The last eight weeks have been a blur. I’ve visited more places and seen more faces in the last two months than I can remember. Gulliver had nothing on me.

And here’s the best thing: As we’re about to put 2009 in the rear view mirror, this fall’s travels have done nothing but prove that things are indeed looking up.

The sojourn began in Phoenix at the annual meeting of the North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors back in September. Yes, things have been tougher than nails for its members with margins having been squeezed like yesterday’s pimple. But renowned economist Alan Beaulieu, inarguably among the country’s best, explained in detail why and how the slow, steady climb out of the doldrums will begin in earnest in the second or third quarter 2010.

It was back to Phoenix a couple of weeks later, where the World Floor Covering Association was celebrating its 50th birthday at a gala event. With more than 30 past presidents of the Western Floor Covering Association and American Floorcovering Association in attendance, the combined World paid homage to the past while continuing its leadership role at the board meeting earlier in the day.

Down in Naples, Fla., one week later, members of the National Floorcovering Alliance agreed that the bottom is behind us. September was the best month of the year at Baker Bros. in Phoenix. Macco’s Floor Covering Center in Green Bay, Wis., is seeing consumers getting back into the market. At Airbase, more sales slips were written for August and September than in 2007 and 2008. And, at Carpet King in Minnesota, every month has been better than the previous one lately. That’s speaks volumes.

Less than a week later in Austin, Tex., a star-studded panel of industry executives that included Beaulieu of America’s Ralph Boe, Mannington’s Kim Holm, Armstrong’s Frank Ready and Mohawk’s Tom Lape told FEI Group (Floor Expo) members that while the days of 1.8 million starts have gone the way of the dinosaur, it’s important to note that a rise to just 1 million, slightly more than half the peak, is two-and-a-half times today’s number. That only spells opportunity.

Next up, with scenic Pebble Beach as the backdrop, we found the Resilient Floor Covering Institute firing on all cylinders. The category as a whole is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance, taking back shares lost over the past decade to hardwood, laminate and ceramic. The group is more proactive than ever, committed to being a category leader in all areas—innovation, environmental awareness, promotion and visibility.

Back to Phoenix for the third time in six weeks for Greenbuild where, ironically, a hybrid Altima was waiting for me at Hertz. Attendance hovered around 28,000, a few hundred short of last year’s record, bucking a trend that has seen trade show attendance off between 20% and 50% this year. If that doesn’t underscore the importance of eco-consciousness ,both commercially and residentially, I don’t know what does.

In between those events, we found ourselves in Quebec, where Luc Robitaille, vice president of marketing for Boa Franc, maker of the Mirage brand, is forecasting double-digit growth for 2010. We traveled to Lancaster, Pa., where hard surface leader Armstrong is stepping up its marketing efforts in the year ahead. Remaining in the Keystone state, Clarion, an OEM company now under the auspices of Tony Sturrus, is providing manufacturers and large retailers with a domestic alternative of supply to China with more clients about to commit.

It’s all good.