The travel issues continue. After loading the plan for Minneapolis over four hours late, we boarded and sat in the plan for at least another hour while they figured out some ticketing information and de-iced. Chris agreed to meet us at the airport at about 10 to four, but we didn't end up getting in until almost 5 p.m. I suppose he circled about 95 times by the time we actually landed and had a chance to call him. Before we got off an announcement came over the plane's intercom letting us know that anyone that had missed a connecting flight had been rebook and that all the boarding passes would be waiting for us. Despite our plan of attack. I decided to take a look at what was rebooked for us since now we'd be dealing with some rough traffic issues since it was almost 5 and would be 5:30 before we got on the road.
When I picked up my boarding pass I was surprised to see that I was booked on a flight to Bemidji tonight at 9:45 p.m. I talked it over with dad quickly and we decided to split up. Chris was here and could get him home sooner than he could get home via Bemidji and then driving an hour and a half and considering the traffic complications, I could get home quicker and will less hassle if I flew directly there than if I took Mom's car to Bemidji. Dad's car is already at the air port which would mean we'd have both of their cars there and someone would have to make an extra trip to Bemidji to get it or Lisa and I would have to drive separately for Christmas and New Years.
So after a quick goodbye, we went our separate ways. I said I'd run to the gate quickly to make sure I was actually on the flight and not just on stand by and dad would go meet Chris. He said they wouldn't leave until they knew I was on the flight. I got to the gate and nobody was here so I wondered over to another counter and asked if I was really on this flight or if I was on stand by. Initially she said I was on standby, but was booked for the following morning at 10:20, then she added, "but it looks like one of the seats just became available. Would you like it?" I said yes. He response was, "Isn't there two in your party?" I said, "forget about him, he found his own way home."
So here I sit, about an hour from boarding a plane bound for Bemidji to finally end my travels for this year. I won't get home until nearly 11 p.m. so I would guess the house will be pretty quite if everyone isn't already sleeping. That's is disappointing. I can't wait to see the kids. I got to talk to Baylor a bit on the phone tonight and just made me want to get home sooner.
This really has beee a good trip but travels home can really wreck things. It could have been a lot worse. I found that our the hard way last year.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Site for sore eyes...
Here is a photo of our plane. It just arrived in Salt Lake City just over three hours late. They are going to turn it around in less than 20 minutes, as you can see they began fueling it before they even connected the bridgeport, so we should be in MSP by 4:00 p.m. We'll miss our connection to Bemidji, but we are still working on getting home today.
The saga continues...
We're still on the mainland...but still in SLC
Our great trip came to a skreeching hult today. As you read in my last post our flight in Salt Lake City was delayed. Since them its been delayed three more times. As of now we'll be leaving here at 12:27 p.m. and will be landing in Minneapolis at 3:57. 27 minutes after our flight to Bemidji takes off.
We've tried everything, there is just nothing we can do. I guess there was a medical emergency on the plan that was coming here and it was diverted to Sioux Falls, S.D. Its good to know that if an emergency happens to me or someone I am traveling with, they'll do whatever they can to get help, but of all times and all planes...why mine. I am having flashbacks to my nightmare travels last year at this time. The best I can do right now is to get a flight out of MSP for us at 10:20 tomorrow morning. What a cruddy place to be. Stuck waiting for a plane 16 hours, when I am four hours from home.
What a cruddy way to end a really good trip. We'll keep you posted.
We've tried everything, there is just nothing we can do. I guess there was a medical emergency on the plan that was coming here and it was diverted to Sioux Falls, S.D. Its good to know that if an emergency happens to me or someone I am traveling with, they'll do whatever they can to get help, but of all times and all planes...why mine. I am having flashbacks to my nightmare travels last year at this time. The best I can do right now is to get a flight out of MSP for us at 10:20 tomorrow morning. What a cruddy place to be. Stuck waiting for a plane 16 hours, when I am four hours from home.
What a cruddy way to end a really good trip. We'll keep you posted.
We're on the mainland!
We landed in Salt Lake City just a few minutes ago. Our last day in Honolulu seemed like an eternity. A combination of having to check out of our hotel room at noon, being tired, dreading the travel and being ready to be home contributed to the perceived length of the day.
The day started out with a ritualistic trip to Smorgy's for breakfast. I have never been to Hawaii without eating at least one breakfast there so I treated dad . The food was average as expected, but I was disappointed in a couple things. the little old local ladies that were busing table got new uniforms. They were wearing black pants and aloha shirts instead of the mumus they used to wear. I was also surprised by the music selection. We usually heard Hawaiian Christmas songs over and over.
After that we took out time packing up knowing that we'd have the rest of the day without a "home base." we hit the beach and ran into Greg and Danielle and Rick and his family. After about an hour, they asked us to watch their stuff while they ate. I figured that wouldn't be a problem and we weren't hungry yet anyway. Well, their half hour lunch took nearly two hours leaving us stranded with their towels and beach toys. Now I am paying the price. I didn't put sun screen on my legs because they rarely burn and I must have sweat off some of the lotion from my face because now I am a bit pink.
When they finally got back, we took off for Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was pretty go but conversation was pretty sparse. We were both tired, we sat in the font window and were distracted with people waling by and I think we were both thinking about the long travel that was inching closer.
We did a bit of shopping on the way back to the hotel, which included a trip to the ABC for some Aloe. The sun was setting so we decided to hang out at the pool for a while. It was pretty relaxing to sit in the cooling air. At about six we check into the hospitality room, which was just an empty hotel room, caught the end of the Monday night football back and showered the last of Hawaiian sand from between our toes.
The cab ride to the airport came next. I thin if this SID thing doesn't work out for me, I'm going to be a cabbie. It was amazing to watch the meeter rack up our bill. .40 cents every .8 of a mile. I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to ask him to stop by a gas station so we could use the ATM. We mad it and I think our total fare came to just under $35--a little more that the shuttle, but a lot quicker.
As we were checking in, both of us got messages saying that we needed to see a ticket agent and that the computers were unable to process our requests. I immediately flashed back to last year's travels home. But as it turns out they just "downgraded" our plane to one with fewer seats so we just had to see a ticket agent at the gate to get a seat assigned. That was fine, but when we still didn't have seats when they began to board the plane I started to get nervous again. Soon the agent called us up for our new boarding passes and we boarded the plane for about a 4-hour nap.
