PixlBit

Good morning Pixlpeeps! This time last week I was in an airplane heading towards San Francisco to start on a mini adventure with my brother. This past week was a fun road trip where I flew up to the bay, filled a moving truck, slept for maybe 6 hours and then drove down from San Francisco to Las Vegas to help my brother move into his new house. It was a little over 600 miles but it was fun, and I’ll tell you more about it in a bit but first since this is a combo blog let’s start with gaming.

 

Chris Plays…

Mariokart - Switch

This was the go-to game for the trip. This is all I played on the flight and when I had downtime. General overview is that it is the same Mariokart I’ve played before but with new tracks and new karts. Don’t get me wrong Mariokart is a fun game, but it is more of the same compared to the 3DS version, except the Switch has better graphics. One thing I can complain about is that I wish you could map the controls to the bottom two triggers because it feels cramped having to use the buttons on the right Joycon.

Mobile Games: I’ve decided to stop playing Marvel Strike Force, and Disney’s Super Hero Something Something (I forgot it’s long name). I was surprised how easy it was for me to drop Marvel, and even more surprised by how hard it was to drop Disney. I liked Marvel, but tolerated Disney, but Disney I had a team that was really into the game, nice, friendly, and overall good people. I’ll miss that more than the game. Marvel, I really didn’t care for my squad but I also didn’t talk to them so it didn’t hurt as much.

I’m sticking with WWE Supercard. I seem to have more fun playing this game.

 

So before I left for my trip my graphics card on my laptop decided to stop working. This means no more PC gaming for a bit. Bleh. The rest of the laptop works fine but I’m just pissed that this one piece is broken. Looks like I will have to save up for a new gaming laptop which sucks because I wanted to use that money for something like a Surface Tablet but I do like gaming on the laptop so that takes priority. I’m shooting for the holidays to see if I can get a good deal on a budget gaming laptop. I’ve found two that I really like and my goal is to not spend over a $1,000 bucks. So for now I’m back on the consoles so I have to go update my PS4 which should take a week because Sony, and hook up my 360.

 

Quick Hits! Chris' Mini Adventure!

Tuesday: It was odd flying on September 11, but here I was. This was the carry-on stuff I was bringing

 

Next flight I could do without the 3DS XL. I never used it. L to R clockwise: phone, music player, Switch, iPad, 3DS XL, Travel Laptop, headphones.

 

My Amazon Basics camera bag reconfigured for this trip. The left side is a power strip, and all the power bricks for my stuff. The bottom with three pouches are battery packs, 3DS, and cable pouches. Above that is the case for my Beats, below both is my water bottle, and sunglass case.

 

This was my row for the flight! Since it was a 6am flight there was maybe 20 people on my plane.

 

And this was my entertainment. Since it was a Virigin plane there was free TV, some kind of messaging service within the plane, and a map that let you know how close you are to your destination.

 

My plane was huuuuuuuuggggeeee!

 

Hello SFO!

 

Wednesday: Super early in the morning, like 4am early.

 

When I left the valley it was in the triple digits, in San Francisco it was like high 60s. I was trying to enjoy every minute of the cold. Anyways we started our trip and we went over the Bay Bridge which I thought was odd but apparently it is faster than driving south. Something about freeways. Anyways we were hauling because the freeway was damn near empty. We got to central California in a couple of hours before we had to stop for gas

 

It was a nice sunrise, the area smelled of cows, and the bathrooms were gross. But we were on the road again. We got into Las Vegas around 1:45 so 9 hours later we were at the house, unpacking and by 3pm we were done. After that it was time to rest a bit before grabbing a bite. My brother thought it would be fun to hit the strip that day because we really wouldn’t have time the rest of the week so we went to Caesars Palace and hit the Bacchanal Buffet

 

I really don’t cuss here but HOLY SH*T it was freaking amazing. This was my first plate: Prime Rib, honey mashed potatoes, garlic & Parmesan fries, and bone marrow. It was so freaking good and eventually I went back for crab claws, crab legs, and steamed crab legs. The dessert was crazy because they had basically everything. I went with some gelato, green tea mochi, house-made whipped cream, and bananas foster. If you go to Vegas don’t even waste time with the other buffets, Bacchanal Buffet is where it’s at. You know you want to click on the link.

 

Thursday & Friday: These days were similar: Wake up, wait for utility guy to come over, set everything up and then we went out to pick up packages, furniture, assemble items, and buy stuff for the house. I tried a Shake Shack which wasn’t bad, but we found a really cool Hawaiian spot for dinner out in what I called regular Las Vegas (far away from the strip). It was legit, and for breakfast my brother took me to another Hawaiian spot. Thank goodness Vegas is the 9^th Island.  

On Friday night we met up with our cousin and his wife who were in town for a conference at a swanky Steak House in Green Valley Ranch Casino. We all told stories, laughed, and enjoyed the company while eating giant pieces of cow.

 

They had fried Oreos! I couldn’t eat all of them and nobody wanted one. It was good.

We got back and my brother’s TV stand was sitting at the door. We assembled that bad boy because the TV had been sitting on the floor for two days and then it was time for me to grab a couple of hours of sleep before I head out.

 

View from the airport of the strip. I didn’t want to walk up to the curb because cars were pulling in and I didn’t want to act like a tourist…but I acted like a tourist. I got the new the new terminal so I got to ride the swanky tram to my gate. One thing that was odd was that I got the hand swab treatment at TSA. I think it was because earlier in the morning I rolled up the air mattress I was sleeping on. No big deal, the TSA folks weren’t mean or anything and I appreciate the thoroughness of these folks. While waiting at the gate people were playing the slots right before takeoff. I thought about it, but didn’t want to use that $1 burning a hole in my pocket especially after spending $4 for a bottle of water to fill my Hydroflask with.

 

My seat for the first flight. While we were in the air the smell of smoke started to move through the cabin. Not trying to freak out I calmly ask what was wrong and apparently someone left paper in the oven and it caught fire.

 

Hello SFO…again. I spent a good hour here before my connecting flight so I hung out, but I didn’t see my usual sandwich spot where I order a really expensive ham and bacon sandwich.

 

Here I am typing my first blog idea.

 

My connecting flight’s seat. Yeah I need lotion. Always go for the upgrade seat if it’s cheap. Sitting behind 1^st class for an extra $20 is worth it.

 

And that was my trip.

Alright Pixlpeeps I am off. Have a good week!

 

That’s all for now, more later!

-Chris