To kick off the year, I had to fly down to Orange County for a quick meeting. Due to the LA County fires, our flight was diverted around them so we got a closer view of Catalina from the air before landing into SNA.
Here is a view of the Back Bay in Newport Beach from my hotel, the Marriott Newport Beach.
We had our group dinner at Javier's at Crystal Cove in Orange County that night.
The ceviche trio appetizer at Javier's was delicious!
I met up with some old friends for a drink after dinner.
A Few Days Later.....
Joy and I flew down to LAX a few days after I got back from Orange County to spend the MLK Weekend down there. We started off our trip at Medieval Times in Buena Park.
Joy and I were given our crowns as we entered the Buena Park castle. The guests are viewed as nobility by the serf staff. LOL.
Note that there is no silverware since back during the Middle Ages one ate with their hands. LOL.
Our section cheered for the Yellow Knight during the competitions.
The dinner was pretty good! I liked chicken, potato, and corn on the cob.
All the knights are ready for the jousting tournament to begin here!
The Blue and Yellow Knight are jousting here.
The sword fights were cool since one can see the sparks from the metal hitting the metal. I was surprised how real the show was!
We went to Duck Donuts the next morning in Irvine to try out the famous made to order donuts.
The donuts were hot and delicious! I liked the Ube one.
Afterwards, we went to San Clemente to check out the pier and beach.
I am sporting the Ray-Ban Wayfarer tortoise shell sunglasses I got as a gift from my company in Orlando last year on the pier.
It was kind of windy on the pier as one would expect by the ocean.
We got lunch at the Fisherman on the pier. I loved the clam chowder, and yes I put Tabasco sauce on my chowder!
I got a Sunglass Hut gift card from my boss for Christmas so I got these cool Ray-Ban & Meta smart Wayfarer sunglasses that day.
We drove up to northern LA to meet some friends from dinner at a delicious Thai place on Sunday too.
We waited in line for a while to get some treats at the famous Porto's Cuban inspired bakery in Downey the next day.
The guava pastry is amazing!
Joy and I went to Downtown Disney for lunch later on MLK Day.
We also grabbed a drink at Ojos Locos in Downey after Downtown Disney. I got some mezcal.
Joy looks bored at Ojos Locos. LOL.
The next day, we went to Beverly Hills to start off our day.
This is the Beverly Wilshire Hotel where Pretty Woman was filmed.
We got ice cream at Jenni's Splendid Ice Creams in Beverly Hills too.
We hung out in Santa Monica afterwards with Gavin.
Before we left for the airport, we got to check out SoFi Stadium.
I also tried Randy's Donuts for the first time on this trip.
The donuts were great!
About a month after.....
We went from the warmer climate to the colder climate as we embarked on our usual trip to Sun Valley, Idaho for President's Day Weekend. There was a nice dusting of snow on the ground when we landed in Boise.
Since the road conditions were iffy, we had a SUV booked as usual.
Unbecoming of the Roys, we decided to go to Taco Time for lunch. LOL. We do not have that chain in California so I wanted Joy to experience it.
After lunch, we checked out Bogus Basin, which is a ski resort near Boise.
We could not find the nordic trails so we just walked around a little in the snow before heading back to our hotel.
We had our official Valentine's Day dinner at Anthony's in Boise that night. It was technically the day after February 14, but we wanted to save our celebation for a city which has better restaurants than Sacramento.
I started off with a Woodinville Rye.
The oysters were fresh and delicious!
The men's room at Anthony's even had Valentine's Day cards in case us men forgot. LOL.
Anthony's is located near the JUMP Center in Boise which has cool displays out front for different holidays and celebrations.
After dinner, we went to our favorite country bar in Boise, Dirty Little Roddy's for a drink.
No, we did not get on that mechanical bull. LOL.
After checking into the Sun Valley Inn on Sunday, we were driven to the Nordic Center in one of their luxury SUV shuttles.
I love the nordic trails at Sun Valley!
Nordic skiing is a great workout!
Joy did not feel good after lunch so she just walked around the snow.
After skiing, we walked to the Sun Valley Lodge from the inn for a drink.
I love the lights on the trees in Sun Valley!
We love the Sun Valley Lodge!
Joy got that nice Swix pull over at the pro shop at the Nordic Center. It was not cheap. LOL. It inspired me to order a nice Swix jacket for next year too.
We had dinner at the Inn at Knob Hill that night. The large group next to us was talking when they should have "wheels up" tomorrow which means they have their own plane. There is lots of money in Sun Valley!
Joy and I enjoyed lunch at the Sun Valley Club the next day.
