Trip Progress: 2370mi Happy Halloween! Thank goodness today's drive was easier. I'm glad to be driving shorter distances for the rest of the trip and enjoying the scenery more. Lunch in Omaha @ Drover's was a fantastic start. If you are ever in Nebraska, stop by for their whiskey-marinated prime rib. It is the best steak I've ever had. Missouri is a really pretty state to drive through in Autumn. The view is fantastic and the roads are well maintained. In contrast, my short time through Iowa was the most depressing experience. It's as flat as you can get with hardly any folks around, every exit sign had a "Closed" patch-tape covering it to indicate that the gas stations, hotels, etc. were all closed down, and radio stations read out the prices for various crops and talking about how just about all of them have gone down in price. Maybe...
Trip Progress: 1912mi Driving all day is really tough. It's not something I could do for a living and a renewed respect for truckers. I think I'd be happier driving if it wasn't for so many things to get me so tense: huge trucks, changing speed limits/traps, countless work zones, barely visible nighttime roads, random road curves, etc. But as is, I love traveling and do not love driving. And driving during the dark isn't something I would recommend either for those of you planning to also do a road trip. Here are some road trip tips: Have a destination for the day Don't make it further than 8-10hrs of driving. 12+hours is not fun. Drive during the day. It's way less stressful. Make good use of cruise control. It's 100x easier and it'll make you less of a ticket target (cars that change speeds appear to move faster than...
Trip Progress: 978mi Dooly and I made some good progress today towards the east coast: Hello, Salt Lake City! It's impossible to do a road trip in the U.S. without realizing how big and beautiful this country is. Some real great sights so far on the road. Also, 12 hours of driving is forever. I am so looking forward to the 13 more hours tomorrow... plus rest stops...
My car has fresh tires and new oil, my place is emptying out of furniture, and I've been mapping out my road-trip back to the east coast, which starts in just 3 days. It's really happening. I'm excited to finally begin the trip on Friday. My first big stop will be down in Portland to meet up with some of my cool friends and then the rest of the trip is east-ward with stops like Lincoln, Nebraska! Also, good-byes are tough. Seems like there's never enough time for farewells.
Last day at Microsoft. First day of next chapter. It's been a wonderful experience at such a great company and the Xbox team is certainly one of the most exciting, talented teams to work with and I'm excited for what's ahead for them. I will miss everyone here in Redmond and can't thank them enough for all their support through the years. As for me, it's time to finally go see the rest of the world and learn first-hand about the different problem spaces and challenges out there. Don't know where the next couple months of travels will take me but like fundamental game design, without risk there's no reward. I'm ready to explore.
