March 2, Monday

AA4811 flight at 9:48. We left the Marriott about 6:40, arrived at the airport (after the people mover) and grabbed a quick breakfast. Our flight was delayed until about 10:10 departure and we were at STG airport right around noon. All good, a fast trip!

March 1, Sunday

We are catching up with Patie and Jaime at 9 o’clock for brunch and then the ball game, Dodgers vs Angels!

Breakfast was at Hope’s Brunch House in Phoenix. It was pretty good, lots of variety. We headed to the ballfield and arrived around 11:30 am, the filed opened at 12:05, 1 hour before the game start.

We asked Doug and Lauren to meet us at the main entrance behind home plate. They entered through the center field entrance. Why they could’nt make their way to where we asked is a mystery. I had to walk around the entire field to pass the tickets through the fence. NEXT TIME, everyone is responsible for their OWN TICKETS. Dodgers 4-3 over the Angels. We were seated in the 106 section, along first base (and the visiting team, I guess). It was in the shade and HIGHLY recommended for future location.

The 6 of us were headed to Peoria, a restaurant row that Doug and Lauren recommended. With it being Patie’s actual birthday, she picked PF Chang, it was pretty good.

We dropped off the Cervantes’ at their timeshare condo at the Legacy Golf Course and called it a night.

February 28, Saturday

Breakfast at the Daily Dose, again.

Phoenix hosts a Renaissance Medieval Faire, we are headed there today. Arrived around 1pm, traffic was nuts. We had Theo, Lauren’s nephew too. He is a cutie and did quite well. We bailed about 4:30 pm and headed back to the hotel area.

We were headed to PF Chang, but deviated to Talking Stick, up the 101. A little entertainment and dinner. We had hoped for some Chinese, but ended up at a Mexican taco place. It was pretty bad.

We made it back to the hotel and found a place for tomorrow.

The Dodgers play the Angels tomorrow 1:05 PM.

February 27, Friday

Everyone doing their own thing this morning. We headed to the Daily Dose, a breakfast place on Scottsdale Blvd. It is nice to be close to old downtown, but it is a little crowded, especially with the amazing weather. Amazing breakfast, huevos rancheros and banana bread french toast! A do-over for sure.

Saw Doug’s newcBlackwing Cadillac, had lunch at the Tamale Store and headed to Carry On, the speakeasy in downtown Phoenix. A cute place, classy cocktails. It is themed as a airliner travelling internationally, we travelled from New York to Tokyo.

Dinner was at Bourbon and Bones, a steak and bourbon place on Scottsdale Blvd, right next to the Marriott. Yummy steaks, huge portions, plates to share. Amazing wines and, obviously bourbon selections.

February 26, Thursday

Game day at Camelback. Dodgers vs Chicago White Sox.

Blustering 90°> game day. We carpooled with Jamie and Patie after breakfast at the Morning Squeeze up on Scottsdale Rd. Mediocre heat, blah food, plus a wait because the cooking staff was understaffed. That, should have been a clue.

Game was great, hot in-the-sun seats. Doug and Lauren passed on this game but will join us on Sunday. 7-6 victory, go Dodgers!

On the return, through rush hour traffic, we had dinner at Loco Patron mediocre food at best. We had to ASK for chips. Pass on this one!

February 25, Wednesday

Flew into PHX from SGU, flight leaving at 12:15 on AA4812. Navigation problem on the plane inbound from PHX, delayed until 4pm. Had lunch at Silver Reef brewery, didn’t disappoint.

Arrived safely but late and headed directly to Pasta Brioni in Scottsdale and met up with Doug and Lauren. Good food and wine.

Checked into the Marriott Scottsdale Downtown. Nice suite, tired hotel.

Saturday, December 20

Up at 7am, buffet breakfast at 8 and off to the airport by 9am. We were done with baggage checkin, security, and passport control by 9:45. A very efficient system, or we were extra early or both.

We are flying out of Terminal 2, Gate D10 for a 12:25 departure. We should arrive about 2:15 pm today!

We were both pretty much exhausted and the food on the plane was not the most appealing, oh well. A long 10 hour flight and we arrived at 11:24 pm AMS time or 2:24 MST. Passport control was super quick with the Global Access cards and Customs was a breeze as well.

We were home by 7:00 or so and getting ready for bed by 8pm. I calculate that to be a 22 hour awake day.

Takeaways:

• Markets on the weekends are extremely crowded
• Make sure you dress in layers
• SilverSeas package really not required
• The Veranda Suite AA room is well worth the upgrade, even if you don’t use the balcony because of the cold.
• If you need snacks during the day, bring them. The galleys are closed except for meal times.
• Walking can be extensive, think about being in the L (leisure) group.
• The Marriott Sheraton AMS Airport hotel is literally in the airport. A great and convenient way to fly out of, no shuttle required. You walk 5 minutes to the terminal.

Friday, December 19

8 am suitcases out for a 9 am tax departure to the Sheraton Airport hotel. One last breakfast, we passed out our gratuities to Lawrence, our stateroom attendant, Vukacin and Eric, our restaurant stewards, and Rofi and Alexandra, our lounge attendants. They all worked tirelessly to keep us clean, fed and watered, an amazing staff!

The room at the Sheraton was ready, amazingly and we walked over to Shiphol airport to get our bearing for tomorrow’s KLM635 departure, should be easy. This is a great hotel to depart from, literally you walk to the airport entrance. We walked to the airport gate to get a lay of the land.

The driver of the taxi service, Mounir, (mounir1095@gmail.com) mentioned a tour to a cheese farm and fishing village that he ran. He convinced us to spend our last day out, instead of in the hotel. We booked a nice private trip for 1:30 and we were on our way to Simonehouve for the cheese and Volendam for the peppernuts cookies, poffertjes (mini pancakes) and fishing village. Very quiet, clean and picturesque town, easily worth a day trip to explore the shops, bakeries and restaurants. It reminded me of an upscale Solvang.

A nice sunset, finally, to boot, tomorrow a long day. It will be good to be home.

Dinner in the hotel, basic faire, nothing really appealing.

Thursday, December 18

A down day for me, feeling a cold/cough coming on. I had no energy for the last walkabout. Dordrecht, Netherlands will wait for another trip.

Mark found me some dry cough tablets and some Ricola cough drops. One more day to go.

With the excursions in the afternoon, why cut off breakfast at 9:30 is a mystery. So much for sleeping in, folks said. A brunch would be much better and accommodating. Oh well.

We better find hot chocolate and the glühwein tomorrow!

Wednesday, December 17

We arrive in Cologne right after breakfast. The highlight today is the Cologne Cathedral.

Our tour left about 9:30 am, and the boat is parked across the river. It was a 0.8 mile trek to the Cathedral (1.6 mile total) before the city tour started.

The tour of the Cologne Cathedral and the 3 Christmas Markets was pretty cool, if we hadn’t walked from across the river, the enjoyment would have been even higher. My highlight was the relics of the 3 Magi in the rear of the church. There was a ‘monument’ from the triple sarcophagus that could be touched, way cool.

After the tour, we had lunch at Früh, a local brewery/restaurant. Delicious hunter schnitzel, best I’ve had in a while!

We retraced our steps and did all 3 Christmas Markets one last time. No more for the remainder of the voyage.

Dinner, at 7pm, was ok. I think we are getting ‘food-id’ out, I am for sure.

Tomorrow, we cruise and arrive at Dordrecht, in the Netherlands. We are starting to wind down.

Tuesday, December 16

A slow morning, halleluia. Breakfast, then cruise viewing. But, the weather is cold and foggy on our journey to the port of Koblenz, Germany.

The mid Rhine river section reveals castles on both sides of the river as we sailed down river to Koblenz. Beautiful scenery!

Lunch onboard and our walking tour began about 2:15. There will be no more bus rides for our tours as we wrap up the trip. There are 7 Christmas markets and we discovered 3. Sandy is about shopped out. We visited the Church of Our Lady where we found a painting of St. Nicolas, the Sinterklaas chase we were after for the girls.

The weather today was better, but it does get cold as soon as the sun goes down. Back on board by about 4:30, with dinner at 7. We are still not adjusted to later dinner meals.

Monday, December 15

We have 3 stops today. We arrive in Mannheim, tour the Christmas markets, the boat moves to Mainz, and we re-board to our port of Rüdesheim.

Off we went at our 9:15 bus ride to the 15 minute center of town trip. Again, lots of Viking folks and we had the guide with us until 10:45 or so. The markets don’t open until 11am, so I can’t figure out why they drag us out before the markets open. She took us to the high end shops as a delay. This is worth a comment on the evaluation. It has been true throughout the Christmas markets we’ve visited. Sandy found a shoulder purse in one of the stores on the boulevard. Beware pickpockets!

Back to the bus for an hour’s drive to Mainz. The boat had floated ahead and picked us up, I guess to speed up the float down to Rüdesheim.

We arrived in the city right on time. The Christmas marketplace is a walkable pier to town stroll, much more refreshing. Dinner was at 7pm, so we had to visit the town before. It was cool and dark, but this market was the best so far, IMHO.

Dinner was with a new group, 2 sisters and another couple from South Carolina. Toni and Mark were off to their monastery wine tasting and dinner extravaganza! Great dinner conversations.

A nice slow morning tomorrow, we float down the middle Rhine with castle views beginning at 9:10.

Sunday, December 14

Strasbourgh, the Christmas capital of France.

Four Viking boats are tied up here in the port on the river. A leisure breakfast today, woke up about 6am, maybe we are adapting. Instead of the menu, we both ordered from the egg station.

We met our 9:20 departure bus for trip to the inner city. The city was interesting and compact, conquered by the French and German people many times over history.

The central focus of the city is the Cathedral of Notre Dame, beautiful architecture. The weather is cold and foggy again, not prime for photos.

The Christmas Markets are blending together, the more crowded areas are around the food vendors. We were back on board around 1pm for lunch.

We passed on the afternoon 2:50 excursion to Gegenbach. Too much walking and cold and lots of people = our 1 excursion per day limit.

