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Las Vegas

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I headed out to Vegas for SEMA ! Because of the Southwest promotion over the summer, I was the free companion ticket.  Due to the popularity of SEMA, I had also booked a two-bedroom unit in Elara . Initially, the possibility of a large group had me book two two-bedroom units but we ended up canceling and couldn't downsize the two-bedroom unit. There are some pros and cons to staying at Elara if you are going to the Convention Center. In this trip, I did take alot of mass transit to get around which is probably not a common thing for a tourist. I did find the local buses quick, often, and convenient enough for my needs. The RTC transit mobile application was easy to set up. I did rent a Turo car for the day and was able to get around greater Las Vegas to eat out and take someone to the airport. Pros The hotel itself is conveniently located in the middle of the strip, across from Aria and Cosmo next to Paris.  The hotel is also connected to Planet Hollywood through the Miracle M...
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Washington DC

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Headed out to the nation's capital and Dulles International Airport for a work conference. Unfortunately, I was not able to snap extra segments on this itinerary on United Airlines . If I had opted for Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, I could have but the month was already packed with travel and my brain was no longer working at full maximum capacity. Checked into the Westin Downtown DC (not to be confused with the other Westin DC/near Chinatown). Learned that the hard way when I chose the wrong Westin on an Uber ride from dinner. Formerly a Renaissance, I have not been in this particular hotel in a few decades. It used to be a site for events in with former employers. The rebranding is very bright and airy compared to the Renaissance. The service is quite good as the hotel gave me a $150 credit towards food when my room wasn't ready. I had secured an upgrade to a peloton one bedroom suite. I wished they had given me more credit as the Peloton didn't work until my...
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Honolulu 2x

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Southwest Airlines was doing a companion pass promotion over the summer if you flew to Hawaii and I jumped on the deal. The promotion required you to fly to any island of Hawaii from the mainland during the summer to trigger a free companion pass period in Fall (October and November). It's almost like a BOGO offer and so my partner opted to trigger the promotion rather than both of us doing it. I flew on points rather than paying cash.  A second promotion from Southwest occurred after the summer for a free companion pass in January and February that I did trigger by flying for the day to Las Vegas. The second promotion did not require a destination, just a roundtrip flight during the window of time and I spent the day getting lunch at the McCarran Las Vegas Airport. Not that exciting. For this post, I'm opting to combine my two Honolulu trips into one post for sake of brevity/repetition. Given the duration of the trip, the focus was mainly either meeting up with friends or eat...
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Monterey 2X

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For this post, I'm combining two trips into one post. I didn't realize I would be in Monterey twice in one year and now that I'm recapping, I might as well just combine the two. My first trip (right after going to Turlock), I headed to Monterey for work and decided to make it a work/pleasure trip by taking my dog with me and making it a road trip. I checked into the Home2Suites at the Dunes of Monterey Bay  for both visits. I liked it so much I came back in the Fall!  This relatively new hotel sits next to a SpringHill Suites. Apparently, the franchisee owns both the Home2Suites and the Springhill. I opted for the Home2Suites because of the pet friendly policies. On the first trip, the hotel was still working on the outside patios and landscaping. On the second trip, the patio had the bbq grills and firepits in place and they were putting up night lights over the trellis roof. I would definitely recommend the hotel if you're in the area.  Home2Suites at the Dunes of Mon...
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