After getting back to Boise, we went to the Scheels sporting goods store in Meridian. I wanted a Canada Goose jacket, but since they did not have my size, I got some nice Sorel boots.
The Hyatt Place in Meridian upgraded us to their largest suite since I have high status with Hyatt.
We met my friend, James, for drinks and appetizers at Top Golf that night.
We went to Umi, a local shabu place in Meridian for dinner. The thin cuts of meat were amazing!
Joy and I went to JUMP in downtown Boise the next day. This place has lots of cool historic tractors.
This is a Case tractor.
Here is a vintage John Deere tractor.
We enjoyed walking around and checking out the cool tractors and other exhibits at this free community center in Boise.
Look at this old tractor!
We had lunch at a great sushi place my friend James suggested in downtown.
I had to get ice cream at the Stil afterwards too in downtown!
A few short weeks later.....
We started off Spring Training with a drink at Twin Peaks after landing into Phoenix.
This automatic pancake maker at our hotel was pretty neat the next morning.
I took the guys to Sauce for pizza on Saturday since that is another great Phoenix area pizza place.
Our first game of Spring Training that year was the Rangers at A's in Mesa.
I debuted my new Ray-Ban/Meta sunglasses on this trip and used it to take pictures like this one.
My Rangers beat the A's by a score of 4 to 3 that day.
The guys went to Ojos Locos in Mesa for drinks and snacks after the game!
I tried out for the Rangers the next day at the practice field in Surprise. LOL.
I met up with my buddy Bruce at the Rangers Practice Field to watch the batting practice.
I am standing in line to get SS Nick Ahmed's autograph. He was a minor league signing after a storied MLB career with the Dodgers and Diamondbacks.
Nick Ahmed made the team and played a few games for us before being cut. He had to fill in for our star SS Cory Seager for a few games.
The color guard is ready to head out to the field here before the singing of the national anthem!
Catcher Kyle Higashioka started this game for us.
We are ready to bat here! Our seats were great!
I ran into Rangers GM, Chris Young, while walking around the ballpark.
For dinner, we went to Salt Tacos y Tequila in North Phoenix.
We started off our day with some coffee from Bikini Beans as usual on Monday.
We got Chicago Deep Dish pizza at Lou Malnati's for lunch in Tempe.
Since it was St. Patrick's Day, we did some day drinking in Tempe on Mill Avenue where the ASU kids party!
I wore my usual Travis Mathew St. Patrick's Day shirt as I enjoyed my Tullamore Dew Irish whiskey.
I was able to try out the new Sapphire Lounge at PHX before I headed back home.
They had a nice bar that featured premium liquors including some local ones that were all complimentary.
This Airstream at the lounge had some items from a great local restaurant, Larder & The Delta.
Only a few days later....
Anirban Roy has arrived at the Resorts World for check in for an epic March Madness extended weekend!
I am grabbing drinks and cigars with a few of the guys here at the Gatsby Bar at Resorts World.
We got a drink at the Crockfords Club too.
The view from my room at the Las Vegas Hilton at Resorts World. I saved $1,800 by using my Hilton HHonors points.
I got breakfast at Suns Out, Buns Out and Randy's Donuts at Resorts World. Since I am a Hilton HHonors Diamond member, I got dining credit each day I was there.
The views at the pool were amazing!
I grabbed some drinks with a few buddies that afternoon at Gatsby's again. Their selection of Japanese whiskies are good.
We started the night at Alle, which is a rooftop lounge at the Conrad. The views of the Las Vegas Strip are amazing from up there.
So many drinks choices, so little time! LOL.
Chris and I are chilling at the Alle Lounge.
That chick was playing the violin and broadcasting throughout Alle.
Our next stop was Here Kitty Kitty, a speakeasy at Resorts World. The hostess is about to reveal the secret door entrance.
This drink is called the Siamese Please.
I got a slice of Junior's cheesecake on Saturday which is flown in from New York to Resorts World.
I went to my nephew's birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese later on Saturday. He is playing soccer here.
I am showing Aakash how to play skeeball!
Chuck-E-Cheese was fun with Aakash!
Aakash had a cool cake too.
In this booth, the birthday boy can collect as many extra ticket coupons as he can catch when the wind tunnel is turned on.
We went back to Here Kitty Kitty on Saturday night for more drinking.
Here Kitty Kitty has a great selection of adult beverages.
I do not take soda in my scotch despite what my shirt says. LOL. Actually, I prefer whiskey or bourbon to scotch!
I got volunteered by the guys to take a random picture with our waitress. LOL.
