One word for our Billy Joel/Elton John concert experience......AMAZING. I went in with no expectations......just excited. We arrived with plenty of time to get to our seats. When purchasing our tickets we didn't have too many options in our price range. The only ones were behind the stage. However, after encouragement from mom (they had that experience years ago when they went to see Phil Collins and they were excellent seats) and a blog that said the seats behind the stage are just as good, we went ahead with the purchase. When we arrived we were not disappointed one bit. Actually we couldn't have asked for better seats. (Please excuse the quality of pictures. I chose not to take a camera so that I'd focus on the concert and not taking pictures. However I couldn't resist taking just a few with my camera phone.)
We were smack dab behind the stage above everything. No visual obstructions (we actually had short cement divider in front of one of our seats, meaning no seats and no heads in the way), we could see everything, including the percussion and other band members, and we had a huge screen in front of us. We didn't even need the screen, but that added to the experience. True, we couldn't see the accent lighting behind the band or the huge light up keyboard above the stage, but eh, who needs that? We didn't care. I was pumped. The crowd kept coming and yes, it was most definitely sold out. And no offense to individuals in our generation but I have to say that I was relieved when we found that we were surrounded by an older crowd. We were most definitely in the minority of the crowd. All the same, we had a great time.
(FYI, for those that are looking to go to this concert and are looking save a few bucks, get the seats behind the stage. You can see it all and they play to the entire audience (the band members turn around and Billy's piano even rotates). The seats on the side of the arena were more expensive and in my opinion not as good. Just my 2 cents.)
The time came, the stage to the floor opened and the grand pianos rose. My oh my, my heart was pounding. This is what I've been waiting for! Billy came out, then Elton. I couldn't clap enough. Then they started with Elton's "Your Song." Oh, the tears just started flowing. I couldn't contain myself any longer. Could this actually be happening? I've made it to my first concert? I'm seeing Billy Joel and Elton John, in person, with my own eyes? If this is a dream, don't wake me up. They continued with duets, going back and forth between their songs...."Just The Way You Are" and "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me." I'm not even going to list all the songs they performed.
Awhile later Billy, along with his band members, left the stage. Their instruments sunk back into the stage and left Elton and his band members to do their thing. They started with "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding." We couldn't believe they played this. This is one of our favs and never expected it. I continued to find myself in awe as the night continued on. Just amazing.
After Elton's long set it was Billy's turn. He came out on fire, playing "Angry Young Man." Elton John and Billy Joel are both entertainers.....in so many ways they are alike and others different. Both equally enjoyable and inspiring. Billy talked more between songs than Elton. He played all of my favorites and I had to work hard to contain my dancing feet. One bad thing about sitting up high....you can't get up and move around. Well, I guess I could, but I may just fall and I'd totally piss off the people around us. But it was still a ton of fun as he kept pounding out songs.
The final "set" included both Billy and Elton, along with their bands, on the stage. It was non-stop action. The evening finished 3.5 hours from the start, by toning it down with "Candle In The Wind" followed by "Piano Man." Of course I didn't ever want to see it end, but if it could end in any way, this was the way it should have.
A perfect experience. Well worth the 25 year wait. Well worth the $250. Thank you Billy, Elton, and Your Crew for an amazing experience.
Yes, I'm 25 years old and tonight will be my first official concert. (Okay, got to be honest. I've been to a concert before, but let's just say the tickets were free, we got them within a couple hours of the show, there weren't too many people there, and well, it's just not an act like tonight's. So yes, I've been to a concert, but this is a REAL concert.) Tonight is Billy Joel and Elton John at the Q. Yes.
Okay, let's face it....there are a few things....make that many things, I am not. 2 that top the list....romantic and spontaneous. I dunno if it's just not in me, or what. I think the easiest explanation is that I'm so on the go that it's hard for me to stop and smell the roses or even have thoughts to consider getting off of a planned schedule. I've got to say, David's not all that romantic or spontaneous either. Thankfully it's not an issue to us.
With that being said, we never do anything for Valentine's Day. I can remember back in 1998 when we had first dated. We did the typical going out, went to a movie, I made him cookies, he made me a huge cookie, type of thing. Since then we've just said, "eh, it's just another day." And I can't remember doing much, if anything since. So earlier last week I said, "Why don't we do something for Valentine's Day. Any ideas?" We both thought of it over the week and couldn't come up with anything. I figured we'd end up doing our regular thing. That was until I received a phone call from David saying, "How about Niagara Falls?" He had found a hotel and all. I was for it. Romantic and spontaneous?? What has gotten into us?! I had to work a couple hours on Saturday, but with the help of my boss, who had sympathy for David =), he got me out of there ASAP. We took off in the late morning and made great time.
Our hotel was excellent. We don't usually put too much thought, time, or money into where we stay oftentimes. We see it as a place to rest our head at night. However, this was another step up for us. A historical inn, it was not a chain, and had it's own little charm. Unfortunately we were unable to book a room with a king sized bed, and had to settle for 2 beds. This is nothing new for us. If you can believe it, out of any of our trips (5), only 1 room has had a single bed. Once again, it's not like we spend much time there, we hate to spend $X amount more for it, and remember, we're not romantic ;) Sometimes it's a relief. After sharing a bed with 2 dogs and each other, we're both not afraid to admit it's nice to have our own beds to ourselves on our little trips. I know, most people think we're totally crazy when they hear this, but as long as we're on the same page, that's all that matters, right?
After checking in we headed out to check out the town. We got a bite to eat, checked out the Cliffton Hill area, spent some time at the casinos and shops, and stopped by the Falls to see it at night. As you can expect with us, we walked and covered a ton of area, taking it all in. We headed back to the hotel after picking up some beer and wine to experiment with at LCBO.
The next day we had our awesome complimentary breakfast at the hotel dining area (I guess the restaurant is known for it's find dining for dinner) and then explored a bit more before heading home.
It was short but sweet, but we had an absolute wonderful time. I'm so glad David came up with the idea and found the hotel. We may not be that romantic or spontaneous, but these trips can't hurt, right? And if you add a bit of our adventurous side in the mix, it makes for fun-filled trips, even if they are short. After our trips, especially NYC and Niagara Falls, we've found that we can see a lot in a short period of time. It's great, and we hope to use it to our advantage, taking smaller, shorter trips. Most people may not know, but we never had a "special" honeymoon....We spent 1 night in Elyria. This is understandable given that we had limited funds and were headed to New Orleans soon after. However, it's something I wish we could have done at the time. But that's okay. We may never had a grand honeymoon, but we're making up for it as often as we can now.
We started our venture to NYC on Wednesday at approximately 12 noon. For those who don't know, getting to New York from Ohio is pretty much a straight shot. Given that fact we hoped to make good time, but that also depended on the traffic and weather. Thankfully we had easy going all the way. No problems...traffic, accidents, detours, or weather. Upon entering PA is there was some wet snow, but that was the extent of any "bad" weather. Something to note though, there's a stretch of the drive in central PA that lacks many exits, which includes gas, food, and restrooms. It seemed to take forever between exits. This didn't effect us, but we did make note of it, considering you never know what may happen.
We arrived in Newark, New Jersey at approximately 8pm. As expected, our hotel was immediately across the street from the Newark Penn Station. What we didn't expect was how nice it was. Not that it was a grand hotel by any means, but we expected just a typically travelling hotel. It was a small step up from what we would normally stay in, so we were thrilled. Upon arriving we flipped the tv on. That's when it was announced that there were "unsubstantiated claims of threats warning of possible attacks on the NYC transit system on Thanksgiving." These announcements were in lieu of what was going on in India. The crazy world we live in. We accepted the possibility of the risk, but settled in for the night. Threats come on a daily basis whether we know them or not so we weren't going to let that hinder our plans for the next day.
We woke up at 5:15am on Thanksgiving morning. We each put our minimum 2 layers on our bottom and 5 (yes 5) on top. We each had extra hats, gloves, and hand/feet warmers just in case. Our adventure started by stepping into the Newark Penn Station. It was full of hustle and bustle. We quickly found the ticket machines and made our way through purchasing the correct tickets and then headed toward Track 1. A packed train pulled up, we filed in, and headed to NYC. At that point we had our first "now what?" We never turned in our ticket so we were quite confused as what was going to happen. It was then that a conductor came through and was taking tickets. He hoped we had done the right thing, and thankfully we did. He took our ticket with no problem. Not a surprise but we did fumble our way through many experiences, from riding the subway, to finding bathrooms, etc. Let me tell you though, we were lucky. We happened to "fall into" situations and definitely took advantage of them. With the help of maps we made our way around and didn't have too many snafus. And if something happened we quickly got back on track.