Now we are here in SLC and our flight was delayed an hour before we even got off the plane and it just got delayed again. I just hope we can maneuver a bit to get to Bemidji today. I miss everyone so much and would like to get home. So much for Salt Lake City being the most on-time airport in the US...
I'll keep you posted as we get things solidified.
The day started out with a ritualistic trip to Smorgy's for breakfast. I have never been to Hawaii without eating at least one breakfast there so I treated dad . The food was average as expected, but I was disappointed in a couple things. the little old local ladies that were busing table got new uniforms. They were wearing black pants and aloha shirts instead of the mumus they used to wear. I was also surprised by the music selection. We usually heard Hawaiian Christmas songs over and over.
After that we took out time packing up knowing that we'd have the rest of the day without a "home base." we hit the beach and ran into Greg and Danielle and Rick and his family. After about an hour, they asked us to watch their stuff while they ate. I figured that wouldn't be a problem and we weren't hungry yet anyway. Well, their half hour lunch took nearly two hours leaving us stranded with their towels and beach toys. Now I am paying the price. I didn't put sun screen on my legs because they rarely burn and I must have sweat off some of the lotion from my face because now I am a bit pink.
When they finally got back, we took off for Cheeseburger in Paradise. It was pretty go but conversation was pretty sparse. We were both tired, we sat in the font window and were distracted with people waling by and I think we were both thinking about the long travel that was inching closer.
We did a bit of shopping on the way back to the hotel, which included a trip to the ABC for some Aloe. The sun was setting so we decided to hang out at the pool for a while. It was pretty relaxing to sit in the cooling air. At about six we check into the hospitality room, which was just an empty hotel room, caught the end of the Monday night football back and showered the last of Hawaiian sand from between our toes.
The cab ride to the airport came next. I thin if this SID thing doesn't work out for me, I'm going to be a cabbie. It was amazing to watch the meeter rack up our bill. .40 cents every .8 of a mile. I was starting to wonder if we were going to have to ask him to stop by a gas station so we could use the ATM. We mad it and I think our total fare came to just under $35--a little more that the shuttle, but a lot quicker.
As we were checking in, both of us got messages saying that we needed to see a ticket agent and that the computers were unable to process our requests. I immediately flashed back to last year's travels home. But as it turns out they just "downgraded" our plane to one with fewer seats so we just had to see a ticket agent at the gate to get a seat assigned. That was fine, but when we still didn't have seats when they began to board the plane I started to get nervous again. Soon the agent called us up for our new boarding passes and we boarded the plane for about a 4-hour nap.
Now we are here in SLC and our flight was delayed an hour before we even got off the plane and it just got delayed again. I just hope we can maneuver a bit to get to Bemidji today. I miss everyone so much and would like to get home. So much for Salt Lake City being the most on-time airport in the US...
I'll keep you posted as we get things solidified.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Hawaii and Pearl Harbor
We have been having a great time. On Friday, I braved the City Bus and headed to Pearl Harbor alone. Brad gave good instructions and things went pretty much as expected. It was a slow ride with lots of stops and interesting people getting on board.
I got to Pearl Harbor and took the walk down to the visitor's center and ticket booth. After looking it over, I decided the movie, boat ride, and the viewing of the Arizona was all I was interested in. I got my ticket (free) and had about 2 hours to wait for my turn. I viewed all the displays, read about them, and walked around the Memorial for all those who lost their lives when the ship they were on was sunk in WW II. It has their names on the plaque along with the name of the ship, the commissioning of the ship date, and the date it was lost along with the battle history of the ship.
After walking around, I decided to get the head set to talk as I went on the tour. I found out that most of the things I had been looking at were discussed on the audio tour. At 11:15, I got in the movie and they took you through what lead up to and what happened on Dec 7, 1941. We were taken out of the theater and on to the boat (skipped by a young navy lady captain). We got out of the boat and unto the Memorial that is situated right on top of the Arizona that still has almost 1000 navy sailors in tombed. At one end was the names of all those killed on the Arizona.
It was a moving experience and one that I wish all of you kids especially, could experience and bring a real history lesson to life. I have way to many pictures of the day at Pearl Harbor that I would be happy to share with any of you.
It is now almost noon and we are about packed up. We will spent a little more time in the sun and then the long, long flight home to Christmas. It's hard to believe that it is almost Christmas. The Santa's hats on the beaches just don't do it for me.
It has been a great experience and really fun to meet the friends that Brad works with and to watch him do his thing at the games. (I was no help at all). Everyone treated me very nice and it was fun to be with them but it is time to get home.
See you all really soon!
Love you all,
Dad and Grandpa
I got to Pearl Harbor and took the walk down to the visitor's center and ticket booth. After looking it over, I decided the movie, boat ride, and the viewing of the Arizona was all I was interested in. I got my ticket (free) and had about 2 hours to wait for my turn. I viewed all the displays, read about them, and walked around the Memorial for all those who lost their lives when the ship they were on was sunk in WW II. It has their names on the plaque along with the name of the ship, the commissioning of the ship date, and the date it was lost along with the battle history of the ship.
After walking around, I decided to get the head set to talk as I went on the tour. I found out that most of the things I had been looking at were discussed on the audio tour. At 11:15, I got in the movie and they took you through what lead up to and what happened on Dec 7, 1941. We were taken out of the theater and on to the boat (skipped by a young navy lady captain). We got out of the boat and unto the Memorial that is situated right on top of the Arizona that still has almost 1000 navy sailors in tombed. At one end was the names of all those killed on the Arizona.
It was a moving experience and one that I wish all of you kids especially, could experience and bring a real history lesson to life. I have way to many pictures of the day at Pearl Harbor that I would be happy to share with any of you.
It is now almost noon and we are about packed up. We will spent a little more time in the sun and then the long, long flight home to Christmas. It's hard to believe that it is almost Christmas. The Santa's hats on the beaches just don't do it for me.
It has been a great experience and really fun to meet the friends that Brad works with and to watch him do his thing at the games. (I was no help at all). Everyone treated me very nice and it was fun to be with them but it is time to get home.
See you all really soon!
Love you all,
Dad and Grandpa
Travel day is here...
Our trip is coming to an end. We are packing up out room and check out in a little over an hour. Ten we have about 10 hours until our flight leaves Honolulu. Just 18 hours later, we are scheduled to arrive in frigid Bemidji. Just in time for supper a quick family Christmas and bed...
