2008 travels

Somewhat for myself, a list of travel I (or Helen and I) did in 2008:

January: 

Lake Tahoe for a weekend of skiing

Mammoth Mountain for a week of skiing

February:

Disneyland for the company winter trip

Boston to see my Grandfather

Lake Tahoe for a weekend of skiing

March:

Lake Tahoe two weekends for skiing

NYC for Helen to go to the Opera, and me to hang out with Kacy and Kevin

April:

Boston for my Dad's 60th birthday

Lake Tahoe for one weekend of skiing

Pittsburgh for Carnegie Mellon's Carnival

May:

Qatar for the first graduation of Carnegie Mellon Qatar and a side jaunt to Jordan to see the Dead Sea and Petra

Los Angeles for Helen's grandmother's 80th birthday

San Francisco for my bachelor party (not exactly travel, but people traveling to see me!)

June:

Lake Tahoe for Jeremy's wedding

July:

No travel!

August:

Helen and my wedding in Burlingame (again, not travel but our favorite people came to us)

Maui for our honeymoon (Lahaina/Ka'anapali and Hana)

Boston and Maine for labor day

September:

No major travel

October:

No major travel

November:

Maine for the Maine Brewery Festival

Los Angeles for Thanksgiving

December:

Mendocino/Fort Bragg for beer tasting

LA for Christmas

Maine for Christmas

Miles flown in 2008:

58074

Flying flying flying

I fly about 50,000 miles per year. Assuming that's split into 10 round trips, with non flying time of 4 hours per trip (layovers and getting to the airport early), and an aircraft speed of 500 miles per hour, that's about 140 hours per year of travel. 1.6% of my year.

Mission: make it to Boston

I got bumped on the way to Maine and on the way back, netting me two free round trips on United anywhere in the continental 48. I was hoping to get bumped tomorrow because Seat Counter says my flight is sold out.

Which leads me to tonight's story. One of my friends called me tonight to pick her up at SFO. Turns out her flight to Vegas was so delayed she'd miss her flight to Charlotte, so she decided to rebook. Well, the earliest she can get to Charlotte (out of San Jose, SF, or Oakland) is Monday morning. I would assume it's the same issue for me heading into Boston, Manchester, or Portland. So I'll keep my seat tomorrow, and make sure to arrive on time! (She was in line for 4+ hours between trying to check in and trying to rebook)

Thanksgiving, redux

Right now, the cheapest flight from SJC/SFO to Boston, Manchester, or Portland for Thanksgiving (Wednesday-Sunday) is about $650.

Direct flight from SFO to Heathrow + hotel is about $700.

Lost Luggage

I flew to Pittsburgh last weekend (and no, I don't want to talk about last night Steelers' game).

I flew United to Las Vegas McCarran, then transferred to my usual airline. I had an hour and a half layover, but I skipped the slots in Las Vegas.

My checked bag didn't make it. And that's not so rare apparently. Out of the 8 people I talked to who flew to Pittsburgh from California this weekend, 4 lost their luggage. One lost her luggage on a direct flight!

I got my bag 18 hours after landing, so that worked - but I can't find any news about a recent surge in lost luggage. I assume it might be due to more people checking bags due to the new TSA rules. It might just be noise - but it sure is strange.

You down with TSA?

According to the TSA's banned item list I still can't bring gel shaving cream, economy sized saline solution, or drinking water on the plane. Still.

I thought this was resolved! Seriously, no water?

National parks visited

I never knew some places were national parks, I swore the only national park I'd been to was The Grand Canyon, and I'd driven around Acadia. So, with no further ado, the national parks (and recreation areas, and monuments, whatever is listed at the national parks listing) I've visited.

Acadia
Cape Cod National Seashore
Fire Island National Seashore
Golden Gate Recreation Area/Alcatraz/Presidio of San Francisco/San Francisco Maritime
Grand Canyon
Lake Mead (at least Hoover Dam)
Minute Man National Historical Park
National Mall/Washington Monument
Saguaro National Park (I believe... it's been awhile)
Statue of Liberty
Yosemite

I want to go to Devils Postpile when I'm next in Mammoth. Only problem, it's only open from mid June to mid October.

Keep Them Afraid!

Homeland Security Advisory System level history:

Although the system in theory consists of five levels, the threat level has never been lowered to blue or green, nor elevated to red. The threat level has stood at yellow for most of its existence. (source)

Yep, it's stayed at Yellow or Orange since its inception at March of 2002. This seems fishy to me...