Scoreboard at Indian Wells BNP Paribas Open
I’ve written before about how tennis is often a part of our vacations, and spring break was no exception. We went to Indian Wells to see the final three days of the BNP Paribas Open and enjoy the sunshine.
For those of you keeping score, we saw 11 matches (Huey/Jankowicz-Peya/Soares; del Potro-Murray; Djokovic-Tsonga; Wozniacki-Kerber; Sharapova-Kirilenko; Nadal-Berdych; del Potro-Djokovic; Makarova/Vesnina-Petrova/Srebotnik; Huey/Jankowicz-Bryan bros.; Sharapova-Wozniacki; Nadal-del Potro).
One of my favorite things about the venue was the great seating in the stadium. We were in the upper level, but because of the way the stadium is designed, you can see well from most seats, which is not always the case at other major tournaments. I’ve been to the French Open, and from an equivalent seat, it’s hard to to see.
Between matches, we would go out and see which players were on the practice courts.
One thing I noted for future reference is where I’d like to sit if we ever go back. As I’ve mentioned before, I sunburn easily. As long as the sun was out, our seats were in direct sunlight. But, I noticed that the seats directly across from us got shade in the afternoon. I made note of the section numbers.
Of course, our trip was not all about tennis. I had picked our hotel because a) it had a nice pool; b) it had rooms available; and c) it had shuttle service to the tennis venue. So, we hung out at the pool and sat around the firepits in the evening.
We also spent some time bumming around Palm Springs. A long time ago, we lived in Southern California, not too far from Palm Springs, and we would often make day trips there. While there were things that were different, we noted that one of our all-time favorite coffee shops, Koffi, was still in business, as was the shop where we bought our daughter a pair of red, flowered Birkenstocks when she was only three.
Indian Wells Tennis Garden begins to fill up
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" data-orig-size="1600,1200" title="Nadia Petrova " data-image-title="Nadia Petrova " align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/petrovaiw.jpg" height="127" width="170" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/petrovaiw.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4.6","credit":"","camera":"COOLPIX L810","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363474494","copyright":"","focal_length":"17.2","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.002","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/petrovaiw.jpg?w=529" />Nadia Petrova on practice courtsNovak Djokovic on practice court
" data-orig-size="1600,1200" title="djokovicIW" data-image-title="djokovicIW" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/djokoviciw.jpg" height="128" width="170" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/djokoviciw.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4.4","credit":"","camera":"COOLPIX L810","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363478731","copyright":"","focal_length":"15.3","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/djokoviciw.jpg?w=529" />Novak Djokovic on practice courtdel Potro leaves practice court
" data-orig-size="3264,2448" title="delpotroIW" data-image-title="delpotroIW" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/delpotroiw.jpg" height="128" width="170" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/delpotroiw.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363520327","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"50","shutter_speed":"0.00072411296162201","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/delpotroiw.jpg?w=529" />del Potro leaves practice courtSharapova wins women’s finals
" data-orig-size="1600,1200" title="sharapovaIW" data-image-title="sharapovaIW" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/sharapovaiw.jpg" height="128" width="171" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/sharapovaiw.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4.3","credit":"","camera":"COOLPIX L810","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363657101","copyright":"","focal_length":"13.9","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0008","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/sharapovaiw.jpg?w=529" />Sharapova wins women’s finalsNadal wins men’s final
" data-orig-size="1024,768" title="nadalIW" data-image-title="nadalIW" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/nadaliw.jpg" height="128" width="171" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/nadaliw.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"4.4","credit":"","camera":"COOLPIX L810","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363668659","copyright":"","focal_length":"15.3","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0015625","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/nadaliw.jpg?w=529" />Nadal wins men’s finalView of mountains over hotel pool
" data-orig-size="3264,2448" title="hotelIW" data-image-title="hotelIW" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/hoteliw.jpg" height="152" width="203" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/hoteliw.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363517047","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"50","shutter_speed":"0.000542888165038","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/hoteliw.jpg?w=529" />View of mountains over hotel poolWallpaper patterned with mid-century architecture in hotel bathroom
" data-orig-size="640,480" title="Wallpaper" data-image-title="Wallpaper" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-98.jpg" height="153" width="203" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-98.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363684439","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.05","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-98.jpg?w=529" />Wallpaper patterned with mid-century architecture in hotel bathroomOutdoor seating area at Plaza Racquet Club
" data-orig-size="1632,1216" title="photo-110" data-image-title="photo-110" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-110.jpg" height="127" width="170" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-110.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363623099","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"64","shutter_speed":"0.0011778563015312","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-110.jpg?w=529" />Outdoor seating area at Plaza Racquet ClubDesert plants in a gallery garden
" data-orig-size="3264,2448" title="Desert plants " data-image-title="Desert plants " align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/img_2846.jpg" height="127" width="170" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/img_2846.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363605151","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"50","shutter_speed":"0.0027548209366391","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/img_2846.jpg?w=529" />Desert plants in a gallery garden in downtown Palm SpringsSonny Bono statue
" data-orig-size="1632,1216" title="Sonny Bono" data-image-title="Sonny Bono" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-102.jpg" height="254" width="341" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-102.jpg?w=300" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"2.4","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 4S","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363612935","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.28","iso":"64","shutter_speed":"0.00094161958568738","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/photo-102.jpg?w=529" />Sonny Bono statueDowntown Marilyn Monroe statue
" data-orig-size="1923,2799" title="" data-image-title="" align="left" data-orig-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/marilyniw-e1364227666270.jpg" height="254" width="175" data-medium-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/marilyniw-e1364227666270.jpg?w=206" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"9.9","credit":"","camera":"COOLPIX L810","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1363739796","copyright":"","focal_length":"4.3","iso":"200","shutter_speed":"0.0015625","title":""}" data-large-file="http://margaretsmiscellany.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/marilyniw-e1364227666270.jpg?w=529" />Marilyn Monroe statue