We tried to make our way to Herald Square for the parade. We knew that it was a long shot, but wanted to try. Unfortunately it wasn't possible to get in there. At that point we had to decided whether to stick it out in that area or head up near Central Park. We decided to head north. The city was a buzz. At the same time it was controlled chaos. NYPD was everywhere. And all they had to do was have a presence. Most of the time they turned a blind eye. I can't tell how many times we crossed a barrier to get to the other side of the street. Heck, the majority of the time we were actually walking in the street. Yes, walking in the street in Times Square...how cool? They didn't care, as long as you just weren't standing there. After a bit of walking David and I were hot. All of those layers were kicking our butts. And we also needed to find a bathroom. Obviously, everywhere you went there was a line. We happened on a mall-type building and decided to try to go inside. Surprisingly it was open, which not too many people knew about. We quickly found the bathroom and were in and out. Who would've guessed that? After that we decided we wanted to get to the other side of the street. Unfortunately it wasn't so easy to cross the street as the crowds grew. After a small back track we were able to get to the other side of the street and made it into Central Park. It took us awhile but David was able to find an awesome spot, in Central Park, on the side of a hill, where we could see the parade. We knew all of those ventures out for Mardi Gras would come in handy again at some point. For pictures, we had branches in the way, but it was an awesome spot. This was our view
I'm glad we left so early so that we had the ability to find a decent spot and it wasn't long before the parade began. You could feel the energy rise as the parade drew closer. It was coming. I got chills. This has always been a dream of mine, to see the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade in person. And it was about to come true. As the bands played and the balloons filled the air, I couldn't help but feel the tears coming down my cheeks. I know, I'm a geek, but this is something I never knew would happen, and it was right before my eyes. I absolutely love Mardi Gras and won't take anything from it. But although this was also a parade, it had a different sense. It was totally it's own. Trust me, both Mardi Gras and Macy's are totally worth trips. Just amazing. Absolutely loved it.
During the parade we had a couple local families around us along with a gentleman that watches the parade from the same spot every year. We kept conversation throughout the parade. Near the end he said that it was the longest parade he can remember to date. Let me tell you, our cold behinds and toes were feeling that. We had started to lose feeling in our extremities so although the parade was awesome we were glad to see it end.
We ventured through Central Park a bit but didn't come close to seeing it all. One thing I'd like to do next time is explore that area more. We headed toward Rockefeller Center but decided to grab a quick bite to eat. We happened on Ernest Klein & Co. International Supermarket. Our food was great, and we even got a Black and White Cookie.
We continued on to Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central Terminal, and The Pond At Bryant Park. Then back to Times Square. All of this was unbelievable. It's hard to take it all in. I found myself sitting there, in awe, for a few moments. It's one of those things that you need to physically experience to be able to truly appreciate it. Even so, here's a short video.
Next up was the Statue Of Liberty. We didn't rush there that morning, due to the parade, so we made it there around 3-4pm. It was then that we found out we had made it on the last boat of the day. Whew! Once again, I found myself looking at the statue saying, "That's it! I'm really in NYC!" After our trip to Liberty it was time to go to the WTC site. We passed Wall Street/The New York Stock Exchange on the way. The WTC was interesting. I didn't know what to expect. You can see in, but for the most part there isn't much to see, with all of the construction and barricades around. In general southern Manhattan was quiet. Of course it was a holiday, so not too many people were around, but it was almost too quiet. Kind of weird.
We weren't sure what our plans were after that so we kept walking to see what we could find. It was then that we thought we'd check out Little Italy and get a bite to eat. Everyone's trying to get your business, so it's up to you to find the place you want to eat. After asking multiple restaurants if they charged for sharing a plate, we found one that didn't. In addition, our drinks for the meal were free, including sangria! Our dinner meal was cheaper than our lunch, was VERY good, and experience that we never had before. Another experience to add to our list.
Having already walked about 15 miles that day (I mapped it upon coming home...wish I would've had my Garmin) we decided to take the subway instead of walking all the way back to Times Square. We hung out there for a bit then decided it was time to head back to Newark. We hopped the train and called it a day.
Wow, did that all just happen? This was one of those experiences that I will never forget. Call me crazy, but one day in NYC was better than a week in Hawaii. We hardly did much planning, but it all came together. We didn't think that this would be possible on a multitude of levels. Everyone said we'd spend a ton of money. I guess it all depends on what you do or willing to give up. Our mindset was to experience NYC, and that we did. In the end we spent approximately $400 and that included gas, hotel, food, and transportation. We also saved by walking more than most people would. My final calculation came out to about 20 miles of walking. But that allowed us to see more, keep warm, save money, and burn calories. Not going to say I'm not sore. Yesterday I woke up with sore calves, shins, abs, shoulders, and back. And 2 days later I'm still feeling the effects.
But, it was worth the drive. It was worth the walking. And now that we've done it, it opens the door for many more experiences whether they're in NYC or somewhere else.
A few weeks back David and I were talking about random places we'd like to go or experiences we'd like to have. I brought up that I'd love to have the experience of being in a big city on a holiday to see how things are. You know, like in movies, where it seems like it's just another day, or people hunker down in their lofts, or where people take the train out of the city to their hometown in the burbs. I figured I'd never live in a big city on a holiday, but at least I could travel there. I also brought up that it's a dream of mine to experience the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Of course I prefaced all of this with "This is a pipe dream, but...." To this day I wake up on Thanksgiving and the first thing I do is turn on the tv to see the parade.
We didn't think much of it until later that night. David said, "Why don't we go away for Thanksgiving this year. This is a time to do it. We both have multiple days off and won't have to use vacation." In addition, not that I was ever a huge turkey fan, but having the Thanksgiving center around a meat-filled extravaganza, it's not as appealing as in past years. I'm not playing the "poor me" role. I'm still proud of my choice of being a vegetarian and know that I could have a million other options to choose from on Thanksgiving, but it is what it is.
We weren't 100% sure if we could do it, but we looked into our options. Originally we thought, Chicago. Upon bringing this up, mom wanted to join in. Mom absolutely loves Chicago. This would mean she wouldn't have to cook anything for Thanksgiving (which she dreads), and we could experience the shopping after Thanksgiving. Although it seemed like a great idea, Dad wasn't sold on the idea. In addition, Justin and Cass were on the fence with the idea. In the end they all decided to sit this one out. Instead Thanksgiving will be spent up in Michigan. At that point we decided Chicago was out. We could venture on our own but shopping really isn't our thing, especially when we wouldn't have a group to go with, just to enjoy some window shopping.
Our idea was at a standstill until we found that Sita and Alpa weren't planning on having Thanksgiving this year. Sita has her state board test (for massage) the following week and fixing a big dinner isn't high priority on her list. Not to mention David's sister is a nurse and will be on call that day.
It was then that we started searching for other options. For shits and giggles we looked up how far it is to NYC....8 hours. Ah, that's not bad. The wheels started to turn. Within an hour I pieced together where we could stay, how we'd actually get into the city, and then where we could go, and how much it'd be. I was in high Heaven...was I actually going to experience the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade? I took a few moments to take it all in. Can we do this? Can we do it financially? Can we physically take on NYC? We've always wanted to go but were intimidated about getting around. True, money is tight, tight, tight. I can't even put into words how tight it is. The bottom line is we probably shouldn't go. At the same time, as said previously, this is the time to do it. We've always thought that NYC would be awesome but couldn't see staying there for a week....I think I'd get "bored" by 7 days, and financially it'd be impossible. Going for a day or 2 would be perfect. I was able to aquire transportation maps online and mapped it all out. We'd stay in Newark, hop the train to New York, then use the subway system to get around. Our plan is to stay a day and get as much in as we can. Although we have ideas of what we'd like to see, and a plan about how to do it, so we don't totally waste a day, we are going in with an open mind of "whatever we get to see, we'll see, If not, we'll see it next time." Of course our first plan of action is to go to the parade....after that, we shall see. Our plan is to keep in Manhattan and not venture to the surrounding areas this trip.
Surprisingly we found that this trip may actually be more affordable than Chicago. The most expensive thing is gas. The room and parking, are cheaper. And with unlimited ride passes, transportation is even affordable. Everyone tells us that we'll still spend a ton of money. I hear them and recognize where they're coming from. True, we may spend more money, but at the same time, remember we're not big foodies, so it's not like we're going to spend a ton on food. In addition, we don't plan on doing much, if any, shopping. Once again, our biggest expense will be gas, our room, transportation, and if we want to go to Ellis Island.
I still can't believe we're going to go to NYC. I still can't believe we'll be there for Thanksgiving and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I still can't believe that even though we have planned a few things, we're still heading there on a whim. This will truly be an interesting adventure.
