Where have I been? Here's a social media post from the 2016 BNP Paribas Open.

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If you build it, they will come. Some 260,000 people will have passed through these gates in these two weeks, and yet Indian Wells is still not a major tournament. We are rookies at this. I had my doubt's about taking my husband, who previously had no interest at all. Now he's asking for scores, rankings and orders of play. And too, there are many people, like our neighbor, who will purchase a general admission ticket for tomorrow's finals, sit in a lawn chair on the grassed courtyard outside of the stadium to watch the finals on the big screen , just to say that they were there.

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The stadiums are less than 5 miles from our home. We hop a cab, eat at one of the great restaurants on the grounds, have a few cold drinks, and cab it home.

Common sense? There are days during the tournament when you can attend for free. We've done that too! The lighting on the grounds light up the desert sky for two weeks. The the tennis gardens, a spare block of land where he plans another support hotel for the grounds and the entire tournament is the brainchild of Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle Systems. There was a concert on the grounds this year with Buddy Guy and Lucas Nelson and The Promise of the Real. My husband and I didn't go, because we, like everyone else budget our entertainment dollars.

This tournament is the site of Bianca's first big win, earlier this year.

Like all advance tournament/playoff tickets, you never know who will be playing on the date of your ticket, but you CAN easily by general admission tickets and watch them practice or play their early rounds.