Ventureout2whoknowswhere

I Love You Even More Now, Danica Patrick

2008-09-11T20:49:00.000-04:00

I've always totally respected Danica Patrick. I'm not much of a feminist, but I just love to see women breaking into the boy's world (in some circumstances) and doing it well. I never realized how physical of a sport racing truly is until feeling the impact of my little go-kart school experience. The bruises on my knees look painful (and they are) but what hurts worse is my back. It's so tender, I can't lean into even the most cushioned of chairs without wincing. Knowing just a tad bit more about racing now, that girl is my hero!

I admitted to Chris on the way home that part of me really dreaded racing school. It was an ordeal to get away, take the dog, get back late etc..etc... It was going to be a lot of trouble to play catch-up at work and I wondered if all the effort was really going to be worth the experience of going really fast in a go-kart for a few hours. It's a lot easier to stick to the routines of life. But I realized that getting stuck in the 8-5 shuffle and losing focus of what's important really takes the fun out of living. No, it wasn't important that I know how to race a go-kart. But, what was important was having a few hours to bond with my husband over something we can both find interesting. The play-by-play analysis of the whole thing on the way home. Taking turns letting little Molly snuggle around our necks as if she's a scarf while we drove--which is now the only position she will be in while in the car. Looking through the photos that Chris proudly snapped of his wife around the track. And, seeing the pride on his face. Our daily routine rarely allows for memory making moments like those. It's times that we break away from everything that do. I never want to get so stuck in my daily life that I avoid interrupting the flow, that I don't take risks and try something new. I can now say that I've raced a go-kart. Whether that was my first and last experience with it is yet to be known. What I do know was that I had a really good time and I love hanging out with my husband. And, that's all that matters.

I just passed the 5 year old!!

2008-09-11T20:30:00.000-04:00

This is the part where I swallow my pride and tell you--I had one classmate at racing school, and he was 5 years old. I opened his Powerade for him during teaching time. It is really, really scary to me that they let tiny kids race go-karts.

It's Harder Than It Looks

2008-09-11T20:26:00.000-04:00

Here's one of my two spin outs. I took the bank too high on this one and hit the brakes too hard, sending me spinning around into the grass. Ironically, I had my fastest lap after this happened. The coaches said I must have been angry. I think they were right. I have an inner competitive little tom boy living inside of me sometimes. They told me my time was respectable. This is the point at which I probably should have called it a night and gone home feeling good. But no, I couldn't wimp out, so I kept practicing.

Getting There is Half the Battle

2008-09-11T20:15:00.000-04:00

Before I get too far into my tale from racing school, I should start with the drive to Indy. This was our 3rd attempt to make it to racing school--Weather and scheduling problems at the track had cancelled the other two attempts. There were other issues, too boring to get into. Suffice it to say that things had not been easy in the battle to even make it to the Interstate. Upon entering it in Lexington, Chris drove over something in the road that was impossible to avoid. We got out at a rest stop, but the tire looked fine. I took over driving and as we entered Louisville, the familiar sound of a flat and unusual feel of the steering told us all too clearly that our tire was indeed having issues...big ones. I got off the road just in time to not ruin the wheel. We actually had a nice spot for Chris to break out the jack and get to work putting on the spare. I'm soooo blessed to be married to my own personal pit master. Molly was with us and as one can see in this photo, I think she was wondering what we had gotten her into now! We were able to make it to the track on the spare, thanks to my mechanical Chris.

In the name of love

2008-09-11T20:06:00.003-04:00

We celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary at the end of July. These past four years life as a newlywed has given me the perspective of getting to know myself through someone's eyes who gives me the same level of love a parent gives child, but by choice rather than blood. I can't wrap my mind around how another human can see me--the good stuff and the flaws--and choose to be in love with all of it, even though that's exactly what I do with him. Marriage has given me the chance to live with someone whom, when we pass a go-kart race track and he hears me say, "oh, I so want to do that" makes a mental note to make that happen for me. To be honest, I'm not sure how much I really meant those words at the time. It was more of a "Of course, I'd never truly want to do that, but it would be kind of cool to be a go-kart racer." Chris tends to take me literally though, so I've learned these past few years.

This may explain why I ended up in go-kart racing school this week--his gift to me for our past 4 years of wedlock. It was a 3 hour drive (on a work night) to near Indianapolis, Indiana to take the course--the closest one Chris could find. This was the real deal. The school was meant for those who are ready to start competitive racing. Me, I knew not the first thing about any of it. Sure, sure I've ridden in my share of rental karts at tourist traps. But, this was something completely different. Open wheel, full throttle racing. Intimidating!

Greg and Deanna

2008-09-06T22:40:00.000-04:00

We ended up with a lot of photos of Greg and Deanna! :-) You get the 4 of us together and some PS2 Rock Band, makes for a great weekend.

Cicadas

2008-09-06T22:07:00.006-04:00

I'm wrapping up my blogging for now, but--until the next trip--a few words about cicadas. This year the 17 year cicadas invaded Kentucky, but not so much Lexington. At my parent's house in Lawrenceburg, though, it was cicada mania. The noise they made was deafening. Driving down the interstate, Chris once thought something was wrong with the car, until we realized it as cicadas he was hearing. They're just so freaky and disturbing. Yuck!

Typically, the cicada invasion would be a very stressful thing for me. I owe a big thank you to Brad Duncan for giving me a whole new perspective on the cicada. Through Brad's creativity, I learned to embrace the cicada. Whether it was cicadas invading Memorial Hall, cicadas joining Harrison Ford in a Indiana Jones flick, cicadas chasing me on my scooter, or a cicada becoming my new pet, Brad Duncan did a good thing with his Photoshop skills and taught me that these little bugs are not one-dimensional creatures, but a rare phenomenon to be embraced.

Mr. Duncan, thank you from the bottom of my heart. I hope I can do the same for you when they return in 2025.

12 Hours, In The Car, Yeah!!

2008-09-06T22:07:00.002-04:00

The ride home was more enjoyable than the trip up because I wasn't as sick and our friend Whit rode back with us. Whit now lives in Denver. Whether it's God, finances or classic country music, Whit's always up for a good conversation. Whit makes fun of my Scion, lunch box on wheels, a bit. During one of our pitstops, I was sitting in the drivers seat with the windows down and Whit was in the back. Chris was in the KFC men's room. A man and little girl walked past the car and, not realzing our windows were down, the guy said to the kid, "What do you think about these cars that look like a box?" She turned, gave it the once over, looked up at her dad and said, "I don't like it!!" I, of course, busted out laughing, which caused the poor embarassed father to realize his mistake. He stuck his head in the window to chat and make up. It was cute.

The Ferry Ride Home

2008-09-06T22:05:00.000-04:00

I don't know what came over me this morning, but I was up at 6:30 a.m. getting ready and down to breakfast by 7:30.

The 8:30 a.m. carriage ride to the ferry was overbooked. I got permission from the driver to sit in Chris' lap because it would be a while before the next carriage ride and we had a 12 hour drive ahead of us. There was also way too much luggage packed on the back. They had to wrap it in plastic wrap to secure it all. Still, two suitcases fell off. Yvonne and I went to buy some fudge while the boys unloaded our luggage at the ferry.

Above are some unflattering photos of us on the ferry, sleep deprived and wind blown.

Scenes from the wedding

2008-09-06T21:48:00.001-04:00

I married into a great group of people!! As much as I like to complain about Chris' fraternity days, these guys and their gals are really cool. The wedding and reception were awesome. Many thanks to Deniz & Brad for inviting us to celebrate with them.

I didn't get a shot of Brad & Deniz, but here's their wedding Website: www.bradanddeniz.com Notice the coffee table in the bottom right photo on the home page. I really like it, so I had Chris take me to the furniture store where they got it (in Chicago, which who knows how we would have gotten it home if I'd found it, since Chris had aready bought an engine on that trip and it was in the back of my car....long story). I ended up finding a very similar coffee table in Somerset, Ky.

Congrats Brad & Deniz!

The Ceremony

2008-09-06T21:45:00.000-04:00

Good News! It stopped raining in time for the wedding! It was a beautiful ceremony with the lake in the background. It was perfect.