Our vacation started with a short trip to the DTW airport and then take off to MCO. We got to takeoff out of the new terminal and must say that it was real nice. However, anything was better than the old terminal. Yikes. After our arrival in Orlando we took a short jaunt over to Cocoa Beach where we’d be staying overnight. I had found of hotel for the evening and was quite pleased at my choice. It was the Four Points Sheraton in Cocoa Beach. Camie and her crew met up with us for dinner at the Shark Pit Bar and Grill, located in the hotel. After dinner we checked out the Cocoa Beach Surf Company that was also inside the hotel. It was a large store with surfboards everywhere. Quite cool. And even better, the hotel was unexpectedly next door to Ron Jon Surf Shop. We stopped there for a bit then headed back to the hotel. Jerry and Diana arrived and by that point David and I were exhausted and headed to the room. It was great to see Camie and her crew but we needed to get rest for all of the fun ahead….
I’ve decided that if I sit and type every little thing about our vacation I’d be here for hours. I also don’t think that everyone’s going to be all that excited about the minute details.
So, here was our itinerary: Day 1-Sunday-Depart Port Canaveral Day 2-Monday-CocoCay, Bahamas Day 3-Tuesday-Day At Sea Day 4-Wednesday-St. Thomas Day 5-Thursday-St. Maarten Day 6-Friday-Day At Sea Day 7-Saturday-Day At Sea
We sailed on the Mariner Of The Seas with Captain Johnny Faevelen. This captain was very cool and always upbeat anytime you heard or saw him. I’ll definitely miss hearing, “Good morning! Good morning! Good morning! This is your Captain speaking from the bridge!!”
This was my second cruise vacation but David’s first. David did get a bit of motion sickness the first 2 nights. We couldn’t tell if it was just because he was tired or if it was truly motion sickness. I didn’t have any problems. The first and last nights were the roughest. They weren’t bad by any means, but compared to the rest of our trip they were the worst.
The first night of the cruise we were in the Schooner Bar for Sing-A-Long with Simeon. This guy was hilarious and we found ourselves at this bar more often than not. He’s an awesome piano man and singer that kept you laughing at all times. We absolutely loved it. In addition to sing-a-longs he’d do “guess the song” through playing on the piano or “name that tune” via recordings. Hilarious. You know that J, David, and I each won a key chain that night. Yup yup! By the way, key chains are the thing to win on the ship. Well, not really the thing to win, but if you win a contest, that’s what you tend to get.
So, CocoCay….CocoCay is Royal Caribbean’s private island. There’s no port so you must tender in on a smaller boat. I had been to this island before. It gives you the true feeling of being on vacation. With the exception of all the people, you feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere. Everyone snorkeled while I soaked up some rays. And guess what? The water was warm…unlike our previous vacation! (even better, the water got warmer at each destination) We had the island BBQ and I got to sample the local drink, CocoLoco. Yum, very tasty.
That evening we stopped by the Lotus Lounge to check out “Finish That Lyric.” They requested 10 participants and David decided to join in. I got to say, I don’t think anyone saw him as a threat because he stood up there quietly, hands in his pockets, until he was called to the microphone. It was finally his turn and his song was “Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong. Not only did he hit it on the head but he also did the Louis voice. The crowd roared. They loved him immediately. He continued to deliver at each song and everyone loved him. Who knew I was married to a ham? And what’s even better, I got it all on video. Here’s some action:
And The Winner is:
So, obviously David won. And not only did he win a key chain, but also a hat, and ID holder, luggage tag, and a pen. Too funny.
The next day we were at sea and ate at Johnny Rockets for lunch. As always, Johnny Rockets was a ton of fun and we loved it. The crew sang and danced throughout our meal and kept things rolling. After lunch I got to get my groove on at the pool deck with some dancing. It was then David’s turn to participate in another event….Men’s Sexiest Legs Competition. Once again, who knew David had this in him?? Mom and I ended up being 2 of the 6 judges so we did have a bias but that’s ok. David ended up winning Mr. Flamingo Legs AND Mr. Sexiest Legs. I got to say the guys had it easiest for the competition. Mom and I had to deal with the guys all trying to prove to us women that they should win. The guys couldn’t touch us, but trust me, they got close enough. It was all in good fun and everyone had quite a few laughs. Here's the crew member showing the guys what to do....
Throughout the cruise we attended multiple art auctions and even won a piece. Let me clarify, we didn’t bid on an item (at thousands of dollars, who can??) but we won and item through a raffle. Pretty cool. The auctions were eye opening and surprisingly enjoyable. No one would complain about raffles and free champagne though, would they? That evening we enjoyed Earl Turner at The Savoy Theatre. He had a gig at Harrah’s in New Orleans while we lived there, but we never attended a performance. He was very entertaining. Later that night was the 70s Disco Party. Everyone filled the Promenade and busted out their moves. From YMCA to Love Train, we had a blast. And the cool thing about these types of events, they last while but never too long.
The next morning we arrived in St. Thomas. It was a beautiful island. I was surprised at how hilly it was. When looking at a map you don’t know this until you arrive. We all hopped a taxi to Coki Beach and spent the late morning and early afternoon there. As with so many things on this trip it was another eye opening experience seeing how people live and also the price of getting around. It wasn’t necessarily expensive, but it wasn’t cheap either. And at the same time you know that this is what the locals depend on to survive. After finishing up with snorkeling we took a trip up the Mountain Top Mountain Top. The steep and narrow roads uphill gave my heart a rush, but the view was awesome. There wasn’t much else to do there other than get a Banana Daiquiri and take a few pictures. After that we went back to the ship to freshen up then headed back to Havensight Mall to walk a bit. The Figure Skating show was performed that night. Thanks to Uncle Jerry, we were able to acquire tickets easily and enjoy the show.
Our day in St. Maarten started out with a bang…..we rode ATVs around the island. It was very exhilarating and totally worth the amount we paid. Luckily for us we were able to make reservations outside of the cruise line, which made it cheaper, but were on the exact same excursion as the rest of the cruise passengers. Sweet. After riding a bit we stopped off and ran into a local gentleman who had 3 live sea urchins. They moved and all. He told us about them and let individuals hold them too. After our stop we continued on and stopped at private area on Orient Beach. We spent enough time for everyone to soak up some rays or swim a bit then it was time to head back to the starting point. I would highly recommend the ATV excursion. With the exception of the smelly helmets and the initial shady feeling we had with the guys, they ended up being awesome and let us run pretty free (thanks to being at the back of the pack). For the most part we were on the road, but did a bit of off-road time. And we got to see the island. The good, the bad, and the ugly. I couldn’t believe the amount of livestock….goats, horses, cows. Goats would be tied up to the front of a house, or we passed a herd of goats, roaming free, standing on a mound of garbage, chomping away. Those are things that only live in your imagination, but they were actually happening. I can’t say that I enjoyed seeing that, but I did enjoy seeing how others live. Other than the craziness of New Orleans, I’ve never witnessed anything like it. I’ve also never been in a foreign country other than Canada. It’s a totally different world out there. The afternoon was spent in downtown Philipsburg. In all honesty I was so tired at that point that it was very hard to enjoy, but I still liked it.
For those that don’t know, St. Thomas and St. Maarten have jewelry shop after jewelry shop. I’ve never seen so many in my life. Real crazy. And we’re not talking just tiny pieces of gold or diamonds. This stuff, for the most part, is the real deal.
The final two days were at sea. Although this may be boring to some, it helped wind down the vacation. We didn’t do all that much with the exception of walking, checking out the casino, chilling, having a drink, or enjoying Simeon in the Schooner Bar…just enjoying our time. One thing J, David, and I did was participated in a spinning class. Whew! That gave us a run for our money but I think that it’s addicting. I want to do it again that’s for sure. Like I said, it kicked our butt and hurt, but it was awesome.
After arriving back in port our disembarking went rather smoothly along with our trip back to Orlando. We were luckily put on standby for an earlier flight home and made the cut. That meant a nonstop flight and arriving home about 3 hours earlier than expected. And even more, our seats we right behind first class meaning we had a bunch of extra legroom. That was definitely better than our flight home on our last vacation. Actually, I think it’s real safe to say that everything about this vacation was better than our last and we had more fun than we even hoped for. Even the possible negatives of the trip ended up not being issues. We didn’t break ourselves financially and budgeted quite well. And the big question is always weight gain on a cruise. When we arrived on the ship the fitness instructor said that average weight gain is 1-3 lbs per day. I was determined to not let that happen. Although we weren’t religious, David and I did make it to the gym several times throughout the week and I maintained my mileage. For the most part we ate what we wanted, but in moderation, with a few extra “rewards” that we’ve waited patiently for. My target weight is 115 lbs. With that being said, my target weight is hardly ever met and I tend to average around 118-120 lbs. I thought I had gained, by the way I felt, but in actuality I maintained my 120lbs. A small surprise, but not totally unexpected. While in Hawaii I felt heavy but found that I had actually lost weight with the amount of walking we did. David gained a few pounds on the cruise but nothing outrageous.