Dinner was German-themed, sausages and schnitzel and snapps. So-so, I missed the real-deal gravy of Thomas’ Euro RV trips.

We seemed to be sailing a lot over the evening, kinda odd.

Saturday, December 13

We tossed and turned all night but managed to sleep through until 8am. Breakfast was done at 9:30, but we snuck in. Pancakes, 3 tiny, were delicious from the menu. I went back to the breakfast buffet for the normal stuff. Tip, forget the fixed menu, stand in line for the omelette station. Sandy’s egg benedict was just that, one egg.

Our tour for today at 2:15 was the Christmas Market in Freiburg. The morning time was for a quick walk into Breisach and see the sites. The Christmas Market was not found, the flower mart and farmer’s market were disappointing. The weather did not cooperate either, cold and foggy.

Our bus trip into Freiburg for the Yuletide Market and organ concert was super packed. A Saturday Christmas Market and we were in a mosh pit, most uncomfortable. We arrived at the bus barn about 3:30, missed the concert because of the walking to the market. There are several wings through out the downtown area and we couldn’t shop comfortably. There was a scuffle, which didn’t sit well, someone yelled ‘pickpocket’

It was cold and foggy and out gathering time of 5:15 couldn’t come fast enough. A nice bus ride back in the dark and dinner at 7:30. They eat late, because of the excursions. There is one seating for all 200 or so of us. A little vodka shot was awaiting our return on the gangplank.

Dinner was ok, I had the ‘potroast’ prime rib and Sandy had the chicken. The Gnarly Head cabernet, on our Silver spirit package was quite good. Mark and Toni had boarded earlier from their tour, so we had a nice gathering for dinner.

Tomorrow, 2 4 hour tours, we’ll see how that goes! Sleepy time about 11pm and a wake up alarm about 7am, ouch.

Friday, December 12

Not a good night sleep. Woke up early and hit the road. Taxi to the airport at 6:30.

Flight KLM1943 was pretty much on time, we were shuttled to the City Hopper area on the tarmac to board our flight to Basel.

Arrived at the Basel airport, met with Viking staff and escorted to our bus for the trip to the Viking Eistle. There are 3 Viking ships in Basel loading today. The Eistle, the Vili and the ? Lunch on board waiting for us and the room, 316 was ready. As ae had lunch, Mark and Toni came down the gangway and joined us.

We had an included Basel city tour scheduled, but we blew it off and spent the afternoon unpacking and relaxing through dinner. The Angus rib eye steak was so-so.

Thursday, December 11

A nice leisurely breakfast in the M Lounge, a good spread. Douwe Egbert Nespresso machine in room 721 is a life saver.

Christmas Market in the Museumplein for the afternoon. It was a short walk, and the Market was so-so. Lots of food and trinket vendors, the authentic pork frankfurter was small for the price, even though it looked huge on the grill.

We had the Festival of Lights at 5pm, a 90 minute tour, so we time for a quick rest and bite at the hotel. We used the Tram to get to the boat launch, the Stan Hugyens awaited. The tour included an open bar and the Tempranillo was pretty good. Tram in reverse back to the hotel.

An early morning 9am flight tomorrow from Amsterdam to Basel, 1:20 or so, then transfer to the Viking Eistla. Our stateroom is 316.

Wednesday, December 10

Arrived right on time. Customs took about 15 minutes, no issues and luggage was waiting after. We stepped out, took a taxi (50€) to the Marriott Central and room was ready. We were unpacking by 12:30 or so.

Mark and Toni were in the lobby and we caught up for a bit and a lunch bite at a local pub around the corner. Public transportation is huge and very efficient.

We are taking a Pure Boats boat tour of the Festival of Lights tomorrow. Mark and Toni did it yesterday, it includes a wine and cheese cruise. We hopped on the tram and wandered over to the pickup location for tomorrow’s voyage.

Back to the hotel for happy hour and then the M Lounge for munchies. By 5pm I was fading, but got a recharge and we both made it off to bed by 8pm.

Tuesday, December 9

Off we go! We left about 12 noon for our 4pm KLM636 flight to Amsterdam. We should arrive around 11am tomorrow, Wednesday.

Arrived at LAS about 1:45, we are clear on the east side of Terminal 3, between pillar 29-28 in spot 31. Sky Priority of KLM636 was quick and painless, 17.6 and 17.4 kg per suitcase. Clear and TSA Pre were quick as well. We are in The Club at LAS lounge awaiting boarding at gate E3, 3:30 pm for a 4:05 flight. Took off about 4:40, but captain mentioned a tail wind.

Tuesday, November 25

Packed up and got a 9am or so start. Fog in the morning, but not nearly as dense as yesterday. Cool photos from the room. We had breakfast at the Blue Coffee Pot restaurant in Kayenta, good eats.

Drove through to Page, shopped at the Safeway for Thanksgiving and adult drink beverage supplies. Next stop was Kanab for a quick Mikey-Dees and a potty stop at Bee’s in Colorado City.

The drive was much more picturesque on the way back, nice to see what you are driving through!

About 650 miles or so, round trip.

Monday, November 24 – Happy Birthday!

Solid fog early in the morning. Our room package included a breakfast buffet, marginal at best. The fog wasn’t lifting. I though for sure, by 10am.

We headed over to the blue pickup point and Lorraine Bagay was ready to go. Off we went and we couldn’t see a thing, everything we knew was there, wasn’t. She recommended to the park superintendent that they close it, until the fog lifted.

By 10:30, Lorraine suggested we turn around and reschedule for later in the day, since we were staying one more night. I had thought of asking, but she volunteered first. We picked 2:00 pm. With a little time to kill, we drove back to Forest Gump to see the opportunities, not much better, so we headed back. The fog was still pretty stubborn in the park, but on highway 163, there were some cool photo ops.

Lunch back at Goulding’s, right before a tour bus arrived and then it was 2pm time. The fog was definitely burning off.

We had booked the extra loop, the 2.5 hour trip, and it was amazing. The colors and shadows were growing in places, but the views were amazing and Lorraine was a fount of knowledge. We were done by 4:30 or so. Pizza at the Goulding’s gas station was the birthday celebration, not so good but the fare is limited there in Monument Valley. A nice slow evening watching Apple TV.

Sunday, November 23

Wandered around and got ready to take off. Where is my wallet? Long story, short, at Fiesta Mexicana! After panicking around for a while, I drove over around 7:30 am to the restaurant, hoping someone would be there, but it was locked up. Cold and drizzly weather forecast too, groan.

I finally remembered that the Apple wallet tag was in my wallet, turned on Find My, Devices and there it was, beaconing at me from the restaurant.

Breakfast was at the Rustic Thistle, the chicken fried steak (we split it) was the best I’ve ever had, super light and yummy, highly recommended.

10:30 back to the restaurant (it opened at 11am) and a manager was just arriving. I asked about my wallet and he promptly brought it out. All was intact and we gave him/the worker who turned it it/ a small reward. Whew!

Drove highway 98 to highway 160 to 163. I had hoped to do Moki Dugway, Mexican Hat and then the Forest Gump Point, but the weather did not cooperate. We drove to the Hat Rock Inn on the San Juan river, stopped at Mexican Hat for photo ops and finally Forest Gump Point. Got the photo op, but the clouds were low and obscured part of the Monument Valley. Oh well.

Continued on to the View Hotel for our 2 night reservations. I remember a ‘obscured’ view room, but room 111 was great. It would have been better to be on the 3rd floor, but the hotel has no elevators. Nice clean room and great views.

After dumping off our stuff in the room, I headed over to scope out the tour situation for tomorrow. We can drive our own vehicle in or you can do a tour (much easier with a guide). I stumbled on ‘Sacred Monument‘ outfitters and booked us on the 10am tour. We chose a Suburban rather than the outside truck bench seating. Lorraine, our guide was there, we introduced ourselves and she mentioned that the food, in general, was better at Goulding’s Lodge across the valley (just about 5 miles to the west). The restaurant at The View is pretty limited, but Goulding’s wasn’t much better. There is NO alcohol on the reservation, I had a non-alcoholic Guinness, interesting.

During dinner, the sun started to break through and illuminate the buttes. Oh well, was able to get one photo op on the return back to the View.

Saturday, November 22

We decided to leave in the afternoon and overnight in Page, Az. The drive from home to Monument Valley/Mexican Hat/Moki Dugway would be a long Sunday, so we broke it up. In one long day trip, it wouldn’t give me much time to explore.

Room was at the Courtyard by Marriott, Lake Powell. It was a little tired, clean, but not up to the photos on the website. We were on the 4th floor and arrived about 4:30 pm. Checked in a headed out to dinner at the Fiesta Mexicana on the boulevard. It looked familiar, it is the same chain restaurant up in Moab, Utah. Good food and killer margaritas.

Monday, August 25

One last malasada at Passion Fruit bakery, they really are delicious and worth the wait. We were there right when they opened at 7am, and there were clients ahead of us already. I had the cinammon with vanilla filling and Sandy had the cinammon sugar with ube filling. Yummy.

We checked out of the complex right about 9am.

Flights HA214 from LIH to HNL at 11:39 left a little early and HA18 from HNL to LAS departed at 3:05pm from the C7 gate. The meatloaf or eggplant dinner meal choices were really bleak. The Airbus 320 layout is very nice and comfortable, the food on HA really sucks. Interesting, that the layouts on the Alaskan first class suck, but their food is actually better. It’s nice to have StarLink on board.

Arrived early at 11:15pm. By the time we had baggage, got in the car, drove to South Point and hit the pillow was about 1:15 am.

A great family trip!

Sunday, August 24

Got to play in the HQP in the morning from about 10-1130 am. Made a total of 52 QRP contacts. Left after lunch to head down to Koloa and Poipu for some last minute shopping.

One last Mai-Tai at Brenneke’s and dinner at the Beach House. It didn’t disappoint with the macnut swordfish. A nice touch was a lei for each of us for our 45th anniversary!

