Vacation Time!

We got up at 0800 Saturday morning and hit the pool.  It was windy and kind of cool, but we were still in swimming suits! We headed to the room at 10 for showers and grabbed a taxi to the aeroporto at 11.  This was the most calm, serene, and careful taxi driver in all of Mexico.  He drove the speed limit, used his turn signals, and slowed down in the construction zones.  Amazing! The hoards of people trying to get through the Delta line was impressive.  I thanked God we were not on THAT airline.  So did Sandy.  She did not want to wait with me in that line....mental note: do NOT fly Delta out of Cancun. We grabbed lunch at the Margaritaville in the airport and then killed time while waiting on our flight.  They boarded us an hour early and we took off ten minutes early.  Nice. While on the flight, a lady with an oxygen pump had a mechanical issue and her saturation level dropped to 72.  95-100 is normal; below 80 and your organs start to shut down.  So you can see we were in a

Sandy hit the pool at 10:30. It was clear, hot and packed. She moved to the sun deck. She came back up to retrieve me at 11:45 because she was hungry. We went next door and Sandy ordered a cheeseburger. Now the burger itself was huge, but so under done that not even I would have eaten it. They took it off our bill and apologized profusely. Back to the sun deck after lunch. It was hot and not long before I hit the beach for some more wave riding. The clouds came in about 2. We hung around for another hour or so and then took showers. We headed for the Capt's Cove for our last dinner. They were packed. Didn't matter much though as we had great food. We came back to the hotel and ordered key lime pie for both dessert and breakfast. We told our waiter what we were doing (hazing our children) so he gladly took photos for us. Caught up on email and watched some tube before checking out. My bag weighs 48# with all the stuff we bought down here - mostly vanilla. Not a single book was

Got up at usual time, but it was cloudy and quite windy out. We delayed heading to the pool until 11. Stayed an hour. Took lunch next door at Paco's Tacos. The sun came out after lunch, but the wind didn't let up. Suffice to say that neither of us got wet today - no pool, no ocean. It would have been too cool otherwise. I know, cry you a river. Poor Kathy and Shelby would have required sweatshirts. We left the sun deck a little after 3 and went to do the most stressful thing we've done all week - we painted ceramics. For two hours, we painted ceramics. Holy cow! I had no idea how poor the brushes would be. I mean it couldn't have been us. I challenge you - try to stay inside the lines. Stress. Thankfully, tonight was fajita night at the hotel. Nothing like a belly full of rum and fajitas to calm your nerves. We tried to catch the football game at the hotel bar. Problem is that it's on the NFL network and we could not get it. Fortunately though we lucked into Karaoke

We have lost all concept of space and time. Although this is a great place for that to happen. Not nearly as cloudy today. Hot. Very nice. At the pool before ten. Lunch was here. Date night is here for Italian Buffett. Sandy did take some photos on her Kindle and sent them to Kathy and Nick. Just hazing. So we're trying to figure out how to turn our weeklong vacation into a several months long vacation. We've considered selling body parts, but that's one and done. I mean how many kidneys can one person sell? Next on the list was prostitution. We figure if it took a quarter to travel around the world, we would not have enough to get out of the county if we had to rely on prostitution. Illegal drugs did not make the list because neither of us wants to go to a Mexican prison. I guess we'll just have wait until we hit the lotto. Until then, we have about three more Groundhog Days left to enjoy! And for my daughter who was worried about my pocket knife, it's safe at home

This morning, Sandy rolled over said, is it 8 o'clock yet? I said, it's 9:30. Bam. Daylight is wasting. She was at the pool before 10! We walked next door for lunch around Noon. Clouds and wind came in this afternoon, but good thing because it would have been really hot otherwise. The tile painters were here today, and it is their only day here. Shopping is done. We showered and walked back over to the Capt's Cove for dinner. Sandy had shrimp fettuccine and I had stuffed grouper. We ordered key lime pie to have for breakfast tomorrow. Sandy got a couple of rashes today on her shoulders and legs, but they did not last. No sun poisoning to date. Relaxing. I told our concierge that we eat when we're hungry and sleep when we're tired and those were our entire plans for the week. He wanted to vacation with us! More of the same tomorrow. Christmas lights at the hotel next door. Fresh rolls at the Capt's Cove. We ate some for Alex. Our view while we had dinner tonight