If I had to say we had anything bad happen it would be that David got motion sick the 1st day or so and I battled a sore throat for about 1.5 days. And lastly, David's throat started to hurt the last day and has continued through the trip home. But I think we can deal with all of that.
That’s our vacation in a nutshell. So yes, this was an awesome vacation and totally worth the gaggle that we had with the passports. Thank you to Jerry, Diana, Mom, Dad, Justin, and Cassie for allowing us to vacation with you. It was a ton of fun and we’ll have to do it again.
Well, only 1 more sleep until vacation. I'm going to keep this post short as you can guess I'm getting things done before leaving. Unlike our trip to Hawaii I won't have internet readily accessible. Okay, it will be accessible, but at multiple dollars per minute, that's not worth it. So this is us signing off until we get back....
Ever since I found out our passports were lost a manual search has been being performed. Basically the individual at the USPS was working as a liason between myself and the US Passport Agency. She'd keep me posted on anything going on, mostly just to give me condfidence that something was actually happening and they weren't yanking my chain. I received another phone call yesterday. The USPS worker wanted to verify our address. After a week's manual search our passport applications are still MIA. Back to square one. We are to receive a letter today stating that we need to re-apply. We cannot do anything until we receive the letter, but she was just giving us the heads up so we could get the ball moving again on our end. Ah well. We had already picked up a certified letter of David's name change and David took care of getting certified birth certificates for both of us. And at the beginning of this fiasco I filled out new applications. Of course we never used those so I held on to them, so it's one less this we have to do. According to the USPS worker she understands that the letter states some fees are going to be waved. We will still have to pay the $75 fee for each passport but this application fee via the USPS will be waved and we will be reimbursed for our expenses (1st application fee, certified name change letter, birth certificates). In addition, our passports will be expedited at no charge. That's what I'm talking about. We better get something here. So as of this moment we're waiting in the wings ready to jump for when we receive the letter.
Given our upcoming cruise David and I applied for our first passports on June 14th. We don't leave for our trip until September 27th so we figured we'd be way in the clear. I've continued to see if our checks cleared and nothing went through. Time kept passing but everyone said to give it time. I was patient but as time keeps closing in I've become quite uncomfortable. Approximately 2 weeks ago I signed up for email notification when they start to process our applications. I never heard anything so come Monday morning I called 1st thing. The US Passport office couldn't find that our applications were received. I then called the post office, where we applied, to see what the deal was. They said that they sent them in via certified mail and that they received confirmation with signature that they were received. So the circle begins. I kept calling each agency to see what I should do. Basically what it came down to was that we should re-apply. That means another $25 for each processing fee. Then I realized, "Wait, they have our birth certificates! Son of a...." Next I started to research how to get certified birth certificates. I found we could go to the health department and for $20 each get a new certified copy. Then, I realized that David's name was changed in 1995 meaning we'd have to get some sort of certified letter verifying his name change. Next call, the probate court. A certified copy of that piece of paper was only $1. I was also unsure as to whether expedite the application process. If we were to do so it'd be another $60 each. The normal application time turnaround is 4 weeks, but I'm not 100% sure I'd believe it. So in order to re-apply we'd be putting another $91 to $211, which in my opinion shouldn't be our responsibility. Needless to say I had a bit of a freak out as all of this was going down. I couldn't believe this had happened. Actually, I could. Given our last vacation was almost pure hell, in our eyes, I'm not going to lie and say that I have no fears something will go wrong on this one.
I continued making phone calls through out the morning trying to find where our applications are. Basically they're in limbo. The USPS doesn't have them and has confirmation that they were delivered and the US Passport office states they don't have any record of them whatsoever. The woman at the post office stepped up to look into it personally. I guess awhile back the same thing happened and the individual took it all the way to our state representative, Marcy Kaptur. The woman ended up getting all fees waived and thereafter all mailings had to be done by certified/confirmation letters. We were the first ones to have this happened after the new protocol. So the lady at the post office made a few phone calls and then got back to me. At the point they're doing a manual search for our applications. It could take a few days but we should find out something at some point. That still left us unsure as to whether to re-apply but at this point we decided to sit tight and hope for the best.
Something else to consider is identity theft. Our birth certificates and SSN's are out there and could get into anyone's hands. We'll have to keep our eyes on our credit reports. More than likely they have found their way into a pile on someone's desk. Wishful thinking? Maybe.
During all of this I made a million phone calls including one to my mom. She couldn't believe what happened either and just reassured me everything was going to be fine. I got off the phone with her and soon after received another call from her. She stated that a coworker said passports are required just yet for cruising to the caribbean. We figured it wasn't true but we'd give it a whirl. I called Royal Caribbean and stated my situation. The representative went on to say that the man was correct. Passports are NOT required. Due to the influx in passport applications they have extended the requirment deadline til June 2009. In addition, I also got this in writing via their website. It states that they highly recommend a passport but a certified birthe certificate and picture ID will do. Whew! A million pounds fell off of my shoulders. Of course we still want our passports but if push came to shove and we didn't receive them we'd be able to get certified birth certificates for our trip.
What a whirlwind of a morning.
We're hoping this is the first and last fiasco of our upcoming trip. I can only imagine Jerry, Diana, Justin, Cassie, Mom, and Dad reading this and saying their prayers. Really, it's going to be an awesome trip. I promise!
David and I had an enjoyable day at the North Coast Animal Expo. We met up with some prospective adopters and fosters and made a bit of money to go toward the North Coast Greyhound Connection.
Following our fundraising efforts we headed up to Cleveland for the Indians game. Given the recent situation with the Indians we weren't looking for anything miraculous. Just a relaxing night at the ballpark. To start off, we stopped by The Winking Lizard downtown and got a bite to eat. Upon entering we found that it wasn't just Christmas in July at Put In Bay, but everywhere that wanted to capitalize on the opportunity. The Lizard had Christmas music going and it was real hard to comprehend that it's still summer, yet in just several short months it will be Christmas again. Talk about messing with your head. In my attempt to try another beer I chose Magic Hat #9. It was listed as a fruit beer that has an "essence of apricot." Right. It wasn't bad but you could've fooled me about the apricot. Dinner was great with the exception of the assholes at the bar. They were there celebrating someone's 40th birthday but they were acting as though they were 21. No, make that 10. They were screaming and hollering, counting down shots, etc. to the point that you couldn't hear the person across the table from you. We weren't the only ones that found this quite annoying as all of the tables in our section looked just as annoyed. Near the end of our dinner the group left and we could finally hear the Christmas music again. Ahhhh.....
We then went down to the stadium and waited for the gates to open. We hadn't expected to make it to Cleveland and eat so fast so we were there earlier than planned. We got right in as the gates opened and went to the outfield so that I could possible get some photos of the Twins batting practice. We weren't there but a minute and heard, "HEADS UP!" as a ball came barreling towards me. The ball hit the seat next to me and David scrabbled to get it. Within another second there was another ball on the way. David could've gotten that ball too but chose to leave it for someone else. David's smile on his face was priceless. He's always wanted to get catch a ball at a baseball game. Although he didn't technically catch the ball, it was still a moment he had waited a long time for. 26 years. He was thrilled.
After walking around a bit we took the hike up to our seats. Our seats sit directly in the sun until sundown. Whew, it was hot. So hot I was willing to buy not 1, but 2 bottles of Aquafina bottled water and it was gone before you could blink. The game finally got underway and that's when things started to take a turn for the worse. Our section grew more and more crazy. David purchased a set of tickets for throughout the year. Each game has the same seats. Never before had things gotten rowdy in the section. I can only contribute the amount of alcohol consumption to the heat of the night. During the 3rd inning a group of guys started heading up the stairs. The first guy had a white dress on over his jeans along with a white baseball cap and veil. It was obvious that it was his bachelor party and they were already 3 sheets to the wind along with having double fisted beers. Of course the crowd started to join in hooting and hollering at him. The group of guys played it up as they climbed. I had our items in the seat on the aisle (it was not a full house) and I was in the second seat, then David. The guys passed, and the second guy, trying to be cute, gave the "bride" a "go team" butt tap. During the process his beer splashed all over my arm, the seat, my camera and bag, and my sweatshirt. Thankfully my camera was pretty covered. Oh shit, heads were about to start knocking. I was pissed. The third guy in the group genuinely apologized and said that if he had anything that he'd help to clean it up, but he didn't. I hate to sound like a bitch, but it just pisses me off to no end.
Just like anyone, work darn hard for what we purchase and for someone to come along and ruin what you have by being inconsiderate is unacceptable. And it's not just about the camera or even my arm. It's just the idea. I'm sick of dealing with inconsiderate people on a daily basis. We are all about a "me" society. It's no wonder why foreigners hate us. After this happened we then had to deal with the rowdy crowd bad mouthing marriage and how the guy's "scared to get married." or that "he's not going to have freedom after getting married." What the hell? For real. When did marriage become such a bad thing? I will never understand the ill concept of most bachelor or bachelorette parties. Let's go out and have a night of debauchery. Something that could possibly ruin your relationship and regret for the rest of your life. And if you're so scared to get married, then don't. It's that simple. This was the icing on the cake after a long week at work. I tried to deal but I was done.
