Two Talks: Austria and California - February 10-23, 2007

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Just getting started. Cathy dropped me at JFK, where I was over 3 hours ahead like I'm supposed to be and then was in the terminal in under a half hour. I found a power outlet to do some work (including write this sentence) at a gate where about 100 hyperactive Australian kids were waiting to board a flight to Salt Lake City.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

At some point on Delta 118 from JFK to Paris, it became Sunday morning. Arrival at 8 AM CET, which is 2 AM EST. We seemed to arrive at a terminal under construction (maybe the one that collapsed not that long ago?) and then took a bus, then a very informal trip through customs, then a long walk through the airport to Terminal 2D, highlighted by a couple of pictures [2 Pictures] and a real-life French crossiant. The flight to Munich [5 Pictures] was no trouble.

In Munich, after getting bags, meeting Travis (without his bags -- which were still in Philadelphia), and some trouble with the German phone system while trying to reach Thrifty rental car, we were on our way to Munich in the rented Audi A4 (I like their idea of "midsize" here). We ended up taking a more scenic route than necessary, but got to the ArabellaSheraton Westpark [9 Pictures]. There was time for a little sightseeing and dinner in downtown Munich [35 Pictures] before heading back to the hotel for an early night.

Monday, February 12, 2007

We got Travis' late-arriving bag and got on our way from Munich by late morning. After taking a wandering route through town to find the autobahn we wanted [10 Pictures], it was on south toward Austria [20 Pictures]. We picked up our Austrian toll sticker just before the border [7 Pictures] and crossed the (now unguarded) international boundary [3 Pictures]. We spent most of our ride on the autobahn, but took the adjacent local road in Kufstein [5 Pictures] and again further south [20 Pictures]. When we got to the Innsbruck area it was still early afternoon so we decided to drive a bit south to Italy. The autobahn down to Italy was very impressive, but also very expensive (8 Euros one way on top of the 7.80 Euros for the sticker to be on the Austrian autobahns in the first place, for a road that's not more than 40 km long) [5 Pictures]. We arrived at the border and went about 30 km further south to check out the area a bit [6 Pictures]. We got as far south as around Mules, then took the local road back to Innsbruck. Along the way, we stopped for a quick lunch in the border town of Brenner, Italy [16 Pictures], and drove through some impressive scenery and interesting little towns [18 Pictures]. Back in Innsbruck, we had all kinds of trouble finding the hotel. Every time we wanted to go in a particular direction, that turn wasn't allowed. Eventually, we found it and checked in to the Best Western Goldener Adler [Picture]. It is right in the old town of Innsbruck. The down side is that the expected Internet connectivity just didn't work. We just had limited access on the hotel computer.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Day 1 of the conference and the day of our talk. The only pictures are one of the conference center [Picture] and two of Travis delivering the talk [2 Pictures].

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Ski day! With the general lack of snow in the Alps this winter, we decided to go to the highest ski area near Innsbruck: Stubai Glacier. On the way out in the morning, we got our first really spectacular views of the mountains right around Innsbruck [9 Pictures]. These pictures and the others from the ride up are taken with the FujiFilm camera. The ones on the mountain are taken with the more portable Canon. Pictures from the ride up are divided into those from the autobahn [8 Pictures] and those from the road up the Stubai valley [28 Pictures].

We parked and bought lift tickets, then took the gondola [5 Pictures] up to the Gamsgarten lodge [4 Pictures], where we rented skis for the day. Our early runs were in the western parts of the area [22 Pictures], before we moved to the back side toward the south [9 Pictures], then the front east side 16 Pictures]. Then it was lunch time, and we ate at the Dresdner House [6 Pictures], near the Mittlestation (the midstation of the gondolas from the base). We spent the afternoon revisiting parts of the mountain we liked. The rest of the ski pictures are on one page [31 Pictures], then a couple from the base at the end of the day [3 Pictures]. Despite the overall lack of snow, we found excellent conditions in those places where we could ski, including quite a few tracks of nice powder, some as much as knee-deep. A really excellent day of skiing.

Finally, there are just a couple pictures taken back in Innsbruck at the end of the day [2 Pictures].

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Back to the conference to hear some talks. Still, there was time and opportunity for some good pictures. The pictures are divided into three pages: from a walk to get lunch [23 Pictures], from a walk up the city tower [28 Pictures], and from a walk in a park near the conference center during the afternoon coffee break [6 Pictures].

