Next stop, San Francisco for LI Giants fans

It was a long drive back to Levittown from Lambeau Field for John Bartlett and his two sons Monday, but they are already pumped for their next stop: San Francisco.

While the Giants fans were still celebrating Sunday's upset victory in Green Bay, Bartlett's wife, Susan, was arranging a trip to California so they can see their team take on the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game next Sunday.

"As soon as they [the Giants] won, she booked a hotel, and we're flying," Bartlett said, six hours into the 1,000-mile-plus trek home.

Road trips are a favorite pastime for his sons, Jonathan, 22, and Daniel, 19.

Jonathan was watching the Giants playoff game Jan. 8 versus Atlanta when he called home from a bar at halftime and suggested they follow the team to Green Bay if it won.

"Their mother will do anything for them, so she started looking for hotels, then airfare. But they [the flights] were all booked up, so we drove," said Bartlett, who owns a Levittown heating and air conditioner maintenance firm.

Jonathan said he got the idea because he and Daniel usually go to one Yankees and one Giants road game a year. Jonathan is studying for his master's degree in education at LIU Post; Daniel, 19, is an undergraduate at Caldwell College in New Jersey, where he is on the baseball team and studies graphic arts.

Driving ensured the Bartletts would stand out in Green Bay -- because of their New York license plates and their Dodge Charger, which is purple.

"The parking lot was full of Green Bay fans and said, 'I hope I don't have any trouble here,' " Bartlett said.

Inside the stadium, when the Giants made a big play, "We'd jump and then look around us. We were outnumbered," Jonathan said.

But the Packers fans were beyond polite, he said. One needled them and promised to give them a hard time during the game, but came over after it was over, offered his hand and said: "Congratulations. Your team beat us," Bartlett said.

Jonathan said he got the Packers tickets for $180 each by going to the NFL Exchange website and planned to get tickets for the 49ers game the same way. Tickets for the San Francisco game were available Monday on stubhub.com and gottickets.com at about $445 each.

Big Blue Travel, the official travel provider for the Giants, was offering a package for the NFC Championship Game at $2,050 per ticket, including air fare and hotel. Callers to the travel agency Monday were advised to buy the package online because the volume of calls was making it difficult for potential purchasers to get through.

Much like the football coach who doesn't want to look past the next game, the Bartletts hesitate to talk about the Super Bowl, which is set for Feb. 5 in Indianapolis. But Jonathan said: "If the Giants win [next Sunday], we're going."