The last couple days have really seemed to drag on. I am not complaining because the weather has been great and we've been having fun, but sitting in a gym for 8-10 hours each day, staying up late just to eat supper (last night was midnight) and knowing that travel is head and made us both think that its time to be home. I'd change the warm weather to be with my fam any day of the year.
I guess I should update you on yesterday's activities. We slept in a bit and had the cheap breakfast at Keoni's again. Then I came back to the hotel to catch up on the blog and get ready for the games, while dad went for a walk on the beach. I guess he ran into some sort of a church service in the palms in his adventures. It actually rained a bit. Nothing major, just come cold sprinkles. We then met at Duke's for lunch. It was good. There is just something about sitting on the beach having a burger. I quickly remembered why that is my favorite place in Honolulu. While we were there we saw the SMU football team's cheerleaders all in uniform taking photos on the beach. They are here for the Aloha Bowl Christmas Eve.
After lunch I came back here to meet up with Mari, Rick and Greg to head over to the gym for our longest day of the year...three games. That's nothing to compared to some years when we've done 6, but it was enough for this year. Dad stayed back to take in some extra sun and watch the vikings game. Our original plan was foiled when they changed the game time to 8:20 at home and 3:20 here. Normally we would have gotten up early and had breakfast brunch buffet and one of the sports bars and watch the vikings game. I still got up and laid in bed and watched Cincy and the 49ers for a bit. It's weird to think we could have been up and taken in a early football game and still been to church in time for the late service...
The games we a little rough, but we got them all in without any major snags. For the most par the games were pretty compeditive which was nice. I have to admit I saw couple firsts. For one thing, the team that forgot their uniforms the other day, when they had a player accidentally put on the wrong jersey so in the program she was No. 34 and she wore 31. Seems impossible to do, but it happened. The game was about 5 minutes old when we noticed. The team got a technical and she changed her jersey. That was also the game that George Fox, last year's D-III national champs, opened the game on a 16-0 run in the first 5:27 and then Chaminade scored the next 17 points to take a one-point lead into halftime. GFU missed their last 26 shots in the final 14:33 of the half. Weird to say the least.
After we packed up the gym for another year and said our goodbyes to Sam, the greatest gym manager ever (He is a local guy that speaks sort of broken English and would take a bullet for anyone.), we went to the Yardhouse for dinner. We think it may have been the only place that was still serving food. Anyway dad claims to have had the best chicken strips ever and I had a really good Roast Beef dipper that Lisa and I had a couple years ago. Really good food and a good time with Rick and his fam and Greg and his girlfriend Danielle. It was lights out after that. I think we left there at like midnight. We got there around 10:45 I suppose.
That's it for now. I'll keep you updated as I have time on our travels home. We leave here at 10:30 p.m. and head to Salt Lake City...notice how Seattle isn't in the mix this year...the after two hours in SLC, we are off to Minneapolis and then at about 3 p.m. we board a plane headed for Bemidji. We should be on the ground at home at about 4:30.
I have to finish packing, check out and then hit the beach for some last rays. We plan to check our bags ant the front desk and then come back after supper to shower up in the hospitality room.
See you all soon...
The last couple days have really seemed to drag on. I am not complaining because the weather has been great and we've been having fun, but sitting in a gym for 8-10 hours each day, staying up late just to eat supper (last night was midnight) and knowing that travel is head and made us both think that its time to be home. I'd change the warm weather to be with my fam any day of the year.
I guess I should update you on yesterday's activities. We slept in a bit and had the cheap breakfast at Keoni's again. Then I came back to the hotel to catch up on the blog and get ready for the games, while dad went for a walk on the beach. I guess he ran into some sort of a church service in the palms in his adventures. It actually rained a bit. Nothing major, just come cold sprinkles. We then met at Duke's for lunch. It was good. There is just something about sitting on the beach having a burger. I quickly remembered why that is my favorite place in Honolulu. While we were there we saw the SMU football team's cheerleaders all in uniform taking photos on the beach. They are here for the Aloha Bowl Christmas Eve.
After lunch I came back here to meet up with Mari, Rick and Greg to head over to the gym for our longest day of the year...three games. That's nothing to compared to some years when we've done 6, but it was enough for this year. Dad stayed back to take in some extra sun and watch the vikings game. Our original plan was foiled when they changed the game time to 8:20 at home and 3:20 here. Normally we would have gotten up early and had breakfast brunch buffet and one of the sports bars and watch the vikings game. I still got up and laid in bed and watched Cincy and the 49ers for a bit. It's weird to think we could have been up and taken in a early football game and still been to church in time for the late service...
The games we a little rough, but we got them all in without any major snags. For the most par the games were pretty compeditive which was nice. I have to admit I saw couple firsts. For one thing, the team that forgot their uniforms the other day, when they had a player accidentally put on the wrong jersey so in the program she was No. 34 and she wore 31. Seems impossible to do, but it happened. The game was about 5 minutes old when we noticed. The team got a technical and she changed her jersey. That was also the game that George Fox, last year's D-III national champs, opened the game on a 16-0 run in the first 5:27 and then Chaminade scored the next 17 points to take a one-point lead into halftime. GFU missed their last 26 shots in the final 14:33 of the half. Weird to say the least.
After we packed up the gym for another year and said our goodbyes to Sam, the greatest gym manager ever (He is a local guy that speaks sort of broken English and would take a bullet for anyone.), we went to the Yardhouse for dinner. We think it may have been the only place that was still serving food. Anyway dad claims to have had the best chicken strips ever and I had a really good Roast Beef dipper that Lisa and I had a couple years ago. Really good food and a good time with Rick and his fam and Greg and his girlfriend Danielle. It was lights out after that. I think we left there at like midnight. We got there around 10:45 I suppose.
That's it for now. I'll keep you updated as I have time on our travels home. We leave here at 10:30 p.m. and head to Salt Lake City...notice how Seattle isn't in the mix this year...the after two hours in SLC, we are off to Minneapolis and then at about 3 p.m. we board a plane headed for Bemidji. We should be on the ground at home at about 4:30.
I have to finish packing, check out and then hit the beach for some last rays. We plan to check our bags ant the front desk and then come back after supper to shower up in the hospitality room.
See you all soon...
Sunday, December 20, 2009
The Birds...
