Banff 2009

I took a long weekend trip up to Banff to get out of the Houston heat, it's been over 100° F (38° C) for the last week or so. I couldn't afford to stay at the Banff Springs Hotel but I went up for a cocktail on the back terrace, and next time I'm going to plunk down the $400/night to stay there. That's in Canadian dollars, so it's really not that expensive in real money. Here's the view off the back terrace:

Banff National Park is the most beautiful place I have ever been. I've been to Banff and Lake Louise in both the summer and winter, and both are fantastic.

See posts from my other trips:
Ridin' the Storm Out
Hurricane Rita update
Skiing 2007

View From my Room at the Driskill

Looks very Austin.

Vegas Elvis

I was downloading my ski pictures (coming soon) from my trip to Mont Tremblant in Quebec, and I ran across some pictures I had taken in Las Vegas. I was experimenting with light and exposures, I didn't quite capture the glow of the underlit bottles, but I did get the Elvis posters in the background.



Satisfied, Leah?

My 2008 in Cities

Criteria: one or more nights spent in each place. Cities marked with an * were visited more than once. Numbers represent the number of nights I spent in each city. I traveled more this year than usual, mainly because of the job change, getting started back at El Paso. Cities are in the order that I remembered them. Here are my lists from 2005, 2006, and 2007. I also put 2007 in a Google map. See the 2008 Google map:


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Bellaire (the rest)
Atlanta (6)
Birmingham (16)
Corpus Christi (12)
Park City (5)
Salt Lake City (9)
Columbus, GA
New Orleans (12)
Houston (3)
Natchitoches, LA
Indianapolis (6)
Houma (9)
Chicago (4)
Dallas (7)
San Francisco (6)
Jackson, MS (2)
Laurel, MS
Conroe
Washington, D.C. (4)
San Diego (4)
Shreveport, LA
Monroe, LA

Texas Longhorns are Still Number 1

I went to the Texas Longhorns(1)-Missouri Tigers(11) game last weekend with my brother Aaron. We drove to Austin on Saturday afternoon with a buddy of his and tailgated until the game started at 7pm. I hadn't been back to Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium (formerly Memorial Statium) in at least 10 years, and there have been a lot of changes.

The university spent $150 million to reconfigure the north end zone, boosting capacity above 90,000 by adding suites and seats that will face a new scoreboard. And a big new scoreboard it is. They call it the Godzillatron (it's too big to be called a mere Jumbotron). The high-definition LED scoreboard is 134 feet wide and 55 feet high. Measuring diagonally, like they do for televisions, that's a 1,740-inch screen.

Texas dominated the Tigers from the first series, scoring 35 straight points in the first half and not allowing a point until Missouri kicked a field goal in the final second of the first half. It was great to be back at a college football game, singing and chanting and clapping and yelling; the noise is amazing.

The Longhorn band did a Tribute to Led Zepplin at the halftime show. Here they're playing Heartbreaker (Get it? Heart breaker?)

This is one of the first years that at the start of the season I thought Texas didn't have what it takes to go all the way. I hope I was wrong, and I won't doubt them that early again.

Salt Lake City

I've always liked Salt Lake City, probably because I'm from Houston (flat as a pancake) and it's surrounded by mountains. Here's the view from my hotel room window.

Ridin' the Storm Out 2008

When Hurricane Rita was bearing down on Houston in September 2005, I was in Calgary, and I stayed the weekend to visit Banff and Lake Louise. Now Hurricane Ike is aimed directly for Houston and I'm in Salt Lake City, leaving on one of the last flights out on Friday morning with the storm predicted to hit sometime Friday evening. I think it's better to evacuate when you have a chance, most of the folks I know are staying in case something happens. Hopefully everyone will be okay.

In-N-Out Burger

When I was in San Francisco I made it a point to have an In-N-Out Burger before I left. Now that's a good burger.

In San Francisco

New record time to the airport

On a recent trip, I was running very late for my 7:30 pm flight, I wasn't able to leave my house until 6:38. Traffic wasn't too bad, I got to the airport in good time and parked in the terminal parking lot. There was an open space right up front, and when I walked up to the elevator the doors opened before I hit the button. I arrived at the check-in desk at 7:05, I had checked in online but I had to check a bag. There was an open check-in kiosk, and I walked right up. I breezed through security and I was sitting on the plane at 7:15.

From door to door, 37 minutes. I love Houston Hobby airport, and I love Southwest Airlines.