As I promised this summer, here is another edition of the Travvy Awards. This time, I will honor some people who have helped make our California journey enjoyable, unforgettable or just plain strange.

Here we go.

The Weathering the Storm Award goes to...

CHRISTINE SMITH

Nate's sister put up with all four of us using her bathroom all week. We're dudes. We shave. We stink. We don't hang towels up correctly. Some of us don't rinse the sink out after brushing our teeth. We use a lot of toilet paper. We're a mess.

Man, she's a trooper and we appreciate her tolerating our squatting in her crib.

The Friendly Foe Award goes to...

ADAM ROSE

Mr. Rose covers USC for the L.A. Times and was cool to talk to. We helped Adam out when he needed to know a few tidbits about Penn State or Nittany Lion players and he did the same for us when we needed to know if it was true that Rey Maualuga eats lugnuts for breakfast. (He does not.)

Adam's a great guy. If you want to read more about USC, check him out here. He's got a funny video of the aforementioned linebacker dancing with everyone's favorite sideline reporter, Erin Andrews.

The Friendly Foe II Award goes to...

BILL PLASCHKE

You've seen him on ESPN's Around The Horn, and no, he doesn't talk that fast in person. We met Plaschke at a USC practice and he was pretty cool.

There are some other professionals in this business who aren't as accommodating or interested in reporters who write for student publications, but Bill was an exception. He gave us tips on getting to the Rose Bowl and beating traffic and we tipped him off on how to get a one-on-one with Joe Paterno. (HINT: WRITE FOR THE L.A. TIMES.)

The Chainsaw Award goes to...

JOSH LANGENBACHER

This kid sounds like a Stihl when he sleeps. I'm not kidding.

The Bulletproof Award goes to...

NATHAN SMITH

The night before the Rose Bowl, multiple members from the media who cover Penn State caught a nasty bit of food poisoning. Even some of the media relations people with the Rose Bowl got sick, too.

Wible and I were horribly sick. Langebacher lost his lunch. Eller was a whole other story. Not our photographer.

Nate's invincible and spent the next day, while we were all feeling like big dogs in the press box, rolling around on the Rose Bowl grass, taking pictures of everything from stealth bombers to parade floats, not to mention a little pigskin action too.

Nate also happens to be one of the best drivers in Los Angeles and let us all sleep on his bedroom floor.

The Unsung Heros Award goes to...

THE HOUSEKEEPING STAFF AT THE BURBANK QUALITY INN

You ever see that episode of Family Guy when Peter, Brian, Chris and Stewie all drink Ipecac? Here it is...WARNING! Some might think it's a little gross.

Anywho, that's what happened in our hotel room the night before the Rose Bowl. We were all so sick with food poisoning from a still unknown source.

Nate's parents put us up in the hotel so we could get to the stadium quicker the next day. We are thankful for that, but I'm sure the staff there wasn't thankful for the mess they had to deal with. We tried to clean up the best we could, but sometimes, there's only so much a bunch of sick kids can do.

The Boo Birds Award goes to...

KEYSHAWN JOHNSON

As a former USC player, Keyshawn was recognized at halftime during the Rose Bowl. Man, I had a feeling the Penn State fans would boo him, especially being down 31-7 and all, but I had no idea the Trojan faithful would do the same.

Poor Keyshawn.

Honestly, the only athlete I've heard booed louder was San Antonio Spur Tony Parker last year. I was in New Orleans and swung by the New Orleans Arena to catch a Hornets/Spurs game. Each time poor Tony touched the rock he got it. The roof literally shook with contempt.

The Token Homeless Guy Award goes to...

"SONNY"

Sonny rode a bike with no tires and really liked our "wheels" (our pastel-yellow, rented PT Cruiser, appropriately dubbed the 'Pee Pee' Cruiser) Sonny wanted some change and swore to us he wasn't a drinker. We weren't doubting him, but we had no change either.

The Kings of the Table Award goes to...

TEAM JOHNSON/WIBLE

No one could touch Wible and I on the pool table all week. We doubt you can, either.

We'll be at the Phyrst if you'd like to try your hand.

The Took One For the Team Award goes to...

BRIAN ELLER

Eller got the sickness the worst of any of us. While some whole TV stations didn't show up to the "Grandaddy of 'em All" to cover the game due to the food poisoning, Eller toughed it out until he had to be rushed to the E.R. before kickoff.

He was at the Rose Bowl Parade and down on the field before the game, but the sickness hit him in full force (as it had us the night before) at the worst time. It could have easily have been one of us in that E.R.

The Fastest Chug Award goes to...

ANDREW WIBLE.

Duh.

Wible is always the first one to loosen us up when things get tight and provided another classic moment last night when he downed a Modelo Especial in four seconds.

Young cousin is a champ. Wible is also tough on brakes.

And finally we come to the most important award...

The Open Arms Award goes to...

THE ENTIRE SMITH FAMILY.

The Smiths welcomed us into their home as if we were their own and we could not be more thankful for their hospitality. We had places to sleep, food to eat, a dog -- Katie -- to pet, TV to watch and lovely people to spend our time away from the football team to talk to.

Mr. Smith repeatedly made sure we had coffee in the morning before heading off to interview Joe Paterno or watch USC practice. Mrs. Smith made sure we had clean sheets to sleep on and put up with laptops and football reporters strewn about her living room for a week.

Nate's grandparents frequently complimented us on our wardrobes and routinely chatted football with us. We loves us some football.

We have to get on a plane at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow and the Smiths cooked us a big dinner of pork, peas, stuffing (excellent), corn, salad and Dr. Pepper. Again, thanks can't say enough.

I've had a blast on this trip and I've hope you've enjoyed reading. We tried our butts off to provide you with the best Penn State football coverage out there and we hope you've learned with us on the way.

Keep reading.

--TJ