Saturday, August 23

Played radio on 15 meters for the Hawaii QSO party. Made 14 contacts in the morning and 14 contacts in the late afternoon (the next day). The QSO party runs from yesterday at 6pm to Sunday at 6pm. Signals to the west coast, using the EFHW 15 meter lead snagged a few 10 meter contacts also. I used the SOTAbeams Tac-Mini and the X-Tenna 49, 56 and 64:1 transformer from KC8YBC. On 15, the 64:1 was slightly better, but not really. Good performance from the KX3 and the 3Ah Bioenno LiFePo battery.

There was a craft faire at the Veteran’s building in Lihue until 2pm and a stitchery display at the Kukui Grove Marketplace until 5pm. We did them both, with lunch in between at the Mariachi’s in Nawiliwili., a mistake with the fajitas, pretty greasy and tough. Bummed.

Dinner was flatbread pizzas (hawaiian and pepperoni) from the Island Country Market in the Coconut Marketplace. Nice and mellow.

Friday, August 22

Early rise for the Matthews family last sunrise. Rylan said to me that she would miss Nana and Papa and just melted my heart, again.

We packed up the family and made it out the door by 8:00 am or so and shortly after that to the airport. We parked and then unloaded the gear as a group. Agriculture, baggage check-in and then TSA-Pre. They were through by about 8:30 or so for their 10:50 am HA66 flight direct to Sacramento. The flight left a few minutes early!

Breakfast at Kauai Diner in Lihue, good stuff.

Stopped at the Singer Sewing Center for fabrics and the Kapaia Stitchery for cool knitting projects. Sandy had some materials and supplies shipped via USPS.

Flight HA66 landed at 3:30 our time, 6:30 PDT. Rosie and family made it home safely.

Dinner was a salad and leftover calzone and pizza from Bobby-Vs. This was actually one of our better meals.

Thursday, August 21

Gaylord’s and the KIlohana plantation farm tour at 10:00 am. It was entertaining and we topped it off with a Dole Whip ice cream soft-serv!

Back to the condo, with the girls asleep. Tommy grilled some burgers and hot dogs for lunch while Sandy and Rosie did some last minute shopping up in Kapaa.

Pool time afterwards for one last time, clean ups and then time for one last dinner at the Hukilau Lanai in the Kauai Coast Resort. This was the same place that we took the girls for Rosie’s high school graduation! The meals were pretty good, interesting we all had some type of steak, rather than fish!

After dinner packing and time for bed.

Wednesday, August 20

Breakfast with guava french toast and then packing up for a trip to Hanalei Bay for swimming and relaxing. Doug and Lauren checked out of their room, storing stuff in ours. Arrived before noon, already packed, but we found for 2 vehicles. The water was calm and beautiful, I think Rylan is a mermaid.

No lunch truck, (Paco’s Tacos, supposedly) but we managed to return to the condo by 3:00ish, clean up and head out to the Oasis for dinner at our 5:15 reservation. The swordfish was just as good the 2nd time, it did miss the cream sauce and mac nuts though.

Doug an Lauren’s flight is at 9:15 back to Phoenix, they left about 7:25 or so and arrived to return the little car and make their checkin. They left a few minutes early on AA648 and arrived in PHX right at 6:00 am.

Tuesday, August 19

Boys day fishing out of Nawiliwili hardbor on the Ku’Ula Kai from Apex Charters. Tommy and I agree that the seas, 6-8′, made walking around tough.

We were almost skunked on the trip, but a skipjack took a lure and we didn’t hear it click off. It was tonight’s dinner meal.

The girl’s had a spa day on site the Waipouli Beach Resort.

Monday, August 18

Douglas, Lauren, Rosie and Tommy went down to Port Allen for their Napali snorkel and cruise trip/ We had the girls all day exploriing the pool again. Our lunch with them was at Lava-Lava Beach club.

By the time we finished with lunch. the kids were coming back from their cruise trip.

Dinner at Bobby V’s Italian eatery lots of varieties. A good day!

Sunday, August 17

Flight HA65 left Sacramento 5 minutes early, Rosie and family on the way for a 9:15 am arrival. Papa can’t wait!

We went to Lilikoi Bar and Grill for a late breakfast/lunch/.

Pool time wit h the lazy river and the 2 water slides, lots of fun for Rylan! Dinner was our steak dinner (from Costco’s).

Saturday, August 16 – Happy #45 Anniversary!

Lazy anniversary morning and brunch at the Break and Feast restaurant in Koloa. It really was quite good, with the banana-mac and loco moco getting great reviews by us.

We drove out to Eleele, Port Allen, Hanapepe and Jo-Jo’s shaved ice in Waimea. Took the highway up to the grand canyon of the pacific, the overlook was closed, but there were turnouts to view. Magnificent!

Auntie Lilikoi’s was a quick stop and a 5:15 dinner at Merriman’s in Koloa. It is really between Koloa and Poipu and the meal was the best yet. The A’u (long billfish-swordfish) was delicious.

Friday, August 15

Another relaxing day! Doug and Lauren took the car to explore and we had some quiet time. Breakfast burritos in the condo, they do have ease-bake tortillas at the Safeway.

Lunch at the Taps and Hops Eatery across the street. Beer selections were pretty good, mah-mahi fish sandwich was also good.

With a little time, I took out the KX3 and the mini Super Antenna for the 4pm 40meter.net net. The same old folks and the same old topics. WH6FC, Rick, gave me a warm welcome, nice to hear that and much appreciated. Receive signals were amazing for me, but my QRP transmitting signal was bleak, but actually heard! I didn’t have a 40 meter radial, but on the grass, with the 10,15, and 20 radial bunch, I was able to tune quite well.

Dinner at the Oasis on the Beach restaurant here on the property. It was delicious and should give Merriman’s a run for their money, tomorrow night!

Thursday, August 14

Tried the Kountry Kitchen in Kapaa for an 8:30am breakfast, not too bad, lots of varieties to choose from. Shopped in the town, lots of things to see.

Quick break at the condo and then a jaunt to the south coast, Brenneke’s for late lunch/dinner and exploring the Beach House restaurant, Spouting Horn and Koloa areas. The Tree Tunnel is still there and doing well! In Poipu, there is a Tommy Bahama’s clothing store and the Merriman’s, Kauai. We may try both out for dinner.

A nice and mellow exploration day. On the way back, we stopped by Lydgate beach, down the road from our condo. We’ll have to take a picture of the girls at the same beach we have a photo of Rosie!

Wednesday, August 13

A nice slow day. The kids went off to do their thing, Sandy made breakfast and we tried out the Island Craves malasada place up the road. Good stuff.

We took a Lyft over to Duke’s in Nawiliwili for lunch. Meals are best remembered from the past. My best fish has been the taco truck up the road. We didn’t even opt for the Kimo’s Original Hula Pie!

Dinner was our Costco chicken and fresh salsa, yummy!

Tuesday, August 12

Nice day to explore. Beautiful sunrise about 6:15, malasadas at Passion Bakery, delicious. You pick the filling, wait and they box them up for you!

Stopped by the Costco and the Target in Lihue for a few more items. Breakfast was the malasadas.

By the time everyone was ready, we decided to take a drive north for lunch. We found some food trucks in Kapaa for mahi-mahi tacos, good eats.

We continued the drive up the coast. Bubba’s Burgers and Ono Burgers (Anahola) are still there, drove through Kilauea, Princeville and Hanalei. Drove the coast line, to about the Tunnels location and turned around. Headed to the 1Hotel (the formerly St. Regis and the Princeville Hotel) for a view check and cocktail. Still a beautiful view of Bali Hai! For nostalgia, drove over to the Cliffs Club (Cliffs at Princeville now) for a quick photo op.

A quick return trip to the hotel and prime rib dinner, quick walk, at the Bullshed next door. It was better in the past.

My neighbor, Perry, took it upon himself to park his trailer right in front of our house. He parked it there yesterday, Monday at noon. I texted him this morning and asked him, nicely, to move it. He did. This guy continues to be pretty bold, annoying. He was pouring concrete this morning. I think he thought he could get away with taking up space so that things are convenient for him.

Monday, August 11
Came in last night to South Point, nice dinner and early rising for a 6:30 departure to the airport. Breakfast in the cafe but also continental onboard with POG mimosas, yummy!

It’s nice to have Starlink onboard the Airbus 330. HA31 from LAS to Kahului left 1 minute early, 8:49 am. Doug and Lauren left PHX and arrived about the same time. We connected with HA349 in Maui to Lihue.

Arrived in Maui right on time, but flight from Honolulu is running behind. Took off about 2:30 and met Doug and Lauren in the baggage area, with no baggage from the LAS to LIH flight. All LAS baggage (we weren’t the only ones) missed the connector from Maui to Kauai, groan.

Before arriving at the Waipouli Beach Resort, lunch/ dinner at Lava Lava Beach Club, nice but not like Waikoloa. We were in the happy hour menu, missed the lunch menu and not ready for the dinner menu, said the waitress, bummer.

After some mashing of teeth, baggage claim promised delivery to the resort, by 5, 8-9, 2am or so. You pick an answer. Around 5:30pm, I got a message and text that delivery was at the door to A-106, no answer, so she left. We were at the Safeway, but Doug and Lauren were out exploring the complex. Finally hooked up and baggage driver, on her way back to the airport, turned around and met us in the lobby. Finally, all good.

Drove over to the Safeway and picked up a few necessary items, it is literally across the street. The crowds were crazy in the market. Monday arrivals, I guess.

Land package from Fairbanks to Denali to Anchorage to Homer to Whittier. Cruise from Whittier to Vancouver. Photos on SmugMug here.

Lessons learned: Land packages we need to research how much time we spend on a bus/train. How long do we have in each stop is important. We missed Telketna entirely, and were in Anchorage for only 1 night. The trip to Homer for 2 was really a waste and created a long, backtrack to the boarding in Whittier.

The Westmark hotel in Fairbanks is a dump.

The upgrade rooms (building S, for $400) is really a waste. We were luck in that we got it refunded, after they (the hotel manager) explained it was overbooked and were bumped off!

The drink package, 15 drinks per day, per person with a cap of $11/drink charge needs re-evaluation.

