www.BrettDaniel.com

One of the benefits of living in Mountain View is that I am right down the road from the Google campus. This means that when the company rolls out an amazing new map feature, Mountain View is one of the first cities included.

I still plan to post some of the pictures I have taken of the area, but while you are waiting for me to find time to do that, you can take a virtual tour.

• Downtown Mountain View
• The Train Station
• The Library
• Stanford
• Up in the Mountains
• NASA Ames Research Center
• Near the Google Campus

I could see Google striking a deal with a shipping company or the postal service to attach panoramic cameras to the top of delivery trucks. That way, it would not take long to index most of the major cities in the country.

And to answer Eric's question: no, I am not working for Google this summer.

Last week I passed another grad school milestone: I went to ICSE 2007, my first research conference.

I do not think I could have had a better first conference. ICSE is one of the top three or four software engineering conferences in the world, and attracts some excellent submissions. I arrived Tuesday night and spent the next four days listening to many interesting talks (and, of course, a few boring ones) and networking with other researchers. I saw too many great ideas and met too many smart people to describe in this short weblog post; check out the list of papers and presenters if you are interested.

We spent most of our time in the hotel conference center, but I did get a chance to see some of the rest of Minneapolis. On Thursday, the conference dinner was held at Nicollet Island, a historic park in the middle of the Mississippi River. There, one could try hatchet throwing, archery, or a Segway. I hit the hatchet target after only three tries, but did not get a chance to shoot an arrow or ride a Segway because the Minnesota cold drove me back indoors. Has my short time in California made me so thin-skinned?

On Saturday night, after a long day at the Automated Software Test Workshop, I went with a small group to the Mall of America. We ate dinner at a completely ridiculous rainforest-themed restaurant whose walls were covered in jungle foliage and animatronic animals with servers dressed as safari guides. After that, we walked around, basking in the glow of American consumerism.

Last Wednesday I embarked on the longest road trip I have ever attempted: four days, eight states, and 2,225 miles. I drove from Champaign, Illinois to Mountain View, California where I will spend the next three months working as a "research intern" for a company that makes software testing tools.

I debated for several days whether to fly or drive to California. I decided on the latter for several reasons. First, convenience. It will be nice to have my car for groceries and other errands. Second, I hope to visit the many state parks in the mountains around San Francisco and San Jose. Third, and most importantly, I truly enjoy long road trips and eagerly looked forward to seeing the western United States for the first time. I was as excited about the journey as the destination.

I planned to leave early Wednesday morning, but by 10 PM on Tuesday, having nothing packed, I realized I might miss my deadline. I finished packing by noon on Wednesday, ate one final lunch with my CS friends, ran a few errands, and finally left Champaign at 3:00. That's the other good thing about driving: flexibility. I do not think a plane would have waited several extra hours for me to show up.

Day One

And I was off! I followed I-72 from Champaign across Illinois. At exit 31 near the Missouri border I took the first of several impromptu detours that peppered my trip west. I saw a lone power-generation windmill on top of a hill. Since I had never seen one up close before, I went to investigate. I was unable to find a path to the windmill, but did find a picturesque gravel road lined with farms.

Not long after that, I crossed the Mississippi River into Hannibal, Missouri, the home of Mark Twain. This was the first time I crossed the Mississippi north of Louisiana. From there I continued on US-36, a state highway that acts just like an interstate across northern Missouri.

I stopped for the night in Cameron, Missouri, having traveled 346 miles.

Day Two

Before leaving Cameron to begin my second day, I stopped at a grocery store to buy food. I was reminded of the old Oregon Trail game in which one had to buy provisions in St. Louis before starting the trip west. Fortunately I did not have to buy a shotgun, oxen, or extra wagon axles, but I did get sandwich ingredients and some vegetables.

Once I got underway, I heard several news stories about flooding in northwestern and central Missouri. I soon saw evidence of the flooding in the fields surrounding the highway.

I picked up I-29 north outside of St. Joseph, Missouri. I crossed into Iowa, but only drove 10 miles into the state before turning west on highway 2 near Nebraska City. I then followed highway 2 west to Lincoln, Nebraska where it met with I-80.

