A recap of my summer vacation

Maps of the Philippines, the US, and the world. Stars are cities I visited. Original outline maps are compliments of WorldAtlas.com.

To the west coast:
From Minneapolis, MN
to Rapid City, SD
* pased through WY
to Butte, MT
* passed through ID
to Greater Seattle Area, WA (Bothell, Redmond, Bellevue, Seattle, Mukilteo)
to Reedsport, OR
to San Francisco Bay Area, CA (SF, Alameda, Brentwood)

In the Philippines:
to Metro Manila Area
to and from Tagaytay, Cavite
to and from Santa Rosa, Laguna
to Bagac, Bataan
to Iba, Zambales
to Metro Manila Area
to and from Antipolo, Rizal

Back to the midwest:
to San Francisco Bay Area, CA
to Lake Tahoe/Reno Area, NV (Stateline, Reno)
to Salt Lake City, UT
* passed through WY
to Denver Area, CO (Denver, Colorado Springs, Manitou Springs)
to Lincoln, NE
* passed through IA
to Minneapolis, MN

Statistics:

• States driven through: 13
  Cities visited (US): 18
  Cities visited (Philippines): 7
• Miles driven on US highways according to MapQuest: 5,000 miles
  Miles on my car (actual, including driving around town and getting lost): 7,324 miles
  Gallons of gas: 270
  Oil changes: 4 (including one before the trip and one after)
• Miles flown: 13,956
  Oceans crossed: 1, twice
• Nights spent at friends' homes: 33
  Nights spent at family's homes: 17
  Nights spent in hotels: 18
  Nights spent in a mountain resort: 7
  Nights spent in a beach resort: 26
• Pictures taken: 2,657
• Experiences and memories: countless

Of course, it was also a business trip (in case, a taxman is reading this):

• Worked for a consulting company.
• Incorporated a software services company.
• Researched costs and customer requirements.
• Partnered with a competitor.
• Started an import/export business.
• Purchased real estate for investment.

How was YOUR summer?

From NE to IA to MN

I got up at 10 am. But I was still very tired. Checked out at 11 am and had breakfast at Perkins, which was just two doors down. The state of my windshield was probably illegal; I could barely see through the bug splats, but I couldn't find a car wash, so I got going.

It wasn't long before I started getting dangerously sleepy, so I took the first rest area outside Lincoln, NE and took a very deep 20 minute nap. I was beginning to feel exhausted, probably because it's the end of my vacation and this is the last leg of my trip. It was already past noon when I got back on the road.

I was thinking of just staying on I-80 E, but when I got to Omaha, the traffic started to get ornery, so I took I-680 like the AAA TripTik suggested. It was a quick, almost last-minute, decision, and it turned out to be a good one.

I-680 N is such a nice drive. There were only a few cars on the road and the scenery reminds me of rural California -- trees, rolling hills, grassy knolls, except that the grass in Omaha is green. The grass that's native to California is perpetually brown; unless it's on a lawn with a sprinkler system, of course. ;-)

I-680 N becomes I-680 E, which is unusual with freeways. Then it crosses the state border to Iowa. Then it joins I-80 E again. Except there are I-80 W markers which throw you for a loop. Apparently, it's a detour, so that if you're going west, you'll have to go east first, which makes you feel like Christopher Columbus. Then the detour leads to an exit and those of us going east now breathe easier when we see only I-80 E markers.

And then I see the signs for the rest areas. One said "REST AREA / PARKING ONLY" followed by "MODERN REST AREA, 20 MILES" but I didn't think anything of it. Then I saw the sign for the "modern" rest area. It said, "WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS." Whoa! When they say "modern," they _really_ mean modern. Wireless internet access at a rest area! What a concept!
I stopped at one of those rest areas a couple of hours later and saw a brochure that described how to connect to the wireless network. The first half hour is free. The building itself seems fairly new, the tiles at the entry create some design, and there are vending machines. The bathroom flush and sink faucet are sensor-triggered. Unfortunately (and this is becoming my pet peeve), there are still no seat covers! "Modern" my behind! (Pun intended.)

Apparently, Iowa drivers are even crazier than Denver drivers. And there were a lot of cars on the road today, probably on their way to start their last long weekend of the summer.

Well, I got home safe and sound. And, within a couple of hours of arriving home, I'm depressed again.

From CO to NE

Flat: No mountains at all, which meant no hairpin curves nor steep grades. Surrounded by desert or prairie or field. Didn't even see trees until I got to Ogalala, CO. 75 mph pretty much all the way through, except at construction areas. Lots of trucks; some even overtaking me and I was already at 80 mph.

Stinky: I hit at least three areas where cows stank so bad. And one area that smelled like skunk. But there were a couple of spots where they were mowing and the fresh-cut grass was a heaven-sent heavenly scent. ;-)

Funny name: Got gas at Crook, CO. And it's not even a prison area.

Naps: I only had 5.5 hours of sleep last night, plus an extra hour after breakfast before checking out. So I took naps twice on the route. Surprisingly, I fell deep asleep during those naps, which is unusual. The first nap was 8 minutes and the second nap was 7 minutes, but both were very refreshing that I was surprised they were that short.