FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Longest you have been away on holiday (not work).

Dec 31, 2016, 9:58 pm

#60

pudgym29

Join Date: Jan 2006

Location: Chicago, IL., U.S.A.

Programs: Global Entry · WN, UA, AS, DL, NH; IHG, Wyndham, Hilton, Best Value Inn, Marriott, Starwood, Ramada

Posts: 513

Award flight

After some contemplation; approximately one month July-August 1997.
I was still in a funk that our ownership group had not been allowed to obtain the Chicago POWER indoor soccer franchise. But, one benefit of my association with it was that I had piled up a number of free flights on Southwest Airlines.
So, I used one of those free roundtrips to fly MDW-LAX at the end of July. Spent one night in one of those funky hotels along Century Blvd. Next morning, flew Alaska Airlines (first time) LAX-SEA. [IIRC, WN did not fly northwest of SJC until it bought Morris Air, which it had not yet done.] Got to Seattle. Got a rental car. Drove to Portland, OR. to attend the Oregon Brewers Fest. Got a room at a hostel in central Portland. Car was physically sitting in a parking lot for # days while I rode transit. {Yes, I was on the W-WW by now. This was the least expensive way to do it.}
Attended OBF. Did not meet The Darklady, despite setting up a meeting time at a venue on SE Hawthorne Ave. (I couldn't recall her real name, which I later learned was Theresa. [Ding, ding, ding - my mom's name was Theresa. She loathed sexuality. I probably blanked out the name due to this connection.]) (If you've hit my adult bookmark page, this is the pockmark to which I refer.)
When OBF ended (now in August), got in rental car & drove back to Tacoma, WA. for the United Soccer Boosters' Convention, and our annual Beer Tasting @ The USBC.

The Convention went well. Having different beers than we typically got when being east of the Mississippi River was nice.
The Monday when the USBC ended; drove back to SEA, returned the car, and flew the return AS flight to LAX. There, obtained 2nd rental car from off-airport location and drove to Newport Beach, CA. to stay with my cousin Ron. This can get pretty lengthy, so I'll curtail it here by stating that in my span in Newport Beach, I did really well at finding video warehouses blowing out adult movies on VHS. Ron & I also explored a few first-wave craftbeer venues in Orange County (including the Goat Hill Tavern in Costa Mesa. ^). I was there for another 12 days. I could have stayed there longer, but deduced I had to get back to Chicago to pay my credit card bills. (Yes, I had booked my return LAX-MDW flight in advance.)
This is pretty much it. If there are any questions, I am reachable via the forum. I thank OP for posing this query.

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