Apr 7, 2013 - Adios Cancun, Aloha Hawaii

While we only had six nights at Cancun, we can see why it is a popular spot for not only US college students but also for Americans generally. The beach is so beautiful and everywhere you look is postcard perfect. Most of the resorts also offer amazing all inclusive food and beverage packages so technically you never need to leave the resort. Especially at this time of year when so many parts of North America are still experiencing very cold temperatures after a long winter who wouldn't want to escape to Cancun for some fun in the sun. We...

Mar 9, 2013 - Aloha Hawaii

We left Australia at 1800hr and nine hours later arrive in Hawaii at 0645hr. It's almost like time travel arriving in Honolulu before the time we departed Sydney! We had a very easy 9hr+ flight to Honolulu, except for the fact that my seat console was malfunctioning and so it was continually calling for service as well as turning my reading light on and off. The staff were able to disable the call button but not the light. They did however give us some eye-masks for our troubles. Our hotel transfer was at the airport waiting for us, which...

Jan 14, 2013 - All Good Things Must Come To An End

Sadly, today was the final day of our wonderful trip. We took it very easy and spent the morning relaxing on the beach. The boys hired surfboards, and had a lot of fun on them. There was a big downpour of rain, and I came back across the road to the hotel, while the boys kept surfing. We then headed downtown for some lunch, then back to the beach for the boys in the late afternoon while I started packing. We had a lovely Chinese meal for dinner and a last wander around the shops. When we talked around the table tonight, we all tried to give...

Jan 13, 2013 - Pearl Harbour and the North Shore

We hired a car early this morning and drove to Pearl Harbour. This was a very moving experience, and watching the historical movie, and taking the boat ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial was very educational and interesting. This was much better than we expected. We then cut back across the island, on the H3 freeway, and drove along the beautiful coast road (Highway 83) to the North Shore. The scenery was amazing, with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Our first stop was Kahuku, which is renowned for its shrimp (prawn)...

Jan 12, 2013 - Ala Moana and Tanaka

When we woke up this morning, we were greeted by a gorgeous rainbow for our view. Stu and I woke before the boys and went across the road to the beach for an early morning swim. It was really beautiful and quiet. We then came home, and cooked up some breakfast before we headed to Ala Moana Shopping Centre for a few hours. Everyone had some success shopping again, although it is a very long process shopping with six people. The boys left me to my own devices for a couple of hours, and they ran into a friend of ours from home, Krista Oates....

Jan 11, 2013 - Aloha

After an all night flight, we landed at Honolulu at 5.30am. It was lovely to be greeted with leis as we got off the plane. Most of us had gotten quite a good amount of sleep throughout the night. We checked into our hotel, and in true style of just how great everything has been on this trip, we found out we had been upgraded to the Penthouse! After the long elevator journey, up 39 floors we arrived at our room and the view was just beautiful. Not only of the beach, which is directly across the road from the hotel, but also of the golf...

Jan 10, 2013 - Honolulu

Aloha from Hawaii :) The weather during our week here has been fine but with showery spells, however the temps have been in the mid 20’s which Warren is extremely pleased about as he has been able to dust off his shorts and jandals. The downside has been my back getting progressively worse, and despite seeking some acupuncture and a massage, it wasn’t getting any better. As the pain was unbearable and any movement had me screaming in agony we had no choice but to go to the Emergency Department at the hospital. We spent 5hrs there and they...

Dec 31, 2012 - Samana, Dominican Republic

Went with Mom, Dad, Janet, Aaron, Mrs. Brady, Emily & Bob Koplar Stayed at Sublime Samana Tuesday, December 26: arrived, ate at resort Wednesday: Mrs. Brady and Koplars arrive, hung out on beach, went to Las Terrenas to go shopping, ate at Chez Sandro Thursday: walked across beach to The Peninsula Hotel, Janet made tacos for dinner Friday: horseback riding in morning, massage in afternoon, dinner at hotel Saturday: home sick (everyone else went boating on beach), Koplars made spaghetti bolognese Sunday: hung out by pool, ate at...

Nov 11, 2012 - Aloha ... Hawaii Honolulu et Maui

Honolulu Hawaï Dimanche le 11 novembre, Après un vol de 8h45 avec la compagnie New Zealand Airlines, nous arrivons le 10 novembre à Honolulu. Il est 20 heures et une température chaude nous accueille. ALOHA !!! Nous avons 5 heures de décalage horaire avec Montréal dont la nuit est bien débutée. Nous prenons un taxi vers l'hôtel qui est à une rue de la plage waikiki. Le but du voyage à Hawaï est principalement de se reposer des derniers mois qui ont été très enrichissants, formateurs et riches en expérience. Le journal est volontairement...

Oct 8, 2012 - Trans-Pacific Journey Day 9

Monday, October 8, 2012 The m/s Oosterdam entered the harbor in Honolulu at about 6:30am this morning. There was a heavy mist in the air. I was hoping for a spectacular sunrise over Diamond Head…but we were past sight of Diamond Head by sunrise. We docked at the pier at the Aloha Tower at 7am. After breakfast, our priority was to find a wireless internet connection to do some banking and so I could work on this journal and get it launched today. We found a Starbucks close-by and spent about an hour there. The highlight of our day was...

May 16, 2012 - Mothers Day Weekend

ALOHA ALL: MOTHERS DAY at Mardon Lake with Mike/Pam family. We had talked to Mike a few days prior to our arrival to find that he had relocated from a small ranch on the outskirts of Moses Lake with 3 horses to managing a small 14 stall RV Park name Last Resort on Mardon Lake, about 23 miles from Moses Lake, over the O'Sullivan Dam causeway. They have 3B/2B manufactured homw in a lovely setting. I enjoyed getting up early 5:15AM for the sunrise casting its rosy glow over the lake. They had planned for us to accompany Mike/Pat to UPWARD...

May 16, 2012 - Back On Amtrak To Msp

ALOHA ALL: After such high octane weekend, we drove back to Spokane to turn in our car by 1PM and found that we had to wait for the ticket office to open at 10PM-that was a tedious wait with all our baggage. The train departed on sked at 1:30AM with a welcome reclinging seat with leg/foot rests. THe night was quiet but the morning OMG! it was Glacier National Park for a full 2 hrs. SPECTACULAR snow capped mountains-see how I get excited to see snow! These were the barrier to the settlers heading to OR--WA. THey had to have terrific guides...