By the 4th inning we started to pack up and made a stop at the bathroom to rid myself of the beer smell as much as possible and request a bag for my beer soaked sweatshirt. Hey, at least I had the sweatshirt to soak up the mess. While leaving we debated stopping at guest services to complain. We came to the conclusion it'd be a waste of time because it's not really their fault and what would they do. More than likely we'd just look like 2 weiners complaining.
I guess I just don't understand people's thinking. I have nothing against drinking by any means. I like to have a drink here and there socially. I like to take a moment to chill. I'll never understand why people take it to excess, make themselves look like totally idiots, and ruin it for those around them. They have nothing to show but an empty pocketbook and a toilet full of vomit the next morning. Right.
Okay, time for the much (or not so much) anticipated story of coming home from Texas. We arrived at the airport earlier than expected. We're the type to get there atleast 2 hours before take off but given that we had already checked out of the hotel, were stretching for things to do, wanted to make sure we didn't have any problems finding the airport, or returning the car, we headed back around 3 hours total before take off. When we arrived there were no issues with the car return. When we arrived at check in there were only about 4 people ahead of us but I got to say Northwest doesn't have the check-in procedure down yet. As with most all airlines they have the self check-in kiosks. However, you must wait for someone to assist you with checking in your bags. Usually it isn't an issue as there is a person per 2 kiosks and things run relatively smoothly. As for Northwest this wasn't the case....at least in Detroit or Dallas. They had about 1 person per 5 of 6 kiosks. Add on to that no turnstile ribbons (Detroit) it can cause some chaos and take a lot longer than expected. No biggie given that we were there earlier than needed, but I would have to say it's something that they need to improve on.
We chilled near our gate reading our books. About 1 hour before take-off we decided to check our departure status. Our plane was not present so we figured we may be running behind. Sure enough the large screen said we'd be leaving at 6:26pm. However, it was out of a different gate. Thankfully that was the next gate over so we could basically sit in the same spot. Looking at the gates, they both had our flight number/arrival city, but had different times....even different than the big screen. We figured we'd wait it out and see what happens. Well, sure enough the plane was very late arriving and it was at the other gate, that'd we'd leave out of. Listening to some passengers of the previous flight I hear 2 families complaining about a flight attendent. One said they were yelled at for having there phone off upon arriving in the plane, even though they were still loading. The other stated that he requested blankets for all members of his family and was refused. I didn't think much of it. Little did I know I'd have a run in with the same attendent.
We boarded the plane relatively quickly after the previous passengers departed. We were geared, all ready to go. The captain came over the loudspeaker and said, "We're number 1 for take-off." We moved toward the runway only to turn to the left instead of going straight. The captain came over the loudspeaker once again and said, "It looks like some nasty weather about 8-10 miles away with 60 mph winds. We're going to turn off the engines and wait it out." At this point everyone was whipping out their cell phones to call their families to notify them. Everyone, including me. That's when she arrived. Carol, the flight attendant, came and hovered over mine and my mom's seat and stared at me. She finally said in a rude tone, "Your cell phone?!" I gave her a sheepish/questioning face and said, "Yeah..." She said, "It's supposed to be OFF." Once again sheepish/questioning, I said, "Now? But we're sitting still with the engines off." And she replied, "YEAH....." Kind of like "duh, turn it off." She walked away and came back within a minute to say, "I asked the captain and he said it's okay to use your cell phone." No apology or anything. Whatever. What's it with me and flight attendents? And mom can back me up on this one. I wasn't rude and there were others with their cellphones blatently out. Then as a kind geture they offered cups of bottled water, only to find out you had to share with the seat next to you. Yeah, weird.
So the storm came in with quite a vengeance and after 2 hours sitting on the runway, shakin' a bit, we took off. While the storm was going on there was a plane that took off. They made it up but went over the radio saying that it was a rough ride. Given that we were a 2 by 2 seater with only about 20 rows (super small plane) I'm glad we waited to take off. When mom saw our plane she about freaked saying she wasn't getting on the tiny thing. And that was before were knew about the storm. The take off wasn't too bad but we had quite a rough ride home. A lot of turbulence. The kind where you feel like you're falling in the air. I was surprised that I didn't find bruises on my arm from where mom continued to grab me. She white-knucked almost all the way home as I continued to give her reassuring thoughts, "We're going to be fine." We ended up getting into Detroit after midnight, and getting to our car and out of Detroit after 1am. So we didn't get home until after 3am. We were exhausted.
I finally have a moment to sit down and write. More than likely this will have to be a post done in segments because it'll be too much to write at one time. Texas was awesome. I'm so glad I got to experience and even better that I got to experience it with someone. That person being mom. I couldn't imagine having gone alone, as I wouldn't have had any of the experiences we had because more than likely I would've been holed up in a hotel room.
Tuesday started out well. No problems with our ride to the airport, check-in, flight, or arrival. Upon getting to the rental car center we found that there were no cars available. Even the "Emerald" club members were waiting. As a car would arrive they'd ask who wanted it. You could pass or take it. Of course most cars that were available were SUVs, which no one wanted. Our turn came and we had the option of a Toyota Highlander, Chevy Equinox, or a Chevy HHR. We went with the HHR given that it's American and more than likely the best on gas. It was a huge upgrade from our economy reservation. Spacious, sun-roof, and a leather interior. Nice. I did learn that after our car fiasco in Hawaii and this I more than likely will not be going with Alamo again. It's great to get upgrades but I question their management/organization. We jetted to downtown Dallas and started out at the Sixth Floor Museum. It's a museum located in the old Texas Book Depository where it's believed JFK was assassinated. Mom was an admirer or JFK when she was younger, which she then passed on to me when I had to make a school project back in 2nd grade. His history and story intrigue me, so we thoroughly enjoyed the museum. Following the museum we checked out the Dealey Plaza, Old Red Museum, and the JFK Memorial a few blocks away. We stopped by the Pioneer Plaza to get a few more pictures and then walked throughout the downtown area. I must say that we were totally surprised how quiet the city was. The only thing we can think is that it's so hot during the day that people stay inside. Don't get me wrong, there were cars, but nothing like other big cities. Another thing is that no matter where we were it was clean. I can only imagine what they think of us when they come up here to all of our litter. We finished the day by going to a mall called Northpark Center. We ate at PF Changs (a fav!) and did some shopping. This trip was full o' shopping. I'm not a shopper but I could've proven anyone wrong this past week. It helps when you get some good deals. A funny thing did happen. I've been wanting a specific shirt that says, "Jesus, please holla back." I saw it a month ago in Cleveland at a store called Metropark. I didn't purchase it and have been kicking myself since. Well, we came across a Metropark store and lo and behold they had the shirt. I had to try it on so I went up to a person and asked them if I could try it on. Of course it ended up being an asian person who I couldn't understand. And when I did he said, "You want me to try it on?" and tried taking it from me. I pulled it away and thought he was just joshing me. I already feel totally uncomfortable in stores like Metropark because I stick out like a sore thumb and at this point I just wanted to turn inside out. Then my mom realized and said, "Do you work here?" He said, "No." and we just said, "Oh, never mind" and walked away. Yeah, big idiot here! Guess you had to be there but we had some good laughs about this the entire trip. Actually we had many of those moments. Some that I remember, so I don't. If I sat a wrote them all we'd be here for a long time. It was late so we went to the hotel and found it to be quite nice for a Holiday Inn Express. Great warm continental breakfast with cinnamon rolls, cereal, eggs....the works! Our room had a microwave and fridge. It had a super nice shower and comfortable bedding. We were quite surprised.
Even though it was a nice hotel we didn't find ourselves sleeping in much. Everyday I woke up and ran 3 miles on the fitness room treadmill. It may be vacation but I can't slack on that. Especially with all the food I was eating! Most of the day was spent in Fort Worth checking out the Stockyards. It's a pretty cool area where you think you've stepped back in time. It's an actual location where livestock exchange occured. They have all of the steakhouses and even had a herd move through the street twice daily. I truly felt like I was in Texas after visiting there. Lunch was at La Familia a local Tex Mex restaurant. Whew, was it good. Everything was so fresh and their drinks were strong. I wasn't even a quarter way done with my drink and I was feeling it. Needless to say mom was on her own for a bit after lunch. I wasn't much help as a navigator. If you're ever in the area check it out. Great food, service, and ambience. We did a bit more shopping the rest of the afternoon and had a late dinner at the Cheesecake Factory (can you tell why I definitely made myself get up each morning to run?). On our way back to the hotel we got stuck in a downpour. In the south when a downpour occurs they slow down a bit, put their hazards on, and keep a movin'. We did the same and made it safely to the hotel.
