Dallas is only an hour's flight from Houston, but I haven't been to Dallas since my wife graduated from SMU.  So, knowing I was going to have a lot of downtime, I went with the following:

• Visor Deluxe
• @ctiveLink
• Thincom
• Stowaway keyboard
• Backup module (just in case)
• Extra AAA batteries
• MiniJam w/ earphones

Below you will find an account of my week in Dallas, and what I learned for the next time I travel (Fall COMDEX).

Monday - Day 1

Ok, I have everything I think I need packed and ready to go.  We get to the airport with 20 minutes to go, and I say good-bye to Elexia and get on my SWA flight.  It's a 45 min flight with no problems(!), so I pull up AvantGo and read some of the BBC news and Salon during the trip.

After the flight to Love Field, I get into my Oldsmobile Alero rental and try to find Maple Avenue where the Stoneleigh Hotel is.  Tip: don't listen to directions from car rental places.  Tip 2: know the area BEFORE you go somewhere.  After driving on I-35 for a while, I tried to exit and turn around on Mañana road.  I then pull out the @ctiveLink (while I'm pulled over) and try to get an idea of where the Stoneleigh is.  There was no U-turn (figures) and I wound up driving on back roads before I got back to a freeway.  Then as I drive I realize that none of this is familiar.  When I drove by Texas Stadium I knew something was wrong.  Turns out I got on Loop 12.  Sigh.

So I eventually find the hotel (which is only a few miles from the airport) and unpack. Looking at my list, can you guess what I forgot? -- the cable for the Thincom.  So I use the @ctiveLink to communicate with Elexia and Marcus and let them know my phone number at the Stoneleigh.  I then take the shuttle to the Dallas convention center and take care of registration, then come back to the hotel and get a bite to eat at the Stoneleigh Pub (excellent hamburgers) across the street.

Marcus sends me a message and suggests that I get a SpringPort modem since Xircom still hasn't sent me one.  Great idea, so I pull out the @ctiveLink and do a yellow page search for CompUSA.  There are several on Dallas Parkway, so $1.50 later in toll fees, I'm at the store and buy the module.

Back at the hotel, I use Avantgo to connect to my web mail and take care of things while watching the Bucs-Vikings game on MNF.  The SpringPort is very nice and I'll be reviewing that in the future.