The Wedding Day

2008-09-06T21:34:00.002-04:00

We woke up to heavy rain Saturday morning. My heart sank for Brad & Deniz. It looked like one of those rains that would be around for a while and the ceremony was to take place outdoors. If it weren't for the fact that it had the potential to put a damper on the wedding, I must admit there was something nice about the rain. Some of us had agreed the night before that the place was reminiscent of Dirty Dancing's Kellerman's Resort. As I got ready, I had the room to myself because Chris, Sam and Yvonne were at breakfast. The windows were open and the smell of the rain was fantastic. I pictured Johnny Castle somewhere outside kicking down a wooden post so he could bust the window of his car and take Baby to the lake to practice "The Lift."

Friday Night

2008-09-06T21:32:00.000-04:00

The first night was a carriage ride into town for Brad & Deniz's rehearsal party at Sarducci's Pizza. The pizza was REALLY good. The gang went out afterwards, but Chris and I decided to be lame and call it a night afterwards. We spent the evening walking in the dark along the grounds of the hotel. I wished we had a flashlight. There were tiny little frogs hopping around in the grass.

The Room

2008-08-25T22:27:00.000-04:00

This is the room where we stayed. No two rooms here are exactly alike. We shared with our friends Sam and Yvonne since the rate was pretty high ($300/night).

Inn at Stonecliffe

2008-08-25T22:23:00.000-04:00

The hotel (also where the wedding would be held) was called the Inn at Stonecliffe. It was built as a residence more than 100 years ago and has since been converted to an inn. There was no air conditioning, television or Internet. I was a bit dissapointed over this at first, but later came to appreciate how peaceful it was. My only regret was that I hadn't brought a book or Bible and it appeared the Gideons have yet to stock this place. Since Chris has allergies we never have the windows open at home. I'd forgotten how relaxing it is to have a nice breeze blowing through the room at night.

Taxi!!

2008-08-25T22:15:00.000-04:00

There is no motorized transportation on the island--just horse drawn carriages and bicycles. When we got off the boat, all the carriages we saw were going to specific places, but none had signs saying they were for our hotel. We had no idea how to get one. Chris called our friends Greg and Deanna who were smart and had flown in. Their hotel was in town so they met us out on the street. We asked one of the carriage drivers to radio for a "taxi." We waited what seemed to be a long time. The ride from town to our hotel was 40 minutes.

Ferry

2008-08-25T22:11:00.001-04:00

As we pulled off the exit for Mackinac Island it started to rain. By the time we found the ferry, it was REALLY raining, lots of lightening too. It didn't make for the best conditions for unloading our luggage and buying ferry tickets. The boats left every 30 minutes, so each one we missed, that would have been a lot of waiting. I was eager to get on that boat and to our hotel. Finally, the rain let up a little and we decided to brave it. By the time we were on the ferry and riding toward the island, the rain had stopped, however the water was pretty choppy. People who get seasick probably should think twice about this island.

More Driving

2008-08-25T21:49:00.002-04:00

Friday

Thinking the more sleep I could get, the sooner I'd be rid of this cold, we slept in late as possible at the Ramada this morning. We missed the hotel's breakfast so we stopped at a Tim Horton's down the road. We don't have these in Kentucky but always eat there when we're up north. I would describe it as a low quality mix of Panera, Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts all in one restaurant. They have all the right things I like on the menu, but the quality just isn't up to par. I just got an OJ and blueberry muffin and decided I'd do a late lunch somewhere up the Interstate.

We had 3 hours left to drive and boy was it rough. I was still run down from the cold and tired from all that sleeping (it's true, sometimes you really can get too much sleep). About an hour from Mackinac I asked Chris to stop at Subway and he was less than pleased about my request. First, he hates Subway and second, he didn't want to stop. Whatever. The place was a gas station/Subway/tube rental store (I'm assuming there was a river nearby). There were lots of animal heads mounted on the wall. The people inside looked like lumbar jacks. The woman in line behind me at Subway ordered a footlong and it came with bacon and boy did this sandwich artist load up the bacon on it. I was kind of grossed out. I finally paid for my stuff and ran back to the car. As I got into my seat, I slid my hand down the Subway bag and it was warm. Trouble was, I had not gotten my sub toasted (That toasting machine at Subway is not normal...I mean, what is it? A toaster? A microwave? All I know is, it "toasts" the sandwich way too fast and it never tastes good, I've learned that lessson). Then, I remember the bacon lady behind me saying she wanted her sub toasted. Oh crap, they've given me the bacon toasted sub...Yuck! I run back inside, find the lady and explain that I think they confused the sandwiches. Thankfully, she hadn't bitten into mine yet, so we made a quick exchange and Chris and I were soon back on the road.

Are we there yet?

2008-08-22T00:11:00.002-04:00

We are less than 3 hours from Mackinac Island. We went to Carrollton, Michigan tonight (accidentally). Let's just say, I hope we never get lost in that town again, yikes! As usual, booking a hotel for the night was drama. When we finally found the place, they didn't have our reservation. I have a feeling I'm going to be spending some quality time on the phone with a Ramada manager in a few days when they end up double charging our credit card since I had to make another reserveation. While I was at the front desk a local guy came in and proclaimed he just didn't feel like sleeping at home tonight. He then asked if people ever check out prior to mid-night because they're done with the room "if you know what I mean." Classy, this place. When Chris went to the car to get our bags, he disturbed a couple who truly should have booked themselves a room rather than do what they were doing in a parking lot. Nice! Glad it was him who walked into that rather than me!

Well, at least we have wireless and the room is fine actually. I'll have to go back out and tell that guy who didn't feel like going home that maybe it's worth the $79.

I still feel awful. I slept all the way to Michigan. Chris gets husband of the year points today for trying to make me feel better via outlet mall shopping. I bought a shirt for $5 at Gap, that was it. Chris, shockingly, actually tried on a pair of shorts and bought them. I think it's the first time I've ever seen him buy something outside of Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot or Auto Zone.

We had dinner in a German town. It was really nice. Would have had some beer, but didn't think it would go well with the cold medicine. I've already forgotten the name of the town, but I'm too tired to look it up. There were cute little tourist stores, but the only one we went in was for dogs. Yes, we've become one of those couples who goes in trinket shops and oohs and ahhhs over figurines that look like our dog. Sometimes I wonder how I got so old so quickly.

Sick!

2008-08-20T21:28:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been confirmed, this blog has one reader, so I'll keep blogging. (Thanks, Deniz!). We were supposed to leave today, but I'm not feeling too hot. I have to say, the best thing about being sick is plenty of time to lounge around with my puppy Molly. She was so sweet today. I think she knew mommy wasn't feeling well. The second best thing is watching TLC's What Not to Wear. The women made over today included a fashion school graduate and an interior designer. I figure if people with such skills don't know how to dress, there's no hope for the rest of us.

I finally get a few days off from work and am SICK. This is the typical Amanda luck. The nose is running, head hurts, etc... It wouldn't be so bad if I just had some ENERGY. I went downstairs to take care of some laundry this evening. After dropping off the dry stuff on the bed and heading back down to put the stuff from the washer into the dryer, Chris stopped me to tell me something. I had to keep walking and yell "Not right now, don't break my momentum." I seriously thought that if I stopped to talk, I would fall down and not be able to get back up.

I sure hope I'm better by tomorrow. I'm excited for Mackinac and to see the gang heading up to Brad and Deniz's wedding. Brad and Deniz are one cool couple--Can't wait to spend their wedding day with them!

Does anybody read this thing?

2008-08-12T19:01:00.002-04:00

OK, gang, it's almost time for another adventure. We'll soon be heading up to Mackinac Island (near Michigan's upper penninsula, I believe). Don't know too much about the place. I'll check it out and let you all know what it's like. I wish this blog were as exciting as my brother's blog about his big shot life in Rhode Island. You can check his out, it's in my links.

My Favorite NY Food

2008-05-25T21:25:00.003-04:00

If you go to NY, these are some must-do things when it comes to food:

1) Croissants (or any bread, really) from Bread Factory Cafe (I'm currently eating one of the six I brought home with me).
2) Bagels from H&H Bagels
3) A meal in Little Italy
4) Cupcakes from Magnolia Bakery (Had my first experience there on this most recent trip...reminded me of my grandmother's cupcakes, which is saying a lot.)
5) Giant margarita at Dallas BBQ

Thanks, Entertainment Tonight!!!

