Back for another year end wrap=up of travel. Years past are…

These are places that are a destination, not a “driving through” or “changing planes” visit.

Total states: 9
Total countries: 4

*Denotes a first time visit.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Asheville, North Carolina*
Atlanta, Georgia
Auburn, Alabama
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Bruges, Belgium
Brussels, Belgium
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Houston, Texas
Jackson, Mississippi
Jacksonville, Florida*
Las Vegas, Nevada
Menlo Park, California
Monterey, California
Nassau, The Bahamas
New Orleans, Louisiana
Oakland, California*
Orange Beach, Alabama
Palo Alto, California
Paris, France
Pebble Beach, California
Perdido Key, Florida
Sacramento, California
San Francisco, California
San Jose, California*
Santa Clara, California*
Stanford, California*
Tuscaloosa, Alabama

Got a little sentimental today when I was reminded that Monster Plantation was renamed Monster Mansion in 2009.

Daxko was a partner at the CalSAE conference in Monterey, California. Nick (Daxko Connect’s product expert) and I spent Saturday morning driving around Silicon Valley on the hunt for some of our favorite dot-coms, Facebook and Google being the main interest.

Sweet Moses, it was perfect.

I’ve driven through Mountain View, Cupertino, Palo Alto, before, but that was long before the web fully took shape.

First, much looks just like any other town you’ve visited. Strip malls and office parks, all of which are unassuming until you see ‘Loopt’ or ‘LinkedIn’ on the side of the building.

Second, you drive past Facebook and never know you passed anything special. We did. Twice.

Third, you cannot drive past Google without knowing you passed anything special. There are signs of the Googleplex long before you reach the main building. ‘Google St’ for example is a not so subtle sign.

6,112 miles flown in the last two weeks, and not an In-N-Out burger to show for it (though I’ll change that by the end of the week… at least once).

LAX is my favorite. Always LAX.

I’ll be traveling more than normal in 2011, therefore I’m doing my darndest to travel better.

“Better” is defined as:
- lighter suitcase
- smaller suitcase
- faster through security
- faster at packing
- faster at repacking
- activity learning and practicing airport security tips/tricks

Sound cheesy? I agree… until one has to get from DFW’s Terminal A to Terminal E in 16 minutes.

To assist in my efforts I’ve been reading up on what others have to say about the ins and outs of business and personal travel.

One of my particular favorites was this blog post, and the following snippets.

I am very minimal when I travel.
I never check luggage. I refuse to check luggage. I look down at people who check luggage. When I get on the plane I have a backpack with my laptop and a carry-on—that’s it.

If you’re going to check luggage…
you basically should just get back in your car, go home and not fly anywhere.

[...]

When you fly: don’t wear sweatpants.
Wearing sweatpants on a plane is like wearing a fanny-pack walking around Paris. It’s pretty much the same thing.

[...]

I was on a plane once that lost all cabin pressure.
We had to make an emergency landing in Buffalo. My nose started bleeding because there was no air-pressure…and then we realized that the only thing worse than crashing and dying was landing in Buffalo.

[...]

One time I sat on a plane next to Britney Spears’ mom.
That was hilarious. We talked about Britney for two and a half hours.

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We’re back from a cruise, and I’m sick! Woo-hoo, Monday!

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Are we all back at work yet? I hope so. I started my new job two weeks ago. It’s tough being on cloud nine while everybody around just wants to go home and enjoy Christmas. Now… we’re back at work, and I can continue to be giddy.

Total states visited: 12
New states visited: 2 (Arizona, New Mexico)
Total countries visited: 2

Albuquerque, New Mexico*
Astoria, Oregon
Birmingham, Alabama
Cannon Beach, Oregon
Eugene, Oregon*
Flagstaff, Arizona*
Forks, Washington*
Fort Smith, Arkansas
George, Washington*
Hattiesburg, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Las Vegas, Nevada
Memphis, Tennessee
New Orleans, Louisiana
New York, New York
Olive Branch, Mississippi
Orange Beach, Alabama
Palm Springs, California
Pearlington, Mississippi
Port Angeles, Washington
Portland, Oregon
Sacramento, California*
Tupelo, Mississippi
Vancouver, British Columbia
Whitefish, Montana*

It’s always smart to text and drive, even though it’s stupid. What’s even more stupid is trying to read, decipher, and record the greatest and/or most confusing license plates through 11 states.

Here are the ones I managed to record into my iPhone while swerving through lanes.

ANGUSBF

AP REAL

O VICKI

TIKE

DRPEPPR

GO-BYE

AP REAL

SKISHING

CJORUN

SWOLE

IM POWER

UWNABME

7WATER7

3BLONDS

NOMOTAX

IQPD4ME

GRLYGLS

…and, last but not least, though certainly the most depressing…

RIPGENE

Many of your followed our cross-country trek on Facebook and Twitter, so I’ll just post the highlights.

If you want to view these and the rest, head over to Flickr.

Needless to say, I got lots and lots of stares as I stood in the parking lot of Oregon’s athletic department in my bright orange Auburn shirt. It was well worth it. War Eagle.

Chelsea’s car was broken into on night one. We found this out quite literally as the words “Sacramento seems like a really safe city” left my mouth. Thankfully, nothing of significant importance was taken.

In-N-Out is one of those burgers that, upon initial consumption I was never blown away by. My last few experiences have made me nothing but an obsessed devourer and blind loyalist.

So scarred by the break in, we felt the need to drive through Palm Springs for an evening at the Rancho Las Palmas.

The bartender at Rancho Las Palmas inquired if she could use us as guinea pigs for new drinks. We did could, could never be able to, consume them all.

Meteor Crater, AZ. Self explanatory and mind-blowing.

Like The Eagles, I’ve stood on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. That’s a flatbed Ford. Evidently the ‘girl in the flatbed Ford’ was on her lunch break.

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This is insanely awesome. Insanely.

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We went to Vancouver, BC this weekend for some relation and birthday celebration (myself on the 11th and Chelsea on the 14th)

And now, three men making giant candy canes by hand:

In Seattle, only one day in September had temperatures above 80 degrees. Needless to say it was a bit of a shock to land in Birmingham, but a pleasant visit nonetheless. The nights were chilly and ideal for football.

Of all my favorite events from the wedding weekend, tweeting from Walmart was by far my favorite.

Here’s the story: I was in Olive Branch, MS. I got bored. I went to Walmart. I tweeted, with pictures some of the items I found. Glory.

You can view the session by searching the term #TweetingFromWalmart. It was an abbreviated session due to the dying iPhone battery that mine and every iPhone possesses.

My favorite item – Budweiser and Bud Light pajama bottoms – is above. Don Draper could sell these products with the tag line: “Budweiser pajamas… have on you, what’s in you.”

Weddings! They’re fun. You see old friends. You witness two people commit the rest of their lives to one another! And they’re oh-so-flipping exhausting. I’m exhausted (and, truth be told, I didn’t really even do that much).

Our reentry to Seattle, flying past Mt Rainier…

I had a measly three days in the South. Our hotel was 5 miles from the nearest Chick-fil-A, and with a rental car at my side I did the most damage possible.

2 Original Chicken Sandwiches
1 Spicy Chicken Sandwich
1 large fry
2 small fry
7 large sweet teas
1 small Ice Dream

It was my first time trying the Spicy Chicken Sandwich, and I actually liked it despite my “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality. I actually found it quite spicy… but I’m a pansy after all.

By the way, I haven’t done the calorie count on the aforementioned items. I’d prefer not too, but you feel free.

3-day weekends are good, but not as good as 4-day weekends.