My Travels

So my first trip of the new year and it's a partial WFH and vacation at the same time. I had hoped that the pandemic would have subsided by the time this trip occurred but it has not been the case. In preparing for this trip, I opted to take the airport test in addition to Walgreens because Clarity Labs would turn the results out within 24 hours. The Walgreens and CVS options were too unpredictable with the three to seven day turnaround. In hindsight, it was a good move as the Walgreens results came two days later with the incorrect date listed on the test taken invalidating the entire test for travel. My companion's results are still pending almost a week later. It seems with the surge in cases, the turnaround time for the pharmacy locations is backlogged. The airport option was reasonably priced and reliable. Like my recent trip to Big Island, my return is revisiting favorites rather than discovering new places or doing new activities. The United Airlines flight was relativel...

 I opted for a quick road trip to Lake Arrowhead with my four legged companion. Along the way to Lake Arrowhead, I checked into the Four Points Rancho Cucamonga  due to the pet friendly policies (no weight limit and allows two animals). The hotel is undergoing renovations and I was put in the top floor. The crew was working on the lower half of the building. The public areas will be next after the room renovations have been completed. It has been about a year since I last visited this hotel but I didn't take pictures and can't remember if I can see the difference. I think the room had carpets previously and now the room is tiled.  On the bright side, the hotel didn't charge me a pet fee so I was pretty stoked. I didn't have much time to spend in the area but did share a lunch with a friend from Mr. Dumpling . We shared spicy beef noodle soup, garlic noodles, and three types of pork dumplings. I also made a pit stop at Sonic Drive-In . It was a quick stop of cheeseburger...

With the new travel rules in place for Hawaii, I finally returned to Big Island after three unsuccessful plans earlier in the year. I made several changes to my United itinerary but it worked out since there were no change fees. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to change my timeshare reservation as easily (losing my reservation fee) but happy to stay at Kings Land instead of the Bay Club. The main difference for HGVC timeshare owners is that there are no access to the Hilton pools without a fee. Originally, I was going to stay for 8 nights but cut it in half. So the Bay Club became less attractive AND Kings Land reopened to tourism. After passing the second screening at Ellison Onizuka Kona Airport , we grabbed our Avis rental. Avis has consolidated its operations and operates out of the Budget office. The agent didn't try to upsell us and we headed out with a Chrysler 300. Mental note, black cars are super hot especially with the panoramic sunroof. After checking in, we were info...

 I'm on a roll and headed out to my first international WFH trip. Surprisingly, United decided to fly direct from the west coast to San Jose del Cabo International Airport . The airport seems to be undergoing renovations. On the outbound trip, the food options were less as the fast food options were removed. I couldn't tell if there was new construction behind the wall or if it was permanent. I was able to buy some candy souvenirs from the little market. Otherwise, it was slim pickings for food options as everyone was in line for the sit down restaurants. With the State Department tacitly greenlighting Cabo, I was happy to continue holding my Fiesta Americana Los Cabo reservation. The hotel website isn't the greatest when it comes to outlining the amenities on site. For the HGVC timeshare owners, the all inclusive food and beverage fee is now required for the entire stay. Before you could opt in and on specific days.  Since I was WFH during this stay, I didn't do much ...

On a lark, I opted to head out to Moab for some off roading. Hopped onto a United Airlines flight. Not too many direct flights into Moab outside of Denver so it was my first time since the pandemic flying and with a layover. I was pleasantly surprised to be upgraded to first class, not something I was expecting but I guess the road warriors are no longer flying regularly. If I had to compete with leisure travellers, I should be doing alright. For the flight, the meal option was a snack box. Not too bad since I normally don't enjoy the breakfast options on the flights. At Denver International Airport , I opted to use my Amex benefit to stay inside the United Club for a few hours. It was a very different experience to walk around with masks and hanging out in the club with no real food. Luckily, I packed some snacks with me and was able to get by. I did find it funny that cup noodles were available BUT it was called Reynoldo's (I think). It was a spanish brand and it was hilario...

 After venturing out to San Diego, opted to check out the HGVC timeshare in Carlsbad and booked a three night stay at the Grand Pacific Palisades Resort . I didn't get into the area as early as I thought and ended up arriving to the hotel at check in time. Since the hotel room wasn't ready, Karl Straus is connected to the property and offered a patio to hang out while the room was prepped. Surprisingly, the hotel was fairly packed and I assume people were vacationing and hanging out at the beach in Oceanside or Carlsbad. The hotel pools were busy but not that busy. I did like that there was an adult pool and a family pool area. The families will enjoy that there is a mini water park area for the kids. On this trip, I was destined for some more issues. On the last night, the bathroom flooded. Luckily I was in the room and was able to move quickly. I was able to see the difference between a one bedroom suite and a two bedroom suite in this stay. Both could have ocean views if it ...