I got breakfast the next morning with one of the guys at Junior's. Their pancakes are great!
A little over a week later.....
It was a little early for scotch at the Escape Club Lounge at SMF, but the staff knows me so when I inquired if Oban was a premium up charge selection, the bartender just poured it for me for free. LOL.
My company booked me in Business Select however so I did not need anymore free drinks that day. LOL.
I am not a big fan of the bamboo cups on Southwest for cocktails.
I got lunch in Denver with a colleague of mine when we were transfering to another flight, and I got the elk.
Our National Meeting was held at the beautiful Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin hotels. I stayed at the Dolphin.
For my main meeting gift, I picked a nice Herschel duffle which had a monogram R on it so it was perfect for Mr. Roy! LOL.
We could see Spaceship Earth at EPCOT from the Dolphin. This area is known as Disney's Boardwalk.
Since Disney owns the Star Wars franchise, they had this display in the lobby of the Dolphin.
I had a nice view from my room. The Swan is across from my room.
The company hired the Harlem Globetrotters to perform for us at our meeting too!
The Harlem Globetrotters were really cool to see that up close.
That is Thunder in the picture from the Harlem Globetrotters.
We went to the Kres Chophouse for dinner that night in downtown Orlando, and I got the Beef Wellington!
This is downtown Orlando. I remember being here when I was a kid in 1988 when we visited Orlando also.
Can you guess our meeting team for my division? (Play James Bond music)
The theme was License To Sell. We all got our license to sell Dupixent! LOL.
We had a cool beach party that night at the resort.
Regeneron goes all out for the meetings!
I went to dinner at Shula's Steak House at the Dolphin the last night of the meeting.
The restaurant had private rooms dedicated to key players of the Dolphin's undefeated season team.
The waiter told us to pick our "weapon" for the steak. LOL.
I flew home late on Friday so I could go Disney's Animal Kingdom. Since I stayed at a Disney World resort, I got in early too!
I went to the Avatar ride first since that one can get busy at times when I got into the park.
I did not like the pro enviroment liberal theme that Disney had in this ride.
The safari ride was really cool. One can see an Okapi before.
We had a rhino spotting here.
Zebras and Giraffes roam freely at the Animal Kingdom park.
Here is a mighty elephant drinking water.
The Lion King show was a mini version of the Broadway play that I saw a long time ago in Los Angeles/
Look! It's Simba.
The fire dancer was cool.
I liked that Expedition Everest ride in the background which is a rollercoaster.
The Finding Nemo show was cool also.
I had lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe near Animal Kingdom after getting Joy a cool Pandora Disney charm. As one can tell, it was a warm and humid day in Orlando!
I started off 2025
with coast to coast travel starting out in California and finishing in
Florida. My travel year began with a short flight down to Orange
County for our Fast Start meeting. After some quick meetings and
a nice dinner at Javier's, it was time to fly back home only to fly
back down to Southern California a few days later with Joy for MLK
Weekend. I did see some buddies after dinner at Javier's in
Orange County.
We checked out Medieval Times in Buena Park on our first night down there before hanging out with friends the next few days. At Medieval Times, we cheered for the "Yellow Knight." During that trip, we also went down to San Clemente and had lunch on the pier before I got a pair of Ray-Ban and Meta AI sunglasses. We also tried Duck Donuts and Randy's Donuts too on that trip. Of course, we had to go to Porto's for the famous guava cheese pastry. Also, we went to Ojos Locos too. LOL.
In February, Joy and I flew up to Boise as usual for President's Day weekend so we could go nordic skiing at Sun Valley. We spent the first night in Boise so we could check out Bogus Basin, which is another ski resort near Boise, but it was no where as nice as Sun Valley. This year, we enjoyed dinner at the Grill at Knob Hill. Of course, we stayed at the Sun Valley Resort as usual. We also got to see an old friend of mine in Meridian too.
March was a very busy travel month for me. I went to Spring Training in Phoenix with a few buddies. The first night, we got in late so we just had drinks at Twin Peaks before checking into our hotel. On Saturday, we saw my Rangers beat the As before going to Ojos Locos in Mesa for drinks and snacks. For dinner, we had a delicious Porterhouse steak at Cholla Steakhouse. It was colder than usual that weekend in Phoenix, but we had a great time still. On Sunday, we saw another buddy of mine at the Ranger's Practice facility in Surprise before catching the White Sox at Rangers game. I got to meet the Rangers GM, Chris Young, also. Yes, he is really tall! We did some day drinking on Mill Avenue by ASU on St. Patrick's Day too before leaving Phoenix.