Saturday the tournament kicked in full speed ahead. We had two games (4 and 6 p.m.) so that put a bit of a damper on our plans for the day. A bunch of us decided to hit the swap meet at Aloha Stadium. It was pretty neat. I really didn't want to go all that bad because Lisa and I had been there and I didn't think too much of it but it was ALOT bigger this time. I guess they do it up big on Saturdays. The vendors went all the way around the stadium. The real reason I went, however, was a bribe of a pancake house Mari promised was the "Best breakfast in Hawaii." It was called Koa Pancake House and its motto really was "Best Breakfast in Hawaii." It was pretty good. you walk in and order at the counter and they gave you a number a lot like if you were to order at Burger King. Then the called your number and brought you meal to you. We sat at some tables out side and enjoyed the weather. I got the Early Bird, which was ironic since it was 9 a.m., and had three great pancakes and two scrambled eggs. It was pretty good. Then it was off to the swap meet.
After the swap meet, I got in Mari's car and it was time for some errands. but for dragging us along, she treated us to Chicago-style hot dogs and a local place owed by a local guy who was a chef at a five-state restaurant in Chicago. She talked the place up pretty big, but delivered. In fact, Diners Drive-ins and Dives had just been there in November and I don't think that episode has aired yet. So you might all get a chance to experience Hank's Haut Dogs a bit if you like the Food Network. I called dad and told him we were busy and he should eat on his own. I was impressed, it turns out he found Puka Dogs and seemed to have liked it. I guess the owner is originally from Minnesota and is a grad of Hamline who has been here since 1983. By-the-way, I took a picture of our order, can you guess which dog was mine? Mari told me it wasn't a real Chicago dog, and I think she was embarrassed to order it, but it was good all the same.
The games were pretty boring. two more 20-point games. The highlight was that two bird flew into the guy at halftime of the first game. They kept moving around the gym and had fans, players and coaches constantly ducking and took total focus off the games. A couple plaers did get hurt. one broke her nose and got rushed by Mari to the Emergency room anotehr hit her head on the floor and a third did something to her hip. Anyway, dad got to make his debut working a game since Mari was gone and Greg had to tend to the other hurt players, he ws thrown into videoing the game. His debut wasn't flawless, since he hit record on the camera, but didn't take the DVDs off pause he didn't record anything for a while, but Greg got him back on track and his help was appreciated.
After the game we picked up a late supper at California Pizza Kitchen (on the roof of the building next door to our hotel). It was a really good time to sit around and talk with the gang. We laughed a lot as usual and enjoyed some pretty good pizza. It was my first time and I had the Meat Craver and Dad was more adventurous and got the Hawaiian BBQ chicken pizza...sort of on Chris's suggestion a couple days ago. It was pretty good stuff and it was even better when Mari picked up the $160 tab.
Dad and I made a quick trip to the tattoo parlor and went to bed.
Mot that I have your attention, we went to get a shirt I spotted the day before at Hart and Huntington Tattoos.
There now I am caught up and you are too. That brings us almost to the present. Now I have an hour to get baked by the sun before I meet dad at Duke's for lunch.
Happy Birthday Kevin!
Happy Birthday Kevin. Dad and I decided it would be nice to celebrate you birthday somewhere nice. So we called you from the beach in Hawaii. Sorry you weren't here with us. It was 80 degrees and sunny...
So I'm a couple posts behind on this blog. Sorry. Since the tournament began its been a bit busier for me, I'm going to to my best to catch you up now.
Dec. 18 dad an I split up. With the tournament underway and things going pretty smoothly, I told dad it would be a good day for him to check out Pearl Harbor. So we had breakfast early at Keoni's and I loaded him on the city bus. I can't speak for the rest of his day, but I am sure he can. I'll get him to add his thoughts later. From that point I came back to the room did some computer work from the balcony overlooking the ocean and Diamondhead. At about 11 we loaded in the car to get the gym set up. The game was pretty uneventful...another blowout, but my day got a bit more interesting on the way home. Rick, Greg and I loaded into Rick's rental to go back to the hotel. ON the way Rick decided he needed gas so we pulled into a station. Right in front of us at the pump was a blue full-sized van with a couple surf bums standing outside it. Little did we know what the next few minutes would hold for us. I noticed that one of the guys (who was wearing only board shorts had a dislocated finger and was all bloody. At about that same time, another one of the guys walked towards Rick and asked if he had any extra money for gas. He said they were out of gas and the battery was dead. Rick said he didn't have any cash and kept pumping. Jut them another one of the guys came running over to the others and handed them $7. He then came sprinting over to Rick with a huge smile on his face telling Rick that, "The Lord works in mysterious ways." He went on to tell Rick how much he loved the lord even though he smokes and drinks too much and does the gange once in a while. All rick could think of to say was,"The Lord loves everyone." At that point the bloody guy yelled to ask if we had any money for gas. They guy talking to Rick said we just put $7 in. I looked at the sign and that got them just over 2 gallons (not much for a gas guzzler like they were driving.)
So just about them Rick got in the car and started to back out when the friendly guy knocked on the window to see if we could give them a jump. Rick said, "I don't have and cables, with a huge smile, the gay responded with, "I do." so Rick agreed to pull around and said, "These guys are crazy!" We asked him what he and the guy were talking about at the pump and he said, "the Lord."
So we popped the hood and the guys struggled to the cables hooked up. The bloody guy was very impatient with the other two While they were untangling the cables, they were talking and bloody, who was wobbling around like he was either going to pass out or run off, yell at them to hurry. The grumpy guy started poking at his stomach and went to grab his finger sending this guy into a rage. I am not sure I can type all the things he said, but the part I could make out went something like, "You guys, just because we have gas doesn't mean we are all rainbows and butterflies here." After about 2 seconds, Smiley jumped in the van, turned the key and started the van with about 30 of reeving the engine and probably burning though $3.50 in freshly pumped gas. He jumped out, disconnected the cables and said, "God is good," with a huge smile on his face.
We drove away and laughed quite a bit of the way home about the latest edition of the Hoop N Surf saga.
We got back to the hotel, I showered and hit the pool for the last hour of sunlight. Dad and I planned to meet there when we each got done, but he still wasn't around. I tried calling him a couple times, but it went straight to voice mail. This got me wondering what was going on in his world. I have to admit, I am not sure if either of us were completely comfortable putting him on a bus to navigate Honolulu on his own and this was only starting to get me wonding where he could be. I wouldn't have thouthg too much of it, but I knew when Lisa and I went we did Pearl Harbor and the swap meet and made it back in time to got to an afternoon game. I also knew that the team that played at 1 p.m. has been to Pearl Harbor that morning and were back and had played and game and were probably on the beach by now. After all, t was after 5 p.m.