Friday, February 16, 2007

Time to leave Innsbruck and head back to Munich for flights back to the U.S. on Saturday. There are some pictures of the hotel in Innsbruck [21 Pictures] and some pictures of Dom St. Jakob (St. James' Cathdral) [18 Pictures] on the way to and from the conference center to check e-mail before hitting the road. We finally checked out around 11 and were on our way. We decided on a different route (shorter distance, longer time) up through the Alps. There are pictures leaving Innsbruck [12 Pictures] and up through Austria [22 Pictures] and Germany [17 Pictures]. When we got to Munich, we hit some traffic [3 Pictures] then drove around in circles [2 Pictures] looking for the English Gardens. We eventually found them and walked around and got a late lunch [37 Pictures]. From there, it was up to the airport area to return the car and check into the airport hotel for the night.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

The long, long travel day. It started by checking out of the Kempinski hotel at the airport around 8 AM CET, getting through checkin, passport control, and security in time for the 10 AM CET flight to Atlanta. That flight was almost 10 hours, but with no delays. There are some pictures from this one, although the vast majority of the time there was nothing to see but clouds [14 Pictures]. Arriving in Atlanta around 2 PM EST (8 PM CET), it took about an hour to get off the plane, clear immigration, claim bags, clear customs, recheck bags, and get back through security. That left 3 hours before the next flight, plenty of time to recharge the laptop, buy a wireless Internet day pass, and get something to eat. The second flight was all in the dark, so there were no real picture opportunities other than the seat-back video screeen of the route [Picture]. Lots to see, but nothing that could be captured in a picture. Arrival in Orange County was just after 8 PM PST (5 AM CET), and I got my luggage and car and was in the hotel by 9.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Today was a free day in Southern California. The main event of the day was a ride to visit Neil in San Marcos near San Diego. There are pictures from a "vista point" along I-5 through Camp Pendleton [8 Pictures], from Neil's neighborhood [13 Pictures], from Moonlight Beach [13 Pictures], and from Carlsbad [11 Pictures]. The pictures from the roads that didn't make the cut are on their own page: [17 Pictures].

Monday, February 19, 2007

After a morning at the hotel preparing for Wednesday's talk, I took a ride to Santa Monica [16 Pictures] around lunch time. While there, I got a call from friends who were going to Disneyland for the afternoon, so I got back in the car and headed back to Orange County. The late afternoon was spent with Mike, Jennifer, and James at Disneyland, then I stayed to do a few more rides after dinner [29 Pictures]. Again, there is an entire page of pictures from the roads only: [41 Pictures].

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Full day at SIAM CSE 2007.

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Full day at SIAM CSE 2007.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

This was the last day to do a little exploring of the area and the skiing didn't look especially promising, so I took a ride. I ended up doing a very long loop out into the desert and back -- over 600 miles on the day. The more interesting pictures are grouped onto a few pages while the less interesting ones are all on the one linked at the end. The ride started by heading toward San Bernardino [3 Pictures]. Next, it was I-10 out into the Palm Springs area [3 Pictures] before a side trip down toward the Salton Sea [13 Pictures]. Then there was only time for a quick stop at Joshua Tree National Park [32 Pictures]. Since I only saw a small part of the park, I didn't see any Joshua trees. Next time. From there, it was back to I-10 [3 Pictures] to Blythe [4 Pictures] for lunch and then a brief visit to Arizona [9 Pictures] to fill up on much less expensive gas. With a full tank, it was back across the Colorado and up US 95 [26 Pictures] to Needles [16 Pictures]. The pictures from the rest of the ride are along I-40 [13 Pictures]. It was dark by Barstow and on I-15, the climb was good until the summit, where a cold and windy rain began and stayed all the way back down into LA. An finally, here are the [48 Roads/Signs Pictures].

Friday, February 23, 2007

Time to head back home. After a morning dealing with a major construction project right above my room (don't ever stay at the Holiday Inn Express in Costa Mesa), it was off to the airport for an uneventful trip. The flight from Orange County to Cincinnati was nice, but there were a lot of clouds over the Rockies, so no views there. There are a handful of pictures from the air passing over St. Louis [7 Pictures]. Arrival was on time in Cincinnati and the (gasp) Comair flight to Albany was full and noisy but reasonably on time.