Ok. So we're on vacation. I really have no clue what day it is. Dave Porrill is celebrating tomorrow, not today. Sandy hit the pool at 8:30 this morning. I stayed away this morning as I got plenty of sun yesterday. She came back up for lunch at Noon. We went next door as the Welcome Party was today and we wanted to avoid the crowd. Clouds rolled in, but weather was pleasant. We stayed out until 4. I hit the beach and did some body surfing. And let me tell ya, this is a lot of body to surf. I judge the surf by distance and clothing to retrieve. I hit the sand twice and had to pull my suit back up. That's some good surfing! We ate dinner here at the hotel for Cajun Night. Food was excellent and Sandy had a drink for Leslie. I actually tried the Cajun meatloaf and then had two pieces of German Chocolate cake - it was so fluffy I almost died! Sandy took photos to verify and eventually to haze Shelby with. Then we went to old town and did the pub crawl home. Sandy was puking af

We slept for 12 hours last night even though I had to get up and turn the AC down (ie make it colder) as it was too hot to sleep. How many of you had that issue? Got up and ate snacks in the room for breakfast before heading pool side. We grabbed lunch at the restaurant here and then back to the pool. We stayed until about 3:30 when the clouds rolled in. Hit the room for showers and then to La Isla mall for shopping. While there it rained - really rained. No worries as we were indoors. Returned to the hotel and grabbed dinner here. Each night the restaurant has a theme for dinner. We have hit most themes but never had this one, BBQ. Sandy had steak, shrimp, and chicken kabobs. I had grouper in banana leaves. Back to the room to watch football. Repeat X 5 more days. Actually several channels in English to watch on TV - nice. Shout out to Dave and Ann Porrill who celebrate 25 years of marriage tomorrow. He and I are both fortunate to find women who would put up with us for a month, let a

Short night as we rolled south to Indy at 5:00 am Saturday. No issues checking in or boarding airplane. Direct flight on Frontier at 2 hours and 50 minutes. It took a very long time for our luggage to arrive, but at least it did. Grabbed a private taxi to hotel. Made it here at 11:20 am local, which is an hour behind Indiana. Check-in was not until Noon, so we hit the restaurant here at the hotel for lunch and then booked our room. Changed clothes and were poolside by 1 pm. It's 85 F and hardly a cloud in the sky. We both napped beside the pool. Sandy left a VM for Gramma Damnit and then called to speak with Kathy. She was to inform the rest of the crew that we are alive and well. Back to the room for showers and we walked to the Capt's Cove for dinner around 5. Took some photos to share with y'all and to prove that I brought my bride with me. Got football on TV, but doubting we're long for this world. It's a good day. The view from our balcony. Sun going down over

I don't know the temperature where you are right now, but here is the weather prediction for Cancun. T-Minus 6 days and counting....

We left Maui at 6:00 pm local, which is 11 pm Indiana time. We arrived in Dallas-Ft. Worth an hour early, so that meant we got to enjoy a 3 hour layover instead of just 2. We grabbed some food, if you can call it that, at McDonald's and watched the same stories on CNN's Headline news 3 times. We left DFW and landed in Indy at 11 am - 12 hours later, yuck!  But, we landed safely. We flew with Indy's Park & Fly - where we park our car at the service and call them upon our return. We were picked up and bused to our running (i.e. WARM) car.  It's like $10 / day, so really worth it during the cold climes. Although time will probably sooth our butts & backs from the LONG haul to Hawaii, we both agreed that we do NOT have to do that again.  Sure as we say that though, our kids and future grandkids will want to go sometime and will just HAVE to go back.  Darn the luck. Overall a nice trip.  We got to soak up a FEW rays as it rained all day for 4 straight days.

We will lose our internet connection once we leave today. None of the airport WIFI connections are free, so I will not be posting any more here until we reach cold, windy, and snow covered Indiana. We will call and/or text when we arrive in Indy. Should touch down around 11:30 am Thursday. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii

Got up this morning to, guess what, more rain. Sandy says that's 4 out of 7 days that it has rained on us. Not that we expect any sympathy from those of you in the wind, snow, and cold. It may be wet here, but it's still 70 degrees. We have to check out by Noon. On our way to return the rental Tahoe, we will drive around Kahului. All we've seen of that town has been the airport. Our flight leaves at 6 local tonight, which is 11 back home in Indiana. We've tried twice to upgrade our seats and have been told that the flight is full. They told us that on the way down too, and it was not. So we'll try again at the airport. First or business class beats coach all day (or in this case, night) long. From wet Maui, Aloha. Don't know if you can see the rain on the hand rail or not. But, you cannot see Molokai in the background - that's how cloudy and rainy it is. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii

