Introduction to the Trip

Myself - This is where the trip starts.

Gwen - A friend I met while I was going to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. She will take over my job with Lockheed Martin at KAPL, my apartment and my furniture once I leave to move to Portland. She moved in about a month before the trip started. So as she was unpacking her stuff I was using the boxes she emptied to pack my stuff in.

My Mom - The person who gave birth to me. She teaches at Norwich High School. I stopped by at my mom's house to see her one last time before the move out west.

Bob - My step dad. They got married in 1995. He is an administrator at BOCES.

Darlene - A friend I met on the Internet in September 2001. She and I share many interests. We both are into dreams, spiritual stuff and Reiki. We also both love the Final Fantasy games and Tetris.

Tony - Darlene's boyfriend. Tony and I get along well. Him and I share an interest in computers and video games. Normally when I visit them we hang out talk about stuff, play video games and order out for pizza from the place downstairs in the same building.

Keith - A friend I met on the Internet when I lived in Pittsburgh in early 1998. He and I share an interest in video games and computers. When I was living in Pittsburgh I visited him almost every weekend and on some weekdays when I had no classes. We played video games together, watched movies, and went out to the mall to hang out. We also went to Gateway a lot to check out the new computer systems. We often took some games along to see how well they played on the start of the art systems.

Sean - A friend of Keith's that I met shortly after meeting Keith. He is also into video games and computers. Often him, Keith and I would get together to go out to Pizza Hut and other places.

Shinichi - He was my housemate when I lived in Pittsburgh. He is from Japan and studied Computer Science at Duquesne University. He also enjoys computers and video games. Shortly after meeting him he helped me by translating Japanese text in a Super Nintendo game that I was playing and writing a Walkthrough/FAQ for. FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions. Often I would walk across the hall to his room and we would hang out and watch tapes his sister sent him from Japan with different shows. He also had a large collection of Anime (Japanese Animation).

Matt - My college roommate from SUNY Morrisville. We lived together for 2 years in the dorm. We also got together for family events and hung out together a lot of weekends at my mom's in Sherburne, New York. He is in the Air force now working with computers. I visited him when he was working at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City back in 1999 just before I started my job at Lockheed Martin.

Barb - Matt's wife. He met her in a bookstore where they held role-playing games in Oklahoma City. They had their wedding in New York State in 2001 and I was there for that wonderful event. That was the first time I had met Barb.

Kate - A childhood friend. My parents knew her parents before Kate and I were born. Sometimes my mom would watch Kate and I when we were just babies and sometime Kates mom would watch us. She and I spent a lot of time together around the ages of 7 to 16. For a while we got together almost every weekend. She and I kind of lost touch once I moved from my dad's in Jamesville, New York to my mom's in Sherburne, New York in 1990. She went to college at Syracuse University for a little while. She also went to college at Harvard in Boston and Oxford in England. The last time I saw her before this trip was around 1992.

Rene - Kate's husband. She met him while she was going to college in England. I never met him before taking this trip.

My Dad - Without him I would not exist in this form today. He lives in Raquette Lake, New York in the summers and goes where it is warmer during the winters. This winter he was staying with his Aunt in Florida.

Beulah - She is my Great Aunt. She lives about 10 miles away from Disney World. When I was much younger my dad and I would go to visit her along with other family for Thanksgiving. We also would visit her up at her summer place in Lakeview, which is located on Lake Ontario.

Chris - I meet Chris back in High School when I was in 10th grade. I met him at the end of the school year in 10th grade, so we did not start hanging out until the beginning of my junor year. He would often come over to my place in Sherburne, and I would often stay over at his place in North Norwich. He also came with me many times to visit my dad for the weekend in Jamesville. In 1994 he went to the Nintendo Powerfest Competition with me. I got first place and he got second. I moved out to Tennessee around November of 1996 and lived with him out there for about 4 months.

Rachael - Chris's girlfriend. I have never met her before going on this trip.

Tabby - Chris and Rachael's daughter. She was born in 2001. I had also never met her before going on this trip.

Fayetteville, Arkansas - I did not make it here on this trip.

Crystal - A friend I met on the Internet in 1998. She and I never met before in person. We spent a lot of time chatting on the Internet. Sometimes we would stay up till 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning chatting in mIRC or on ICQ. We did not have a lot in common, but I enjoyed hearing about her life and what things she has been up to. I also enjoyed having someone to talk to about my life and what I have been up to. I never thought she and I would actually meet in person. The only reason I asked if she wanted me to visit on this trip was because she only lived four hours away from where Pete lives.

Steven - Crystal's boyfriend. I also have never met him before. I talked to him a few times online and on the phone once or twice.

Jessica - My oldest niece. She is 21 years old and is engaged to be married to James this summer. She was born in Amsterdam, New York. Not far from where I lived in Ballston Spa. She moved to Portland, Oregon at a very young age with her mom. She moved out to Phoenix to go to college at Devry University. That is where she met James. She has graduated from Devry and is working in Phoenix now. She will be quitting her job and moving out to Portland with James this summer. I only have met Jessica once the previous summer. So it was great to be able to spend more time with her and get to know her better.

James - Jessica's fiancé. I have never met him before this trip. He is into Anime and computers big time.

Dan - My nephew from Becky. I spent a lot of time with him around 1991 and 1992 when he and my sister Becky lived with my dad in Jamesville, New York. Back then Dan and I would play Nintendo together and eat combos with Mt. Dew. At that time I was living with my mom, but I often visited them on weekends. He is 18 years old now and going to college.

Troy - My oldest nephew from Becky. He is 21 years old now. I have not seen him as much as I have Dan. So it was nice to spend some time with him and get to know him a little better.

Seth - Becky's first husband and Dan and Troy's father. I have not seen or talked to Seth since around 1981. The main memory I had of him was when he picked me up and swung me around in circles when I was around 6 years old.

Diana - My sister. She is 10 years older then I am. She is currently going to college at Portland State University (PSU).

Laura - My youngest niece. She is 7 years old and currently in the 2nd grade.

Penny - She is my middle niece. She is 19 years old and lives with her husband Chris near Diana.

Aga - A friend that lives about 10 miles away from my sisters. I met her on the Internet in November 2001.