We didn't do much Thursday morning as I had school at noon. It was my lab animal day which included rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, and rats. School ended up being surprisingly easier than I thought. At the same time it was informative. Everyone was quiet upon arriving but that didn't last long. We all soon started to talk and carry on conversations about our experiences. There wasn't a dull moment. We finished sooner than expected which meant we could head out to dinner earlier. Dinner was at Maggianos and we shopped a bit more at Northpark Center. We were in search of another Dick's Sporting Goods, and were unsuccessful. Yeah, this is one of those times that has a funny story, but too long to go into here. Let's just say, I'm a good navigator and mom's a good driver, but I wouldn't recommend us going on Amazing Race. We never once yelled at each other and always kept calm but I'd love to have a video of us. Instead of finding a Dick's we unexpectedly found an area of house, no mansions, that were one after the next. Just amazing, gorgeous, mansions. My mouth was hanging open and I just kept saying, "Look at that. Holy shit. Look at that." We never found that Dick's but that's okay. It was still a fun adventure.
Friday morning started with another run and then right to school. It was my large animal day which was spent with horses and goats. We all did quite well, and as with the previous day, it was easier than expected. We were so kick butt that we got done with the animal portion in the morning and the lab portion in the afternoon that we didn't even had to come back the next day. Nice, but having a later flight the next day wasn't so nice. Wish I would've known that'd be the case because we would've left earlier. The evening was spent at a VERY nice mall. We finally found another Dick's where I got a pair of my running shoes for $30! Sweet. It's last years style but that's okay by me. The deals continued with me finding capri jeans for $15. Double Sweet. I was happy.
Since I didn't have school Saturday we checked out of the hotel and made a trek to an area north of Dallas and stopped at an outlet mall. We got some deals and then started back to the airport. That's when we hit a roadblock....but that will have to wait until tomorrow. It's getting late and I got to get to bed. Stay tuned.....
Yesterday David and I started out real early and got our motorcycle permits. I hate those stupid tests. Heck, I hate tests in general. So much anxiety. But we passed and all that matters. We're waiting for our helmets to get started and then we'll start our training. This should be fun.
We headed up to CLE for the afternoon. We stopped to get my hair cut by Anna at Dino Palmieri. It's my 3rd cut from her and she never disappoints. Totally worth the drive and worth the money. At $4.09/gallon you know she's worth it. She's totally awesome. Easy to talk to and she does wonders with the scissors. I'm so excited to get my hair colored by her come time for the cruise. Having not colored my hair in years, and even then having only colored it a handful of times, I have nearly "virgin" hair and I know she's chomping at the bit to get ahold of it. Needless to say, I am now too and can't wait for September to roll around.
After that we stopped by Whole Foods to load up on some vegetarian options for me. Of course I have things here in Sandusky, but if you've ever been to Whole Foods, you can appreciate all the options. I got tons of different things to try out and loaded them into the ice-filled cooler. Now our freezer is full to the brim. I don't expect to always ship at Whole Foods, but it helps with the jumping off point and it's always an enjoyable shopping experience checking everything out. David totally surprised me by saying today, "You know, meat hasn't been sounding all that appetizing lately." You could've knocked me off of my chair. I don't see him going vegetarian anytime soon but I do see him deleting certain items from his diet. To a certain extent I feel bad, as I don't want to be pushy and I have made sure not to be. I figure let him choose the place to eat and I'll find something, which has worked out quite well. However, his issue doesn't have much to do with the humane side of things as much as it does with chomping down into grissel or fat. It gives him the heebie jeebies and can totally turn him off to the point of not wanting to eat it. Also, if he even thinks about where the meat comes from (having worked at Routh packing) he sort of loses his appetite. As like my previous diet, his isn't all that full with meat, but he does like to have a good steak every once in awhile. We shall see where this takes him.
Following our trip to Whole Foods we decided to head down to the city for the Ohio City Run and Crawl 5K. After almost reaching the city and getting misguided (by ourselves) into the ghetto, KD called to let us know we could follow them down. We turned around, made a quick change at their place for the race, then headed down to the city again. Of course, just in time for the rain. And we're not talking sprinkles. We're talking full out pouring, gusting rain. Fun. When we arrived it was still pouring and upon getting out of the cars we found it to be 10 degrees less. We sprinted to the check-in location. It was so cold and wet that I was even able to keep up with Erika, Jen, KD, and David. I was moving. I couldn't believe how drenched we were. Our shoes were soggy and my shorts we sticking to me. Not knowing what was going to happen I kept my cotton t-shirt on from earlier in the day. It was my Haliewa shirt from Hawaii. I should've known....Hawaii, the dreaded vacation with the worst luck. Lightning was in the area so we thought the race would be canceled but they said they wouldn't call it until race time. At 7pm it was still raining and we found ourselves lining up outside. The race organizers must have been watching the weather as they postponed the race for 10-15 minutes, and at the start the weather was clear and started to warm back up. It ended up being a great race. David surprised us all by bookin' it and coming in 75th with a time of 23:14 (7:31min/mile). He's flippin' awesome. Of course I'm the slow poke and didn't get a personal best, but I'm consistent with my times, which pleases me. The rest of the night was spent at the Bier Markt/Bar Cento and the Garage Bar...both awesome places, and had great company. I wish we were able to stay later but having had a long day and another hour drive home we headed back home at 10pm. It was a ton of fun, even with the rain, and definitely a race I'd like to repeat. We're eyeing the Winking Lizard 4 Mile Race in downtown CLE next month. Anyone up for that??
I'm almost all packed and ready to go for Texas. As usual I'm nervous but I know everything will be fine, and more than likely be a hoot! Keep an eye on my Twitter for updates.
I'll leave with you with some pictures from last night, compliments of KD....
Unfortunately our adventure was short-lived and we did not make it to Cleveland. Actually, we didn't make it any farther than Huron (a small city just outside of Sandusky). We headed out in Sita and Alpa's Honda CR-V. It was handling quite well and we thought we'd head out Cleveland Rd. and pick up Rte. 2 in Huron. The conditions worsened at every second the farther west we went. We made it to Griffing Airport only to find a Ford Explorer with it's hazards on (which we almost collided with). Then we noticed a State Trooper walking toward the Explorer. After speaking to that driver he came to our car and said, "You'll have to turn around. You can't get through here. Too deep of snow and zero visibility." We turned around, made a zigzag and got on Rte. 250. Once again it wasn't too horrible. The snow was deep and you had limited visibility but it was do-able. When we got to the Rte. 2 on ramp you couldn't tell what was road or shoulder. We made it up the ramp only to find we had little to no visibility. That's when the talk of, "Should we just turn around?" started. No one wanted to make the decision. And then immediately the conditions seemed better. You could see ahead of you. The snow was blowing across the road, but it was clear. Okay, maybe this won't be so bad....then again, zero visibility. What to do? Then we started to run into seeing cars off the road. The problem was you couldn't see them until you were on top of them....not joking. We didn't know what to do. As time went on the conditions once again seemed to worsen by the moment. Semis were on the side of the road, a semi off the road into the median dip. Ugh. It was decided. We can't do this. It was already 11:30am and we had just made it to Huron. We had to turn around but didn't want to turn around and get right back on it fear of colliding with one of the semis on the side of the road. So we traveled through Huron, hopped back onto Rte. 2 after the point of where the semis had been off the road, and then reached Rte. 250. Once back in town it wasn't so bad. The conditions weren't great by any means, but much more drivable than Cleveland Road, right on the water, or the highway. Once again, it wasn't necessarily the roads that were bad. Don't get me wrong, you'd hit some bad patches of drifts, but that's something we could've dealt with. It was the white out conditions. 95% of the short trip was pure white out. Pretty scary. I took some video with the camera. As with most things, it doesn't do justice....and anytime there was something worth "catching" I'd miss it. Even so, I thought I'd share it with you....
Sita has made contact with the Playhouse and they say, "The show is on." So what does that mean for us? Either brave the elements or lose the money. Our choice is to brave the elements, pray we don't get in an accident or stuck in the snow, and hopefully enjoy Wicked, which we have patiently waited for. I've wanted to see this ever since I saw the "One short day in the Emerald City..." during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade a few years back. Last year Mom and Cassie made it down to Columbus to see the production but I was financially unable to attend. So as you can see I'm quite determined to see Wicked dang it. As for our 7pm reservations at Maggiano's? We'll have to see. I have a feeling those will definitely be nixed, but that's okay. I'm sure this will be an adventure. You can bet I'm taking the camera. Lord, grant us traveling mercies.