So I decided to play it cool and just wait a bit longer. He showed up a few minutes later and said the bus ride was terrible and lasted like 90 minutes.
After that we quickly got ready and met the rest of the gang at Shore Bird. After taking a quick detour, we connected with the group and snapped a couple pictures of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean before we were escorted to our table. This experience quickly became one of my favorite of all my time in Hawaii. It was one of those places where you pick you cut of meat and then season and cook it yourself. it was great, not to mention some live local music and the sun setting in as I looked across the table. Dad's comment was, "if the food is terrible at this place, it will still be a pretty good night." That summed it up, but the food was great if I do say so myself...I was the cook.
That night ended with all of us heading back to the hotel and catching a bit of the live music at the Jimmy Buffett's in our hotel.
Another great day in Paradise.
So I'm a couple posts behind on this blog. Sorry. Since the tournament began its been a bit busier for me, I'm going to to my best to catch you up now.
Dec. 18 dad an I split up. With the tournament underway and things going pretty smoothly, I told dad it would be a good day for him to check out Pearl Harbor. So we had breakfast early at Keoni's and I loaded him on the city bus. I can't speak for the rest of his day, but I am sure he can. I'll get him to add his thoughts later. From that point I came back to the room did some computer work from the balcony overlooking the ocean and Diamondhead. At about 11 we loaded in the car to get the gym set up. The game was pretty uneventful...another blowout, but my day got a bit more interesting on the way home. Rick, Greg and I loaded into Rick's rental to go back to the hotel. ON the way Rick decided he needed gas so we pulled into a station. Right in front of us at the pump was a blue full-sized van with a couple surf bums standing outside it. Little did we know what the next few minutes would hold for us. I noticed that one of the guys (who was wearing only board shorts had a dislocated finger and was all bloody. At about that same time, another one of the guys walked towards Rick and asked if he had any extra money for gas. He said they were out of gas and the battery was dead. Rick said he didn't have any cash and kept pumping. Jut them another one of the guys came running over to the others and handed them $7. He then came sprinting over to Rick with a huge smile on his face telling Rick that, "The Lord works in mysterious ways." He went on to tell Rick how much he loved the lord even though he smokes and drinks too much and does the gange once in a while. All rick could think of to say was,"The Lord loves everyone." At that point the bloody guy yelled to ask if we had any money for gas. They guy talking to Rick said we just put $7 in. I looked at the sign and that got them just over 2 gallons (not much for a gas guzzler like they were driving.)
So just about them Rick got in the car and started to back out when the friendly guy knocked on the window to see if we could give them a jump. Rick said, "I don't have and cables, with a huge smile, the gay responded with, "I do." so Rick agreed to pull around and said, "These guys are crazy!" We asked him what he and the guy were talking about at the pump and he said, "the Lord."
So we popped the hood and the guys struggled to the cables hooked up. The bloody guy was very impatient with the other two While they were untangling the cables, they were talking and bloody, who was wobbling around like he was either going to pass out or run off, yell at them to hurry. The grumpy guy started poking at his stomach and went to grab his finger sending this guy into a rage. I am not sure I can type all the things he said, but the part I could make out went something like, "You guys, just because we have gas doesn't mean we are all rainbows and butterflies here." After about 2 seconds, Smiley jumped in the van, turned the key and started the van with about 30 of reeving the engine and probably burning though $3.50 in freshly pumped gas. He jumped out, disconnected the cables and said, "God is good," with a huge smile on his face.
We drove away and laughed quite a bit of the way home about the latest edition of the Hoop N Surf saga.
We got back to the hotel, I showered and hit the pool for the last hour of sunlight. Dad and I planned to meet there when we each got done, but he still wasn't around. I tried calling him a couple times, but it went straight to voice mail. This got me wondering what was going on in his world. I have to admit, I am not sure if either of us were completely comfortable putting him on a bus to navigate Honolulu on his own and this was only starting to get me wonding where he could be. I wouldn't have thouthg too much of it, but I knew when Lisa and I went we did Pearl Harbor and the swap meet and made it back in time to got to an afternoon game. I also knew that the team that played at 1 p.m. has been to Pearl Harbor that morning and were back and had played and game and were probably on the beach by now. After all, t was after 5 p.m.
So I decided to play it cool and just wait a bit longer. He showed up a few minutes later and said the bus ride was terrible and lasted like 90 minutes.
After that we quickly got ready and met the rest of the gang at Shore Bird. After taking a quick detour, we connected with the group and snapped a couple pictures of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean before we were escorted to our table. This experience quickly became one of my favorite of all my time in Hawaii. It was one of those places where you pick you cut of meat and then season and cook it yourself. it was great, not to mention some live local music and the sun setting in as I looked across the table. Dad's comment was, "if the food is terrible at this place, it will still be a pretty good night." That summed it up, but the food was great if I do say so myself...I was the cook.
That night ended with all of us heading back to the hotel and catching a bit of the live music at the Jimmy Buffett's in our hotel.
Another great day in Paradise.
Friday, December 18, 2009
The tournament is underway
It seems like we've been a long time already and today we finally began what we came here for all along. The 2009 Hoop N Surf is underway. A 98-49 blowout was not exactly the most exciting way to start things, but from our end the game wen t pretty smoothly.
For the home team, Chaminade, things were not quite so rosy. The SilverSwards arrived to the gym 48 minutes before the game was scheduled to start. The other team had already been warming up for nearly 45 minutes! In fact, the Drury coach came up to me and asked if they had the right day! Anyway, things got worse for CU. Once they got there, their coach realized she forgot the uniforms at the school. Luckily the school is just a few miles down the road. So like the Bad News Bears, the team took the court for pre-game warm ups in street clothes. The coach returned 13 minutes before 1 p.m. and wisked the ladies off the court to change. After they left I overheard her telling her assistant that she got pulled over for speeding on her way back from the school. She got a ticket for speeding. That was just a sign of things to come as they would get beat by nearly 50 points to a pretty good Drury team.
Enough about the games...
Dad and I started our day by sleeping in a bit. Then we went to Keoni's for breakfast. I have to admit it was a great breakfast for $3.95. I'd have to list it as the best bargin on Waikiki. we got two eggs to pancakes and two pieces of bacon and paid less for both of us that we did for one of our grand slams yesterday.
