Santa Monica

This is why I love Santa Monica so much.

Check out Yoda towards the end.  I was waiting for a throw down, but it never happened.

(download)

Tagged Fun & Dumb Pebble Beach California Travel santa monica

Alaska to Argentina - 21K Miles in 21 Months

Tonight, Randy Ksar hosted the first of, I hope, many San Jose Travel MeetUps. The kick-off event featured Greg Kaiser, who rode his bike from the northern most tip of Alaska to the southern most tip of Argentina. It was an incredibly inspiring discussion, especially when Greg shared that he met a woman on the trip that ultimately became his wife. They are honeymooning by riding up the east coast of Africa for a year.
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Greg's Path
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If you are in San Jose, keep an eye out for the group in Facebook and be sure to show up for the next event.
Tagged Travel greg kaiser randy ksar san jose travel meet up

Cool Plane People

A couple of weeks ago, Tim Sanders had a really good post about meeting someone unique on the plane. How the experience of meeting someone on a plane is much more rewarding than just tuning out, trying to cram out a few emails in cramped corners, so why not take advantage of it by meeting the person next to you. Last night, flying home from Toronto, I met Craig Breckon, a leader at the American Historic Motorcycle Racing Association. Craig was on his way to San Francisco, after picking up a recent win at Daytona, to pick up a handful of bikes and drive them across the country. I really had a great time talking with Craig, learning about something that I knew absolutely nothing about, motorcycle racing. While I don't see myself ever getting on a bike and living to tell about it, it was great to hear Craig's stories and the passion he has for racing. Great stories shared of crashes and wins and near wins and close calls. It certainly made the flight go faster. More importantly, like Tim, I learned that I don't need to have my head on the laptop or in a book to make a flight enjoyable. Usually the person next to you is pretty interesting. Reach out and say hi.
Tagged Travel ahmra craig breckon daytona flying tim sanders

Gross Hotel Cups

I was traveling this week. After watching this: I was really glad to see this:
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Tagged Travel cups holiday_inn hotels

Rick's Blog

My friend Rick is truely living the American Dream. When everyone was throwing their money into the stock market in the late 90's, Rick was smart enough to start buying houses in areas that were growing, but not overpriced. Places like Phoenix and Las Vegas. By the end of 2005, Rick had about a dozen houses that had appreciated by anywhere from 10% - 100% or more. Late last year, Rick decided to cash out of most of his homes, quit his job and buy a 12 month round the world plane ticket. Rick is now visiting places that I can only dream of. I think that it is awesome.
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He has only been on his trip since late-January but has already been to Brazil, Argenitina, Columbia, Chile, and now Peru (above picture). Everytime I read Rick's posts, I get the urge to do the same thing. Perhaps when the kids are a bit older and can really appreciate it... His blog is excellent. You can read it here.
Tagged Travel

Trapped in LA

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Ugh, I am waking up in a terrible hotel in glorious Fullerton, CA. I wish that I could say that it was LA, but it is more like the arm pit of LA, less the Right Guard. It is the last time that I use the self booking travel system. Here are some general oberservations:
SNA is LAX's ugly little sister. Nothing beats LAX for people watching. Hanging out at SNA is like hanging out at a retirement home. The writers and producers of 'The OC' should be held liable for false advertising.  I didn't see anyone that looked like anyone on that show. The famous high speed chases that are on TV are only average speed in LA. Everyone drives 100 miles per hour here. Newport Beach is awesome despite all of the above. Yahoo Maps sucks. I know that this is nothing new, but driving directions are the worst. What makes it challenging for the developers of Y! Maps is that there doesn't seem to be any order to the street numbers in Santa Ana. The blocks by South Plaza Mall go 2900, 2700, 3400, 3900, 3800, 3700. If you don't live around here, it is just nuts to figure things out. The ego in this area drives disaster movies and that is why they always happen in LA. The Ford Taurus is the single most uncomfortable car I've ever driven. I have such a back ache. It didn't rain, but mmmmm Smog!
I'm ready to go home.
Tagged General Travel

Nice Day

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It is a beautiful day in San Francisco today.
Tagged Travel
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