Took an overnight trip to Chula Vista/Imperial Beach in San Diego and decided to stay at the Pier South Resort . Since the pandemic, I haven't traveled and this is my first hotel stay since the stay at home order. San Diego is not known for its concern about the pandemic and it was apparent that most people didn't seem concerned enough to wear masks despite the state mandate. I have never been this far south in San Diego and Imperial Beach is a cute area with a small strip of restaurants, bars, and novelty stores within five minutes of the hotel. Unfortunately, the water has been deemed unsafe for the last eight months due to shared waters with Mexico. Despite the water issue, the beach looked welcoming and the people in the ocean didn't seem to care about the water cleanliness. It was funny to hear the lifeguards warn folks that the water was unclean and that any water rescue would result in a fine. Pier South Resort Balcony view Luckily, the hotel has a pool so I was able...

Right before the world stopped, I was in Sonoma for a work conference. I was pleasantly surprised to see a local airport in the area and was able to find a reasonable rate and flew into Charles Schulz Sonoma Airport . The only problem was that there is only one daily flight from SFO to Sonoma and it was at 10 pm. Needless to say, I checked into the DoubleTree Sonoma Wine Country Hotel very late.  I did enjoy the breakfast buffet option more than the conference food options, I would recommend folks trying that option if available. During the conference, I did see Guy Fieri from a distance one evening at the hotel bar. I wasn't sure if he was in the area for his show or just visiting the area. I was not able to fly out of Sonoma the same way as my inbound flight because the only daily flight is at 6 am which is too early for me and would require another overnight stay. On the bright side, my work didn't have to pay two taxi trips from SFO to Sonoma but one. For those interested...

Went out for a quick trip to visit friends in Virginia. With the pending COVID-19, it was the last trip before I would fly on United Airlines . Westin Tysons Corner hotel was the lodging of the choice for this trip. I think the hotel was recently renovated, the facility was nice and the shuttle service was nice to access. Outside of spending time in my friend's lovely home, went out to several restaurants with friends in the area. Dining Chopn' Room - restaurant inside the Westin. The breakfast buffet was good, it fit the bill for a meal. Urban Butcher - I have friends in Rockville, MD and this was a good midpoint recommended by my host friends. The entire table decided to order the "meat mountain." The meat mountain is a combination of meat entrees meant for two people. It was crazy amount but delicious. Ended the meal with doughnuts - tasty with the chocolate mousse. Meat Mountain at The Urban Butcher Doughnuts at The Urban Butcher Founding Farmers - Visited the T...

Went up to San Luis Obispo for a girls getaway. Checked into the Hampton Inn & Suites San Luis Obispo .  Since the intent was to relax and check out the scenery, spent day time hours exploring Pismo Beach and visiting wineries. The main reason for my destination was that the city tourism department offers a winter promotion of $100 for a two night stay at a local hotel. What better incentive to come and visit SLO? The visitor center provided a wine tasting map of the local wineries in the area. In retrospect, it was probably better if we had arranged for a wine tasting tour to avoid having to stay sober enough to drive from one winery to the other. Unfortunately, too late so we opted to visit two wineries and visit Pismo in between for lunch. For those interested in some retail therapy, there are some good local wines available at BevMo  at SLO if you can’t hit all the wineries in the area. They do carry a lot of the local stuff. Also, the Pismo Beach Premium Outlet Mall ...

Headed out in the new year to Maui on United Airlines . With the changes to the MileagePlus Program, I may be branching out to different airlines this year and start shopping around more. Without the ability to maintain my 1K status, it likely means that I'll become less loyal. I even opted for other airline branded credit cards, Delta seems to be an alternative if the fares are right. Checked into the Ritz Carlton Kapalua and Westin Nanea Ocean Villas for the week. I had received a promotional deal for five nights at the Westin and rental car from Avis to preview the new timeshare hotel within Westin Maui. There are three hotels - main hotel and two timeshare hotels. The rental agency did us a favor by combining our two reservations and we paid a small upgrade fee to keep the SUV for the remainder of the trip (the free rental is a midsize car). We had to have two separate reservations since my group was staying for six nights. Ritz Carlton Balcony Ritz Carlton Living Room Ri...