Yesterday our next vacation was booked. As stated in a previous post, we'll be going with the 'rents, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Diana, and it looks like J and Cass will be coming too. We're going at the end of September to the Eastern Caribbean on a 7 day cruise. Oh, I so want it to be here now. We were originally looking at cruises in February of next year but mom presented us with this one. In all honesty we've been hesitant to go on a cruise with family just for the simple fact that we like to do things on our own. You know, get lost, have adventures, etc. But I think this should be awesome. Something to keep in mind is that most often you aren't with everyone at all times like on a normal vacation. We'll see them here and there and then at dinner, but not 24/7. In addition, Uncle Jerry and Aunt Diana know what they're doing when it comes to shore excursions. However, instead of paying for the cruise's excursions they venture out on their own since they're comfortable with the areas. Thankfully we'll just purchase our own snorkel gear for the trip, tag along with them, and have our own personal excursions minus having to pay the big bucks. I'm just hoping and praying that our bad luck from Hawaii doesn't continue on to this vacation. I'm sure all of our co-travelers are thinking the same thing. If not, we can just make a sequel to our first movie. Just kidding! We're going to have a blast. Next up....Got to get passports.
David was to start his boilers class tonight but with the snow it looks like it will be cancelled. The snow has started falling and poor David has been our shoveling for 40-45 minutes. Yikes! And there's already a dusting where he's already shoveled. All the local schools are closed for the day. As of this moment I don't think the roads are all that bad (haven't been on them yet) but it's supposed to continue snowing throughout the day. Depending on what you read they're saying anywhere from 8-12 inches of snow. Of course we're not directly in the Cleveland area so this may be a higher estimation than what we will really get, but you never know. We'll both head into work and see what happens.
In catching up on entertainment news I saw that Dog The Bounty Hunter's show will be coming back on air. That's no big surprise. We knew it was going to be one of those things where they let things calm down and then start taping again. I'm still a fan despite what happened and hope to catch some of the new episodes.
Hope everyone stays safe with the snow. For those of you in non-snow zones, hope you're enjoying the sunshine =)
Come Friday night David and I realized we were having cabin fever. Since I worked Saturday morning we couldn't do anything big but I sure tried to think of something creative to do. We pushed around the idea of heading to Pittsburgh, but given we've never been there we didn't think that it'd be very smart and would require some sort of planning. Amish Country? A sporting event? You name it, we looked into it. Along with the limited amount of planning time we're also dealing with a limited amount of money too. Needless to say we came up empty handed on Friday night. Come Saturday morning we still didn't have plans but then we found that the World's Toughest Rodeo was going to be in Cleveland. That was the only "sporting" event within 100 miles. Everything else was away....hockey, basketball, etc. Hmmmm....I had attended the rodeo back in the day when we were into the whole horse thing. It was always entertaining. Then we found buy one get one free coupons. Heck, this is what we're looking for....something to do and something cheap. It's no Pittsburgh, but give us a break. We got mom and dad on the phone to see if they were interested and they jumped on for a night full o' bulls and broncs. After a quick dinner at Quaker Steak (Yum as usual!) we headed to the Q with all of the cowgirls and cowboys. Surprisingly we didn't stick out all that much. The whole country "fashion" has definitely come into the mainstream. You still have the ones where you can absolutely tell they are the real deal, but no longer do you really have the country folk. Most everyone (whether they are real or not) could be plucked out of a fashion magazine or catalog since they've meshed fashion and country together so much. You also no longer have the constant country music at this type of function. Of course you have some, which doesn't bother me one bit, but 10 years ago you wouldn't have had a cowboy riding a bull with Flo Rida (rap singer) bumping as the soundtrack. Needless to say we had a great time....and that goes for David too. (It was his first ever rodeo experience).
This morning I got up early to head out for my weekly long run, however, I ran into a roadblock. Due to being sick and the weather I hadn't run all week. I thought that'd be a good thing for my knee. Well, yesterday I went out for a quick and easy 3.5 mile run. I didn't have much of a problem with the occasional nagging knee pain. But while at the Q last night I went to get up and found my legs to be tighter than a rubber band along with my knee not being right. It took me about 2 minutes to move in a normal way without gimping. The knee issue was the most uncomfortable that it's ever been. I can't really call it pain. It's definitely uncomfortable and I want the feeling to go away. It's a very weird sensation. Having already had the problem previously, running Saturday, then hopping in the car for over an hour probably triggered this episode. I was fine for the rest of the night but was worried about today. I woke up this morning with some knee pain but decided to do my usual routine...eat oatmeal, wait an hour, then head out. But my knee pain wouldn't cease. I was at a crossroad....Should I just go out and get 'er done? Should I go out for a short run? Should I not go at all? I was at a loss. I know I need to keep moving toward my goal but don't want to permanently injure myself. At the same time obviously rest didn't help me...it seemed as though my problem not only came back but with a vengeance. I bundled up, headed out, and at 1/2 mile found my knee to be so uncomfortable that I had to stop running and start walking. It was a fast walk and found my knee to be much better at that pace and impact. I walked the next 1/2 mile then tried to run again with no luck. Same problem. I ended up walking the last 1/4 and finished with only 1.5 miles. I was bummed. I feel disheartened in so many ways. I definitely want to reach my goal, that's a no brainer, but I also need my running....for my sanity, for my health, for me to keep my sanity about my health/nutrition/eating (I like being able to eat and not feel too guilty about it....when I don't run and eat as though I have, that puts a damper on your day). Thankfully my hip pain has gone away (knock on wood!) I wonder if this is related to the hip pain though. For instance, have I realigned myself to "fix" the hip problem, which in turn messed with my knee? Ah dunno. I'm sure most people would say that I need to go to the doctor....Don't I wish. Needless to say we don't have a doctor (you can start yelling at me now) and I have a feeling they'd recommend an MRI or something crazy. Having an HSA account (no copays) makes it near impossible for us to afford something as such. It would be worse case scenario for me to turn to something like that. As always I'm not sure where this road will lead or what direction to go. I'm going to be as patient as I can be and hope this issue works itself out.
In other news, I think we've figured out what our next vacation is going to be. A cruise to the eastern caribbean. We'll be tagging along with Mom, Dad, Uncle Jerry, and Aunt Diana. Sounds great to us. I'll fill you in on details later.
Good morning. We woke up to rain here in Ohio. Is it following us? At this point we don't mind. Our heads hit the pillow last night and we were out. I woke up at 10am, thought to myself, "We got to get up," and rolled over and went back to sleep until 11:10am. We could've slept all day but pushed ourselves to get up knowing we need to be able to sleep tonight. I'm in the process of uploading pictures to our Flickr account, so be on the lookout. I know ya'll are just dying to hear our story about coming home, eh? Probably not, but here it is.
To start, our checkout was at 11am. We could've left our suitcases at the hotel but all they do is leave them in the lobby with a big net over them. So we debated to leave them or take them in the car and take a chance with having our car broken into. According to everything you read, car break-ins are huge there and they recommend taking everything with you when you leave your car. With that being said we took our luggage with us and hit the road to try to find something to do.
Since we had no hotel room we had to be careful what we did so we didn't get all funky. We were wearing the clothes we'd be wearing the entire day into our trip home later that evening. We went to Leonards for Malasadas (awesome Portugese donuts that can be cinnamon sugar, or filled with items such as custard to chocolate). They are well known on Oahu for awesome puffy malasadas and they didn't let us down. I'm glad we didn't go there earlier in the weeks because we would've found ourselves there every morning if that had been the case.
After that we went up to the North Shore for the last time. Matsumoto's was open so I got my "official" shave ice. They didn't let us down either. I got the cotton candy flavored with ice cream on the bottom. Yum. After that it was only about noon so we headed back down Kam Highway and ended up at Pearlridge Mall. Grabbed a quick bite to eat and then we were at a loss of what to do. Having that last day is almost like a waste but any flights out to the mainland are at night so no matter what day you leave, you have the same problem.
We decided to head to Pearl Harbor for the last time. We didn't spend much time there and didn't let the car out of our site. Break-ins are HUGE there since they don't allow you to take anything to the Arizona Memorial that would provide concealment. No purses, bags, large camera bags, fanny packs....nothing. So people leave them in the car. Prime target for robbers. They do have a bike patrol for security but break-ins are still on the rise. What we stopped to see was the Healing Field. Very moving. They have different Healing Fields for different occasions but this was to commemorate those lost at Pearl Harbor. Each flag had a purple ribbon attached to the full-sized flag with the person's name, service, and where they were the day of the attack. It was only fitting that we saw it on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor.
