Colorado Springs

Colorado Springs is a beautiful place which sits at the base of Pikes Peak. It is about a 90 minute drive south of Denver but you can get a lot of flights directly into the Springs. I arrived around midnight Sunday night and picked up my National Rental Car and was lucky enough to get a nice Dodge Charger.

I am working at The Broadmoor Resort this week and could have stayed there but I chose to stay at the Courtyard Marriott down the road instead. I would rather be closer to stores and restaurants and have a refrigerator in my room than stay at a 5 Star resort. I have stayed at The Broadmoor before and it is very nice but it is a little stuffy for me. I like to get my own ice.

So I have to drive up the hill about 3 miles every day and park but it's OK because I have a Dodge Charger. Since the new Convention Center at The Broadmoor has been completed, they have a nice underground parking area which is very convenient.

I also like coming to Colorado Springs because I have a good friend that lives here which I have known since the 7th grade. We usually try and get together and shoot pool at Phantom Canyon Brewery and have a couple of dinners with his family.

Anyway, I head back to Palmdale on Friday if the weather cooperates. I'll try and get some pictures of the Springs if I get a chance this week. It's been pretty sunny but they are expecting snow tomorrow night.

Winter Travel Sucks

I leave New Orleans on Friday around 10:00 AM on US Airways to Charlotte NC. The flight is on time and I get to Charlotte with no problem. There is bad weather, 100 mile an hour winds, at San Francisco Airport. It says my flight is delayed 2 hours which will make me miss my connection to Palmdale. This doesn't matter because I find out next that my flight to Palmdale has been canceled anyway due to the same weather in SFO.

The gate agent for US Airways is very helpful and manages to get me int LAX on a direct flight which lands about 8:30PM so I end up getting home around 11:00PM. Well, it beats spending the night in San Francisco waiting for my next day flight to Palmdale. The problem is my checked bag is still on the same plane, hopefully, as my original flight. I cross my fingers and show up at Palmdale Airport on Saturday morning hoping to see my bag. Luckily the flight arrived, a little late, but I have my luggage. This is good because I have to leave again on Sunday morning out of Palmdale headed toward Colorado Springs.

Sunday morning I head to Palmdale Airport to see that the flight is delayed 2 hours which, of course, causes me to miss my connection to Denver and then Colorado Springs. The gate agent is new, because Palmdale Airport is new so she isn't sure how to re-direct me to LAX if there might be a fare change. She calls United and gets the info and I am now booked on a flight at 7:30PM from LAX to Colorado Springs. She got it done and she was calm and friendly and I was a satisfied customer. Now I get to spend a few more hours at home.

I schedule a 2:00 PM AV Airport Express shuttle to LAX which puts me there 3 hours before my flight but the next shuttle is at 5:00 PM which would be cutting it too close. So I get there 3 hours early and sit in the bar and wait until I find out that this flight is an hour delayed which puts me in Colorado Springs Airport at Midnight (I could have taken the 5:00 PM shuttle now). The National Rental Car counter closes at 11:59PM. I call the local Colorado Springs National Rental Car Counter and the lady says she will wait for me until my plane arrives unless it is after 1:30 AM. Thanks to the nice people at United Airlines and National Rental Car, I arrived in Colorado Springs when I needed to be there so I could be at work the next morning.

New Orleans - Moving On

I enjoyed my short stay here in New Orleans. It rained a bit today so I was glad to have done some sightseeing yesterday.

I took the ferry across the Mississippi over to Algiers (same exact ferry they used in the movie Deja Vu) to check out the float factory where they make 90% of the Mardi Gras Floats. It was very cool to see the props in storage from previous years as well as some of the projects in work for this years Mardi Gras. On the way back accross the river, as we were docking, I saw this Pelican sitting on one of the dock posts. As soon as I snapped the picture, he took off.

The food here in New Orleans was incredible. I had so many oysters prepared so many different ways. Baked, Char Broiled, Raw, and Fried. I still prefer the raw Oysters with horseradish and hot sauce. I also had a lot of Crab and Shrimp this past week as well as some of the local dishes. I tried a Hurricane at Pat O'Briens which was very strong but a little sweet for my taste. Last night I wandered down Bourbon Street and heard some really good bands in a few different clubs. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see New Orleans and I hope to come back some day.

Next Stop, Colorado Springs.