Monday, August 4

No hurry in the morning, Alaska 658 from SEA to LAS was delayed and left at 12:55 instead of noon and arrived at 3:30. By the time I was ready, running slow about 9:15am, we just decided to grab breakfast at the airport. The shuttle was timed perfectly, we hopped on and arrived to lines for baggage and security. Everything worked out and the flight was uneventful, luggage arrived and we were on the way home. Dinner in Mesquite at one of the 2 Mexican restaurants in town, on the north side of Mesquite Blvd, past the Casablanca.

We made it home about 9pm, with the hour time change and were both pretty wiped out over the days’s travel!

A nice ending to a 2-week trip! Now … time to get ready for Hawaii! Sunday night in LV, then direct LV to Maui to Kauai on Monday!

Sunday, August 3

Hurry up and wait! We set out our luggage by midnight and kept what we needed for this morning. Met one last time with Bhaki and Juno, after we had some room service coffee and a quick breakfast in the Lido, deck 9. Bhaki timed it just right, so that we could provide their gratuities, interesting. Princess, in the Neptune lounge also received a gratuity from Sandy. These folks really work hard on the cruise ship and they all did a great job. Nightly animals on the bed are a thing of the past. I think we had 2 animals in 7 days.

We were in the Black-2 group for disembarking, 8:15am meetup on the dock for an 8:45 departure of a 3 hour Vancouver tour and direct drop-off to the airport. Pandemonium. Well, the 8:45 departure was more like 9:30 and the driver and guide promised the group that we would be at the airport around noon. The bus was overpacked and behind us in line, got sent over to another tour bus. Sandy and I were the last to board and luckily the tour guide gave us his seat right up front. Well, noon became 12:15 or 12:20 or so. Sandy was little wound up, but our Seattle flight slipped from 1:48 to about 2:20 and then even further, so we had plenty of time for a quick lunch bite. We were at gate E81 for flight 926, then E82.Then, we missed our slot for takeoff because of broken tug pull and an airshow in the Seattle airspace. We did make it to Seattle about 4pm and to the Marriott SEATAC hotel room about 5pm. Room 573 was a considerable walk, the direct elevator to it was broken. Quick dinner in the hotel and ready for tomorrow’s flight back to LV.

Saturday, August 2

Our last day aboard, nice and mellow. Breakfast at the Pinnacle Grille and we wrapped up our photo package selections. 5 photos for $100, including the digital download versions.  Nowadays, the digital download is a scan code, using your phone device, on the receipt. Very quick and nice!

A quick 9 game BINGO for an upcoming trip on Holland America, we didn’t score, but fun! Lunch snacks in the Lido deck, ready for the Seafood Boil tonight.

Dinner at the Lido Seafood Boil! Interesting fixed menu, Ivar’s clam chowder and then a pot of salmon, crab, scallops and mussels. We were at the 5:30 seating, there are 2 tonight, 7pm is the other. I tried it, not impressed, too much work. But, a nice gimmick and worth the upgrade meal price.

Tracking the voyage down to Vancouver, we are going through some interesting straits, pretty narrow, I thought we’d be sailing on the outside (west) side of Vancouver island, but no. Way cool. Chatham Point, Browns Bay and the Seymour Narrows are the challenges, but we will be sailing tonight for a 7am arrival. We won’t be able to see much of the excitement. They bring a pilot on board, to help the crew with the navigation.

We are checked in on Alaska for flight 926 from Vancouver to Seattle. We are doing a Vancouver city tour and airport drop-off, we disembark the ship about 8:15am.

Friday, August 1

We woke up to liquid sunshine!, cool and drizzly for Ketchikan, normal weather. Breakfast at Pinnacle, I think. We decided to take a lazy day and just putt around Juneau at our speed. We have been here before, not too much but sightsee through the quaint town. We walked over Creek Street in the mining red light district back in the day and we managed to find 2 fabric stores! I think they scored some merchandise. The drizzle/rain and me not feeling the best (I have Jamie and Patie’s cold now) put a damper on things and we head back to the ship for lunch.

We caught up with them for dinner at the Dining Room and they put us on deck 3. The perk of walking up is pretty nice and convenient. The meal was actually pretty good tonight and the service was on top of things, interesting how things can change if the wait-staff changes!

Thursday, July 31

Juneau visit today! Found my Alaska Brewery baseball hat, halleluia! A nice relaxing day, breakfast in the Pinnacle, most folks gone off for excursions, we passed on our Mendenhall glacier and garden tour.

Shopped in town for a bit, had lunch at the Alaska Brewery Public House in town. it is really hard to have bad halibut anywhere up here!

Beautiful town, lots of seaplanes and 4 cruise ships, our included, in port! Busy, busy, Dinner in the main dining room, 6pm walk-ins.

Ketchikan tomorrow!

Wednesday, July 30

On a schedule, off the boat at 7:30 for an 8:15 Science Kitchen Alaska adventure. It really was quite good, sourdough, pH and build your-own Baked Alaska to wrap up. Jamie stayed behind and we met up at the Skagway Fish House on the wharf for lunch. Good meals!

We all boarded the 2pm White Pass Yukon Railway (WPYR) Summit Excursion scenic railroad adventure. It too was pretty cool, tough those gold miners in the early 1900s! A narrow gauge track and a great narration along the route. Back on board by 6pm or so. The boat is leaving at 8:30 for Juneau, last tender at 8:15.

Dinner at the Dining Room, level 2, Orange Class about 6:30pm (a perk of the 7th deck). Neptune suite folks just walk up in front of the line and are seated without a waiting list. Good stuff. Dinner was ok, I had some halibut chunks in a cream sauce and Sandy had the rigatoni and chicken meatballs.

Tuesday, July 29

Glacier Bay adventure begins. The pilot captains were augmented by the Alaska Glacier Bay vendors and NP rangers for their onboard narration for today.

Breakfast at the Pinnacle Lounge, a perk for those in the suites. Not crowded and not open to the general public.

A nice day cruising Glacier Bay. Lots of glacier to see, great narration by the NP staff. Lots of lookie-loos all over the decks. We saw the John Hopkins and the Margerie glaciers at the end of the Tarr Inlet. We heard the calving of the glaciers when it was quiet.

About 3:30, we found out that there was an 8.8 magnitude earthquake off Kamchatka in eastern Russia. Tsunami.gov showed the tsunami warnings, advisories and watches. We in the southeast peninsula were a watch … which was then cancelled. It affected the Hawaiian islands and mainland US more than Alaska.

Canaletto for dinner, it is a roped off area of the Lido dining area and they make it “special”. Dinner, for Italian was underwhelming.

Monday, July 28

1st day at sea traveling to the Hubbard Glacier. Experienced breakfast room service to make it easy. It is difficult to eat in your room, even though we have 2 sitting areas. Tomorrow, a sit-down somewhere.

Staff brought an apology note and a sweet treat delivered to each of our staterooms. Patie and Jaime recuperating from their colds/flu.

Beautiful, calm and sunny day for cruising. Lunch at the Lido dining area, they were advertising you-build fish tacos. They were cold to lukewarm, again disappointing.

Guests crowding the deck 10 Crow’s Nest (interior coffee/cocktail bar forward for best viewing) and the same was true for the deck 4 outside viewing area. The ship rotated  twice for viewing from port and starboard stateroom. We didn’t approach as close as we did in 2011, or so we think. The photos will tell.

Dinner at 7:30pm at the main dining area. It was much better than the night before, but that is a little late for us to eat. I had the crusted salmon, Sandy had the 2-way lobster and Patie and Jaime had the filet. A good meal.

Sunday, July 27

Left at 8:50 from the hotel and headed down to Whittier. We took a quick stop at Tern Lake for a potty break, but there were bathrooms in the rest area/turnout!

Resumed the journey and finally stopped at Portage Lake sundries store for another break, but we stopped because our Whittier window in the tunnel was for 1:30 and we didn’t want to miss that. All were back on board by 1pm and we were the first bus in line! Busses go first.

The fun begins! We were on board by 2pm. Luggage followed later. Except for Patie, we all had our luggage on board. At dinner, at the Pinnacle Steak House, staff informed her that it had been found. It had be confiscated in security because of a gift knife that she brought on board! All good now.

Meals not piping hot, we mentioned it to the wait staff, and they didn’t seem to concerned. The manager came by at the end of the meal and … he brought the chef. They both listened, while our waiter was standing by. Not impressed.

Saturday, July 26

Checked the window, looking out at Kachemak Bay and the weather is a go! 6:30 trek (0.3 mile walk) to the Alaska Bear Safaris (Adventure Airways, N180AE) for a 6:45 check-in and 7:00 am flight out to Katmai NP and the Brooks Falls. The DeHavilland Beaver is an amazing airplane, the radial sound is really comforting. The flight was about 1:45 there, cruising about 115 knots and about 6,500 ft cruise to the Falls. The return gathering time was 11:20 am, giving us about 3 hours in the NP. Didn’t even get our shoes wet, docked right on the shoreline!

We earned our Bear School pin, listening to the ranger give her talk, and took off for 1.2 miles to the falls. Yes, there were bears on the way and bears on the way back, they have the right-of-way and we have to get off the trail to let them pass. Unless, they decide to play/flight/nap on the trail, then … the humans wait for them. We had 5 encounters, 3 on the way and 2 on the return, that mades me nervous and time was going tick-tock.

Our pilot, Trent, told us to make a bee-line to the falls, because the wait at the platform can get to over 2 hours. 40 people on the platform, 30 minutes to enjoy, because of the summer crowds. July is the peak bear feeding season. Everything is very well organized and we had a blast, no waiting for us! The 2 bear trail encounters on the way back, made us nervous about our 11:20 departure, but the 3 couples made it back safely and on time.

We left the Brooks Camp at 11:38 and were back on Beluga Lake by 1:15pm. Again, low and slow, about 115 knots and 4,500 ft cruise.

Holland America is having a shuttle down to the Homer Spit from 5-8 pm, we’ll see what we do. Sandy is craving Mexican, so we are walking over to the Mermaid Cafe for dinner.

