Meet Dave, my TPIR buddy

For the past few weeks, I've known that I wouldn't be making the trip out to Los Angeles by myself. My brother-in-law, Dave Ross, will be taking the "Price Is Right" pilgrimmage with me. The problem was, Dave himself didn't know any of this until yesterday.

Shortly after I made arrangements to attend a taping of the show, I got an e-mail from my sister-in-law, Cathleen, Dave's wife. She wanted to know what I thought about the idea of having Dave come with me on the trip. What did I think? I thought it would be awesome! It will be nice to have some company, and Dave is a great choice to come along.

Cathleen made the arrangements to get Dave a ticket to the show and get him on my flight to L.A. My hotel room was already a double, so we were all set there. The plan was to keep it secret from him until Christmas Day, when he would receive the trip as a gift.

We were at Dave and Cathleen's house for the holiday yesterday. After everyone else had opened their presents, Dave's kids (my niece Courtney and nephew Chandler) brought out a new suitcase and gave it to Dave, with instructions to open it. Inside he found several wrapped gifts, including the shirt you see in the photo above (2021 EDITOR'S NOTE - Sorry the photos are no longer available!) There was also a handmade "Price Is Right" sign.

Still, even when he opened an envelope containing his ticket to the show and flight information, I'm not quite sure he understood what was going on. That was when I told him, "Dave, you're going to be watching the national championship (football) game with me 3,000 miles away on the West Coast, because you're coming with me to see 'The Price Is Right.'"

The national collegiate championship football game involving our beloved Ohio State Buckeyes is scheduled for Monday, Jan. 8, the day we fly out to California. After he was assured that we would be in our hotel room in plenty of time that day to watch the game, Dave understood everything and seemed genuinely surprised and excited.

Dave called us this morning on his way home from work (he had to go in for a few hours...I had the day off) as I was watching today's episode of the show and taking notes. I promised him I would share my extensive notes and list of bids with him, at which point I think he realized just how insane his travel buddy really is. This ought to be interesting...