Rick Steves

I'd been watching his videos for nearly 10 years. After attending the NY Times Travel Show the year earlier, I decided my next trip to California should be when one of the big travel shows was going on. I saw that Lisa Ling would be there (I was actually looking at the list for 2012) and was thrilled that I would be able to meet her & Rick Steves at the same show. Well, it turned out that LL was a 2012 guest, but Rick was there every year. I watched his speech, some of which I've heard before and got in line to meet him afterwards. I didn't need to buy books to get autographed because I brought them from home. I'm wearing a SOUNDGARDEN (Seattle band......Rick is from Edmonds) shirt...I'm not sure if Rick noticed. Like with Jimmy Carter 3 years earlier, our conversation was brief, but it was great to meet someone who seems to think the way I do and has been an influence on my travels.

My 2nd favorite American city

Cupola Pizzeria. My favorite pizza outside of NYC

Back in August 2004, me, 2 friends and a cousin flew into San Francisco and out of Los Angeles. We rented a car and stayed in some suburb (I can't remember the name) of San Francisco for the first few nights. We didn't like San Francisco too much and were in no hurry to go back. In fact, we were so excited when we got to Los Angeles because we thought San Francisco was kind of boring. I wanted to do something for Labor Day weekend and had enough US Airways frequent flier miles to get a free flight. San Francisco seemed the best deal and I decided to give it another chance (this time staying in the city with no car). I relied exclusively on public transportation and by the time I left, it was my 2nd favorite American city. I stayed at the Mayflower Hotel in Nob Hill and used the street car to get up the "Hill." I really appreciated the bay area weather this time. Never too cold, never too hot. I'm one of the few people who appreciate the UK weather. I don't like extremes, but I'll deal with them if I have to.

Death Valley

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