2008-05-25T20:12:00.003-04:00

(THIS LINK DOES NOT WORK.)

Below is the working link to Entertainment Tonight's video from the event that you can copy and paste into a Web broser (I walk behind John at 56 seconds into the clip):

(Copy and paste this link into Web broswer):

http://www.etonline.com/news/2008/05/61953/index.html

The blog is in reverse sequential order. Enjoy!

Wow

2008-05-25T19:50:00.008-04:00

Each trip I've taken to NYC has been special in its own unique way. This one was fun because I got to be with John, a great cousin and a great friend, as he lived out a dream. Back in 1984, two of my aunts (one of them being his mom) took him and his sister to see Romancing the Stone. But, John broke away from them and ran into the theater showing Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He wanted to see that guy from Star Wars in it. Aunt Dinie didn't have the heart, I suppose, to drag him out of there, so she went in with him. She said he was running up the aisle afterwards saying "Wasn't that GREAT?!?" That was the beginning of, well, let's be honest here, ...an obsession. For as long as I can remember, John has been working on his Indiana Jones impersonation. It paid off for him when he won Entertainment Tonight's "Give Us Your Best Indy" contest. I've very proud of him and just want to say "thanks" to John for letting me ride on his coattails and enjoy the celebrity treatment he and videographer, Jason, received.

Chris

2008-05-25T19:50:00.003-04:00

Chris couldn't go to NY this time, but I can't do a blog without him, so here's a file photo from 4 years ago :-)

More Pics

2008-05-25T19:13:00.012-04:00

Movie/TV Locations Tour

2008-05-24T11:14:00.009-04:00

On our last day, John's friend Brennan booked us on a bus tour of movie locations around the city. My favorite part was seeing the steps used in the opening credits of The Cosby Show.

Brennan has lived in NY for a few years and was a great tour guide. We had lunch in Little Italy and went to Battery Park to do the only thing John hadn't done yet that he wanted to do...see the Statue of Liberty.

Leona Lewis

2008-05-24T11:14:00.002-04:00

Here's the performance of Bleeding Love that John and I saw when we went to the Letterman taping. She was so good. John and I are new fans.

(copy and paste link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQtRpziJINc

The After Party

2008-05-24T10:02:00.015-04:00

Following the movie several people Jason and John know met up at their hotel to go out. We had a midnight dinner (only in NY would I go out for dinner at midnight!) and then went back to John's hotel to dance at the nightclub. John taught everyone how to goofy dance.

Some More Photos

2008-05-24T10:02:00.005-04:00

NYC Day Two

2008-05-24T09:09:00.019-04:00

I spent the morning and afternoon walking around by myself while John and Jason met up with their co-workers in their company's New York office. It was neat for them to put faces to the names of people they do business with. At 5 p.m. we met up at John's hotel to go to the Indiana Jones screening. John, and I hope he doesn't mind me saying this, was a nervous wreck. I figured someone was going to need an ambulance before the night was over and I wasn't sure if it would end up being John or Harrison Ford. A giant black SUV with tinted windows showed up at the hotel to pick us up. It was hilarious that we were being driven to the theater because we could have walked to it. But that's how big celebs like us roll, ha. When we pulled up to the theater, we sat in the car for a minute while John called his contact with Paramount. There were about 20 photographers lined up at the doorway and I think they were getting pretty anxious to see who was going to step out of the SUV (which is the same type of car the celebs were showing up in). Jason and I, a.k.a. "John's entourage" got out first. I was wearing a somewhat short dress and as the photographers snapped away, I tried my best not to pull a "Lindsay Lohan." When John got out in his costume the flashes really started firing....until they came to the realization that we were a bunch of nobodys. John looked at them and said "I really disspointed you guys, didn't I?" Yeah, they told him, he did.

A crew from Entertainment Tonight met up with John and stayed with him prior to the movie. They set us up so that we greeted the celebrities just before they walked into the theater where the movie was playing. My job was to photograph everything and I was sooo nervous that I was going to do something stupid and ruin John's photos. I was getting anxious about the lighting and saw a guy with fancy camera equipment and asked him if he would help me with the settings on my camera. He ended up being Paramount's photographer and he set me up perfectly, thank goodness!

The only celebrity who turned John down for a photo was Lauren Bacall. John got a kick out of the fact that he got shot down by Lauren Bacall.

Shia LaBeouf, Harrison Ford and Karen Allen were extremely nice and spent time interacting with John.

NYC--Day One

2008-05-24T08:43:00.015-04:00

I recognized right away that I had packed entirely wrong for this trip. There was a chill in the air and it was raining off and on. I was pretty cold in my short sleeve shirt and light jacket, but then again, I was in NY, so what could I possibly have to gripe about, really? This was John's trip (and his first time in NYC), so he was calling all the shots, we were just along for the ride. We walked around Columbus Circle, Times Square, went to a comic book store, had lunch at Planet Hollywood and dessert at a diner where the wait staff sing. John and I are pretty big Letterman fans and we had tickets to that evening's taping. We got in line early and had tickets #1 and #2. We had SO much fun at the taping. Paul Schaffer and the band at the Late Show are so good in person and play before the show and during all the commercial breaks. On the show that night were Harrison Ford (John's first sighting!), Ali Lohan (Lindsay's little sister) and Leona Lewis (whose song "Bleeding Love" was incredible to hear in person). John and I had seats in the second row on the side of the stage where the band is positioned. After the taping, we were ready to drop with exhaustion. I went to John's hotel and grabbed my luggage and walked several blocks to check into my hotel. I was upgraded to a suite!! I fell asleep for a few hours. When I woke up, I went out to get some dinner, which ended up being a blueberry muffin, croissant and glass of orange juice.

NYC-Day One

2008-05-24T08:43:00.004-04:00

John checking into the hotel

When we walked into luggage claim at La Guardia our driver was standing there to greet us with a sign that said "Welcome John Alexander." It was 8 a.m., so there was quite a bit of traffic going into the city. John and Jason's hotel, which we looked up online and costs about $450/night (with one room as high as $630), was very chic. Some of the people in the lobby looked like they were on their way to their modeling agency. John's friend from Somerset, Brennan, met us in the lobby. My mom and Brennan's mom taught school together back in the 1970s. I guess they never imagined at the time that their kids would one day be running around NYC together. The room wasn't ready, so we left our luggage there and went out to explore the city.

NYC-Day One

2008-05-24T08:22:00.003-04:00

Our flight left Lexington at 6 a.m. John and Jason arrived at the airport from Somerset via a Lincoln Towncar. My driver was my dear husband who had to get up waaay too early, considering he wasn't going to NY and it was a work day. I was only slightly nervous about flying. I knew, though, that John would keep me entertained all the way there. I counted only 15 people on the flight, so we each had a row to ourselves, which was nice. In fact, they made us move around prior to take off to balance the weight distribution. We flew into La Guardia, which was awesome because we had great views of the city as we landed.

Here We Go Again

2008-05-18T22:39:00.012-04:00

OK, I've decided to resurrect the ol' blog. It's time for a new adventure. Tuesday morning, I leave for New York with my cousin John and his friend Jason.

Why?

Well, they won a little contest:

(copy and paste this link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIGxd1DtWIY

Isn't that cool?!? I could not be more excited for John. I seriously doubt there is a bigger fan of Indiana Jones in the entire world.

We have Letterman tickets for Tuesday night and Harrison Ford is going to be on.

Now, the problem is, I cannot decide how to pack. It's such "between season" kind of weather. I feel like I need to dress in layers but don't want to overpack and drag a giant suitcase around the city. Oh, the dilemma.

Soccer update: We have two games left (one of which I'll miss while in NY...I don't know how they'll survive without me). We are getting better and better. In fact, the last several games, we have been able to keep the other team from scoring in the double digits.

