That may seem like a weird wish but of all the photos I have I get the most compliments on the ones of my feet.  So by popular demand here is a speed road trip across America with my feet in pictures:

Kayaking 1 of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes

Olympic National Park in Washington

Kayaking with alligators at Everglades National Park in Florida

Walking along the beach in Naples, Florida

Watching the sunset at the beach in Naples, Florida

Arches National Park in Utah

Camping on the beach at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas

I have worn this pair of Keen sandals in 47 states. I love my well worn Keen sandals and couldn't let them go to heaven at Padre Island National Seashore in Texas.

I got my kicks on Route 66 at Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona

Taking a break and enjoying the view while hiking the Grand Canyon in Arizona

Foolishly wearing sandals among the cactus at Joshua Tree National Park in California

Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, California

Mount Tampais overlooking San Francisco Bay Area in California

Hood River in Oregon

Who hikes 4 miles up Mount Si in Washington wearing Tevas? Sue, that's who.

Kelp beds at Deception Pass State Park in Washington

Looking for whales at Lime Kiln Point State Park - San Juan Island in Washington

Muir Beach in Marin County, California

Out of my tent and off on the next adventure in California.

I wonder where my feet will take me next.

Autumn is my favorite season.  Or more accurately, autumn was my favorite season growing up in Minnesota.  Since then I have lived places that don’t really have seasons other than the rainy and dry season like Florida and California.  As much as I love Northern California, today I pine to go hiking in Northern Minnesota in all its autumnal glory.  Since I am 2000 miles away I’ll have to settle on a virtual autumnal equinox hike by looking at the photos of a late autumn road trip to St. Croix State Park from yesteryear.

Pictures are nice but I would rather be there.  I’m taking the red-eye to Minnesota on Friday to catch a little bit of autumn with family and friends.  See ya soon, Minnesota!

I would like to write how my first solo road trip in northern Minnesota 10 years ago was one of the best experiences of my life. But in actuality it kind of sucked. It was cold and drizzling, I got up to go to the bathroom in the drizzle twice during the night, and the next morning I woke up feeling exhausted since I hardly slept.

I’m not sure why I continued solo road tripping after that first night. I could have said I wasn’t cut out for it and opted to stay home and watch TV the next time I had some time off and no one wanted to go camping. But I chalked up the unpleasantness to inexperience and tried again.

The second time I went solo camping I was woke up in the middle of the night by raccoons fighting outside my tent. Imagine waking up to sounds like this and this right next to your head. Crank the volume up to the max to get the full effect.

Ah, the joys of camping. Despite those first few rough nights, curiosity and a love of outdoor adventure eventually won out and led me around the entire country solo camping. And while there were plenty more unpleasant nights (some good ones too), the journey as a whole was one of the best experiences of my life.

Sometimes I wonder what I would be doing now if I had given up on solo road tripping because of those first few rough nights ten years ago. Maybe I would be blogging about my favorite TV shows. Regardless, I would definitely be a much different person than I am today.

Today I woke up in a chair at the library at Stanford where I fell asleep teaching myself how to write code for iPhone apps. This whole iPhone developer / entrepreneur adventure is starting out just about as glamorously as my first solo camping adventures. But I’m sticking with it.

I wonder where I’ll wake up ten years from now.