Most Miles Ever in Past Five Days

After catching a red-eye back to Philadelphia on Saturday night (my earlier flight got pushed about 7 hours later than I expected) and spending a day with my family, here I sit in an airplane once more cruising about 35,000 feet above South Dakota in a Boeing 737 flying toward Seattle for a dinner meeting with some folks from Microsoft. There is also some big secret (I think) "underground" tour that I am supposed to be participating in tomorrow. I have absolutely no idea what to expect. Microsoft has generously picked up the tab for my plane (first class window seats both ways), hotel, and car so I figured there was no harm in making the trip as long as I could find the time and still get my work done. I'm hoping this is a quick out-and-back trip.
 
When I was much younger, my family would take trips across the country, but it was the kind of trip where you all bumble into a van and spend three weeks driving across America and back again. These two flights have been a slightly different method of transcontinental travel. Despite spending an inordinate amount of time on airplanes in the past few days, it still blows my mind that we can travel nearly 6,000 miles in about 5 and a half hours. It doesn't even take enough out of me to prevent me from feeling energized and even doing work. I could almost commute to Seattle (or San Francisco) if my job required it (and they paid for first class!)
 
I've always loved airplanes since I was a little boy and they really are fascinating machines. To create something that can harness the air as though it had the buoyancy of water and float from one place to the next while soaring above the clouds. I could get used to flying much more than I do. It's so beautiful.
 
I'm hoping to meet some interesting people while out at Microsoft and see if there are any potential business venture opportunities. Maybe they all need new headshots, who knows? If they do, I'll be there.