Places I've Been

2008-04-13T18:29:00.005-04:00

New York City, NY, USA

Chicago, IL, USA

Create your own travel map or travel blog

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States I've Been To:

1) Florida
2) Georgia
3) Alabama
4) Louisiana
5) Mississippi
6) South Carolina
7) North Carolina
8) Virgina
9) West Virginia
10) Tennessee
11) Missouri
12) Illinois
13) Indiana
14) Ohio
15) Pennsylvania
16) New York
17) Michigan
18) Delaware
19) Nevada
20) California
21) Hawaii
22) Kentucky

Pineapple

2008-04-06T02:05:00.006-04:00

I thought I was finished Hawaii blogging, but I had to add one more entry. I just sliced up a pineapple for the first time in my life. It's one I brought back from the trip and I'm going to share it with my Sunday school class tomorrow morning. I had no idea how to slice this thing, but I read a couple of Web sites. I don't think I did too bad of a job.

My Blog

2008-04-05T17:49:00.007-04:00

This is the first time I've blogged. I am really glad I decided to do it because taking notes during the trip really helped me to keep the memories alive now that I'm home. Otherwise, I think all the stuff would have run together and I would have forgotten parts of it.

This blog goes in reverse sequential order, so probably best to read it from the bottom up. Hope you enjoy it.

I didn't bring my good camera, just a little point and shoot, so don't judge my photography too harshly :-)

Leaving Hawaii

2008-04-05T17:49:00.002-04:00

I'm happy to be going home. Hawaii is a gorgeous state, but it's not home, and I really like home. The only place I've ever visited and not been ready to leave is New York. I am depressed every single time I leave that place. I always turn around in my seat in the car and watch the NY skyline fade until there's nothing left to see. I will never forget leaving New York on 9/9/01. I never imagined the changes to that skyline and our nation that would come less than 48 hours later.

That was on my mind when we visited Pearl Harbor. My Papaw was in the Navy and spent time at Pearl Harbor not long after the Japanese attack. As we stood on the memorial, I looked down at the sunken U.S.S. Arizona for a while, but my attention was on the edge of the military base too. I tried to imagine what it was like to stand there and witness the destruction. I got to go back to NY a couple weeks after 9/11. Smoke still rose from the rubble and it smelled like burning plastic. There are no words to describe the scene of utter destruction. I don't think I've ever wanted to be somewhere and not be somewhere so strongly at the same time. I wonder if that's how they felt at Pearl Harbor after the attack and I wonder how it changed the people who witnessed it.

Papaw never talked about those days to me much. I at least know for certain he, like me, was one who was ready to go home from Hawaii. He loved home as much as I do. The woman I bought this ink pen from at the airport store was telling me about their return policy and asked when I would be coming back to Hawaii and I told her I didn't know, but now her question has me thinking. I'd like to visit all 50 states before I die. I feel like I'm now able to check off one of the more difficult/expensive of two, Alaska being the other. I'm definitely thankful I've seen Hawaii first-hand and fully appreciate the blessing of being able to come here in the first place. But, this place just isn't me. I can't see Chris and I making this a regular place to pass through. Chris loves beaches and these were some of the most fabulous beaches we've ever seen. But, there are beaches all over the world. We'll be in Florida a couple times between now and Nicole's wedding, so I'm sure we'll see some beach time there too. I'm just not sure we will ever feel the need to come back to Hawaii. I'll probably take one last look at this part of the world as the plane leaves the island, but it may not be the "see you later" look I give NY, but more of a pure, "goodbye."

I am nervous about the flight, but the Lord is giving me lots of reassurance. I sat down in an empty waiting area at the airport facing the beautiful green mountains. I opened up my Bible study. The first verse I read was Psalm 121:1-8. It begins, "I raise my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from?" Sitting there staring out toward the mountains, the passage started to take on a special meaning for me there in that moment.

"My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side. The sun will not strike you by day, or the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all harm; He will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever."

Some Parting Thoughts

2008-04-05T16:33:00.005-04:00

Everything is outdoors or partially open air, including Starbucks.

These stoors are everywhere.

A taste of home.

Lanais at an apartment outside our hotel room.

A few things I noticed about Hawaii...

1) Everybody waits for the crosswalk signal, even if there is absolutely no traffic coming. I kept wanting to go ahead and cross the street, but Chris was afraid I was going to get some sort of jaywalking ticket, considering nobody was doing it.

2) There are convenience stores on nearly every street called ABC Store. They all have the same stuff and many of them displayed alcohol in the window. Every time I passed one of these stores and saw the Wild Turkey bourbon in the window, I would think how cool it is that I can go to so many places in the world and still have access to my hometown drinking water (although bourbon is gross).

3) Like I said before, there are a LOT of Japanese tourists here. Many things are translated into Japanese and there are trolleys that are pretty much just for people from Japan and duty free stores. One of the oddest things to me were the indoor firing ranges that people on the street would hand out flyers about. I guess being able to shoot a gun is something exotic to people from Japan.

4) You can't help but notice, surfers are hot. Chris and I agreed on this, so he won't mind me saying it (there were plenty of female surfers). We'd watched a TV show about how surfing shapes a rock hard body, and they were right. Makes me wish we had some waves in Kentucky, I'd definitely take it up.

5) I had intended to take surfing lessons in Hawaii, but after the boogie boarding, I was too sore and worn out. I still have my shirt, so maybe I will wear it when we go to Florida for Nicole's wedding.

6) Everyone we encountered was really friendly (except the airline employee who checked me in on the way home).

7) Lanais (balconies) are very popular and people seem to pretty much live on them. We saw them used for everything from storage to laundry facilities.

8) There are very few places that are entirely indoors. Even our hotel lobby didn't have a front on it, just a big open air area. If there were bad weather, I couldn't see any doors that would be shut. It think it's pretty much open air all the time.

9) There are a lot of roosters.

Day Seven-Polynesian Cultural Center

2008-04-05T15:57:00.009-04:00

Going to the luau

I can't remember what these balls were called, but it was hard to do the tricks they tried to teach us.

Chris learning to hula

My tattoo (which got all over me since I was all greased up with sunscreen)

Practicing my hula skills in front of the Elvis gift shop

Our last full day in Hawaii was spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It's kind of like Disneyworld without the rides. Most of the employees are college students from Brigham Young University's Hawaii campus. They were very nice and engaging. Our tour guide took us around the grounds which were made to look like the various island villages of Polynesia. There were activities and shows at each "island." We did tolo (spear throwing), got ink tattoos, learned the hula, sampled some weird food, etc..etc... We took a boat to dinner and then went to the luau. I don't regret going to this place because it was a chance to do some quintessential Hawaii stuff before leaving, but it was pretty expensive. I would especially recommend it if you have kids (and a lot of money).

Day Six--Japanese BBQ

2008-04-05T12:31:00.021-04:00

Green tea ice cream

The menus were stainless steal so they don't catch on fire.

We went to GYU-KAKU Japanese BBQ for dinner. I think we were the only people there who were not Japanese. By the way, Hawaii really caters to visitors from Japan. Which, I think, is part of what makes America great. All the tables had a little grill thing in the middle and you cook your own food here. This was the most expensive meal we ate in Hawaii, so I found it a little ironic that we had to cook it, but that was part of the fun, I suppose. Chris was the chef at our table. The food was soooo good. We had green tea ice cream for dessert, which tasted a lot better than it sounds. According to the menu, there are a lot of these restaurants in Japan and they're now in the U.S. in Hawaii, Los Angeles and New York.

Day Six--Hotel Time

2008-04-05T12:31:00.014-04:00

As much as I wanted to get out and experience more Hawaii, I could barely move on Sunday. I was feeling pretty sick of the sun, sick of sand, and really just sick of anything that requires energy. That IHOP breakfast didn't really help matters. The hot water heater at our rental house at home sprung a leak, so while Chris went to Safeway to get online and call plumbers, I did a little shopping around the hotel and then went up to the room to rest. I watched Davidson nearly beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament. I was sorry to see Louisville had lost to NC (I have to be for Louisville once UK is out on behalf of my little brother, who is a UL alum....although, I'm not sure he would do the same for me.) Watching live sports is odd here since it's 6 hours behind east coast time. The Braves vs. Nationals season opener baseball game came on ESPN. I called mom to see if Josh Anderson (mom's brother's wife's sister's son) was playing, but he wasn't (he's back to triple A for now). Chris came back to the room and said he's made dinner reservations for us. Woohoo, fancy eatin'!

