To cheer the Bulldogs, these five friends packed into a van and drove across the USA

Pasadena, Calif. is seeing a lot of red and black these days.

UGA fans are pouring in from across the nation, gearing up to support the Bulldogs in Monday's Rose Bowl game against the Oklahoma Sooners. And those fans are getting there any way they can. One die-hard fan is even making the 2,200 mile trip on a puttering black and red motor scooter.

Five friends from across Georgia knew they had to get to Pasadena as soon as they heard the news that UGA had made the semifinals. So they met up on Dec. 28, packed into a blazing red minivan and zoomed off on an adventure to California.

"It was kind of a last minute thing. We had no plan. Our plan was to go to the Rose Bowl, that's it," said Lynn Carswell, a teacher in Columbia County who has been documenting the group's trip on social media. "We didn't even all know each other. When I got in the car to leave, I just said I had two new BFFs, they just didn't know me yet."

The group includes Graylen Bishop, a Schley County teacher from Manchester, Ga., Shannon Mann, a teacher in Columbia County who works with Carswell, Robyn McCann, who teaches at Callaway Elementary School in Troup County, and Jolene Bryant, a stay-at-home mom in Evans, Ga.

They may not have known each other to begin with, but the group of friends has torn across the county, leaving a wake of Georgia Bulldog pride wherever they go.

"We have just had an adventure," Carswell said. "We stopped at the University of Oklahoma and took pictures outside the school with our Bulldogs gear on. It was just some goodhearted joking," she said.

Carswell said the group stopped at a Walmart and asked a clerk if they had any Bulldog gear to add to what they were already wearing. The clerk said no. "They asked us if we were the Florida Gators. Ridiculous! That 'G' does not stand for 'Gator!'

Carswell has been sharing the group's exploits on social media, including through a Facebook Live video of the group saluting the Battle Hymn of the Bulldog Nation while crossing over the Colorado River. "Go Dawgs! Go Dawgs! Welcome to California!" they shout, zooming along as they pass into the Golden State.

Carswell said people thought she and her friends had "lost their minds" when the group left on their cross-county odyssey, but now are jealous they couldn't come on the trip. The group has been keeping everyone back home up to speed with photos and videos, and has also been posting polls asking their fans about what they should do next.

Carswell said she's been overwhelmed by the support she and her friends have gotten about their adventure.

"My daughter is at the University of Alabama," said Carswell. "All of her roommates have been answering our polls. I'm a cool mom!"

On Sunday, the group went off to a tailgating event at the Santa Monica Pier and said they are ready to watch the Dawgs win on Monday.

This story was originally published December 31, 2017 at 3:24 PM with the headline "To cheer the Bulldogs, these five friends packed into a van and drove across the USA."