Tomorrow, 7:30am luggage out and 8:30 departure from the lobby for direct drive to Whittler, where we finally board the Noordham! Since we are isolated from any food place and we have a suite with a microwave, we picked up some Jimmy Dean type frozen eggs dishes for breakfast AND freeze-drived COFFEE! from the Safeway across the street. Yummy!

Friday, July 25

A long bus ride from Anchorage to Homer. We walked over to the Biscuit Club down the street, but found a line. Bus leaving at 10am, but still in a rush, argh. We ran into Jamie and Patie coming back from the Crimson restaurant down the street, highly recommended, so we went. A little slow, but it didn’t disappoint.

The room, 301, in the Anchorage Hilton was really not to standard, avoid that place.

We stopped at the Princess Lodge in Kenai for lunch, wrap sandwiches, just below average. A little shopping to in the nick-nack shop. Soldatna was our next stop at the Safeway complex. I ducked into Sportsman’s Warehouse for socks and Sandy and Patie into a quilting shop that she remembered! We picked up some energy bars for tomorrow’s adventures!

We arrived in Homer right on time, about 5pm. The Aspen Suites hotel is about a mile from any restaurant, so we found a taxi to Fat Olive. It was pretty good, just as we remembered it. Meatballs and pasta and a nice apple-pecan salad and vino!

A long day that really could be shortened!

Thursday, July 24

Bags out by 7am and we ready at 8:30 am this morning. We met Jamie and Patie accidently on the hotel complex shuttle bus as we were headed to the main lodge and they corrected us that the pickup was at their Canyon Lodge, not the main lodge, location!

Bus ride to the train depot and transfer to the train was very smooth. We were on the Princess Wrangell train coach, in seats 9c and 9d. Our coach director, Peter, kept us in factoids throughout the 8 hour train ride. We arrived in Anchorage at 6pm, the exact planned time.

This train to Anchorage is just for Princess and Holland America and is geared that way. Our non-existent stop in Talketna was disappointing, just to unload Princess passengers, we could not get off. Sandy wanted to show Patie a fabric shop in town, but it was not to be.

The service on the train was really impeccable, the bartender made sure you were topped off and Peter kept the services flowing, both sharing history and organizing the lunch in the lower lever of our observation deck coach. Lunch, a shared cheeseburger was so-so, but the scenery flowing past was amazing. The trip was just a little long, 2 hours shorter would have been perfect.

The 5 minute transfer to the hotel from the train station turned into a mini-tour and history lesson of downtown Anchorage (per Edgar’s request of the driver), we really didn’t need that after a long day, oh well.

The Hilton Hotel in Anchorage is average and tired, room 601 for us. We ‘lyfted’ to the Glacier Brewhouse, it dd not disappoint. Sandy made an Open Table reservation for 7:45, we arrived about 7pm and before we could reach the bar, our table was ready. It was just as good as in 2021, the noise level is a little loud, just as before. I had the pesto crusted halibut and Sandy had the BBQ ribs. The appetizer fondue pretzel was spot on too. A great meal! The 49th State Brewery is good too (from our trip for lunch in 2021), but it had a crazy waiting line out the restaurant door.

9am luggage out and 10am at the door tomorrow for our 7 hour bus ride to Homer, groan. Let’s hope the bus is a little more roomy!

Wednesday, July 23

Nice leisure day in Denali. Breakfast for the 2 of us at the Canyon Lodge, it was nice to have a sit down breakfast. Jamie and Patie left, after the late-night return, to meet at 4:50 in the morning for the Denali Tundra tour. We did it from Teklanika in 2021 from the campground and went all the way to the Eilson Center. Now, with the road washed out, you can only go to mile 43. We skipped this trip’s ride! This morning is dirizzly and foggy, not really a day to be a passenger in an old rickety school bus.

Cleaned ourselves up and went across the street to shop. Came back to the Princess complex and had lunch at Fanny Q’s, it too was pretty good. A little more shopping at the Princess and Patie joined Sandy to hit the quilt shop across the street, again.

I took the Visitor’s Center park shuttle, jumped off at Horseshoe Lake and did a quick 1/2 mile walk to the lake overview.

Took the shuttle up to the Visitor’s Center and back to the Holland America complex. We all met up at the Canyon Lodge bar, relaxed and had pizza dinner at the Prospector’s Pizzaria and Alehouse. It too was pretty good.

7am luggage out the door and 8:30 am meet at the Main Lodge for our train ride to Anchorage!

Tuesday, July 22

Luggage out the door by 6:30 and bus leaving at 9:15 this morning. Walked over to Forget Me Not espresso coffee shop for breakfast. Extra shot coffee and a split breakfast burrito, one of our better breakfasts.

Bus ride to Denali most of the morning. We stopped in Nenana for a quick potty break and enjoyed the beautiful drive to the park.

All rooms were dialed in, luggage in our rooms, but the rooms, not quite ready. We were dropped off at the Ridge View complex, ALL the others headed to Canyon Lodge. Our room, 304, we find out was occupied! The staff clerk thought her scheduled showed that room occupied for a while this week AND this was not the S-Building that Darnell promised, the one with the river view. The complex is so large, as is its sister Princess hotel, that we had to take the shuttle back to the front desk. After working through the issue, calmly actually, the clerk had us correctly dialed into Building S, room 106. River view and we can hear the Nanana river flowing out the window. A nice room, dated, but very cabin-y feel. Life is good, the luggage was in the room and even a couple of killer chocolate chip cookies.

We met up with Jamie and Patie for a quick lunch snack at Karsten’s Public House and a meet and greet with Edgar at the Pubic House at 3pm.

Dinner was across the complex at the King Salmon in the Princess complex and did not disappoint. Our 4:30 reservation was followed up with our Denali Jeep Expeditions on the gravel Denali Highway. It was fun, we chose to use 1 Jeep instead of the assigned 2 we had. 100 mile round trip and we made it back to the room about midnight. It was an OK tour, the geologic ‘esker’ we drove on was pretty cool.

Monday, July 21

Bus left for the paddlewheeler at 7:55 am. This will be the first time we meet our informal group travelling to Whittier.

Breakfast buffett was bleak at $24 each. Reviews of this hotel are 2 or 3/5 (food and accomodations) now we know why.

The Riverboat Discovery paddlewheeler adventure was really pretty cool, the trip to the Athabascan village was as well. The Gold Dredge 8 operation tour was also pretty cool, we found gold! It was a long adventure day with a good bus tour guide (a North Pole High history teacher!), the lunch at the paddlewheeler dock was not up to standard. Everyone in a communal dining area on long benches. We had stew, really minimal beef soup, salad and bread and water or tea. Not meeting expectations food here, that may be a good thing for my waistline!

As we departed the last tour, Edgar informed us that our upgraded river-view Denali suite ($400 upgrade) was cancelled. We called the Denali Holland America Denali desk and finally spoke to Darnell who moved us to a river view room, not a deluxe, nor a suite in that river-view building, building S. He will NOT be on duty tomorrow, but his manager Brooke Taylor (907 683-6450, main line) will be. We will see and we will work through our $400 being returned to us, not Holland America cruise credit! Again, he had no courtesy to give us a call directly. Sandy suggested we need to upgrade our cruising lines.

Sunday, July 20

Met up with Patie and Jamie at 9am for breakfast. We drove around downtown Fairbanks and ended up at Fender’s for eats. It was pretty good with an 80’s rock and roll vibe. Downtown is really small.

Headed up to the Aleyska pipeline viewing area. It’s about 6 miles out of town on the Steese Highway. Amazing what commitment can do. 800 miles of pipeline laid in 2 years. Where has that drive gone?

The Fountainhead Antique Auto museum was amazing, definitely worth the visit, highly recommended!

The Great Alaskan Bowl shop was our last stop for the day. We returned the rental by 3pm (a 2 hour extension) and connected with the shuttle driver for our return to the hotel.

The Westmark Hotel is tired and needs an uplift. Munchies in the hotel restaurant before our 4-6pm (window) meet-n-greet with our tour guide, Edgar Serrano. He will be with us for the trip. No cocktail hour, no hors d’oeuvres. Disappointed.

Saturday, July 19

Transfer from the airport Marriott to SeaTac had us there about 8am but lots of people checking in added to the confusion of finding the 1st class checkin. Once we figured that out, it was pretty simple to find gate D4. Jaime and Patie arrived from their early flight from ONT to SEA. They were able to fly all in one day, but the flight left at 6am. We had that option from LAS, but that is just too early for us.

AS174 left on time and we arrived in FAI right on time as well. Met the Holland America cruise agents (I was surprised) who took our bags to be delivered directly to our room, 320. We grabbed the rental car and headed to the North Pole. Wrote postcards to the grandkids, shopped and headed out to the Chena Pump House restaurant. The blackened halibut was really quite good.

After our meal, we headed back to Fairbanks to check into the Westmark Hotel. In room 320, we found our luggage, all was good. Headed to the bar for a nightcap and called it a night about 7:30pm, 9:30 our time in MDT.

Friday, July 18

Had a calm breakfast and left by about 8am. Drove through the long term/reservation turnoff for parking, it’s not there. You read the fine print on the receipt QR code and it tells you to enter the SHORT term reservation area. NO signs at the parking structure until you enter it. Oh well, it worked.

Alaska 629, from gate E15, was right on time and the flight was smooth into Seattle.

Picked up the Marriott shuttle van and .. room 619 isn’t ready until 4pm. We took a Lyft into Pike Place Market, crowded with cool stuff and people. We had early dinner at Ivar’s Acres of Clams down in the Miner’s Landing area. Good stuff and took a Lyft back to the hotel. Very efficient and very quick, this Uber/Lyft stuff. The standard ride price to the Pike was $65.54 and the return priority pickup ride was $79.28. Both were available within minutes of our ride order, I should pay attention. It is cool to see where your driver is too, they can see what you look like, I guess, according to the 2nd driver.

Early AS174 9:57am flight from Seattle to Fairbanks tomorrow!

Thursday, July 17

Drove down to South Point in the afternoon for a quick overnight and flight out tomorrow. It leaves at 10:14am, so we have to check in by 8:30 or so. We have pre-paid reservation parking in the Terminal 3 parking garage. We’ll so how that goes.