Day Six-TIRED!

2008-04-05T12:31:00.013-04:00

The Mayor's Breakfast

Blueberry Pancakes

After yesterday's day of adventure, we are completely exhausted. We had intended to get up this morning and check out a Hawaiian church service. But, we ended up sleeping right through that opportunity. When we finally did get up, we walked to IHOP for some pancakes. I thought I was being indulgent ordering blueberry pancakes until Chris placed his order for The Mayor's Breakfast, which includes Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who Cakes and green eggs and ham. My husband is hilarious. Check out those in the pics!

Flying

2008-04-05T12:31:00.010-04:00

Is it just me, or were there way more than usual news reports about the perils of flying while I was gone? Thankfully, we didn't have a flight on Aloha Airlines.

FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- Regulators have largely ignored a series of dangerous incidents in which cockpit windshields in commercial airliners shattered in mid-flight, sometimes forcing emergency landings, according to an American Airlines pilots' group.

KGW.com A Vancouver woman is struggling to help her son get home from Hawaii after he was stranded there with his wife when Aloha Airlines filed for bankruptcy. It may sound like a silly thing to complain about - being stuck in paradise – but if you consider missed work and the price of accommodations in Hawaii, opinions change.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Four U.S. airlines are being investigated for failing to comply with federal aviation regulations. But names of those specific carriers under investigation weren't released today by the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA announced an audit of airline maintenance records found 3 of the four carriers had missed inspection deadlines. Officials say wiring in the wheel well was one area where carriers failed to comply with "airworthiness directives." One carrier failed to submit a required plan. The other three airlines were found to have aircraft overdue for inspections.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) A Jamaican arrested after trying to check luggage containing pipe bomb-making materials onto a flight home explained that he wanted to show his friends there how to make them, authorities said Wednesday.

Day Five--Boogie Boards

2008-04-05T12:31:00.008-04:00

After the ATV ride, we were absolutely covered in dust and badly in need of a shower. We had the yet-to-be used boogie board in the trunk and decided we might as well put it to use and wash the dirt off at the same time. There were several really nice beaches on the drive and some of them were nearly empty. I really don't understand why anybody goes to the Waikiki beach, it is soooo crowded. We found a beach where several people were kite boarding, which was interesting to watch. It was kind of chilly, but we decided to brave it and get in the water. The tide was coming in and the waves got progressively stronger the longer we were there. Towards the end, they got too rough for me to handle. Instead of riding the waves, they were knocking me down to the bottom of the ocean with nothing to do but wait under water until they passed over head. I had forgotten how salty the ocean water is. We were so tired by this point in the day, but the boogie boarding re-energized us. I really felt like I was 12 years old again. I had never seen Chris smile so much. After we finished, our covered in dirt problem was replaced by a covered in sand problem. We rinsed off in the COLD outdoor shower on the beach, but that wasn't enough. We got sand all over the interior of the rental car. Chris called the rental company the next day and it would be $75 for them to clean it out, so we made sure to start looking for a car wash! I didn't realize until we got to the car how cold I was. I could not feel my fingers. We turned the heater on and when I finally started to regain feeling, it felt as if hundreds of needles were being stuck in my hands. I can't believe we rode scooters, ATVs and boogie boards all in one day. We are nuts, but having so much fun.

Day Five--Kualoa Ranch ATV Ride

2008-04-05T12:02:00.017-04:00

They call this Kissing Gorillas (Can you see why?)

These Godzillas footprints were dug 6 feet deep, but they had to fill them in because the cows were falling in them.

The ranch was a pretty far drive from our hotel. Chris and I had gone on a really cool ATV ride a few years back in Gatlinburg. We'd gone down there in the off-season and were the only ones taking the trail ride that morning. The guide took us to places he couldn't have taken a big group. There were times on that ride when I thought for sure the ATV was going to flip over as it navigated over the rocks on the mountain. We also drove through a creek on that trip. (I made it through and Chris got stuck and had to be towed out, ha.) So, with that trip in mind, we had a feeling this ride was going to be really lame. And, it would have been, if not for the scenery. We all had to stay in a line on a very smooth trail at fairly slow speed. A lot of movies have been shot on this ranch. It's also where they shoot parts of the TV show Lost. I'm sorry to report girls, I have no pics of the hot Lost guys, but the guide said the Lost crew would be coming the following week. I don't watch Lost, but we saw where they shoot the golf course scenes. The terrain was so green and beautiful. We stopped at several of the movie locations so people could take photos: Jurassic Park, Godzilla, 50 First Dates, Windtalkers, Pearl Harbor, You, Me and Dupree. The Pearl Harbor site was an old authentic World War II bunker. This ranch was taken over by the government during the war because of its strategic location. Even though the ATV part was not the extreme experience we were looking for, we still had a great time on the ride.

Day 5--Motor Scooters, ATVs and Boogie Boards, Oh My

2008-04-05T01:41:00.010-04:00

We need to file this day under "What in the world were we thinking????" That said, this was the most FUN day we had in Hawaii. Pure fun.

First, we got up early enough to get to a motor scooter rental place when it opened. We wanted to rent for four hours, but they said we had to rent them all day since it was spring break and they were busy enough to get enough people to rent them all day. We considered walking to some other scooter rental places to try to get a half day rental, but I decided it wouldn't be woth the time and energy, considering the all day rental was only $10 more. This was out of character for my dear husband, the comparison shopper, but he agreed with me :-)

It had been a few years since I'd driven a scooter in Gatlinburg, but I picked it back up easily, with Chris as my instructor. Steering is really all about the leaning, having very little to do with the handlebars. I had to remind myself to not smile as we drove around, so as to not swallow any bugs, but it was hard not to smile. I really think I need to get one of these things to drive to work. The parking pass would be cheaper and closer to my building.

The most frightening part was driving in Honolulu traffic next to a city bus. I kept trying to determine what I would do if the driver decided to suddenly switch lanes. I felt much better once we got out of traffic and back to the Diamond Head area. We drove around some residential areas where the city's wealthy live. Some of the homes were absoultely breathtaking, especially considering the views of the ocean some of them had in their backyards. Most of the housing in Honolulu appears to be low income, although it's obvious the residents aren't poor...there were Lexus cars in a lot of the driveways. It wasn't uncommon to see a washer and dryer on a front porch or clothes hanging to dry.

But these homes in Diamond Head were very nice. I got the little scooter up to 45 m.p.h. at one point. We stopped at an overlook for a break. We also parked the scooters and chained them up to walk on the beach for a while.

The chains and padlocks we had to use were huge. Although we didn't personally experience it, we were told theft is a really big problem in Honolulu. At Pearl Harbor you are not allowed to carry a purse or any sort of bag onto the memorial, but they advised people not to leave anything in their cars in the parking lot because of the theft problem. Chris and I thought it was odd that even on a military base, they can't keep petty criminals out of cars in broad daylight. The scooter ride through Diamond Head was one of the highlightes of the trip for me. Probably not as exciting for Chris, since he's used to a more powerful ride on his motorcycle, but I liked it.

We had to return the scooters after lunch because we had a reservation at the Kualoa Ranch for an ATV trail ride.

Day Four--After the Hike

2008-04-05T01:29:00.000-04:00

After the hike, we drove around looking for a place to eat lunch, stopping at a Safeway grocery that had a deli. The girl at the check out couldn't believe we didn't have a Safeway savings card and that we'd never been to a Safeway before. Chris was like, well, do you have Kroger? Nope. We told her that's our grocery in Kentucky. This was a good stop for us because we discovered they have wireless Internet. So, we went back to the hotel and grabbed Chris' laptop and went back and looked up Web sites of tour places and motor scooter rentals.

That evening, Chris went back to Safeway to get some work done and, exhausted, I stayed in the hotel room and watched TV. I watched a 2-hour Dateline story about the families whose daughters' identity had been confused at an accident scene. I won't rehash the entire story here, but if you haven't heard their story, you should definitely check it out: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23849928/

These peple are absolutely amazing. Their faith is so strong and they present their stories so well--an awesome testimony of their love for Jesus Christ.