I flew to Vegas later that week to see my March Madness crew at Resorts World. Aside from placing bets on the basketball games, we hung out at the speakeasy at RW a few times as well as Gatsby's Bar. I also got to see my nephew and attend his birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese.
Towards the end of March, I flew to Orlando for our National Meeting. This year, we stayed at the amazing Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. I was in the Walt Disney World Dolphin, which is a Sheraton property so I got a lot of Marriott BonVoy points too and got to use the VIP check in which allowed me to bypass a long line even at 1:00 AM since MCO had lots of delays that day due to bad weather. One of the highlights of this year's meeting was seeing the Harlem Globetrotters perform for us during one of the general sessions. We had a choice of either a nice Herschel duffle bag with a R monogram on it or headphones for our primary meeting gift. My division also sent us an email before the meeting to order another gift from the pulmonology team. We enjoyed a nice district dinner at Kres Chophouse on the first night of the meeting. The next day, we had a fun beach party on site at the Swan and Dolphin beach and pool areas. Since Friday was a travel day, I took advantage of being in Florida and went to the only Disney park that I had not visited yet, Animal Kingdom. Since I stayed at a resort property, I got in early and got to do the major rides before the crowds came in. The Avatar ride was decent, but it seemed dated. I liked the animal safari a lot. The Lion King show was really cool since I saw the Broadway play before in Los Angeles. Also, the Everest roller coaster was great! I grabbed lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe before I headed back to the hotel to check out and head to the airport.
We checked out Medieval Times in Buena Park on our first night down there before hanging out with friends the next few days. At Medieval Times, we cheered for the "Yellow Knight." During that trip, we also went down to San Clemente and had lunch on the pier before I got a pair of Ray-Ban and Meta AI sunglasses. We also tried Duck Donuts and Randy's Donuts too on that trip. Of course, we had to go to Porto's for the famous guava cheese pastry. Also, we went to Ojos Locos too. LOL.
In February, Joy and I flew up to Boise as usual for President's Day weekend so we could go nordic skiing at Sun Valley. We spent the first night in Boise so we could check out Bogus Basin, which is another ski resort near Boise, but it was no where as nice as Sun Valley. This year, we enjoyed dinner at the Grill at Knob Hill. Of course, we stayed at the Sun Valley Resort as usual. We also got to see an old friend of mine in Meridian too.
March was a very busy travel month for me. I went to Spring Training in Phoenix with a few buddies. The first night, we got in late so we just had drinks at Twin Peaks before checking into our hotel. On Saturday, we saw my Rangers beat the As before going to Ojos Locos in Mesa for drinks and snacks. For dinner, we had a delicious Porterhouse steak at Cholla Steakhouse. It was colder than usual that weekend in Phoenix, but we had a great time still. On Sunday, we saw another buddy of mine at the Ranger's Practice facility in Surprise before catching the White Sox at Rangers game. I got to meet the Rangers GM, Chris Young, also. Yes, he is really tall! We did some day drinking on Mill Avenue by ASU on St. Patrick's Day too before leaving Phoenix.
I flew to Vegas later that week to see my March Madness crew at Resorts World. Aside from placing bets on the basketball games, we hung out at the speakeasy at RW a few times as well as Gatsby's Bar. I also got to see my nephew and attend his birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese.
Towards the end of March, I flew to Orlando for our National Meeting. This year, we stayed at the amazing Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. I was in the Walt Disney World Dolphin, which is a Sheraton property so I got a lot of Marriott BonVoy points too and got to use the VIP check in which allowed me to bypass a long line even at 1:00 AM since MCO had lots of delays that day due to bad weather. One of the highlights of this year's meeting was seeing the Harlem Globetrotters perform for us during one of the general sessions. We had a choice of either a nice Herschel duffle bag with a R monogram on it or headphones for our primary meeting gift. My division also sent us an email before the meeting to order another gift from the pulmonology team. We enjoyed a nice district dinner at Kres Chophouse on the first night of the meeting. The next day, we had a fun beach party on site at the Swan and Dolphin beach and pool areas. Since Friday was a travel day, I took advantage of being in Florida and went to the only Disney park that I had not visited yet, Animal Kingdom. Since I stayed at a resort property, I got in early and got to do the major rides before the crowds came in. The Avatar ride was decent, but it seemed dated. I liked the animal safari a lot. The Lion King show was really cool since I saw the Broadway play before in Los Angeles. Also, the Everest roller coaster was great! I grabbed lunch at the Rain Forest Cafe before I headed back to the hotel to check out and head to the airport.