I can’t remember who told me, but somebody likened SXSW to “spring break for geeks,” and that’s exactly what it was, plus a whole lot more. I’ll spare you the rant save for me saying I’ll definitely be going back next year.

SXSW finished up on the Wednesday and three of the oz squad core members and I flew off to Vegas for 2 nights for a bit of crazy partying.

Vegas was fun—I especially enjoyed partying the last night at Studio 54 at MGM Grand and just hanging out with the gang in such an unusual place. I can see why people recommend not to stay for more than 2 nights as you just kind of get sick of the gambling, smoke and general craziness of it all.

An easy-going road trip through Death Valley and Yosemite was just what the doctor ordered after Austin and Vegas.

After picking up our suv we drove to Death Valley which had some pretty breathtaking landscapes. We drove for about 15 minutes on some very dodgy dirt path roadwork to arrive at an old mineshaft which was pretty cool.

After freezing our ass off watching the sun set we headed out of the park and into the little suburb known as Ridgecrest. We stayed at a motel/inn and funnily enough had the easiest and painfree wifi connection to the internet on the whole trip (yes, this was the highlight of Ridgecrest).

Emailed, flickred and fed, the next morning we headed North to Yosemite National Park. As per usual I’d done little research prior to arriving and had no idea what to expect. Maxine had said “there may be some snow” in the park but for some reason I’d failed to think that this might have meant that it could actually be snowing (thanks for the beanie and gloves mah).

Yosemite is amazing.

Yosemite. Is. Amazing.

We took our time to absorb some of the amazing sights on our way into the park so by the time we arrived at our lodge it was around 4PM. To get to our lodge we had to put snow chains on our car, and after one failed attempt and covering my parker in mud we did it.

Maxine was in charge of booking the lodges for the 2 nights in Yosemite and she couldn’t have done better. We stayed at Wowona Hotel and our balcony had the most beautiful view over the snowy Yosemite forest. Never having seen falling snow I found the whole experience pretty amazing.

The second day we went on 2 hikes through the forest and really soaked in the amazing surroundings. Lisa was our chief rally driver and managed to avoid fallen rocks, deer, ice and the load passengers screaming in the back.

The second night in the park we stayed in Yosemite Lodge, which was in the heart of the park and had a 360 degree view of the surrounding mountains.

I’m now in San Francisco and am really enjoying it here. Last night we had dinner with Doug, Cam and Jason which was lovely and during the day Amit saw the Golden Gate and did some shopping (photos to come!). I don’t know how long you’d want to stay as a traveller but it’d be a pretty cool place to live.

There’s an air of melancholy as Lisa has left for Albuquerque and Amit has left to go home. It was a great adventure and I’m glad we have so many flickr photos to look back on.

Today I see more of San Fran (just for you Doug) and then Maxine and I are off to New York for 4 nights. Hopefully I’ll sneak in a skate on the ice in Central Park and catch up with Lisa and Cam for one last time.

If you haven’t seen the pics yet you can check out the photos of Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite or all the road trip photos in the one set on my flickr page. Amit’s, Lisa’s and Maxine’s photos should have some cool pics soon, so be sure to check those out.