Got up to rain and overcast today. Ate snacks in the room for breakfast and then headed for the mall in Lahaina to complete our shopping lists. Drove north almost to Kapalua. Stopped in Puukolii, Honokowai, Kahana, and Napili. Just checked out the towns and local shops. Decided that we did not want to retire here on Maui because it's just too darn far to fly. Ate lunch at a small beef house. They made their own root beer from pure cane sugar and vanilla. Pretty tasty. Returned to the hotel and it's still raining. Read books and watched movies. Our mantra has become, "At least it's not snow!" Walked back up to Basil Tomato for dinner. We want to thank our parents because this was our anniversary dinner that they paid for. So Barb, Jerry, Janet, and Bill - it was expensive, but worth it! Thanks! We stopped at the local ice cream shop downstairs for dessert. Although we got different flavors, we each thought our own was the best. Typical. Texted back and forth with T

The rain stayed overnight. Slept in til 9 this morning. Headed down to ole town Lahaina. Spent about 3 hours shopping and then ate at local Cheeseburger in Paradise. Close to the harbors in Alaska or Main Street in Brown County. Neat local shops with some brand names thrown in. Back to hotel to put on suits. In between sprinkles sat at the pool to catch some rays. In and out trying to avoid sprinkles. Changed and walked to Basil Tomato for dinner. Made the half price special. Good timing as it poured while we ate. Back to the room to catch up on email and ESPN. We had purchased gifts but are now considering returning Nick's. He and his mother were sending hazing text messages and she got one that I had to reply to. No words, just a picture of my grill full of venison steaks and my beer in Nick's hand. Oh well, I'm still winning. I posted an update today on Facebook. A picture out our window on the way down to the pool. Steve Beaver replied, "Shut up!" and Tim Jone

We were in section J, row 28, seats 7 & 8 - which means lower level orange section, on the yellow/gray sideline toward the 30 yard line at yellow end zone. We were on the W side of the stadium, so that all action faced us. Introductions lasted forever, but overall well done. Not as flawless as The Queen's Theatre production of Phantom of the Opera, but still not bad for a sporting event. And yes, the rain kept coming. Rule changes made kick-offs a thing of the past, the ball started on the 25. Also, 2 minute time outs at each quarter and those quarters functioned as halves. The players were having fun and the crowd appreciated it. Plus the stadium is an awesome location / venue for football. Knowing that it was going to rain all day, we should have gone upper deck and been covered. Oh well. We took a couple time-outs ourselves and hid on the concourse when the rain got heavy. We were wet to our underwear. But hey, at least it wasn't snow! Props to my wife who suggested we b

Landed at noon and grabbed a taxi. Airport to Aloha Stadium is like 2 whole miles. The first mile on HI 1 was no problem. As soon as we exited the highway - Bam! Gridlock. Enough that it made the news for shutting down the city. Lucky for us our cabby Kenny Lao from Hong Kong was not capable of being quiet for 2 seconds. What do you want to know about his life? Go ahead, we can answer. I looked up the address of the stadium and Kenny punched that into his GPS. He pulled out into the turn lane, bypassed about 50 cars and then jumped back into line. He then took a side street and got us to within about a block of the entrance. $40 and an hour later, we got out. We walked past about 45,000 tailgaters and into gate 5. Oh, backpacks are not allowed. Have to put everything in a clear bag. Oh, we're all out of clear bags. Go put it in your car. What? Your car is on Maui. Too bad. I guess we should have read the rules... I emptied my contents into Sandy's purse and my pockets. I walked

Got up at 7 his morning and took showers. Drove down to Lulu's in Lahaina for breakfast. I had the Waikikian omelette (ham and pineapple) and Sandy had hash browns and a roll. Stopped along Highway 30 lookout and took photos of whales. Then drove on into the airport. Stopped along a sugar cane field to take some Magnum PI pictures on the cell phone and text to Family, especially Nick - as I was rein acting his favorite scene. Flight rolled at 11:30. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Kaanapali, Maui, Hawaii