We had plan to go to the beach for a hour or so after breakfast, but it took a bit longer than we thought it would and so we opted for the hotel room so I could get prepared for the games. It turned out to be a good choice as I had some computer issues that needed some time to get taken care of. We got a quick ride to the gym with Rick and helped Greg finish getting things set up. After the game we packed up stopped for a Acei smoothie, got a quick tour of some of Honolulu's residential area while we were bringing Cindy, a local ref, to her mom's house and got back to the hotel about 3:30 p.m. It seemed weird being done for the day by 4:00 but I'll take it.
We decided to try to get a bit more sun before it was too late so Dad took a walk along the beach and got almost down to the zoo and I hit the pool and hot tub until after 5. Then we showered up, and had a great dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Dad had a Hawaiian BBQ pork sandwich and I had a huge burger. We of course ordered cheesecake before we left and then hit the streets to do some shopping and to check out the international market. The highlight of day may have been something we stumbled across by accident. We walked up on a street performer who was doing spray paint art. We happened to walk up just as he was getting ready to start his first show of the night. This was something to see. In his own words, "He loved to dance, he loved to paint and he loved to juggle." So if you could imagine a a 40-something native of Hawaii doing a dance/painting show set to techno music mixed with a lipsync contest you might get the drift. i'll add that he has lights strung all over this tent he was in and had controls for thos under his canvas, so he kept reaching under there and turning them off and on to make them blink with the music when we wasn't trying to get the crowd to clap along. Apparently it took him 18 years to "teach himself how to paint like this in him mom and dad's garage. My guess is that he still lives with them and routinely practices his show in front of a mirror in their basement. In fairness to him, after about 900 layers of spray paint and come carving with a fork and a spatula, the paintings came out pretty nice and he ended the show with a bit of a gospel message set to I can only image. It was pretty entertaining. Kind of reminded me of some of Chris's shows for company back a few years. Did I mention that I was selected out of the crowd to shake a spray paint can along with the music to help with the beat? Well I was and I got a banana strawberry lifesaver sucker for it. He used the wrapper from the sucker to make the flowers in a painting. There is a good chance I am going to take what I learned tonight with me back to Bemidji. I think there is some money in it for me. And besides, I like music, I like to dance, I like to sing in the shower and I have used spry paint before.
After our stroll around Waikiki, we hit the hay early, but not before eating our cheesecake while watching the news in bed. There is just something about being on vacation that gives you the authority to eat in bed. Its especially good when you have Oreo cheesecake. Dad has some sort of brownie fudge cheesecake. Needless to say we went to bed satisfied of another day in Hawaii.
More games for me tomorrow and dad is planning to go to Pearl Harbor. Maybe I let him make a posting of his adventures navigating the city buses to Pearl Harbor and back. I am sure he'll have some stories not to mention getting his thoughts on the exhibit on "paper" while there are still fresh.
Mahalo for reading. We miss you all. All three of you reading this.
For the home team, Chaminade, things were not quite so rosy. The SilverSwards arrived to the gym 48 minutes before the game was scheduled to start. The other team had already been warming up for nearly 45 minutes! In fact, the Drury coach came up to me and asked if they had the right day! Anyway, things got worse for CU. Once they got there, their coach realized she forgot the uniforms at the school. Luckily the school is just a few miles down the road. So like the Bad News Bears, the team took the court for pre-game warm ups in street clothes. The coach returned 13 minutes before 1 p.m. and wisked the ladies off the court to change. After they left I overheard her telling her assistant that she got pulled over for speeding on her way back from the school. She got a ticket for speeding. That was just a sign of things to come as they would get beat by nearly 50 points to a pretty good Drury team.
Enough about the games...
Dad and I started our day by sleeping in a bit. Then we went to Keoni's for breakfast. I have to admit it was a great breakfast for $3.95. I'd have to list it as the best bargin on Waikiki. we got two eggs to pancakes and two pieces of bacon and paid less for both of us that we did for one of our grand slams yesterday.
We had plan to go to the beach for a hour or so after breakfast, but it took a bit longer than we thought it would and so we opted for the hotel room so I could get prepared for the games. It turned out to be a good choice as I had some computer issues that needed some time to get taken care of. We got a quick ride to the gym with Rick and helped Greg finish getting things set up. After the game we packed up stopped for a Acei smoothie, got a quick tour of some of Honolulu's residential area while we were bringing Cindy, a local ref, to her mom's house and got back to the hotel about 3:30 p.m. It seemed weird being done for the day by 4:00 but I'll take it.
We decided to try to get a bit more sun before it was too late so Dad took a walk along the beach and got almost down to the zoo and I hit the pool and hot tub until after 5. Then we showered up, and had a great dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Dad had a Hawaiian BBQ pork sandwich and I had a huge burger. We of course ordered cheesecake before we left and then hit the streets to do some shopping and to check out the international market. The highlight of day may have been something we stumbled across by accident. We walked up on a street performer who was doing spray paint art. We happened to walk up just as he was getting ready to start his first show of the night. This was something to see. In his own words, "He loved to dance, he loved to paint and he loved to juggle." So if you could imagine a a 40-something native of Hawaii doing a dance/painting show set to techno music mixed with a lipsync contest you might get the drift. i'll add that he has lights strung all over this tent he was in and had controls for thos under his canvas, so he kept reaching under there and turning them off and on to make them blink with the music when we wasn't trying to get the crowd to clap along. Apparently it took him 18 years to "teach himself how to paint like this in him mom and dad's garage. My guess is that he still lives with them and routinely practices his show in front of a mirror in their basement. In fairness to him, after about 900 layers of spray paint and come carving with a fork and a spatula, the paintings came out pretty nice and he ended the show with a bit of a gospel message set to I can only image. It was pretty entertaining. Kind of reminded me of some of Chris's shows for company back a few years. Did I mention that I was selected out of the crowd to shake a spray paint can along with the music to help with the beat? Well I was and I got a banana strawberry lifesaver sucker for it. He used the wrapper from the sucker to make the flowers in a painting. There is a good chance I am going to take what I learned tonight with me back to Bemidji. I think there is some money in it for me. And besides, I like music, I like to dance, I like to sing in the shower and I have used spry paint before.
After our stroll around Waikiki, we hit the hay early, but not before eating our cheesecake while watching the news in bed. There is just something about being on vacation that gives you the authority to eat in bed. Its especially good when you have Oreo cheesecake. Dad has some sort of brownie fudge cheesecake. Needless to say we went to bed satisfied of another day in Hawaii.