New Orleans - Continued

The weather warmed up today so it was much better for walking. I made it up to the St. Louis Cemetery No.1 to check out the above ground graves. It was interesting to see how old a lot of these graves are. Some of them are deteriorating pretty bad, while others look very well kept.

I worked my way back down St. Louis street and had lunch at Petunias Restaurant. Their specialty is Crepes and I tried one filled with Crab and Shrimp. After lunch I headed back to my hotel because I had a lot of work to finish before the exhibit closes at 6:00PM.

It's about 6:30 and now the fog has rolled in. A couple of friends and I headed over to the French Quarter to have dinner at GW Fins. We tried the Fried Lobster appetizer which was very good. They also bring out fresh baked biscuits while you are waiting which are hard to resist. I had the Crab Claws for dinner which also was incredible.

Bourbon Street was packed by the time we finished and were walking back to our hotel. It seems like it has been getting busier every night leading up to Mardi Gras, which starts next week. I'll be out of here on Friday so I will miss the festivities.

New Orleans - Evening One

I ended up at the Grand Isle Restaurant last night which is only a couple of blocks from the Convention Center. I tried their signature appetizer, the Grand Oysters which was excellent. For the main course I tried the fresh from the Gulf Redfish. It was also very good.

The temperature was very cold and I wasn't exactly prepared for it, but I managed to walk down Bourbon Street later in the evening. I was just curious to see the difference from the previous morning walk through the French Quarter. It was completely alive and packed with people. The sound of live music from the many clubs filled the streets which they block off from traffic so you can just walk down the middle.

I'll probably try and find another restaurant around that area tonight if I feel up to walking in the cold again.

New Orleans - Day One

It was a long day of travel for a Saturday but I eventually wound up in New Orleans around 11:00 PM. I checked into the New Orleans Marriott at the Convention Center and settled into my room on the 12th floor.

This is my first trip to New Orleans so I spent Sunday morning wandering around the French Quarter. I had a few hours to kill because I wasn't needed at the Convention Center until around noon. I headed up Canal Street then down Bourbon Street and made the loop around to Jackson Square. I then walked past the long line at Cafe Du Monde and headed back down the banks of the Mississippi River to the Convention Center.

I am getting ready to head out to dinner but I have posted a few photos from my walk today.

CES 2008

My roadtrip to and from Vegas went fine and CES was very worthwhile to attend. I stayed at the JW Marriott Resort in Summerlin. This is by far my favorite place to stay in Vegas. It is about a fifteen minute drive from the Strip but well worth it in my mind. It is a beautiful resort and not very crowded at all during the Winter months. It gives me a chance to unwind from the chaotic downtown Vegas. The restaurants there are very nice and also not crowded. Even during CES.

I spent 2 full days wandering the exhibits at the Consumer Electronics Show and saw a lot of really cool products. I also saw Sony's OLED screen again which I recently saw in Tokyo. The robotic displays were very impressive also. Kodak had a very nice display I thought and I liked their use of displays in their exhibit.

This was the first time I had the opportunity to visit the fairly new Wynn Hotel. The sign out front on Las Vegas Blvd is awesome in itself. It is a fully automated LED Screen like a lot of the hotels but they use a very creative way of displaying their images. You have to see it in person to appreciate it. The mosaics inside the lobby are also incredible. This is one of the nicest hotels I have seen in Vegas.

Next stop. New Orleans.

Road Trip to Vegas - CES 2008

When I have business in Las Vegas, it generally works out much better for me to drive than to fly. From my home I can get to Vegas in about 3.5 hours by car. Flying takes about the same time when you consider the time it takes me to get to the airport and wait for the plane.

This time I decided to rent a car from Enterprise for the trip. A few days prior, I had an Enterprise rental from my car dealership while my car was being serviced. The car hadn't been cleaned when I picked it up so I complained to the rental agent when I returned the car. The trunk was full of trash and clothing from the previous renter. The agent was very apologetic and offered me a free upgrade the next time I rent from them. This was part of the reason I decided to rent a car for the Vegas trip. I ended up with a really nice, clean, black Chrysler 300 Sedan. I thought this was very good customer service from Enterprise and I will definitely rent from them again.

The reason I am coming to Vegas is to attend the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show (CES). This is my favorite show to attend to do research on the latest electronic technology. I am interested in seeing some of the new mini PCs, Digital Cameras, and Bluetooth Devices as well as any other cool items I run across.

It was a pretty easy drive to Vegas today with very little traffic. Most of the traffic was going the other direction back to LA.