Brendan Gates

Ladyfriend and I are in Tokyo right now. I don’t know if I’ll have time to blog from here, but I will be uploading my pictures each night. I have a Japan set on Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendangates/sets/72157622704179013/

There isn’t much so far, but we did only get in just last night…

My flight to Fort Lauderdale left Eugene at about noon on Monday. After a short layover in Salt Lake City, I landed in FLL at just around midnight. I met up with a colleague that flew in from St. Louis, and the next morning we drove our rented Kia Rondo to the Microsoft building. The meeting lasted 6 hours. That night we had dinner with an old friend of my colleague, which was unexpectedly pleasant. On Wednesday I got up at 4:30am, or 1:30am according to my internal clock, to catch a cab back to the airport. By noon on Wednesday I was back in Eugene.

So to recap, in 48 hours I spent two nights in a hotel, had a 6 hour business meeting, ate a delicious seafood dinner (plus some really crappy airport lunches), and flew 4600 miles.

Seasoned business travelers might scoff at my trip as nothing different from what they do every week, but seasoned business traveler I am not. That was a long 48 hours. Previous business trips of mine were not nearly as hectic as this one, and those weren’t so bad. But the frenzied pace of this trip is not something I would want to repeat. I think now I have a better understanding of why my dad never seemed to enjoy the business trips he went on when I was growing up.

Despite my negative tone, the trip was definitely worth it. And not just because of the Bang Bang Shrimp from the Bonefish Grill. It was a very productive meeting. Just one of those productive meetings that had to happen in person.

Oregon Trail
When: 3/15/2008 2345 Hrs PST
Where: Eugene, OR (The Residence Inn)

We made it to Eugene! To the Residence Inn, specifically. A welcome reprieve from the budget motels we had been frequenting along the way.

Let’s recap the trip:

Miles driven: 2853
Hours on the road: ~44
Sodas consumed: Too many
Motel 6’s visited: 3
Times dog “relieved himself” in a hotel room: 2
Times we were asked about the prius: 2
Cans of V8 consumed: 4
Highest point: 8046 feet (outside of Flagstaff, AZ)
Oil Changes: 1
Knives purchased: 1
Times I was lost at the Hoover Dam: 1
Pictures taken: Countless

I mapped the whole thing out in Google Maps, but I exceeded the number of stops you can add to a map so I had to break it into two parts:
Part 1 (St. Louis, MO to Turlock, CA)
Part 2 (Turlock, CA to Eugene, OR)

My pictures are all up, you view them here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brendangates/sets/72157604109924659/

Once Ladyfriend posts hers I’ll link to those as well.

It was a very long trip, and we’re very glad to finally be off the road (though still not quite in our own apartment). Thank you to everybody who left comments or called or sent notes along the way, your support is much appreciated.