In Utah

I am currently in Scipio, Utah. Today I will make the final push into Salt Lake, so I’m almost there.

The getting here went well. For the first time ever, the taxi driver in Bangkok didn’t try to pull something with the taxi meter - either pretending it didn’t work, or waiting until we were en route and then start negotiating for the fare, with the meter off.

I chilled at the lounge, internetting, until realizing the time and getting to the gate asap. I was by now means last, but over 95% of the plane was already onboard.

The flight sucked, as you’d pretty much expect. It’s just so far. The line at customs in the US was painful, and then the line to exit the terminal was also awful. I got the bus to the hotel, which was so full I’d be suprised if it wasn’t bulging at the sides. I had to tip the driver in baht, as I only had $20’s in US dollars. I went to bed without eating, and slept pretty well.

Next morning I checked out, caught the shuttle to the airport, and caught another shuttle to the car rental place. I discovered a great site - hotwire - where you don’t know what company you’re renting from, but it’s well cheaper than anywhere else. Some things, you don’t care about - who cares what car company they rent from? -  but booking a hotel room was a little more anxious. I got really lucky with the hotel, and ended up staying at LAX Radisson for $50 off other online rates, like Wotif, and ended up with a car from Budget at $50 cheaper than I could find elsewhere.

I had breakfast at Denny’s - ah Denny’s, how I love you - and the got underway. My plan was to get as far as St George, but I arrived at St George around 2-3pm, and couldn’t justify stopping that early in the day, so pushed on a little further.

To report on the progress of the stock game, so far Godfrey is leading the pack. Glenn, Blacky and I are below $0, but that could change at any moment …