50 for 50: 2000

YEAR: 2000

AGE: Turned 30 on Nov. 6

LOCATION: Madison, Harbor House Apartments; Cottonwood Heights, Utah -- Pinnacle Highland Apartments

WISCONSIN MEN'S BASKETBALL RECORD: 22-14

SONGS I LIKED: "Beautiful Day" by U2; "Everything You Want" by Vertical Horizon; "Sundown" by Elwood; "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy

MOVIES I SAW: "The Perfect Storm"; "High Fidelity"

TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Malcolm in the Middle"; "Will and Grace"

CONCERT I EXPERIENCED: Rick Springfield

VIDEO GAME I PLAYED: Heroes of Might and Magic III

I've already written about the weeks leading up to our move to Utah, as well as my first month here. I was considering looking back at the Wisconsin men's basketball team making the Final Four -- which, professionally, besides being crazy fun, was something else I could put on my resume that appealed to editors -- or describing our first autumn in Utah (with Lori waking me up one morning to see snow on the mountaintops across the valley).

Instead, I'm not writing about Wisconsin or Utah at all, but rather, San Francisco. In early December, I was able to get a few days off on a weekend (the first Saturday when none of the local college football teams played), and we flew to the Bay Area. I had three friends from three separate friend groups living there at the time, and we hung out with all of them.

The short trip was a blast. We went to Muir Woods and took my friend Matt -- from Marquette and Madison who worked in the Bay Area during the week and commuted back and forth -- to a breakfast restaurant in Sausalito recommended by mom Mom. We wandered Fisherman's Wharf with all three friends, then went to a nice dinner and a club in San Francisco. 

Lori and I rented a car, and because we accidentally were forgotten while waiting, then were given a car that smelled of spilled milk, ended up with a Mustang convertible. We kept the top down the entire day while visiting the Napa Valley, even coming back to San Francisco with the top down despite the fact the sun went down and it was freezing. Lori's aunt and uncle live in the city, and they drove us around and showed us the sights we hadn't yet seen.

I'm astonished this trip was almost 20 years ago, because it really seems somewhat recent -- and I remember so much from it. Furthermore, the jaunt set off a few years of much traveling. Airfare was cheap (even immediately after 9/11), and Lori and I didn't mind driving hours on roads that were new to us. Between this trip and Michael's birth three years later, we (though a couple of these destinations were just one of us) went to Las Vegas (at least three times), Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, Moab (more than once), St. George (more than once), Vernal (more than once), Goblin Valley, Dallas, Capital Reef, Milwaukee, Chicago, and Albuquerque.

In the Midwest, we did travel, but usually one vacation a year and then either to northern Wisconsin or Chicago. In Utah, we literally expanded our horizons. Moreover, the traveling didn't slow down once the boys arrived -- driving and flying trips with them never scared us, and we became good at it and had a lot of fun. My family never went on many trips when I was little, and Lori's mostly stayed in Wisconsin. Our boys traveled all over the West before they were in grade school.

School eventually slowed the traveling down, but it didn't diminish the experience or importance of adventures away from home. I just wish we could have a Mustang convertible on each one.

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