Day One Travel: Bay to Vegas to Minnie
What’s up my ride-alongs?! Are you ready to hear about my trip with my good buddy Tony? If not, I’d just wait on this one until you’re sitting down and have had your coffee for the morning.
Bay Area, CA - 7 AM
Wakey, wakey…
After a 7am alarm, I got myself up, showered, and got ready for the day.
We had planned on only needing 1 hour to get from the house to the Oakland airport. We forgot was that schools start around that time (which just feels way to early to learn anything important, but that’s a different conversation). We live by 3 schools, so it took us about 20 minutes to get to the gas station, 1 mile away. I had ordered Starbucks as well, and you can imagine how busy that place can be when it’s within walking distance to a high school.
Naturally all of this lead to stress, by me, that we were gonna miss our flight. Luckily, flying out of Oakland typically means waiting in short lines for ~5 mins, getting us to the gate that much quicker.
Tony and I were the last to board, of course, but we took off with no issues and arrived in…
Las Vegas, NV - Noon
We landed at the airport right about on schedule, with just enough energy and optimism to walk to the strip for lunch and then walk back. Cool idea to discuss; in reality, walking several miles with our backpacks in the desert heat was a one-time event, even with our Fat Tuesday Slushes.
but but but aLeX, how was the rest of your 3.5 hour layover spent, no way you could’ve been walking the whole time!!!
Thanks for asking, random stranger, Tony kept time for us so that we could pace our return. It was about 40 minutes from the terminal doors to the MGM Grand, despite us getting lost in the parking lot on the way out. There was another guy in the same situation as us, looking for a way to the strip from the airport. Poor guy, I hope he’s not still out there.
The Strip
Tony and I stopped at a sports bars in the MGM Grand. My beer came with a free fly in it, but while I was pretty thirsty from our walk, I wasn’t that thirsty. The bartender was apologetic and poured me a fresh one. The food was fine, but my pulled pork was definitely not worth the $18 I spent for it, although everything in that city is expensive.
After lunch, we decided to get the aforementioned Fat Tuesdays (a slush filled with alcohol or cannabis that you can carry around the strip with you.
The last, and coolest, things that I noticed was that the roads all seemed to be under construction.
but but but aLeX why would you like road construction, it inconveniences people and infrastructure?
…Dude, who are you and where are you getting your information? The reason this is road construction is so cool is because it’s for Formula One in Vegas!! Tony and I saw the starting bridge (there were police officers stationed there for the sole purpose of telling people to go around and not under this bridge). The whole grandstand area and medical centers seemed to be almost finished! It all is getting built in front of TopGolf, which would be a great day of golf and racing, if you ask me. I thought it was so cool! I took some pictures, hopefully I can share them with you.
Needless to say, this path to the airport brought us more joy and energy than our outbound excursion, but time was running out for us to make our next flight…
Rushing back to the airport, I learned a valuable lesson about breaking in shoes before needing them to perform over distance-my feet HURT bad. But there was no time to waste as the plane had started boarding before we got back into the refreshing a/c of the Las Vegas Airport.
Fortunately enough, we got to the gate as the last groups were boarding. I bolted into the bathroom to change the shirt I had sweat through in the Vegas sun. As I emerged, Tony was just about the the front of the line. We quickly got scanned in, just before our scheduled departure and…
We waited for an hour on the tarmac as more luggage was boarded on the plane. I feel like I now understand the meaning of “hurry up and wait”. I didn’t really mind it, as I actually fell asleep in my seat, waking up just in time for the safety demonstration. The flight was fairly uneventful, though a new flight steward had a tough time getting ice out of his bucket, splashing me a few times in the process.
As we make our descent to Minneapolis, I am grateful to reflect upon how I got here:
I’ve got a good job that allows me to take time off
I’ve got a family that will receive me and my friend and host us for two nights
I’ve got a really good buddy who could also take off the time to go on this adventure with me
And, most importantly, I’ve got a partner who is willing to cover my household responsibilities while I travel
Touchdown (in) Minnesota - hopefully this is something I get to say often over Football Season, but our 0-2 record thus far is not promising. But I have hope!
