Thirty-three hundred miles. Twenty-nine die-hard Lady Lion basketball fans. Six days. Four teams. Two reporters. One bus.

No classes.

The makings of a really bad low-budget movie? Well, maybe if we'd brought cameras . . .

No, of course not. It was our trip to the NCAA Midwest Regional Finals in Austin, Texas, last week. And what a trip it was.

Tuesday, March 22, 11:47 p.m. --State College

We climb aboard the Lady Lion Cager Club bus and begin our journey. We do not know anyone on the bus. We are afraid.

Wednesday, March 23, 5 a.m. --Ashland, Ohio

The bus blows a tire. We stop at a truck stop to get it fixed. We will see far too many truck stops on this trip. We are tired.

9 a.m. -- Somewhere near Cincinnati

Sleep is not a viable option, so we get to know our travelmates. Despite the fact that they are, on average, about 25 years older than us, we hit it off. They are good people. The Lady Lions are lucky to have fans like these.

Denise Masley, junior center Missy's mom, is sitting in front of us. Now we know why Missy is so talkative. It runs in the family.

2 p.m. -- Somewhere in Kentucky

We are driving through the Bluegrass State. The grass is green.

5 p.m. -- Jackson, Tennessee

We stop at the Days Inn. We will sleep until midnight. We have lost all semblance of a regular sleep pattern.

Thursday, March 24, 3:15 a.m. --Carlisle, Arkansas

The bus driver jokes that we are in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. This is not funny at 3:15 a.m. Arkansas is ugly. Bill Clinton jokes circulate. These are somewhat more funny, but not much.

7:30 a.m. -- Somewhere in Texas

Elaine, the tour organizer, shows us the T-shirts she had made up for the trip. They read: "Real Basketball Fans Take The Bus." We decide we need our own shirts: "Smart Reporters Take The Plane."

3 p.m. -- Austin, Texas

We check into the Holiday Inn, then head to the official Penn State pregame bash at TGI Friday's. There is food. We are happy.

After the party, we arrive at the Erwin Center, sight of the game. Senior forward Jackie Donovan tells us we deserve a medal for making the bus trip. She is right.

6 p.m.

Tipoff against Seton Hall. Penn State goes on to win 64-60. This is cool. Ann Richards, the governor of Texas, sits in front of us for the Texas Tech-Alabama game. Ann Richards is a hoot. This is also cool.

Friday, March 25

We tour the University of Texas at Austin campus. Very nice, very big. There are 47,000 students here. We see way too much burnt orange.

Saturday, March 26, 6:15 p.m.

On the way to the game, our cab driver tells us he got married three weeks ago. We congratulate him. He then tells us the marriage just broke up, and his wife smokes crack and is pregnant with what might be his child.

We do not congratulate him. This is a bad omen.

8:15 p.m.

Tipoff against Alabama. Winner goes to the Final Four. Alabama is too much.

Sunday, March 27, 6 p.m.

Time to leave. The bus is quiet. Frank, Elaine's husband, asks if anyone forgot anything. An answer comes from near the back of the bus: "No, Frank, but we're trying."

I have a feeling that the loss will be forgotten. The trip, however, will be remembered --the one that took us to Austin, and the one that the Lady Lions took their fans on all year.