinion, it was one of the best things to happen to our team. We had fun, staying in the hotel room listening to music and joking around, running around the Arden Fair Mall rushing to find crazy Harvest dresses, eating weird new foods at Buca di Beppo. I can honestly say that it was one of the best memories yet of this season.

Twitter: @halastephanie | Read all of her articles HERE.