Day Four-Diamond Head Hike

2008-04-05T01:01:00.010-04:00

Hiking Diamond Head Crater

The line moved very slowly

These spiral stairs were filthy and seemed ready to fall apart

Had to go through this one-way passage to get to and from summit

The view made the hike worth it

After that breakfast of champions, we decided to hike Diamond Head crater. (To read more on Diamond Head: http://www.hawaiiweb.com/html/hiking/diamond_head_trail.html ). The hike itself was nothing too strenuous. However, I had to face some fears. First, being stuck in a dimly lit tunnel behind a long, barely moving line of people. Remember that high school band from Wisconsin? We arrived the same time as their tour bus, so we were in line with the kids.

They were pretty hyper. One of the girls asked me if they were getting on our nerves, and I told them no, they were keeping me entertained. Listening to them talk reminded me what life was like as a teen. After the tunnel, I thought the worst of it was over, but I was wrong. The line continued up a very steep set of stairs. Then, back again in another enclosed area, we had to go up a spiral staircase. It reminded me of walking up the Statue of Liberty. The spiral staircase was very dusty/dirty. After that, the line went back outside and the path became one-way. So, we had to wait until people who had been to the top came back through. Finding a break in the steady stream of people, we cut in and climbed some more steps, bending to go through a small opening....Finally, we had reached the summit.

The views were beautiful and worth the hike.

Day Four--Leonard's

2008-04-05T01:01:00.006-04:00

You can't see a bakery like this and not check it out.

Our first malasadas (served hot)

This bird and a few of his little friends are also big fans of the malasada.

I'd seen an old-fashioned looking bakery not far from our hotel and decided we needed to invetigate this place further. So, this morning we got up and went to Leonard's, home of the malasada, a Portuguese doughnut. Malasada history: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malasada

They tasted like a funnel cake, only better. It's a good thing I don't live in Hawaii, because I would be addicted.

Day Two--Mahalo for Shopping at Wal-Mart

2008-04-04T23:44:00.071-04:00

After pineapple land, we found a Wal-Mart. It looked pretty much like every other Wal-Mart, except there were a couple of aisles of Hawaii souveniers and some of the food products were stuff you'd only see there. Instead of "thank you" for shopping at Wal-Mart, it was "Mahalo" for shopping at Wal-Mart. I quickly adopted "Mahalo" into my vocabulary, finding it kind of fun to say, even more fun than "aloha." We got breakfast bars, bread, peanut butter and jelly, a proper road map, flip flops for Chris, a case of beer, a boogie board and sunscreen. What more could one need?

We then found ourselves to be extremely hungry and started looking for a restaurant. We had our choice between fast food and Chili's. I hate eating at chain restaurants on vacation, but sometimes you have no choice, so Chili's it was. Man, that place was expensive. Everything was $12 and up. I guess that's the price you have to pay for eating food that had to be shipped there through the Pacific Ocean.

Day Three--Pearl Harbor (On the memorial)

2008-04-04T23:44:00.070-04:00

The boat in the background took us to the memorial. In the foregeround is one of the gun turrets on the Arizona that sticks up above the water.

The names of those who died on the Arizona. Also there is a list of names of survivors who have chosen to have their bodies placed in the Arizona upon death, to be buried with their brothers.

Oil is still bubbling up from the boat, seen in lower left corner of this photo.

More oil, or "Tears of the Arizona"

Before getting on the boat to go to the memorial, we were ushered into a theater and watched a 20 minute film about the attack, which included actual footage. Then, the doors opened up and we boarded a boat for the memorial. We were allowed to spend about 10 minutes on the memorial. You know what was absolutely amazing? There is still oil coming out of the U.S.S. Arizona, bubbling up to the water's surface. I had heard this before, but didn't believe it until I saw it happening in person. They call it "tears of the Arizona."

Mr. Reinle was one of my best high school teachers and as I stood there I could hear him saying "a date that will live in infamy." I really had no idea what he was talking about back then when I was 15. But, 13 years later, having seen an attack on America myself, the significance was hard to miss. I felt really thankful for the opportunity to see it.

Back at Pearl Harbor

2008-04-04T23:44:00.069-04:00

Band playing patriotic and WWII era songs

U.S.S. Bowfin

We got back to Pearl Harbor and walked around some more exhibits. There was a high school band from Wisconsin playing patriotic songs, so I sat in the grass and listened to them while Chris walked around some more. They did a really good job. The kids from Wisconsin were wearing Hawaiin shirts. The band that followed them was from Alaska and the girls were wearing long black dresses, the boys in tuxedos. I felt sorry for the Alaska kids, they had to be burning up!

Day Three--Pearl Harbor

2008-04-04T23:44:00.066-04:00

The line for Pearl Harbor tickets wrapped around this grassy area.

The flag general gets the best parking spot at the military base shopping center.

Inside the shopping center

Different bag, same chip

Our second attempt to find Pearl Harbor went much more smoothly. We got there about 10 a.m. and stood in line for a little over an hour for tickets (which were free and well worth the wait). We were told they had run out of tickets at 10 a.m. the day before, so we were glad we had gotten lost, because we would not have made it. We were in group 24, which was set to begin at 1:30 p.m. We walked around the museum area for a bit after getting the tickets. Reading about what those brave souls went through while standing right there where everything happened really hit me harder than I thought it would.

A little overwhelmed by the exhibits, we decided to take a break and go get lunch. I felt badly for the people who had gotten there on a tour bus and had to sit and wait until their tour time...made me very thankful for our rental car. We drove around and got lost, ending up in a neighborhood where military families live. The homes were pretty nice, especially compared to most of the houses we had seen thus far. We found a shopping center that was geared toward the military. You had to show military I.D. to get into part of it, but not the food court. So, I got Subway and Chris got Popeyes. I met a guy in line at Subway from Owensboro, Ky. He said he couldn't wait to get out of Hawaii and high rent and back to his horse farm. By the way, the Lays potato chips in Hawaii aren't in the yellow bag. They're in a tropical-looking bag and say Maui Style. They taste like Lays in a yellow bag.

Day Two--Dole Pineapple Plantation

2008-04-04T23:44:00.064-04:00

Pineapple Ice Cream

Pineapple Express

Baby Pineapple

Fresh pineapple

After the beach, it was too late to attempt to get a ticket to Pearl Harbor, so we started heading back to Waikiki. We saw a sign for the Dole Pineapple Plantation and decided to stop. We had watched a TV program about this place on the History Channel not too long ago, so I felt pretty knowledgeable about pineapple farming. The guy who started Dole found his success by being the first to can pineapples. The Pineapple Express takes you on a little tour of the plantation. Of course, there is a cafeteria with all things pineapple. Chris got pineapple ice cream and I opted for the pineapple juice. We got to sample some very fresh pineapple. Yum!

Day Two--A Whole Lot of Driving

2008-04-04T23:44:00.025-04:00

First day at beach--North Shore

Running from a wave

Wannabe surfer Chris

It was our first full day in Hawaii and we decided we wanted to go to Pearl Harbor. We only had a little map from a tourist brochure, which wasn't very detailed. So, we got lost. Really lost. We ended up in the middle of nowhere, with only fields in sight. It was getting close to lunch time and we were pretty hungry. We came to a little store that looked as if it had been there since World War II. The sign out front said "Last stop for food." I told Chris that was just a ploy to get us to stop, so we should just keep going. Well, guess what, it was true. There was nothing beyond it, so we turned around and went back. We went inside and they only had fish. I don't eat anything that comes out of bodies of water, so we were out of luck. So, we drove some more and got a little more lost, then finally, drove into civilation. We had accidentally ended up at the North Shore. This is where people go for surfing and beaches more secluded than the crowded Waikiki beach near our hotel.

Without proper beach attire, there wasn't much we could do but walk along the shore. I'm not a big fan of sand, but I decided to stop caring whether or not there was sand in my shoes and just enjoy the sound of the ocean, the sun, the breeze, the landscape. We walked around some rocks and came upon a couple staring out into the water with great interest. They showed us what they were looking at....a giant sea turtle slowly making his way to shore. So cool! We tried to stay out of his sight while he made his approach. Just as he was getting close a family ran up to the edge of the water to take a look and startled him. Darn!!! So, I'm sorry to report, I don't have a photo of the giant turtle.

