I’m currently on a 5 month trip around the world with my girlfriend Lisa. I’ve finally found enough time to update this blog to point to my trip blog mostexcellentjourney.com. Its got a map of where we’ve been, notes from each place we’ve visited and photos. You can also get the RSS feed or get on our email list.

Today is my first time flying Virgin America. I’m headed to New York from San Francisco. My final destination is Boston but I decided to route through NY and take the Chinatown bus to Boston just to try out Virgin America.

So far its great. Virgin America flys out of the international terminal at SFO. This is the closest terminal to where BART drops you off, so its more convenient than most other airlines off the bat. SFO still doesnt have a bridge from the skytrain to the terminal, so flying most domestic airlines you’ve got to trek up and down the elevator. Virgin America had the desks right next to security and had carpeting and flowers set out, which was a nice touch. There was not a line, and a man helped me through the echeckin while the lady at the first class checking waved a coach passenger to her.

The boarding passes are a sensible size, smslle than usual so they fit in your pocket. They also are very clear to read without many of the codes and lines you get on typical boarding passes.

There was no line at the international security checkpoint at 7 AM, so I was at the gate within 15 minutes of getting off Bart. The gate agent announced that anyone wearing red or with a red bag could board with first class. Because were in the international terminal there is ample seating in the gate area for this small domestic flight.
Virgin America is great thus far.

This has been a very interesting trip. Some things I’d reccomend for your cross country train trip:

An extension cord- There seem to be only 3 outlets on the train and they are not placed in areas where you could sit and work. Also, one with multiple ends will allow you to make friends by sharing the power.

Food and water- the food on board is neither good nor cheap. Get some food and drink youll like, and maybe some extra to share if you want to make friends.

A blanket- I was ok in the summer, but in the winter youd probably want something to curl up under.

Eyemask & ear plugs- My earbuds kept things quiet but it would have been nice to shield my eyes from the interior lights.

Something to read- When your electronics run out of power you’ll need something to do while delayed 5 hours on a mountian pass. I was able to borrow a book on the great speaches of the 20th century.

All in all, this was an impressive trip and n interesting, albeit slow, way to see the country.

Hour 51: Just hit Omaha, NB, 5.5 hours behind schedule. Lots of people got on in Denver so the train was full, now a lot of people are leaving.

Having the iPhone has made this trip much more tolerable. During the trip, both facebook and netvibes launched iPhone versions of their sites, both of which are great. Hopefully yelp and others do this soon.

Hour 41: We just spent 5 hours waiting for some trackwork to be finished in the rocky mountians. We got into Denver 5+ hours late. This doesn’t look good for an ontime arrival in chicago.

Hour 29: I’m starting to think I should have brought some food with me on this trip. The cafe food is maybe on par with gas station food at triple the price. The dining car food isn’t much more but the menu is remarkably similar to the cafe: hot dogs, hamburgers, and pizza. We stopped for 1.75 hrs in salt lake city at 3 AM, but the station was under a freeway and there was nothing around. Now were at grand junction, CO for 1.5 hours due to track maintenance in the Rockies. I walked 5 blocks to a gas station and stocked up on some bad food.

Hour 10.5: We had a long stop in the middle of nowhere, now a 40 minute stop in Winnemucca, NV. There was actually a basque restaurant across the street from the station (read: gravel lot) which gave me 4 beers for $8.

Train food has not impressed me yet, I think that was the worst bratwurst I’ve had. I was hoping for a gas station or grocery store, and had we stopped in Reno this long it would have been no problem. With my quick winnings at the craps table it might have been free.