You've gotten some great advice from the pros.

I'm aiming for 2P for the first time and also fly from a small California airport. My status will come with EQSs though. In May I did 2 flights for 11,618 miles in 12 segs. I'll accrue 6 more next weekend, then a flight in September with 12 segs I worked really hard to craft ... ta da! 2P in 4 flights.

For my September flight, United.com only priced out 8-segs. Couldn't get a decent fare on my expanded itinerary (12 segs) through the res line (tried twice), so I ended up booking with Orbitz. For just about $40 more I got my 12 segs and around 500 more miles.

Have you read the MR sticky, Mileage Run Tools? At this point I only need: the Dream Map, Expedia (for routing rules), Fare Metrics Mileage Calculator/Route Expander and ITA Software. Read that sticky and you'll know what to do.