April 29, Tuesday 

Travelled  up to the Arches NP for a quick mid-week getaway. We had reservations at the Hilton Hoodoo in Moab. It is a nice place in the center of town, but off the main boulevard by one street.

Left on Tuesday about 9:40 a.m. and finally arrived about 4:30 with the delay/stop on I-70. A motorcycle crash, in the center divider and a Life Flight was the cause of the delay. We passed the rider’s partner, gathering up belongings, the bike was a real mess. Prayers.

It was a long day and we went directly to dinner at Fiesta Mexicana, it was ok, not great. We checked into room 331 after dinner.

We had a timed pass into the park for Wednesday at 2:00 pm, but we logged in at 7pm on Tuesday for next days tickets and snagged a 9-10am slot instead. I forgot to cancel the 2:00 pm slot. I used 2 email addresses to have 2 accounts, one for me and one for Sandy.

April 30, Wednesday

Wednesday breakfast in the hotel, Josie Wyatt, just ok.

Entered the park about 9:15 or and spent some time getting oriented at the Visitors Center.

We had the Action Tour Guide audio app for Arches NP and enjoyed listening to the narrations. We did the Double and Windows arches, the Turret arch, the Delicate arch (upper parking lot view) and the Landscape arch at the north end. The scenery was amazing and the cloud cover held off until we were wrapping up. Sandy waited for me at the parking lot for the Landscape Arch. The distance was 1.8 mile round-trip and well worth it.

No time for ham radio at WFF-KFF 0004, bummer.

Wednesday dinner was at Pasta Jays (Italian) in Moab, huge portions, ok food.

May 1, Thursday

Thursday we had breakfast at the Moab Diner, not too bad. We headed to Canyonlands NP and the Island in the Sky road to the Mesa Arch overlook. It did not disappoint. The trail is .65 mile in length, so it was a non-issue for both of us. Amazing views looking down into the valley. We saw the Shafer Trail below and I am intrigued.

No time for WWFF KFF-0010, ham radio-wise.

We drove out of the park and to the Deadhorse Point SP and had our box lunch from the Diner. Both parks share the plateau and the valley floor, so it was aquick 15 minute drive. We passed the Shafer Trail entry. We could see the switchbacks and the valley floor and the Colorado river.

No time for WWFF KFF-3066 either.

After photo ops, we headed back out of the park and to the Potash Rd, just before the bridge into Moab. Don, K9DON, recommended the petroglyphs stop and it did not disappoint. The Potash road turns into the Shafer trail as well. We turned around at the petroglyphs.

From there, we headed east, past the bridge, up Highway 128 paralleling the Colorado. We went about 15 miles upstream to the Castle Valley turnoff. Again, the views are pretty cool, probably more popular for rafters in the summer. In the future, we should explore the Red Cliffs Lodge (it’s a Marriott) and the River Grill restaurant.

The day wrapped up at Zak’s on the main drag, it was ok too.

May 2, Friday

Friday morning was breakfast,again, at Josie Wyatt, marginal at best. We tried the doughnuts at Doughbird’s, again on the main drag and on the way, we discovered the breakfast at the Jailhouse Cafe, we must try it!

Also, we must put the Sunset Grill on the dinner menu for a future visit. We left Dougbirds about 9:30 and arrived home at 3:00 pm, 5.5 hours.

Saturday, April 5th.

We drove into the park from home, left about 9 am. We drove up I-15 to Cedar City and then up and over Duck Creek on Highway 14 to Highway 89. There was snow on the top ridge, probably not the best way to go over in the spring.

Checkin at the Ruby Best Western Grand was at 3 pm, so we had time to explore a little of the park and the Ruby Best Western across the street in Bryce Canyon city. Everything is clustered together in the city, all pretty much within walking distance.

We drove down to Tropic, 8 miles away, for dinner at the Rustler’s Restaurant. It was marginal at best. Food in the area, we learned, is not a strong suite. Pretty much the same fair everywhere, groan.

Sunday, April 6th.

Breakfast, crowded at the buffet, but we headed into the park for the Sunrise Point Queen’s Garden walk. The buffet was actually pretty good for a large spread. We were on the trail about 11 am and walked down the trail exploring the beauty. At 8,000 feet elevation, we were careful to go slow up and down. The views among the hoodoo’s were amazing.

We drove out to the furthest point in the park, Rainbow Point (18 miles from the park entrance) and then worked our way backward following the map and lookout locations. Throughout the road, the park edge is on the east side and some views were of Navajo Mountain in the distance, 85 miles away. I was able to raise the Utah Intertie repeater system through Navajo Mountain and talked to a few hams on UHF from Yovimpa Point. It is just a short walk from Rainbow Point.

Dinner was at the Vallhalla Pizza place by the Bryce Canyon Lodge, an order to go for the hotel. We were glad we stayed outside the park, the Lodge was crazy crowded, I guess for spring break. Pizza was awful, salad was great!

Monday, April 7th – Birthday!

Nice breakfast and leisurely drive back home through Zion NP. I think it was easier and shorter, but longer time-wise, to cut through Zion to Highway 89.

A nice steak dinner with Shramsberg Mirabelle for Sandy’s birthday celebration!

Friday, March 14 – Friday, March 21

We flew with Alaska Airlines from Las Vegas to Santa Rosa airport direct on Friday, the 14th. We arrived on time, stayed at the Hotel Centro overnight. We were at Rosie’s Saturday morning and brought Rylan back with us on the same flight, but in reverse. The drive from Las Vegas to home was awesome.

We had Rylan until Friday, when we drove into Anaheim for her Disneyland birthday.

Friday, March 21

We drove into Anaheim, leaving about 9 am, with Rylan. She travelled great! We ended up with a flat right front tire, a slow leak that we found at the Terrible Herbst in Moapa, that we fixed in North Las Vegas. The tire guys were great and we only lost about an hour or so. Traffic into Los Angeles and the Anaheim area was tough. We went directly to the Splitsville restaurant (the old House of Blues in the Downtown Disney walk), were first to arrive and we all were together for our 6:00 pm reservation. We had Grandpa and Grandma, us, Rylan and Aidyn and Rosie and Tommy, Douglas and Lauren, and Yasmin and Robbie, a group of 12. Emee and Kelly are arriving Saturday evening.

Saturday, March 22

A busy day in the park with a large group of 12. We were all staying at the Embassy Suites on Harbor Blvd. It is next to the Buca de Beppo restaurant and there is an Anaheim bus stop right next to the complex.

Breakfast was included. Timing of the bus was key, but it all worked out. The times are not exactly fixed, but you can ‘see’ the bus on the Anaheim rapid transit app. Maybe somewhere a little closer next time, easier access for in-out during the day.

Dinner was at Buca with our large group. Emee and Kelly showed up for dinner and spent Sunday with us all in the park.

Sunday, March 23

Today was the big Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique event for Rylan. It was around 10 am, so we were a little more disjointed but it all worked out well. Rylan was precious!

We took Aidyn, Grandpa/Grandma took Rylan in our rooms and we left the kids to enjoy the park after hours. Everyone did their own dinner thing, we went back to Buca for a pizza takeout.

Monday, March 24

We all checked out together, pretty much. Douglas and Lauren stayed and flew home later that afternoon. The drive home was uneventful and we arrived home late afternoon.

Sunday, October 6

Hurry up and scurry! Yesterday evening’s pre-dinner tips from the Concierge lounge frequent fliers, is to have a leisurely breakfast at 7:45 in the Chops Grill (it is open from 6:30 – 8 am) and get escorted by Celia to the gangway, supposedly. This is one of our ‘perks’ with the ‘grand suites’ we purchased.

We all arrived about 7:30 am, met Celia and had our breakfast. We are in group 25, with airport transfers included. Our flight though, is at 6pm!

After breakfast, we met Celia in the Schooner lounge, just across from the restaurant and sat … and waited. She disappeared and we followed the cattle car calling for group 25. It was pretty much on time and we were off the ship with our luggage by 9:15 and loading on the Delta bus shuttle to the airport.

Checking in at the gate, we came to find out that check-in (with baggage) can be no earlier than 6 hours before flying ON DELTA. We can check in around 11:30 am or so, per the gate agent, even though we are first class. Oh well, we are here with no issues so far.

Jamie and Patie went on ahead, because their flight is earlier and their bags were dropped off. However, they were blocked at the Delta Sky Lounge because they were TOO EARLY to enter. Not too sure about Delta for future flights!

Saturday, October 5

We decided to forgo the trip to Kennebunkport with Jamie and Patie and just do our thing in Portland. We couldn’t do another 3-4 hour bus ride!

After breakfast at the Windjammer, we headed down to clear customs. Because of the number of cruise ships in Portlan having to clear immigration, the cruise line could not give us an exact time when we could dis-embark. ALL cruisers are REQUIRED to clear immigration.

We talked to guest services and they relocated us to Group B, rather than some later group that was slated to go on bus tours. We goofed around and by the time groups I and J were called, we showed up, told the staff that we were group B, but late, and they waved us right down the gangway. We were in Portland by 10:30 or so, purchaed a hop-on hop-off city bus pass and were on our way to explore the “Old Port” area of the city.

Lots of shopping, good eats at the Highroller Lobster Co., a (3) 2-ounce sampler lobster roll with average local beers and fries. A definite re-do! More shopping and gelato and we were done by 3:30 pm for relaxing and cocktails.

We met up with Jamie and Patie for dinner at the Windjammer. Sandy and I couldn’t deal with the same menu in the main dining room at 7:15 pm. The Windjammer was asian night and the fair was pretty good.

Packed luggage by 10pm outside the stateroom and that was it for the night!

Friday, October 4

Day at Sea, nice and leisurely. We went to the Chops Grill for breakfast, my usual and Sandy had the Eggs Benedict, which she said, were pretty good.

Her massage at 9:30 gave me some time to stroll the ship. Lots of fun activities for kids (mini-golf and climbing wall), pickle-ball court (pretty active), art auctions, movies (Twister – packed audience) and trivia contests! The fantail was a cool place, a little windy. It is just beyond the Windjammer out on the very stern of the ship.