I left I-80 at exit 382 and instead followed US-34 which parallels the interstate. It was along this stretch that I got my first real taste of the Great Plains.

I found a plane on the plains near York, Nebraska.

I rejoined I-80 near Grand Island, Nebraska and stopped for lunch at the mile 270 rest stop near Kearney, Nebraska. It had a peaceful lake with an interesting sculpture.

I stopped for gas at Ogallala, Nebraska where I saw two semis struggling to get their very long cargo through a traffic light. That cargo turned out to be vanes for power-generation windmills like the one I tried to find in Missouri. I had no idea they were so big.

Throughout my trip, I was amazed at the changes to the landscape and foliage that unfolded around the interstate. The trees thinned and it grew hillier as I traveled across Nebraska. By the time I reached the Wyoming border, there were few trees and cattle had replaced farms.

I stopped at sunset in Cheyenne, Wyoming having traveled 629 more miles for a total of 975 miles.

Day Three

On the morning of my third day, I took scenic highway 210 out of Cheyenne. It traveled up the hills to the west of the city and passed through Medicine Bow National Forest. It contained some incredible scenery.

I was amazed to find snow remaining in shadows and depressions.

After about 40 beautiful miles, 210 rejoined I-80 at its highest point.

The landscape transformed drastically around Laramie, Wyoming. Trees disappeared almost completely and it became much more mountainous.

I passed through the desolate Great Divide Basin after which the land dried and became steadily more rocky.

The descent into Utah became greener and passed through a beautiful gorge lined with red rock formations.

There was even some wildlife.

I-80 dropped quickly through the mountains around Salt Lake City. I was unable to get pictures of the approach, but the views made me understand why Brigham Young decided to settle there.

I fought Salt Lake City's traffic and continued into the desert west of the lake.

I soon came to Utah's famous salt flats.

I did not try to set any land speed records, but I did see several deep ruts made by people who tried to drive on the salt.

The highway rose once again after crossing into Nevada. Every time I crossed a rise, I could see the highway continuing for miles ahead of me. Every so often, I passed a small town splashed across the foot of a mountain.

I stopped for the night in Elko, Nevada having traveled 670 miles for a total of 1,645 miles.

Day Four

Day four saw the largest and quickest changes to the landscape: I went from mountains to desert to alpine forest to lush farmland to the Mediterranean climate of Silicon Valley.

I ate breakfast at a restaraunt in a casino along Elko's main street. It seems like all Nevada cities, no matter how small, had at least one casino.

I spent most of the drive winding around mountains and through valleys. I saw several more salt flats, but none compared to the austere beauty of Utah's. By the time I neared Reno, the landscape had turned into true desert, the only green surrounding human settlements.

I even saw some tumbleweed. When I stopped for gas, one stereotypically blew across the road in front of my car.

After passing into California, the mountains exploded with trees as I passed between the Tahoe and Eldorado National Forests. I ate lunch at the Donner Lake rest stop near the famous Donner Pass. The rest stop sat in a beautiful pine forest next to a small mountain lake.

I found a path through the trees that led to a rocky peak alongside the highway. I could see for miles from the top.

I stopped again at the Emigrant Gap where California settlers would lower their wagons by rope to the bottom of the valley.

From there, I-80 fell several thousand feet to Sacramento. I passed through the city and several miles of orchards. When I neared San Francisco, I turned onto I-680 which flows through the hills around San Francisco Bay. I transferred to I-880 near San Jose, then navigated the suburbs of Silicon Valley to my home for the summer.

Again, I was unable to get pictures while driving, but this entire stretch was incredibly beautiful. I saw Navy ships on Grizzly Bay, multimillion-dollar homes perched on grassy hills overlooking San Francisco Bay, and the tree-lined boulevards of Mountain View. The vibrant and colorful plantlife of California could not have been more different from the shining deserts I had passed through mere hours before.

I had arrived.

Epilogue

Yesterday I moved in and got settled into my room. I even went grocery shopping for the first time. I am living in a large, beautiful house with three Google employees and a microbiology graduate student who is married to one of them. I start work on Wednesday. Until then, I plan to explore Mountain View. I hope to write about the town and post pictures in a future post.