At that point it was 2pm and we had no idea what to do. We didn't want to waste gas by driving. We debated whether to drop the car off but didn't, thank God (I'll explain later). We ended up at the Ala Moana Center for a bit (mall), took a jaunt past downtown Honolulu and Waikiki again and by the time we were back at the Airport it was 6pm (our flight left at 11:55pm). We thought we'd be able to check in and just chill at a restaurant and read or something. Not so. We dropped the car off and showed up at the airport to find a ghost town. Everything's closed and you can't get in. To start, you have to pass through USDA agriculture inspection. You kind of do this upon arrival too, but only have to submit a form. Going into Hawaii you can't take any "foreign" foods, fruits, etc that could damage their environment. Things like peaches, apricots, are totally out of the question. On the way back you have to have your bags x-rayed to make sure you're not taking any agriculture out of Hawaii. The USDA inspection site didn't even open until 7pm so we sat and waited. Before evening being inspected we found out from another US Airways passenger that we wouldn't be able to check our bags in until 8:30pm. Say what? This was a total surprise to us. I just wish that had notified us when we arrived in Hawaii that that's the case. And in none of my travel books was it ever noted. Not only that but it was also a surprise to those around us including those that have been to Hawaii multiple times previously. Thank God we didn't take our car back any earlier. Some others weren't so lucky...some had arrived as early as 2:30 in the afternoon. Just like us there was nothing for them to do and they had to check out of their hotels. In addition, some parking at hotels charge a crazy charge for every 1/2 hour after you're "checked out" Come to find out one of our fellow passengers tried to contact US Air's customer service. To start he had to find a person and the highest ranking US Air employee was at baggage claim (remember the airport is basically closed....I guess this explains why it was a ghost town we arrived in Hawaii, it doesn't "open" until night) and he wouldn't give the customer service number. He ended up getting a phone number some how and called US Air to find that their customer service hours are 9-5 central time M-F and closed on the weekends. So basically you're screwed if you have a problem after hours, if you're in Hawaii since you're pacific time and fly at night, or on the weekends. Somehow we got hold of an actual person on the other end of the line just by staying on the phone, but of course they couldn't do anything.
So first we had to wait for USDA agriculture, which was a total joke. They weren't even watching the screen as our bags passed through the machine. Not kidding. Then we waited at the check-in counter as every other airline checked in. And remember, the airport is all open air meaning we're "outside." Thankfully there's still a roof but that doesn't help humidity. There was only one US Air flight going out that night so we became quite close with our fellow travelers during the waiting time. There was one inparticular named Ross. He was the one that called customer service. The best description I can give is a cross between House and Jeff Foxworthy. He wasn't as arrogant as House but kept you rolling at all times. Just hilarious and he helped pass the time. During our wait time we found that we weren't the only ones that had a horrendous week of travel/weather. Anyone that had been here more than once stated that it was the worst week of weather they had ever seen. It actually made us feel better, allowing us all to vent and not feel as though we were crazy for feeling they way we did. The time finally arrived to check-in, yes! That's when the wonderful customer service of US Air continued. After sitting there for how many hours we had a woman come up to us saying that we had to move back that we were blocking people getting by the desk. Say what?! You've got to be kidding me. At no point was there a person that couldn't get by us. Whatever, we moved.
We checked in, had no problems with security and hung out with our new friends until our take-off. That's when we realized we got the "chosen seats" again. Yes, the same shitty seats that we had on the way there. They weren't so bad going there considering it was day time and we didn't need to sleep. But this time we wanted to sleep. The only way I can explain them is that you have no recline in them. They actually lean slightly forward. Add on top of that the people in front of you reclining in their seats, you have NO room. Here's a picture of David.
It's the best view I could get the situation. You cannot put a 12 inch ruler from your nose to the back of the seat in front of you. David's knees were hitting the back of the seat. They were the worst. We understand that someone has to sit there but come to find out when we were getting off the plane that there were 15 empty seats in the back that we could've been moved to. You've got to be shittin' me! And this time they didn't even acknowledge us getting the crappy seats. In addition the crew was quite rude and inconsiderate. Upon entering the plane there was no place above our seats for our carry on luggage. We were in row 7 and the closest overhead compartment was row 15. Instead of helping us get our luggage to there all we got was, "It can't go up here...you got to put it somewhere back there." I couldn't help but give her a "Oh no you didn't" look. We put our stuff there and returned to our seats. During the flight we found our "neighbor" was a gold member of US Air and got stuck in the same crappy seats as us. Oh heck nah. I'd be raising heck with the airline. She told us that she was getting up to stretch so we all got up to stretch and go to the restroom. She went first, then me, then David went into the lavatory. Immediately when he got into the lavatory the "fasten seat belts" light came on. And you bet that witch of a flight attendant came running to us saying, "You must get in your seats!" We tried to explain the situation that we were waiting for David but needless to say David didn't get to do his business. We got no sleep on the 7+ hour red eye flight and then when we were unloading we got to deal with the flight attendant again. We were patiently waiting for everyone to get off the flight so we could go back to get our carryons when here she comes and says, "What's going on? What are you waiting for?" David replied with a, "We're waiting to go get our frickin' luggage!" That's when a supervisor showed up on the plane and was talking to a fellow passenger saying, "Well, it looks like you two aren't in a hurry and are relaxed from a nice vacation." Basically trying to make us look bad. I've never wanted to get in someone's face so bad and say, "You have no idea!!!" Then when we were leaving the plane the witch attendant said to a fellow attendant, "We got a mean face...." David couldn't help but look her straight in the face and said, "fuck you." Yes, my husband cussed at a flight attendant. You didn't want to mess with us at that point. Horrible vacation, waited forever at the airport for your sucky service, only to be treated like total shit by your airline and have no sleep. Not happy.
David grabbed a quick bite to eat in Phoenix. I was so pissed I couldn't think about eating. That's when I realized the person in Honolulu never gave our Charlotte to Cleveland connecting tickets. We had our 1st and 2nd leg tickets but not the 3rd. I had to go to the desk and get that taken care of. It wasn't a problem. But at that point I wasn't surprised at US Air's mess up. Our second flight was much better. It's amazing how much room we had being in normal seats. You know that those 1st seats were tight when we were rejoicing for the amount of room we got in a normal seat. We ended up not having a person in the seat next to us, which allowed us to stretch out a bit. The customer service was no better, as we had another unfriendly flight attendant. We put our carryons above, as we usually do only to have her come and yell, "Who's luggage is this? Who's luggage is this?" We said it was ours and she said, "It can't go that way, it must be moved. I guess how we had it, it wouldn't fit or something. Kind of funny because it fit in the last plane which was the exact same model. Whatever. We got up and moved it ourselves. I'm kind of surprised about that. Any other airline they would tell us it couldn't go there but then would move it themselves. Even with budget airlines like USA 3000. Not with these 2 crews. They wouldn't touch it and expected you to do it all. I went in and out of sleep on the 4 hour flight. Note to self: never fly with US Airways again and if you're in a B757 don't get Row 7 D, E, or F, or Row 8 A, B, C.
We arrived in Charlotte. It was our first ever stop there. It's a very nice airport. Clean and up to date. Even better, they had a huge pump bottle of Listerine and mints in the restrooms. Definitely something that was needed after not having been able to brush our teeth. The last leg from Charlotte to Cleveland went fast and the crew was great. Why couldn't we have had that crew on any of our other long flights? They were funny, enjoyable, and helpful. They were US Air but called Mesa. Probably contracted or something. And even better, we got into Cleveland 15 minutes early and our luggage was immediately available. Ah, home sweet home. I've never wanted to get down on my hands and knees and kiss the ground in Cleveland. Cleveland, for God's sake. I didn't care. We were home.
When we got home mom and dad helped us unpack and get settled. Then when we went up to bed we found St. Nick came while we were gone! Yay! Thanks St. Nick!! I don't even remember my head hitting the pillow. I was out. It was the best night's sleep ever.
Just wanted to thank the 'rents for all of their help...from watching the pups, checking on the cats, cleaning up any messes, taking in the mail, shoveling our snow, and taking us to and from the airport. We appreciate it so much. Thank you!
We're home safe and sound. Everything's unpacked, luggage is stowed away (probably for awhile), pictures our on the computer (they'll be uploaded tomorrow), and wash has been started. We shouldn't be tired considering we should be on Hawaii time...6pm, not 11pm which is here. But having had basically no sleep on the trip home we're exhausted. As with everything having to do with the trip, there's a story for our trip home. It's too long and too deep to write tonight. Time for a hot bath and a comfy warm bed with thick clean sheets. 'Til tomorrow...
Awhile later Billy, along with his band members, left the stage. Their instruments sunk back into the stage and left Elton and his band members to do their thing. They started with "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding." We couldn't believe they played this. This is one of our favs and never expected it. I continued to find myself in awe as the night continued on. Just amazing.
The final "set" included both Billy and Elton, along with their bands, on the stage. It was non-stop action. The evening finished 3.5 hours from the start, by toning it down with "Candle In The Wind" followed by "Piano Man." Of course I didn't ever want to see it end, but if it could end in any way, this was the way it should have.