We had an early lunch, there was huge carving station. I had the turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. It was actually pretty good.

At 2 pm, we had a Macallan Colour Collection 12, 15 and 18 year whisky seminar. This stuff is really hard to find and it was worth the $47 per person fee. It is an acquired taste for sure!

Dinner was at Giovanny’s again, we both had the same, the carbonara and I had the pasta bolognese.

The food is ok, nothing to write home about.

Thursday, October 3

Arrived in Sydney right on time. We have agreed to meet at 9 am and have breakfast in town somewhere. Our tour begins at 1:50 pm and my 10:30 am Marconi tour was CANCELLED.

We all agreed to meet outside of the staterooms for a 9 am departure. We docked right on time in Sydney and we picked up a cab to head into town for breakfast. The local Lions Club had a raffle in the port/gangway/shops area and recommended Louann’s on Charlotte and Wentworth streets for our breakfast. 5 minutes later, we arrived, were seated and enjoyed a nice real breakfast meal with fluffy pancakes!

We strolled back on Charlotte street, shopping for the first time in Canada for the folks back home. Sandy was happy to finally have that key time. We made it back to the ship in time for lunch at the Windjammer and came back down for our 2 pm Sydney city bus tour. It is a beautiful countryside and made it back on time right before the gangway way departure. We were on board about 4:15 and the plank was going up around 5pm.

We tried the Sky Bar and the Schooner Bar (for the Beatles trivia contest) before our 7:30 ‘American’ seating at the Main Dining room. I had the braised pork, and Sandy had the upcharge Lobster tail. Tomorrow, it is a lobster feast in the Main Dining room as well.

Wednesday, October 2

Halifax arrival in the early morning and docked by the time we woke up. Our tour is for 11:30 for 3 hours and the ship leaves at 3:30 pm this afternoon.

We missed breakfast at the Chops House by 2 minutes, it closed at 8:30 am. We went up to the Concierge Lounge for a continental breakfast and then to the Windjammer for breakfast! We are not in synch with the restaurant food hours. It was lucky we made the Concierge Lounge, we met Celia, who was on duty this morning.

The morning was nice and leisurely. Our tour left around noon and we arrived at Peggy’s Cove around 1 pm. It is a beautiful lighthouse and location in Halifax. The tour guide was again, full of facts. The guides can really make or break your tour travel times. She was excellent.

Back on board and we made a mad dash to the Solarium for a quick snack. The Windjammer closed at 3:30, it was dicey, but we didn’t make it back in time for that. Trying to find Celia again, we made it around 5:30 for happy hour in the Concierge Lounge. It wasn’t much in the afternoon, drinks at the bar and some marginal finger food.

Dinner was at 7:30, Italian themed. It was ok, maybe we are adapting!

Tomorrow in Sydney, an even smaller town than St. John!

Tuesday, October 1.
Breakfast in the Windjammer for buffet, again not my favorite. Today is a day-at-sea, so we are stuck on board. The buffet lines were rapidly increasing as we finished up!

Sandy tried the casino! She was lucky and made $300. We’ll see how long her luck holds out.

We went to the Women of Wine presentation at 2 pm, very informative and La Crema chardonnay was represented. 3 reds, 3 whites and a Chandon champagne as well.

Dinner was at the Giovanny’s Table, it was probably the best of the restaurants that we’ve tried. The only two remaining are the Chef’s Table and Izumu, the sushi bar.

Vice-presidential debate, watched the first 10 minutes or so … and we snuck off to the main show to see the night entertainment, it was ok.

Monday, September 30.
Longshoreman strike to begin tonight at midnight. We’ll see the impacts when we return on Sunday!

Sandy off to an 8am massage appointment. Breakfast was room service, it’s better to eat at a table in a restaurant somewhere. The Lavazzo Nescafe machine is pretty cool though.

Pink hop-on hop-off bus was a little disorganized and late. Some patrons had issues with disembarkation in Canada delaying the entire day’s activities for everyone. As we returned to the port, some 2:30 tour people were still waiting for their tour around 3:30.

The port of St. John is quaint but a little tired. The Bay of Fundy was interesting, but we were there at slack tide, so you really couldn’t see any huge tidal changes. We made it back to port and had a local ‘beavertail’ pastry, sort of like a buñelo with a variety of toppings.

Dinner at the Main Dining Room, deck 4, was not the greatest. My prime NY strip steak wasn’t and Sandy’s Tiger shrimp plate were midget sized. We did get a nice serenade for our dual anniversaries. Not a place I really want to return to though.

Sunday, September 29 – RCI Jewel of the Sea

Quick breakfast, trip to CVS and packed and ready for our 11am taxi departure to the port. Left around 10:45, arrived around 11 and joined the masses to board the ship.

In group 3, filled out the Canadian declaration form and a quick board on to the ship.

Large groups congregating about, we tried the pool bar, wandered over to the aft buffet for a varied lunch. Lots of helpful folks ready to answer questions.

First version for luggage to stateroom 1532 on the 10th deck, was 1 pm. Well, that got moved to 3pm, not sure why. We just milled about and explored the ship until we met our luggage and our room steward, Allen. We were one of the last folks to take our luggage into our stateroom.

Dinner at the Chops House was pre-reserved for 6pm and 6:15pm, so we got both the Cervantes and Esquer reservation at 6:15. Featured course was filet mignon, either 6 or 9 ounce. I had the porterhouse, it was so-so. The included wines were perfect for the meal as well and the desserts were nice presentations.

After dinner, we wandered a bit to find the casino a smoking center. Not too sure about that but the boss is anxious to try it out.

Tomorrow, we head to St. John and the Bay of Fundy, the location of the largest tidal changes in the work, up to 50′. We’ll see!

A comfortable bed!!

Saturday, September 28

1 pm Boston Duck tour was campy but our guide made it fantastic with history facts and figures. Boston played an important part of US history and development of science and business. A nice leisurely morning to the Museum of Science allowed us to explore the Hub the Boston Garden front venue and we ended up Mike’s quickie stand for Boston creme pie, a lobster tail (pastry) and a penaut butter coconut cookie.

After the cruise, with the car, we drove out to Boston Sail Loft for lunch/dinner. We timed it perfectly and our meals were delicious. Sandy had a huge lobster roll and I had the 10 ounce scrod meal.

We drove back to the airport, returned the Cadillac and took a taxi back to the hotel. 10:30 call time tomorrow, taxi to the cruise ship dock!

Friday, September 27

Walking trip to the Old North Church and Bova’s Bakery for a creme brulee canolli and Dino’s Cafe for a nice old Italian lunch, 18″ meatball sandwich. Delicious! The Old North Church audio tour was full of cool information. A slow stroll back to the hotel and dinner at the Tavern in the Square.

Thursday, September 26

Met up for breakfast around 9 am in the lobby. All good with a plan to head to the JFK Presidential Museum. It was amazing and very uplifting. He did so much in just 3 years in office. From there, we went to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market for shopping and eats. Salty Dog Shore Inn was ok for clam chowder and fish and chips! A drizzly time day, but easily workable!

Wednesday, September 25

Arrived at the airport, ended up on deck 6 for long term parking. Delta 497 looks like its on time (10:55 am) direct to Boston, but Jamie and Patie are delayed until 1 pm or so. We will catch up with them tomorrow for breakfast!

The Delta flight was uneventful, but the first class experience, wasn’t, at least for me. Arrived on time, luggage in hand, Hertz rental with a Cadillac in the President’s Circle and a safe arrival at the North End Marriott. A quick snack across the street at the Tavern on the Inn.

Tuesday, September 24

Drove into LV, stayed at South Coast for a 10:55 am Delta 497 flight to Boston. Here we go!

TRIP TAKEAWAYS

• Food was marginal, nothing really fantastic.
• The desserts, my weak spot, were amazing in looks, tasted empty.
• Drinks were not killer either, no canned tonic, but they did have Hendricks. It turns out, you have to ASK or go to the right bar, and canned tonic WAS available.
• Not sure if the drink package was really worth it, we’ll have to tabulate our drink totals.
• The stateroom was fantastic, lots of room and our steward, Alan, was awesome.
• The room, 1532 was in a great location on the 10th deck. Far enough from the main stuff in the Centrum to not bother us. Coffee bar in the Solarium was right above is on deck 11.
• Food availabilty was fixed times. NOTHING was open 24/7. No pizza, no desserts.
• Meal times were a little late for us, maybe because we scheduled them too late in the process? As soon as you book, we should schedule excursions and meal times.
• Plan to take snacks with you on board and on the excursions.
• No free water anywhere.
• We should plan our departure flights better, we sat at Logan from 9:30 to our 6pm flight. A city tour would have been perfect, timing-wise. But it was filled when we finally asked.
• Look at excursions more carefully, the free-time on long trips did not allow for local port shopping, for example in St. John we just drove around on a bus.

Friday, August 9

We packed up the remainder of our stuff, emptied the refrigerator and were out the door by 11am. The owners were coming ‘in’ and we had to be out by then. The cleaning crew had their materials outside ready to go.

Lunch was at the Beach Club at the 4 Seasons. The mahi fish tacos were amazing and the salad was too. The macnut dots popsicles were the best part!

We arrived at the airport about 1:30 and sailed right through baggage and security. Flight 337 was on time and we await Flight 84 direct to SLC. It will continue to be a long day and night!

Thursday, August 8

A nice relaxing day, breakfast from the Island Market. Did a little light packing and washing clothes too.

We did a little shopping in the Kings Marketplace and signed up for Hilton Grand Vacations timeshare presentation for funnsies. Ouch, for what we were looking for, Ocean Front, Penthouse Suite on floors 6 and 7, the cost is $289,000 for a one week exchange! It was fun to string the guy along, but not even reasonable!

Dinner at Merriman’s!

Wednesday, August 7

On the hunt for Kuhlolo, a Phillipine delicacy that Douglas wanted to find and bring home for a friend. Per yesterday’s search, he found it down in Kona at the Kona Marketplace behind the Target store. He scored, it was being packaged as we arrived.

