San Francisco Treat
That Bridge
At the end of February I was finally sent to the West coast on a business trip! I haven’t been to San Francisco in a few years, not since my “All You Can Jet” trip back in 2010. This time around, instead of inconveniencing my friend Iris by staying on her couch. I stayed at a cute Kimpton hotel downtown near Union Square. It offers Public bicycles to borrow (not on these hills!) and way too convenient of a location for shopping.
One my main tasks was to visit a Public Bike shop while I was in town. The only dealer in Chicago shut down last winter so I wanted to finally see one in person. On my last day I made a rookie mistake in an effort to look nice and wore a dress to the location I planned to cartwheel. I did it anyway.
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- Scenic Drive
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- Chinatown
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- Megan on Lombard Street
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- Colorful Public Bikes
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- Wordy Wallpaper
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- Top of the Mark Cocktails
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- Wedding Swan
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- Triangle Building from Below
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- Fun Kimpton Hotel
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- Palace Moat
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- Alcatraz View
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- Not Kearney Street
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- Lombard Street Panorama
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- Public Bikes Flagship
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- Fancy Breakfast Coffee
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- Hillside Art Deco
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- Dreary Bridge Views
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- San Francisco from Coit Tower
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- Hillside
Traveling Through 2012
Despite my lack of updates, I managed to take quite a few trips this year. Only a few were non-work related but I try my best to spend a little time in each city I visit. Both St. Louis and Detroit trips were in and out in one day, but I always arrange extra time in New York and D.C.
Who knows what sort of travel is in store for me in 2013, but I hope for at least one international trip. I’m still toying with the idea of biking around Iceland but, for now, all I know is I’ll be visiting New York and Atlanta.
January: Washington D.C.
Air and Space Annex Museum at Dulles Airport, Virginia
February: St. Louis
Daytrip to St. Louis
March: Virginia, Syracuse
Small plane from D.C. to Syracuse
We had Dinosaur BBQ twice in Syracuse
Cartwheeling at work in Syracuse
April: NYC, Jersey City
Manhattan by air
Visiting with Sema (who I last saw in Kyrgyzstan), cartwheeling on the High Line
Jersey City sunset
May: NYC, Jersey City
Afternoon spent in parks and museums in NYC
Have I mentioned how much I love the New York High Line?
I managed to get my client to go with a Star Trek theme this trip
Chicago Twilight
July: Washington D.C., Detroit
Modern art, including “The Art of the Video Game” exhibition, in D.C.
Museum hopping and seeing friends in D.C.
My first time in Detroit – one day in the suburbs
August: Denver
My first ever overcast day in Denver, visiting my sister
September: Connecticut, Houston
Connecting flights to Connecticut
Sunrise on the way to Houston
November: Sydney, Pittsburgh
Who knew Sydney was so gorgeous? I can’t wait to go back.
My time in Sydney was way too short, and the flight way too long with no TV in my seatback
SYD > LAX > ORD > PIT
A dreary first visit to Pittsburgh, testing the limits of my carryon with a 16-day trip
I finally reached the lowest level of status on United, halving my boarding number and scoring me an exit row
December: Boston
Business trips to Boston mean cookie cutter hotels and plenty of lobster
Boston’s topography is totally different than I thought
Flying home to Chicago for the last time in 2012
All I Could Jet 2010
After more than 39 hours in the air and nearly 19,000 miles flown across 15 flights I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of Jet Blue’s All You Can Jet promotion. With that much flying I had the in-flight commercials memorized and had no problem deciding what snacks to choose (plantain chips are interesting but you can’t go wrong with the Munchies Mix).
I touched down in eight states and three countries over the course of 29 days this fall. Although it could be argued that this promotion is environmentally irresponsible, I’ve been consoling my guilt by remembering that these flights would have left even without the additional AYCJ passengers. You can see my route below—highlights were definitely Washington D.C. and Colombia but I enjoyed seeing family, friends and sights in all of my destinations.
California Dreaming
I’ve just returned from a week in Southern California and have some great photos of the amazing Indian wedding I attended. This was my first opportunity to wear a sari and, despite my concerns, it stayed up for 16 hours. I’ll post as soon as I get the photos ready, meanwhile, here are a few from the plane. We approached Chicago with a u-turn over Lake Michigan—my favorite way to come home.