Minneapolis to Honolulu

2008-04-04T23:44:00.024-04:00

I've always wondered what I'm flying over on other flights, so I really appreciated this feature.

These seats rocked!

The Mai Thai that welcomed me to the plane.

So much space!

Chris tried to get my ticket upgraded at the Minneapolis airport, but no such luck. They would do it--for $350. We said no thanks. But, you know, Chris must really love me, because he traded seats with me :-) Let me tell you, 1st class in the first plane was nothing like 1st class on this one. Wow. I can't believe I'm writing this, but it was actually kind of fun. Before I could stow away my carry on, a woman was standing there with a tray full of mai thais offering me a drink. I'd decided to never drink on a flight again (I made friends with a nice little retired couple on the way to Vegas once and they had a bunch of drink vouchers.......I didn't feel so hot when I got off the plane and had to see all those $9.99 seafood buffet signs). But, you can't turn down a drink adorned with pineapple and an umbrella when you're on your way to Hawaii. Delicious.

OK, now let me tell you about the seats. A remote control reclined them back very far and you could also use the remote to bring up the foot rest. There were TV monitors for each seat and a selection of about a dozen movies. You could also use the remotes/monitors to build a music playlist or watch the progress of the plane on a map. I was very A.D.D. between the movies, music and radar. It didn't show the names of the states, just the names of the cities, but from what I could figure out, we flew over South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada and California. Then, THE OCEAN. A first for me. We were going 480 MPH last I checked.

I started watching Juno, but got bored because I've seen it before. I really like it, it's just that my attention span was all out of whack. I started watching Enchanted, one I've wanted to see. But, then dinner came and I got distracted. I ended up not really watching any movies, just putting together music play lists. My seat mate was really quiet, which was fine with me. There was so much room, I didn't even have to leave my seat to let her get up. I like this plane. I used the restroom in an airplane for the first time....felt like something between a cruise ship restroom and an upscale Port-a-John. Not too scary at all.

Dinner was pretty good. Three courses, but I skipped the coconut ice cream. There was another meal, a turkey sandwich, a few hours later. The flight from MN to HI was about 9 hours. When do I ever get to sit around for this long and watch movies, write in my journal, play music--all the while being served food, drinks and hot towels? I am never flying economy again! I went back to see Chris and he looked miserable, making me feel guilty. Three people in his row scrunched together. Oh well, this will be my experience on the way home.

My pics from the plane are a little blurry. I was trying to play it cool and take them without anyone noticing so I turned off the flash.

Honolulu, We've Arrived!

2008-04-04T23:44:00.018-04:00

Where we ate dinner the first night in Honolulu

Our hotel...not much of a "resort," but oh well, it was cheap

If on Three's Company they had aired an episode where the roommates decided to go to Hawaii, I have a feeling this airport, as it looks now, would look pretty much the same on the show. In other words, not as modern looking as I'd expected. It was 1/2 indoor, 1/2 outdoor.I took off my fleece pullover as soon as I stepped off the plane.

After we got our luggage we found the line for the buses to Waikiki. It was hot and there were a whole lot of people in front of us. Chris spontaneously decided to splurge and rent a car. By far, the BEST decision ever made on a Chris/Amanda vacation. We would have been waiting on that bus forever. Plus, no telling how many stops there would have been before reaching our hotel in Waikiki. We got a white Pontiac G6 and a map and off we went in air conditioned comfort.

First impression of Honolulu? Dirty city. People criticize my beloved NY, but they should see this place. I started to wonder where all the landscapes from the brochures were hiding.

We were also stuck in 5 p.m. traffic.I checked into the hotel while Chris looked for parking. It was $15/day to park at the hotel valet, but Chris found street parking...Free. yay!

Chris was hungry, so we walked around the corner to Lulu's and ended our first evening in Honolulu with dinner.

Mall of America

2008-04-04T23:44:00.007-04:00

Chris waiting for light rail to Mall of America

I thought it was funny that they had a QVC store at the mall.

In front of the closed roller coaster :-(

We landed a bit late in MN due to taking time to de-ice the plane in Louisville (which I don't entirely understand...isn't it just going to get icy again in the sky?).As you may have read in my earlier post, my goal for the layover was to run to the Mall of America and ride the indoor roller coaster. I figured I was taking a big risk on the flying thing (yeah, I know, I've seen the airplane safety stats...doesn't help) might as well make it as adventurous as possible (knowing the true part of the adventure would be getting back through security with a husband asking me why I had forced him to go through security again just to see the Mall of America).

We weren't sure if we had time to go to the mall, since the plane was a bit late, but I can be pretty determined/stubborn sometimes. So, we asked a security guy and he told us how to take the light rail there.We used a ticket machine to purchase roundtrip light rail tickets ($4), but nobody ever asked us for them. I'm now convinced the tickets were completely unnecessary, but oh well, at least we were honest.But, my dreams of riding the roller coaster were dashed upon arrival. It was 9 a.m. and the mall didn't open until 10 a.m. Doh!!! But, we did get to go in and walk around all the closed stuff. I can now say I've seen the Mall of America. And, now that I have seen it, I'm not so sure it's worth going back. A store is a store whether it has an amusement park in it or not. I can go to the Mall St. Mathews and then head over to Kentucky Kingdom without having to hop a plane.

Louisville to Minneapolis

2008-04-04T23:44:00.002-04:00

The security screener guy took away the toothpaste from my carry on. I didn't think about paste being considered a liquid. He tried to make a joke with me about it after he took it, but I was tired and nervous and really didn't find it all that funny. I figured they probably sell toothpaste in Hawaii, so if that's the worst thing that happened, I was OK with that.

Our seats for the flights had been booked separately. One ticket in business class, one in economy. But, we were extremely grateful to the nice woman who let us sit together in business since it was not full. This was the first time Chris and I have flown together. We got to hold hands during take off. I love looking out the window. It's like Google Earth in real life. I got to watch the sun rise up through the white clouds, which looked like a sea of cotton.

The flight to Minneapolis was about two hours. I think I actually dozed off for a few minutes, which is amazing considering my thoughts on flying. There was snow on the ground in MN, which was pretty cool to see knowing that we would soon be on the beach. As we got closer and closer to the ground, it started looking to me as if we would be landing in a pond. I kept thinking that I hoped there was a runway right in front of us, because all I could see was water, and, thankfully, the concrete landing strip was in front of the plane just out of my sight, so the flotation devices were not necessary.

Day One--A Whole Lot of Flying

2008-04-04T22:53:00.007-04:00

We didn't get to bed until, oh I don't know...1 a.m.? I'd packed two suitcases and zipped them up, ready to go by 11 p.m., then realized that my old suitcase had a giant rip in the fabric, making it unsuitable for checking, unless I wanted my unmentionables strewn all over the cargo part of the plane. I spent the next two hours testing various duffle bags, packing, unpacking, repacking, until I found a bag and configuration that worked. I then paced around the house trying to remember what I'd forgotten, which couldn't have been much, considering the weight of the bags. My alarm was set for 3:30 a.m. We were up and out the door by 3:45 a.m. Maybe I slept for an hour...maybe.Drove to Lawrenceburg and Dad drove us to the airport in Louisville. (Thanks, Dad.) I was very nervous about the flight. I think I was so nervous that I was calm, if that makes sense.

Hey

2008-03-24T20:30:00.001-04:00

I don't know if I'll actually be posting while in Hawaii, but I plan to keep a journal of our excitement and will put all the stories on here when I get back.

They lied at soccer practice tonight when they said hitting the ball with your head doesn't hurt. My head is throbbing.

According to Melissa, there is footage of me on WKYT handing a marker to Coach Hall, so be sure to watch the 11 p.m. broadcast for that excitement.

I will miss you all!

What a Day

2008-03-24T18:06:00.000-04:00

How many people in the world can say this? Today, I got to photograph India's former president, the honorable A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and then have my photo taken with my co-workers and former Kentucky men's basketball coach Joe B. Hall (who told us it was better than having his photo made with the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders....I like him). Tommorrow, Hawaii! Quite a week!