Got up early this morning, like 4:30 because I forgot to set my phone to silent. Seems folks were wishing me a happy 46th birthday REAL early. Many thanks, but turned it off. Headed to the airport and hopped over to the big island - landing in Hilo. Trent and Chris picked us up at the airport and we hit the market for breakfast and shopping. Drove up to Volcano National Park and did some hiking. Walked through a lava tube, and yes, even Sandy went in. Back to The Lava House for a late lunch before catching the 5:30 shuttle back to Maui. Stopped for dinner at Lulu's in Lahaina. Awesome eats. It's 8:30 and we're catching up on Sports Center before crashing. Heading over to Oahu for the Pro Bowl in the morning. Some photos from Volcano Nat'l Park. Top of the crater - world's largest active volcano. No, you can't go down there. Entering the lava tube. Rain Forrest all around. Trent spotted native birds. Sandy and Trent in the lava tube. Wet and dark. Lower cauldron

Up at 7:30 to a sweeper in the hallway. Got dressed and drove back to Lulu's in Lahaina for breakfast. The wind has all but stopped. Thus, it feels warmer. I don't reckon we're gonna get any sympathy, but the pool and ocean waters are quite chilly. That's okay. Quite refreshing when we overheat from the sun. Very few cloud buddies to provide any relief. Sat down to lunch here at the resort. While we were eating, we saw dozens of whales swimming by - from blow spouts, to tails, to full body jumps. We didn't even have to pay to go on a whale watching tour. Sat out in the sun until about 4. Came back up to shower and then headed out to take sunset photos. Walked up the beach, past the golf course, and ate dinner outside at the Basil Tomato again. A few things to note about Hawaii: 1) the service people here are exceptionally nice - all around, very pleasant; and 2) the drinks are stronger than what I make - two is the limit without having to be carried back to the roo

Got up at 7:30 am local, which is 12:30 pm at home. Drove down to Lulu's in Lahaina for a wonderful breakfast. Did some shopping and stocked up our room fridge with snacks and drinks. Returned to the resort and did a self walking tour. Not a lot to see. There is a tennis tournament here - one step below professional. Nice place to play tennis. Spent the afternoon by the pool and beach soaking up the sun. Ate lunch at the resort. Drank a local Maui brew - coconut porter. Sandy said it looked like a coke because it was that dark. Took showers and headed back into Lahaina for dinner. Had to fight the crowds as there are two luau's tonight. Ate at a local restaurant, Honu - pronounced oh no. I had spinich and shrimp brick oven pizza. Sandy ordered the dungeoness crab macaroni and cheese. Unique and interesting. Trent texted. He has arrived in Hilo and we are meeting up on Saturday. Weather has been cool for the locals. Sun does not come up over the mts until about 8 am. Did reach

Wow...what a long flight! We left home at 5:30 am and -10 F. Checked in at Indy and plane had an engine deicing malfunction. Sat an extra hour on the Tarmac. Made Dallas/FW with 40 mins to switch gates, eat and board again. Then we sat for 9 more hours. Smooth flight but fought the head winds. Roller coaster ride coming into Maui over the mts. Arrived in Maui at 5:00 pm local, 5 hours behind Indiana time. Best news so far? Our luggage made it too. Picked up a rental Tahoe at Hertz and drove to the West end of Maui, North of Lahaina to our resort, the Royal Lahaina in Kaanapali. Private / gated resort on a golf course on the beach. We walked down the street to the Basil Tomato for dinner and ate on the open balcony across from the #5 tee box. Excellent Italian food. We will be eating there again. Although it's 73 here, it is Winter. Most of the locals are wearing jackets. We find it very comfortable. We hit the bed at 9 local, almost 2 am at home, making one long 21 hour day. Wh

Got up to -10 F this morning. Shivering on the bus to the airport in our light jackets; which in the next 12 hours will become a heat laden burden. It's winter in Hawaii and we're looking forward to the 80 degree sunshine. The 9 hours on a plane? Not so much. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad Location: Airport, Indianapolis, United States

Taking off for a week and heading out to Hawaii.  Wife and I are staying on Maui and then island hopping over to watch the NFL Pro Bowl live! Nick and Shelby are staying at the house to care for the pets, but the real bonus is getting out of this below freezing weather and S-N-O-W for a week. Will be keeping this blog updated while out.  Feel free to lurk, leave comments, or not.