On a lark, I decided I wanted to catch the Harry Potter musical and flew on United to San Francisco for a weekend. The play itself takes most of the day as it is a two part series. I arrived early enough in the day to check into the Hilton San Francisco  hotel and grab some dim sum nearby. With Lunar New Year around the corner, Chinatown was very alive with people. Chinatown in San Francisco Not knowing what was open and available, Begoni Bistro looked good enough from the outside and ended up being good. Afterwards, I loaded up on fortune cookies at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookies . Dim Sum at Begoni Bistro Because the musical was two plays, I watched the both parts in one afternoon and evening. There was enough time between the two parts to grab some boba tea from Black Sugar . The tea was ok but pricey for the amount you get. I was also a little sad that the recent packaging requirements meant that the cups were more plastic than before, I am not sure if that really helps t...

Looking back, I've been to San Diego and vicinity quite a bit this year particularly in the past 30 days! Between conferences and work events, I've returned this time for some college football. On the way down to San Diego, I tried to make a pit stop at Betty's Pie Whole and found that they had closed for the holiday. Saddened and hungy, I went next door to Pho Ever . A rather high end looking Vietnamese restaurant (there's a bar inside), the food was good! The pho has a stronger anise flavor. It is a bit pricier than the typical run of the mill pho restaurant but I'm sure you're helping to pay for the ambiance and the rent. They also have a lunch special add-on. For $1.50, you can get a free drink and egg roll or spring roll. It's not a bad option. The spring roll is better than the egg roll. Stayed at the San Diego Marriott La Jolla . Unfortunately, the room was not available and so I opted to head out to the SDCCU Stadium. The room ended up being ready...

Headed out to Salt Lake City for some snow and fun. I recently did a status match with Delta Airlines and was pleasantly surprised to get upgraded. It will be interesting to see with the changes United is making to their mileageplus program if I'm better off switching to another carrier. It will be strange since I've primarily made Star Alliance and United my main carriers. I was able to get dinner at Hoof and Vine upon landing into Salt Lake City. I was attending a group dinner and the preset menu included an option to have elk. Not a common dish for me, I found the elk entrée excellent. I finished off the meal with the peach bread pudding. Snowbird Resort Checked into the Homewood Suites Salt Lake City Draper for the night before heading out for snowboarding. The hotel was nice, the suite was an oversized studio. Good space for all my extra large gear with me. The breakfast option was the typical Homewood Suites menu. The next day, I went to Snowbird Resort to cat...

I had a quick work event at UC San Diego and returned to the area after my Carlsbad trip. I mostly stayed on campus in between buildings and found it quite nice. The work event required me to stay two nights and I was able to see and walk around the campus more than I normally would. Overall, I found the campus impressive especially since it seems they are constantly building new buildings. UCSD view from one of the buildings to ocean For dining options, I visited a few eateries locally when not fed by my work host. Sprinkles - there is a location in La Jolla and it was convenient to swing by and grab my favorite cupcakes. Which Wich - in a plaza down the street from Sprinkles, there is a which wich location and I was able to get my favorite items to take back to the hotel. I get tired of scrambled eggs in hotel breakfast buffets so I ordered a sandwich I could eat for breakfast. Betty's Pie Whole - Always in the market for good pie, I found the strawberry rhubarb...

Despite the chilly weather, went down to Carlsbad for a quick trip. I was not able to get a big enough room at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club at Mar Brisa . The group was spread out between the Westin Carlsbad Resort and Spa and the Hilton. Westin Carlsbad King Room Hilton Grand Vacations Club MarBrisa Both hotels are essentially across from each other separated by a parking lot. The room location in the Hilton (inside the Cove neighborhood) meant it was a five minute walk to get to the Westin. When I visited the Concierge, I was given a discount card for all the restaurants in the area including those in the Westin and Sheraton. It makes me think that the three hotels are franchised by the same hotel group. I later found out that the Legoland operator does own all the hotels within the complex. Parking everywhere is about $25 a day except if you are a HGVC owner. That appears to be the only exemption from the parking fees. In my last stay at the Hilton, I was not nea...

Went out to Las Vegas for an overnight visit to SEMA . Typically in Las Vegas the first week of November, I was able to attend the event and came on the last day. Done with getting my qualifying flights on United, I opted to use points on my American Airlines account. I was also about to lose the points and the points used was very low. I haven't flow on American for awhile and was pleasantly surprised the plane was more comfortable than I recall. The LAX terminal is still pretty cramped and I still don't like how the security lines are organized. Luckily, I have Clear membership through United and was able to get through security quickly. My TSA Precheck didn't kick through because I forgot that I had modified my middle name and my AA name didn't match exactly to my Global Entry name. It did make me update my name information to all carriers so that I can get the TSA Precheck at any time. Got into Las Vegas with little issue and checked into the Sahara hotel . I ...