47 Pound Suitcase, 10 Pounds Mangos?

2008-03-23T18:16:00.000-04:00

I put my packed suitcase on our bath scale and it weighed in at 47 pounds. The limit is 50. I'm now sitting here wondering if the scales are all that accurate, especially given the weight distribution of a suitcase is different from that of a human. HHHhhhhhmmmm. It's $80 one-way if I'm over the limit. That would not really get our trip set off on the best terms. I thought about weighing myself and then weighing again while holding the suitcase, but it's too cumbersome. I think, instead, I'm just going to check two suitcases and take some things out of the 47-pounder to be sure I'm under the limit. Plus, that way I'll have space to pack anything we accumulate in Hawaii.

Interesting fact: You can bring back up to 10 pounds of checked fruit if traveling from Hawaii or Florida.

The suitcase can't be bigger than 62 linear inches. I had to ask Chris what linear means. One should never ask an engineer such a question unless they want a very thorough answer. (Love you, Chris!).

Family Time

2008-03-22T21:59:00.000-04:00

We traveled today to celebrate my dad's oldest brother's birthday. Got to see family I hadn't visited in a really long time. I have to say, I have a great family. Chris got to bond with my younger male cousins by talking about his new pick up truck. Had some really good food, which is great, unless you're getting ready to go to a beach. I'm exhausted. Tomorrow is Easter and we're going to the early church service. Tomorrow is my last day to get the house in order and finish packing because Monday is going to be super busy. I think we're leaving our house at 4 a.m. to get to the airport Tuesday morning. I seriously doubt I'm going to get any sleep.

The Road to Damascus

2008-03-22T09:20:00.000-04:00

Note to self: Don't plan a beach vacation so close to Girl Scout Cookie time. Peanut Butter Patties and swimsuits don't really go together.

I'm calmer today. In fact, today was so calm and mundane that I thought I might not have enough material for blogging. But then I went to Wal-Mart and, really, can you go to Wal-Mart and not come out with a story?Things got interesting in the coffee aisle. A woman approached me, tentatively, asking in broken English if she could ask me a question. I was afraid it had something to do with coffee, about which I know nothing. (In fact, to prove how little I know about coffee....Hugh Downs came to where I work for an event a few years ago and I offered him some coffee. Problem was, I had no idea how to get the coffee out of the thing catering brought it in...it was one of those deals where you have to press down on the top....and Hugh Downs had to take pity on me and show me how. Embarassing!!).

But, it wasn't a coffee question, it was about cocoa. Chocolate questions I can handle. She was standing in front of several rows of Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate looking for cocoa.

"Cocoa for baking?" I asked her.

"Eh, yes, cocoa to bake cake," she said.

There were a lot of people in Wal-Mart and she really could have asked a dozen other people in that aisle. But, there I was, perhaps the most clueless person there when it comes to cooking, charged with the task of finding this woman some cocoa to bake cake.

"That cocoa is for drinking. Cocoa for baking is in another aisle," I tell them, hoping I'm right.

Her friend watched my cart while we departed for the baking aisle.

She told me they are from Damascus and she's here to study. I would have like to have talked with her more about that, but honestly, I was so focused on finding the cocoa, I couldn't really think of anything else.

Finally, I saw an aisle with flour in it and knew that had to be the cocoa aisle. I found it and told her "this is unsweatened cocoa."

"Unsweatened cocoa to bake cake?," she asked.

"Yes, to bake cake," I tell her, still hoping I was right.

I then went back for my cart and told her friend she could find her in aisle 8 with the cocoa. She nodded that she understood.

I love talking to people from other countries, if for nothing else, to hear the accents. So, that was kind of fun. By the way, if there are any single guys reading this...I don't know about the rest of Damascus, but these women were gorgeous! If that's what they all look like, I want to be from Damascus!

As I completed my shopping, I started thinking about Damascus, trying to remember what I know about it. I knew there was a Bible story about Damascus, the road to Damascus and something happening to someone. But, I must admit, I couldn't remember the details, so I came home and Googled it. An article jogged my memory... Jesus revealed himself to Saul (who became Paul) on the road to Damascus, in a very big way. Saul hadn't been the greatest guy in the world (persecuted the church) until that life changing moment. He went on to become one of God's greatest instruments in Biblical times. He wrote a several books of the Bible.

In present day, I think people who go through such a transformation in their spirituality have some of the greatest opportunities to share their faith...to show the power of God's forgiveness...to show how no matter how bad things were before, everything can be different because of that forgiveness. I think it's cool that I got the chance to think about this on Good Friday.

So, it's only a couple of days now until I get to experience the results of my small-scale "road to damascus" moment. That moment came when I told Chris to go ahead and get me a plane ticket for Hawaii. That moment marked a huge change in attitude for me. I'd been wanting to go to Hawaii ever since that episode of "The Batchelor: An Officer and a Gentleman" where they went to Pearl Harbor. It all looked so poignant and romantic. Of course, that was television and I'm sure my experience will be more of an elbowing through tourists one, but anyway.....I'd decided watching TV that night that I wanted to go there, but knew I never would because the plane ride would be way too long. But, you know, I had to come to the realization that God is in control. He's going to take care of me and I need to stop worrying so much.

I'm reading Through Painted Deserts by Donald Miller (a great book, by the way) and on the cover is a quote that sums it all up for me.

"A reminder that life was meant to be lived, not just gotten through."

So, off I go, ready to live this experience.............

Stressed

2008-03-20T21:14:00.000-04:00

The reality of it all hit me this afternoon. I have a LOT to do before we leave. Too much. I'm in panic mode. I started packing my suitcase tonight and it definitely looks like someone with OCD has gotten hold of it. Everything is in a labeled ziplock bag. I've come to the conclusion that I'm so freaked about everything that's beyond my control (like that big ol' airplane I have to get on) that I'm way over-compensating by controlling the things I can way more than I should. I wish I got paid for the psychoanalysis I do on myself. Oh, and that pic on the floor has been sitting there for about a year. We should probably get around to putting the nail in the wall for that.

On a lighter note, I found a place where we can rent a motorcycle in Hawaii. I think we're going to do that instead of getting a car.

And...UK lost today :-(

Sorry, this has been a lame blog so far.

Then again, maybe I should take the surfer girl shirt back to Dick's

2008-03-19T23:03:00.000-04:00

This is what happened the last time I attempted a water sport. (I'm the one in the pink helmet.)

Mall of America, HERE I COME!!

2008-03-19T22:38:00.000-04:00

I ate lunch today with a woman who lives in Minneapolis and is commuting to where I work on a temporary basis. I told her when I think of Minneapolis, two things come to mind 1) The Mall of America and 2) Mary Tyler Moore. (Sometimes I say things out loud and then begin to wish I had a better inner dialogue.) Anyway, I figured she was pretty familiar with the Minneapolis airport and sought her advice because that’s where our layover is for 4 hours before we depart for Honolulu….and GUESS WHAT!!!! There is a tram from the airport to the Mall of America and it only takes 15 minutes to get there!!!! No doubt, I am riding that tram to the mall, taking a spin on the indoor roller coaster, and then heading straight back to the airport….Just to say I did. Beats waltzing around the airport gift shop for 4 hours, doesn’t it? Is it weird that I’m almost more excited about that than I am Hawaii??I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods after work to pick up gear for soccer practice on Monday (yes, Chris and I are playing on a soccer team…something I haven’t done since kindergarten). Our team is “See Blue” and we’re gonna be pretty awesome. Our first practice is Monday night, the night before we fly out, so I wanted to go ahead and get my shin guards. I was thinking about skipping the cleats b/c I’m cheap, but Dick’s has the coolest deal going…..You can get youth soccer cleats, a ball, shin guards, and socks for $39.99. And, since I have the smallest feet in the world for someone who is 5′7″, the kid shoes fit. Score!!!!

I then ventured over to the water sports section and, low and behold, there was a Body Glove wetsuit shirt thingy on sale. Now, never before in my life would I ever have a reason to get such a thing, but..........I want to take surfing lessons in Hawaii and I think the shirt would make me look like I know what I'm doing, so I got it too. I'm such a dork.

Thanks, Dicks!