From there, we found the Hula Lamp folks, now running the company out of their home above Costco. We found a Mermaid to accompany our hula dancer! She will be a great addition.

We were back for a leisurely afternoon so that Doug and Lauren could pack. Sandy had chicken tacos for their last meal out on the lanai. They left about 6:15 for an 8:45 pm flight.

The condo, unit 14F is very nice, equipped so-so for beach activities. I would come back to one of the 2 bedroom units. The 8 condo stack at Hali’ Kai is organized as follows:

Top floor (left to right): A – left corner outside (2 bdm, on 2nd floor/) F- inside (3bdm, 2/3 floor story) G – inside F mirror and D – right corner A mirror

Bottom floor: E B C H (all 2 bdm) on the bottom floor that have a grass patio. Not so good for viewing the ocean and whales because it is at ground level.

Tuesday, August 6

After burrito breakfast, we headed to Alii Drive and the Ali’i Gardens Marketplace for some shopping. A great place to score cool stuff and Doug and Lauren did load up. After that, we had lunch at Don’s Mai Tai Bar and then hit the remainder of Alii for some more ‘gold’.

Dinner for 4 was at the Hilton Kamuela Provisioning Company, a nice atmosphere for sunset, but so-so food. The Hendricks tonics were not even tonic and watered down. The server even forgot to add the champagne to the bill! As the others went on to the car, I spoke to the manager and told him they were “off”. He was responsible for 3 restaurants on site and was doing a poor job and I let him know that. Sheesh. Great atmosphere, so-so food, be warned!

Monday, August 5

Trekked down to Naalehu for lunch with the neighbors. We left the condo at 8am. It was nice to see Barb and Doug and Jeanne and Dick and Sue. Hana Hou was still the same hot, muggy place, but the ono and ahi burgers were pretty good!

On the way, we had breakfast at Lava Java on Alii Drive and stopped at Kona Joe’s coffee to break up the drive. We forgot how long a trip it is and we showed up at our old house, 94-1432 Hiki Ku right around noon. The neighbor behind our property cleared his lot off and a little of his property to the right (as we look at our house). It opened up the view for Dick and Jeanne and we too should have a little more ‘enhanced’ view. Our 726 lot is still there and still a premium location. The new owner is interested in its purchase, we bought it for about 30k and its about 60-70k in value now.

Headed back for dinner with Doug and Lauren at the Rum Bar at the Queen’s Marketplace. Good eats there too.

Sunday, August 4

Relaxing morning with breakfast. We headed out about noon to try out the Black Sand beach at the Mauna Lani public access location. Nope, all filled up. The guard mentioned that it filled up by 8am this morning, parking is extremely limited.

Ended up at Beach 69 for a nice relaxing afternoon. Dinner was at the Wine Bar adjacent to Island Market. It was reasonably priced and the food and drinks were actually pretty good. A good find!

Saturday, August 3

Packed up the Rosie family for a 9:30 departure to the airport. Their flight left at 12:05 and we were shooting for a 10am delivery time. Everything went well and they were off through TSA Pre. They eventually made it to SAC, on time, but a little SNAFU with the rental car pickup at Hertz.

We exchanged the van for a Kia, saving a few bucks ($1500/week!) to $350 or so. That cost saving cost the dinner we spent last night!

Spent part of the afternoon catching up with on Waikoloa Fairways neighbors Dan and Merrilynn. The more things change on the island, the more things stay the same. It’s amazing how many vacancies there are in the commercial areas. Tommy B is still at the Mauna Lani shopping center, but the Ruth Chris is no longer there. The only high end local restaurant is Roy’s in the King’s Market, that being marginal.

Spent a little time checking out Puako, Beach 69 and Hapuna Beach. Everything is going big time.

We picked up a pizza at the Mauna Lani pizza place, it was a par-bake, it was ok, not spectacular. We also tried 2 individual flatbread pizzas from Island Gourmet. These were take-and-bake. The par-bake was slightly better.

The Ruth Chris is closed and replaced by a Mexican joint. Lots of vacancies all around the island it seems.

Friday, August 2

We headed down to Kona for breakfast at Humpy’s on Alii Drive. Eggs Benedict and Mac Nut pancakes were ok. Cute POG mimosas were also gimicky.

Walked through the Gupton Gallery, it has moved from its location next to Bubba Gumps, which has also closed.

Came back for one last lazy afternoon in the pool. Both Rylan and Aidyn are water babies.

Closing out the festivities, we headed to the Manta and the Mauna Kea. Good eats, mac nut crusted mahi-mahi and fancy Dole whip Mai Tais. Way expensive these days, as is the whole island, actually.

The lookout area at the Manta was wiped out by dumb snorkelers chasing the rays away. Three boats off shore from Puako set up their lights a little more offshore, with I bet better views!

Thursday, August 1

Fish for dinner! Girls headed over to the Mauna Lani for massages while the boys and kids headed over to the Hilton to check out the resort and the Dolphin Quest adventures. We stumbled on some Dole Whip vendor next to the DQ and Rylan had no problem demolishing 2 of them. Good thing it is a dairy-free product, delicious though.

The ladies brought back lunch from the Island Market and the afternoon was nice and lazy around the Ocean pool. Happy hour, again 2-4pm, a great deal! Sandy found 3 pieces of ahi tuna and one of ono for the BBQ.

Doug and Lauren did a great job, I made a salsa with a papaya, pineapple and salt and pepper. I pureed it too much and they brought a chunky relish as well. Good eats.

Wednesday, July 31

Kids headed to Hilo in the van to check out the rainbow waterfalls and in search of fish for dinner.

We headed to Kawaihae harrbor in the Kia for Kohala fish tacos and then to Waimea/Kamuela’s Foodland for a few more groceries and lilikoi martini ingredients. We stumbled on the Waimea mid-week farmer’s market and a lead for Lauren on a chocolate farm on the east side. White pineapples ad 4.50 – 5.00 per pound these days, ouch!

Tuesday, July 30

Made the Kona boat rentals trip successfully for our 10am – 3pm block. A quick stop at the Island Market for sandwiches and munchies and the cooler was ready and packed.!

A nice and overcast day for our journey down to Capt Cook’s Bay. It took about 45 minutes, a little rough but worse on the way back.

A nice calm day at the bay, but the clouds really threw off the colors of the fish. We had lunch tied up to each other and trolled on the way back north about 10mph at about 240-260 feet of water for ono or ahi tuna. No luck! I think we all got a little pounded on the journey back to the harbor. $455/boat for 4 hours was pretty fun. Couldn’t coach Rylan into the water though.

Dinner at the Kona Brewing Company afterwards and their strawberry vinaigrette spinach salad with their Captain pizza was still spot on. Their Castaway IPA was a great go-to!

Monday, July 29

Treked out to A-Bay to get the girls in the water. Saw some turtles and had lunch at Lava-Lava Beach Club. The Kona Boat rental guy has everythink we need for tomorrow, from flippers/mask to fishing rods! In the afternoon, we met up with Bruce and Linda Bott. Doug, Lauren, Rylan and Sandy and I had a nice visit with them at the Marriott. There were 10 of them, but they too were whittling down as Jeff headed and partner headed back to Oah.

Sunday, July 28

Headed off to Costco for supplies for the weeks, picked up a 98 quart ice chest and had lunch at the Harbor House. Bite-Me, the restaurant is no more. We checked out the boats for Tuesday’s adventure as well.

We had crappy Costco pizza, Doug and Lauren’s time to cook, for dinner.

Saturday, July 27

Woke about 4:00 am or so. Rosie and family made it to Sacramento. They had an EV, so they had to bring it back charged at 80% or so. Interesting story, we can’t wait to hear.

Putted around, stopped in Waimea at the Farmer’s Market, met Sue Edwards. She is still moving here Dakine Dog Treat, awesome. We made a run to the Foodland up there. A quick dropoff of the groceries and off we went to pick up the clan. They were already through the exit gate when we arrived.

Went to the Ocean Pool in the afternoon, had lunch there and we made ground turkey tacos with fresh salsa and guacamole! Yummy!!

Friday, July 26

Got up at 3:15 am for our shuttle to SLC airport. Left the car in front of the hotel, $10/day, a great deal. We were on the reservation for the shuttle, but when we checked in we weren’t on it, but there were 2 more slots.

Checked in quickly at SLC, Clear doesn’t open until 5am, and we were there about 4:50 with TSA Pre. Quick and easy, even though Sandy was patted down, weird.

The flight was on time, nice in first class, not quite KLM or Lufthansa, but comfortable. Nice it have StarLink on board to continue our questions/answers with Jordan and Kenny.

Arrived in Kona, exchanged vans because of a low front right tire pressure. Made it to Lava Lava Beach Club for a quick Mai Tai and then off to the condo. We are in 14F of the Hali’i Kai, 3 bdm, 3 ba, 2 floors, 2 kings and 1 queen bed configuration.

Checked in right about 3pm and found the cleaning crew still doing their thing until about 4pm. We headed over to the Ocean Pool Resort for another Mai Tai, $8.50 during happy hour and they are better than Lava Lava.

Headed off to Romano’s for a quick bite, then the Island Market for a few essentials. Made it back, unpacked and relaxed a little waiting on Doug and Lauren. They made it in on time, waited 40 minutes for their FIRST CLASS luggage and a wait for their car. All good though. They arrived about 9pm.

Off to bed, Sandy was already asleep with the 4 hour time difference.

Thursday, July 25th

Checked into our Hawaiian HAL83 flight to HNL and then to KOA on 278. With any luck we should be in Kona by 1pm Hawaii time tomorrow. Looking forward to time with Doug and Lauren, Rosie and Tommy AND Rylan and Aidyn!

Hung around in town, went to breakfast at Black Bear Diner, drove out to the Salt Lake and explored the parking and terminal situations at the airport. We decided to leave the car in the park-and-ride at the hotel, its just going to be easier. We drove in the afternoon into downtown to scope out the area and the Cathedral of Madeleine, truly gorgeous and ornate. The Whiskey Street bar and restaurant did not disappoint for a late lunch/ early dinner.

Early rising tomorrow … flight at 7am!