More games for me tomorrow and dad is planning to go to Pearl Harbor. Maybe I let him make a posting of his adventures navigating the city buses to Pearl Harbor and back. I am sure he'll have some stories not to mention getting his thoughts on the exhibit on "paper" while there are still fresh.
Mahalo for reading. We miss you all. All three of you reading this.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
A day of firsts...
Today we got to do a couple of my favorite things in Hawaii and a bunch of new things that quickly became favorites.
We started the day with a hike up Diamond Head. As usual it was a pretty good work out, but it was all worth it once we got to the top. It took us 23 minutes, according to Rick's Garmen, to scale the 783 feet. We navigated switch-back trails, climbed 74 stairs followed along tunnel, then by 99 more stairs. After we popped out of a bunker we were at the top and got a chance to catch our breath. It was breathtaking, both, figuratively and literally. To imagine that the explosion that blew this crater off a mountain top is one thing, but then to think about Japanese planes flying in across the bay to result in the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the events of Dec. 7, 1941 was a whole different way to look at things. The photo above is of us a the pinacle of the mountain. We both made it and Dad has certification to prove it. I guess 23 minutes of a grueling hike makes people do weird things. I think he paid $2 for the "certificate."
After the hike we stopped at a local bakery for blueberry and cream cheese scones and Acei smoothies. Both we worth the walk.
Then we were invited by Rick and Angie to tag along to Hanauma Bay. One of the places I had never been, but will definatly make it a regular part of any future trips I might make here. Although I've been here six times, I felt like I was really in Hawaii today. Hanauma Bay and some of the sights up the shore from Waikiki were unbelievable. The mixture of the mountains, beaches and coral combined to look like cross between Jurassic Park and Lost. Very, very neat. I wish I had photos of this one, but I didn't bring my camera. Dad got plenty, but I can't get them off his camera now. We relaxed on the beach did some sight seeing and then got back to the hotel to do some work to get ready for the Hoop N Surf...that's the reason I am here remember?
For a late supper we then walked up the strip to Teddy's Bigger Burgers. It is a 50s-style diner. We made our orders, but when they came they were loaded with veggies and some weird runny yellow sauce. That doesn't work for me so I played the dumb tourist and told them I didn't know they came will all the fixings so I got my burger remade. It was good, but not as good as Dukes or Cheeseburger in Paradise and doesn't compare to Slims or the Corner. They may have the mountains, ocean and warm weather all year around, but we have the best burgers in the world.
I guess Sarah Palin is here now and Obama is coming home for Christmas later this week, so we'll make sure to say "Hi" for all of you.
Now its time to wrap a couple more things up for the game tomorrow and get some sleep. We did a lot of walking today and the sun zapped us so we are shot. There is some guy in here snoring like a bear in hibernation already.
Aloha...
First full day in paradise...
Sorry I missed posting this yesterday, but we ended up getting in later and were wiped.
Our first full day in Hawaii consisted of breakfast, the beach, the zoo and a nice dinner at Mari's house.
We wondered down to to Keoni's, a local favorite breakfast spot I'd been telling dad about only to find a sign on the door stating, "Closed for remodeling Nov. 20-Dec. 15. So althought we were dissapointed, we settled for a build your own grand slam at Denny's down the road. I had the pancakes, yougut, two scrambled eggs and turkey bacon. Let me tell you, this turkey bacon puts any I've ever had to shame. It was great!
We then wondered down to the beach and took out usual spot out in front of Dukes. We actually ran into Angie and Rick which was fun. Dad got bored and went for a walk. He asked me, "Do you know how far this beach goes?" I wanted to respond with, "we are on an Island so I am not sure it ends," but I opted for, "I am not sure. I have never been beyond that pier." After a couple hours, we went back to the room, cleaned up and walked down to the Honolulu Zoo. I've attached a couple photos of our adventure through the African Safari portion of the zoo. It was a pretty nice zoo that had a very wide variety of animals. My favorites were the goat, mallard duck and cows. It was pretty fun to see a little white bird chasing about a one ton rhino around. look closely at the picture.
After the zoo we went over to Maris for Lasagna. It was a really good time with the Hoop N Surf executive group of Rick, Angie, Greg, Mari, dad and I. There was a lot of story swapped and a lot of laughing. Greg slaved over the lasagna, which included taking it out of the freezer and putting it in the oven. We had some pretty good cream puffs for desert along with some of Mari's homemade cookies. There really weren't very good, but don't tell her that.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Aloha
We are here and it could not have happened soon enough. I am not sure I knew how long 6 hours was until I was strapped into a chair and forced to watch bad airline video entertainment (aside from the Four Christmases movie). We had six hours and they put 2 hours of TV shows on before the movie with plenty of comercials for the Delta Sky Miles American Express Card. The worst show was 30 minutes of some woman and her husband going around Europe eating steak and seafood and trying to find the best wine for each meat. Our flight from L.A. was pretty smooth, side from a couple issues...
You'd think on a flight lasting 25% of a day, you might get some food and beverage along. Well, we did, but barely. I know know that .42 ounces equals 9 mini pretzels (with an emphasis on MINI) and if you pour a warm can of Coke over 42 ice cubes you can't taste it. I am convinced that we got more during the 40 minutes from Bemidji to Minneapolis that we did from L.A. to Honolulu. Good thing we had some granola bars.
The good thing is a record was set today. Dad made the comment, "I've never been further west than Colorado." Well we shattered that today by about 2,500 miles. i am not sure you could go any further west without running into the far east...
Once we got here we made a bee-line to Round Table Pizza and watched the first half of the Monday Night Football game. It was weird since it was 8 p.m. here and the game had been over for at least an hour in San Francisco and was midnight in Minnesota. We wolfed down the pizza and garlic bread and took a little walking tour around Waikiki. I showed dad a couple "short cuts" that had dad saying, "this is like one of my short cuts" and "I didn't think I'd say this today, but it's going to be nice to sit down." OK so maybe I don't know this place as well as I thought I did...or maybe I am just a bit rusty.
Anyway, here is a picture of our hotel room so you know where we are living for the next few days.
We aren't sure what we are going to do tomorrow. The snorkeling at Hanauma Bay is closed on Tuesdays and we were too late arriving to catch any of the travel people. Mari also invited us over to have dinner with the crew tomorrow night so we need to be back by 6:30 p.m. My guess is that well do our best to get a sun burn and have a burger on the Beach at Dukes.
