Hawaii - Day #2

Well, this photo is actually from the flight into Honolulu...

International Market at Waikiki with a cool tree...

Waikiki Beach that we didn't enjoy...

It's 9pm, and we just checked into a hotel for the night. Earlier today, we visited 8 Shopping Centers, and we've completed the Waikiki Shopping street which seemed endless. My feet are thanking me for that.

We have our first watch order in Hawaii submitted (wohoo--success!), and several potential stores, we hope (still need to reach the owner/buyer)...

We can't wait to finish Honolulu. We do NOT like cities! Yuck!

We're hoping to camp for the next few nights. We shall see...

On a different note, it rained on and off today. Cloudy skies made us happy, and the cool rain kept us from passing out on the sidewalks. I think we're probably the only tourists in Hawaii that are excited to see it overcast and rainy!

P.S.

1am (why am I still awake?): My voice is gone. I carried a nasty cold (from Maiya) with me on the plane, and it is getting progressively worse. I hope I still have a voice tomorrow...otherwise tomorrow might be a forced vacation!

Hawaii - Day #1

Flew into Honolulu on a fantastic plane. Each seat had an individual TV console with New Release movies, TV, and even music options. Plugged in my uncomfortable iPod ear pods, and watched 2 1/2 movies (does anyone find those pods comfortable? They kill my ears). Jared watched movies he's been wanting to see (but I don't want to)...Transformers and Terminator. I watched 4 Christmases, 1/2 of 300 Days of Summer, and really loved "My Sister's Keeper." I tried to hide the fact that I was crying over that movie on the plane...

Upon landing, my stomach lost it without any warning. I was frantically wondering where the barf bag was, but was convinced that if I began to look for it, I would DEFINITELY lose it. Tried to focus on the movie instead. Survived...just barely.

Landed, picked up luggage, and took a shuttle bus to "Budget" to pick up our car. Jared waited in line, and I paced and paced, trying to get rid of the motion sickness. When Jared finally got to the front of the line, I handed him the confirmation page, which he handed to the agent. She handed it back...it was for ALAMO.

On to a shuttle bus for Alamo...got a great car for an unbeatable price, and searched out food. Jared ate, and I worriedly ate a bit.

Next, went searching for camping up on the mountain top (the closest National Park). Arrived at said-camping park, but discovered that camping isn't allowed (we didn't have a permit, anyways...which you have to do in advance at a designated office)...but we saw about 20 stray cats running through the small park. And a wild hog. New park name is the "Ditch-your-cat park."

Went looking for a place to sleep, but before we made it down the mountain, I made Jared pull over at a gas station so I could puke my brains out. Luckily he pulled to the side of the station, instead of the parking lot. Puked in private after 3 hours of misery. Felt much better.

Continued on hunt to downtown Waikiki. Completely overwhelmed with endless shops, and more endless shops, and more endless shops. Did I bring enough business cards?

Found a cheap hotel, but pulled in and discovered they have a $15.70 parking fee (gratuity not included). WHAT?! Pulled out. Found a hostel with only $5 parking fee. Checked in, and crashed by 7:30 while Jared researched Hawaii on the computer for several hours.

Woke up at 5am, rearing to go. Decided to let Jared keep sleeping. Woke up again at 7am...showered in a cool shower (a relief from the heat and humidity)...and ready for a great day!

Traveling...

We have been "on the road" for a month, already. The girls have been good sports, for the most part. This is the best part of the day, however:

Maiya broke into my makeup bag...

This is how we travel in to hotels...it is so much easier to control the temperature in a room when we use our reliable and predicatable heater, instead of the hotel's system....

Swimming at our hotel in West Yellowstone....

Fortunes...

Well, we're off to Hawaii for 2 weeks (without the kids--thanks to my sister and Mom in Utah!) for a working vacation, so it seems our fortunes are already coming true!

Ella quotes...

When discussing what email is with my 4 1/2 year old tonight, she asked "When you die, do I get your computer?"

Hmm...I'm hoping by the time I die, my computer will be obsolete...

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Also tonight, I said to Ella, "Wow...someday you're going to be a TEENAGER." She said, "No! I'm going to be a Walk-A-Dog!"

My thought: What the HECK is a Walk-A-Dog?
Jared said, "Is that your Native name?"

Just another day in Washington...

So, after our long trek to the Oregon Coast (maybe I'll post on that later...first I have to find some necessary camera cords, since the photos got saved to the internal memory of the camera)...we went to Washington State!!

We generally did nothing (because we all go the flu within a week's time), but one night when most of us were feeling well, we escaped to the local hardware store. Sometimes I can find it easy to forget that Jared grew up on a farm, and did crazy things like shoot the birds with a BB gun, and jump on bloated dead cows...umm...yeah.

Well, as we were walking through the store, the in-laws began to give me some lessons on farming. I couldn't resist capturing the moment.

Robert (on left) is holding a giant magnet (and magnet thruster) that you push down a cow's throat. That magnet collects barb wire in the cow's stomach, just in case they swallow some (i.e. if their hay stacks are wrapped in it...the old fashioned way). Yum.

Jared is holding a cauterizing tools (for cows). Oh, he's told me all about this before, but to see the tools in person...WOW. You should have seen Jared and Robert's excitement as they told me about the cutter and rubber bands.

Ella is holding a horse shoe and horse shoe hammer.

And Marilyn is holding a bottle to feed calves with!

Jared and decided we'd make some dang-good ranchers!

And we did a corn maze with the kiddos and Jared's parents!

And we lived through an ice storm.

Okay, not really. Robert decided to run the sprinkler on the night of the first freeze.
Hmmm...