Minneapolis, MN - 9 PM
Soon after we landed, I called home to arrange our pickup. After a brief wait, we got in the car for my parents’ house.
Of course my wonderful mother had some treats and food ready for us to enjoy, but soon after eating our full, it was time for bed after this long day of travel.
Sunday Looking Ahead #1
Hi!
I hope you are well. This is my thoughts on the upcoming week.
Overview
Heading back (briefly) to MN with my good buddy.
Our travel itinerary, modes of transportation, and my feelings on each.
How we passed the time while onboard Amtrak for 60 hours.
Minnesota (but first, Vegas)
My good buddy and I will be leaving the Bay Area on a midmorning flight to Las Vegas, stopping for about 3 hours in that city before beginning our second leg. A few hours later, we will be to my parents’ house outside of Minneapolis. A few days at my family home before we’re off again, and this upcoming part is the majority of the travel duration.
Why Amtrak?
A few reasons, the most enticing one for me is novelty. I love making the drive from MN to CA, but it’s just so expensive, especially if you drive both directions. The freedom to detour and stay as you please is amazing, especially if you are unconcerned with your ride breaking down.
My next reason is more logistically-based. Another very good buddy of mine gave me his electric guitar and amp setup, this is amazing, but cumbersome to take on planes! When I found out about the Amtrak policy to bring a medium-sized instrument (like this guitar) for only a $10 fee, I then realized Amtrak was definitely the way to go to bring this guitar, as well as some other treasures, to my home in CA.
The bonus reason is that I can see the country with modern conveniences at a relatively cheap price. We stop in Portland for about as much time as we will have in Vegas, so I think a comparison of each layover would make a lot of sense.
How will we pass the time?
That I don’t know. I’ll have to get back to you. I have some ideas though.
Goodbye for now
Thanks for reading this far.
Cya l8r n3rds
Focus…what am I doing again?
Here we are again.
It’s been almost a year since I last posted on this site, yet I still pay for my subscription to keep this site up and running.
Why is that?
I believe deep down that we all want to feel seen and heard. This empty blog is my version of reaching out to achieve that.
My voice cannot reach everyone, but if I can affect one person positively, then I have made a difference to be proud of. In this pursuit, I will continue to share my experiences with you, reader, as I learn the hard way to appreciated interest.
Weekly Update: 10/9-10/15
The NHL season begins this week, with the NFL underway. Here are my current card sells (no buys this week):
Yordan Alvarez
Yuli Gurriel
Aaron Judge
Mason Marchment
Nick Suzuki
Patrick Kane
Victor Olafson
Tyler Toffoli
I think it makes the most sense to set a base profit for a card to be worth your time to sell. That time value will vary by the individual. Maybe that’s $1 after fees and shipping. It could be $100. The most important thing to remember is that you have to get it to the buyer in a reasonable amount of time. No one wants to buy from sellers with a bad reputation.
Weekly Updates: 10/2-10/8/2022
Hello! A brief update on my strategy for this week.
Selling
Aaron Judge (He’s going for the solo AL HR record this week)
Football lots (I’m looking to consolidate on football)
Buying
None (I need to have a plan first)
10/24 Investment Update [Forgiveness]
Not much this week by way of addition. Instead, I did a decent job of avoiding additional spend beyond my means. I have yet to determine a reasonable weekly amount for investing into anything. Honestly, I don’t have much wiggle room from my paycheck.
This is a problem that can only be solved by increasing the amount I earn. The only real strategies I have at my disposal are looking for work (supplemental to or in place of my current occupation) or asking for a raise. Both options are intimidating, as reaching out and facing rejection can be scary, and standing up for one’s self is never easy to do.
Life isn’t always cheery. Sometimes, it’s easy to feel smothered by commitments and hopeless from the seemingly futile efforts when something is put forth to the world. Nothing seems to turn up lucky. No one seems to be your ally. It’s hard to remember that you’re not alone. But you aren’t. Other people feel the same way. We all struggle with things that others seem to get right away. So the ask today is for forgiveness. Forgive people who have slighted you that you have taken personally. Most of all, forgive yourself. Every day you invest into yourself and you have to remember that investments don’t appreciate overnight.