So Monday was the realization that I was truly back home when I had to get ready for work… Though going to work was not a bad thing as Kate, the woman I am working for, seems to be shares the same passion for traveling and especially the States and it is nice to talk to someone like who is just not after the latest gossips…

I truly had a blast in the States!  And i so wish I had way more time and was that close to purposely missing my plane…

This trip originally came about to visit one very close friend of mine but then thought that was going to look like a one week trip I may as well go and see my long time friend Jag.  Then Steve came into the picture and
somehow we decided to make it an even more interesting trip by going to meet other fellow plurkers and friends that i have met online.

Unfortunately, the U.S.A is a very very big country and of course everyone lived all around the States which made it impossible to visit everyone in just 17 days….  A bit disappoint not being able to meet Eric in Charlotte, Don in Washington and Mike in Chicago… @brilliantjeni and so many many more… so will have to come back!

I  arrived in L.A. on the 10th of October 2008 and flew directly to Dallas where René picked me up from the airport.  Being the beginning of my trip, the good thing was that I was not rushed and had quite
some time to do things so I really had time to appreciate Dallas though there is still plenty to do there. This is where I met Aimee aka @Flipsidebabee, Plurker and xbox live gamer with her husband.  She was tons of fun!  And she knows where to go for drinks….

Also met @Batgirl59 whom we have not even mentioned at all but got us a great hotel room in Dallas where I met Steve aka @ClassTax.  So thank you so much @Batgirl59!

The “red carpet” was an inside joke between Steve & I when we were planning the trip.  From now on I would be traveling with Steve.

Next stop was somewhere in Mississippi, past New Orleans to meet the oh so delightful 000 size @HotFish… Gosh that woman is hilarious!  And what you get on Plurk from @HotFish is what you get in real life too!

But on our way there, we had a few problems.  First we got stuck in traffic for 2 hrs doing 10miles/hr and to this day we still don’t even know what happened on the road that night… Then we could not find a hotel and let alone a place to eat as it was getting very late and everything seemed to be closed or on the verge of closing refusing new clients.  So after a couple of hours, we ended up in a little diner.  I swear I felt like I was in a movie as it looked exactly like in the movies: the greasy old little diner, very old fashioned tiles, the jukebox, the cook with missing teeth and the waitress with a very strong accent and the cops… but the cops were cute!

I asked to Steve to see if we could take pictures with the cops… lucky they were very friendly and we ended up having a really good night. Sergent Lewis showed us around… at this point we could not believe
there was an actual life in this town! And yes I ended up being handcuffed as a joke…

We drove through New Orleans… did not like it at all: all those abandoned houses & buildings… very sad to see.

It was then time to drive to Chicago and it was a very long drive!  We met a Second Lifer, Madame Maracas.  We were always limited by time, so not much time to do anything really everywhere we went, but if you
want a tour guide in Chicago, Madame Madame Maracas is THE guide! She drove us around Chicago and told the story behind each building, unbelievable!

Chicago was where I left Steve and flew to New Jersey to meet Jag. Jag and I have been close friends for over 4 months now, we talk basically every single day on Skype, we have the odd few days where we don’t talk to each other but are in touch somehow… So I was really looking forward to finally meet him. I knew Jag was a nice guy but he is so much more than just a nice guy… he is such a sweetheart… I am so glad for having him in my life and so grateful for the time we had though disappointed we could not spend more time
together.

We had an awesome night in NYC with the gorgeous @LavenderPhoenix aka Jess

OMG I can’t believe I had to let him go lol

We went our on way at the airport: he flew to Dallas and I flew to Las Vegas to meet with Steve again. Las Vegas was very nice, really liked it but would love to go back and see some of the shows. There we met with another fellow plurker, the funny Miss @Succubitch.

After Las Vegas, Steve & I drove to San Diego… and this time he had a GPS!!!! Finally!!!  In San Diego we met a couple, @TrinitySerpentine & @Nala, Plurkers and Second Lifers.  They first met on Second Life then met
in Real Life… Fantastic people!

Now we are reaching the end of my trip: we drove to LA and met @Mattlike from Plurk.

And then came the time I had to say goodbye to Steve… I mean at time I could have easily killed the guy… him and his freaking maps!!! Then he was arguing with the GPS… But we still managed to have a good time and I can’t thank him enough for all we did together.

Thank you so much to everyone I met for the first time ever, thanks to everyone who followed us on Plurk, thanks to @RichHale who created Spare on Plurk to track our movements: S.pecial P.lurk A.utumn R.oadtrip E.vent and hoping we will do the same again but in the UK…

I really had an awesome time with everyone! And I can’t wait to come back!