Book'em Dano.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Layover in LA
Just Checking in. We are at Los Angeles airport waiting for our 5-6 hour flight to Honolulu now. So far everything has been on time and has gone pretty smoothly.
The day started with a 4:35 a.m. alarm although both of us were up before it had a chance to go off. I guess excitement got in the way of sleep. After a quick bowl of cereal and peanut butter toast and we were out the door by 5:20 a.m.
Did I ever tell you how much I love the Bemidji Regional Airport? We parked (for free) exactly four spots from the door, walked in waited in line behind one person and check out bags, walked through security and pretty much right onto the plane. Besides the 30 minute delay for de-icing (the check in guy also loaded bags and de-iced the plane with a hand-held ice scraper) and the cold temp in the plane it was a good flight...except for the dog biscuts they served as a snack..still not sure if it was a graham cracker or ginger snap and the plane was too dark to read the package...good morning taste buds!
At MSP the tram was out of order so I am pretty sure we hoofed it from one end of the airport to the other and got to the gate with enough time to use the bathroom and check in.
On the flight to LA we slept on and off and snoozed through Harry Potter and the Half Bood Prince. Dad's comment was, "I've never really gotten into Harry Potter and now I know why." To Tim's credit, it was pretty hard to get into since we were watching on a six-inch screen and there was too much commotion with the beverage cart etc. when the movie started to really get into from the start. All I know is the ending was wide open from No. 7 or whatever.
Once we got here and stretched our legs for the first time in about four hours, we found a place to eat called Mc Donalds. Yeah, Yeah, were not feeling to adventurous and neither one of us were in the mood for a Thia Chicken Pizza from the California Pizza Kitchen. I am pretty sure we both spent $10 on the value meals though...I guess the 6.98 Hardee's Roast Beef meal and cookie aren't so bad after all. Infact, sounds like a bargin to me. Anyway, Mickey-Deez never tasted so good.
OK signing off for now. I'll check in once we get checked into our new digs. Here's to the next six hours crammed inot a plane... I just hope we don't get stuck next to someone who looks like an all-start wrestler. There are a lot of people waiting for this plane that look like your typical Samoan football players...
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Here we go...
We are a little over seven hours from take off. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous. I am not nervous about traveling so much because I enjoy that, for the most part. I am more nervous that I am going to forget something that I need for work, or haven't packed enough, or don't have my glasses or contact solution etc.
I got a chance to spend some quality time with the fam today, which was important. The hardest part about making this trip is being away from them. I got to have lunch with them today at one of our favorite pizza places, then I took a nap with Baylor during the Vikings game, played Wii with the girls, and then got to read them books, pray and answer questions from them. Although that time of the day can be stressful...since Kenna doesn't sit still long enough to get two words in most of the time...it is often one of the best parts of my day. Tonight I talked to the girls about how we'd be gone before they woke up and how many days we'd be gone. Carly prayed for safe travels and for us to have a good time in Hawaii and Kenna prayed for grandma not to be alone while grandpa was gone. Then I got hugs and kisses from both girls. Kenna wouldn't let go and Carly whispered, "I love you Daddy" in my ear. That made made my day.
Well better get to bed. I have a long night of laying there thinking about what I am forgetting. I'll keep you posted on what that item is when I figure it out. Probably about Wednesday...
Next post...Honolulu.
I got a chance to spend some quality time with the fam today, which was important. The hardest part about making this trip is being away from them. I got to have lunch with them today at one of our favorite pizza places, then I took a nap with Baylor during the Vikings game, played Wii with the girls, and then got to read them books, pray and answer questions from them. Although that time of the day can be stressful...since Kenna doesn't sit still long enough to get two words in most of the time...it is often one of the best parts of my day. Tonight I talked to the girls about how we'd be gone before they woke up and how many days we'd be gone. Carly prayed for safe travels and for us to have a good time in Hawaii and Kenna prayed for grandma not to be alone while grandpa was gone. Then I got hugs and kisses from both girls. Kenna wouldn't let go and Carly whispered, "I love you Daddy" in my ear. That made made my day.
Well better get to bed. I have a long night of laying there thinking about what I am forgetting. I'll keep you posted on what that item is when I figure it out. Probably about Wednesday...
Next post...Honolulu.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Three days and counting...
After ordering the tickets over three months ago, its nearly time to make our trip to the islands. It hardly seems like its possible. I haven't even started to think about packing, I am not totally prepared for the tournament and there are far too many things to do in the office...but twist my arm...I'll get on the plane bright and early Monday.
As I get ready to go, I leave with mixed feelings. I will not be bringing the rest of my family with me and I know that a week away from them will not be easy. I am not sure I'll be able to get to bed at night without reading a Dora book or answering questions like, "What's your, what's your favorite flower?" I know I'll be missing some good hotdish of some kind or another and popcorn for a bedtime snack with my favorite person. Most of all I think I'll miss opening the door after a long day at work to a chorus of "Daddy's Home!"
The thing I am really excited about is that I get to make this trip with my dad. I am not sure when I last spent time alone with him. The only time I can think of is a fishing trip to Canada when I was in fifth grade. That's a long time ago, but I remember it very well. We don't really have plans for much, but I am sure good times await.
My plan for this blog is to keep you posted on our travels and day-to-day events. I am new to this blog thing so I am not sure what to expect, but I hope to post at least once day to keep in touch with each of you. Please feel free to leave messages, we'll be happy to hear from you.
As I get ready to go, I leave with mixed feelings. I will not be bringing the rest of my family with me and I know that a week away from them will not be easy. I am not sure I'll be able to get to bed at night without reading a Dora book or answering questions like, "What's your, what's your favorite flower?" I know I'll be missing some good hotdish of some kind or another and popcorn for a bedtime snack with my favorite person. Most of all I think I'll miss opening the door after a long day at work to a chorus of "Daddy's Home!"
The thing I am really excited about is that I get to make this trip with my dad. I am not sure when I last spent time alone with him. The only time I can think of is a fishing trip to Canada when I was in fifth grade. That's a long time ago, but I remember it very well. We don't really have plans for much, but I am sure good times await.
My plan for this blog is to keep you posted on our travels and day-to-day events. I am new to this blog thing so I am not sure what to expect, but I hope to post at least once day to keep in touch with each of you. Please feel free to leave messages, we'll be happy to hear from you.
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