Photo Titles

Sorry folks, I forgot to add titles to the pictures on previous post this AM.

pic1. Pride of America leaving Honolulu at 8:30pm Oct 28
pic2. Cruzin' close to the Na Pali coastline of Kauai island
pic3. Dining at East meets West Japanese restaurant onboard
pic4. North coast beach of Mauii showing surf
pic5. Self portrait at Honolulu end of cruise
pic6. Bonnie on United Flt 42 TO Hawaii.

Photo Titles

Sorry folks, I forgot to add titles to the pictures on previous post this AM.

pic1. Pride of America leaving Honolulu at 8:30pm Oct 28
pic2. Cruzin' close to the Na Pali coastline of Kauai island
pic3. Dining at East meets West Japanese restaurant onboard
pic4. North coast beach of Mauii showing surf
pic5. Self portrait at Honolulu end of cruise
pic6. Bonnie on United Flt 42 TO Hawaii.

Wrap up and pics..............

cont'd......We decided to rest up in Denver; didn't want to be exhausted when we got back from the vacation. We had a leisurely breakfast at the hotel and headed back to the Airport. I thought it was appropriate that Budget gave us a PT Cruiser.

Ever' thang else about the trip back thru SLC and the SLASH shuttle to REXBURG was uneventful and we arrived home to our cats at 10:00pm.

Wow! what a wonderful vacation!

Honolulu Part 3 Saturday

The merchandise found in Wal Mart in Hawaii are different from the stores stateside (especially Rexburg). Lot's of people shop Wal Mart of course same as over here because of the low prices but with the high cost of living it makes more sense. Bonnie got a backpack for $9.84.

I was amazed at how many new luxury cars were on the streets. There must be lots of rich people living up in the hills around the city or on boats or whatever.

We took the bus back and walked the last mile back to the Aloha next the ship where all our luggage was in storage.

A steward on the boat had given us a bottle of Champagne that somebody had left behind-so we had to drink it before we boarded the bus to the airport and go thru security. We popped the cork and poured it into some plastic cups we got from a fast food store. It was excellent champagne; Moet Chandon. You hardly knew you were drinking it. Until on the bus it suddenly kicked in and we had fun giggling and commenting on people we had seen on the cruise-mostly nice folks.

Some of the other passengers told us about their experiences crusin' on other cruise ships. Leaving from the Port of New York is good maybe because he lives in New Jersey. Another recommended cruise line is Royal Caribbean. The differences seem to be the facilities offered - climbing walls and fun activities for kids and families. The entertainment offered is another one - name artists or musical groups. Quality and price of the shore excursions varies a lot. But most important is the service and the quality of attention and friendliness you get with your cabin steward. The ships have improved a lot in recent years. The old 'Love Boat' style is out and the newer the ship the better.

The Pride of America we were on is just 16 months old is very luxurious. It is German engineered and built and Norwegian registry. The Germans are excellent engineers.

The plane back was not until 11:25pm but the flight back was quiet and subdued with most people sleeping or trying to sleep. Dawn came quickly because of flying east. We landed at 9:15am . We rented a car from Budget, a Ford Taurus and headed for our Hotel and sleep.

We got about 10 miles and smelled smoke and then were surrounded by smoke coming into the interior so quickly pulled to the side of the freeway and looked under the hood. The engine covered with hydraulic oil! A fire engine pulled up, a passer by must have phoned in. I used their mobile phone to call Budget roadside service and requested help. A van arrived with a tow truck close behind and we got a ride in the van back to the Airport and got a replacement P

Honolulu Part 2 Saturday

We were spending a whole day in Honolulu after we got off the ship because out flight was not leaving until 11:25 pm. A RedEye flight. So we decided to take a public bus to Waikiki and the famous beach. The bus came along but you had to transfer at Ala Moana Center which is a huge shopping mall. On the way we decided we would not go to Waikiki because it was already getting hot and it was very muggy; we were sweating already and it was only 10 am. The bus ride was only 2 dollars each. A taxi would cost you $20.

Bonnie wanted to get some Hawaiian print material so we headed for Wal Mart, the third time this trip! Actually we stopped first for some fast food at Pizza Hut and a drink which surprisingly was quite reasonable only 6 dollars for a personal size pizza and drink. After that we headed for Sears because I had been looking for a pink shirt for some time since I lost mine in the laundrolmat at Ashton. I found one!!

Next stop Wal Mart. This was a building that like a factory from outside quite undistinguishable, no big signs. We couldn't even find the door and had to ask. We were told "follow everybody else"......... Duh!! Inside it was cool a welcome relief. Bonnie was using the rest room as I found an ice machine and leaned against it. Bonnie found some nice material so she was happy.

To be continued..........end of post

Saturday. Honolulu - Oahu

Schedule: 8:30 am arrival. Breakfast 6:30 am (Aloha or Skyline)
On board charges will be outside cabin door on up to date printed statement.
Gangway at Level 5.
Luggage to be outside door with airline tags. Will be picked up and transported to airport.
You will see them next at final destination.
Other carry on bags take off ship your self.
Service at Pier for storing bags until you return for it.
Bus to airport att 6:00 pm.

Had a wonderful day to today in Honolulu. A marvelous nights rest and woke up, checked the onboard camera from the bow of the ship approaching Honolulu. I could make out the buoys marking the entrance to the channel.

When cruising I think this is the most exciting part as you enter a port and view the coastline and everything getting bigger as you get closer making out different landmarks.

I went out on the topmost deck which is Level 14 I think. Our cabin is on Level 11. It was dawn and getting close to sunrise as we entered the channel. The time was about 6:30 am. This was definitely a picture opportunity. As the sun came up it kept disappearing behind the skyscrapers which made for some interesting light effects. The pictures came out great.

To be continued........end of this post

Kahlui-Maui

Tuesday- I think....

Maui is a beautiful island. Haven't been ashore since we sailed from Honolulu. The original idea was to stay on board ship and maybe walk ashore when we docked somewhere. I tried to go ashore in Hilo on Sunday to go to Wal-Mart and didn't decide until 4pm, the boat was due to sail at 5:30pm so it was cutting it a bit fine> I got down to the pier for the free shuttle into town and the driver asked me if I really wanted to because most of the stores were closing early because it was Sunday. What's up with that? A cruise ship IS IN TOWN! Helloooo!

Anyway back to Maui. It's cloudy here today but a very pretty sunrise and I took one of my panoramic pictures from the upper deck.

I looked at the shore excursions and decided on a tour to the rainforest and waterfalls because it seemed we would learn about the island and the trees and plants, than if we drove ourselves and that in fact turned out to be true even to the tour guide Kristen telling us about her story she fulfilled her childhood dream of coming to live in Maui ever since she had come here from Alaska with her parents every year since she was a kid. When she first came to live in Hawaii she lived in a tent for 6 months with her 3 year old son until she had saved enough to find a place to rent.

She rents a place and shares it with 2 others. Houses are very expensive. they average $1M-starting at 600K for a 2 bedroom. She came upon the job with Hike Maui and it is the "ideal job" she loves it.

We were picked up at the pier and driven to the industrial area of town where their office is and fitted with special shoes for walking on the forest trails which are always wet and muddy, also ponchos. We were a small group, only 12 of us and we travelled in van.

It was all fun, it was raining all the time and we went through a tunnel carved in the rock up to our knees in water. We snacked by a pool, which some swam in. The waterfall was not too high but plenty of water coming down the streams from the volcano. We learned a lot about the different trees and plants and returned (soaking wet) to the van for a trip back to town via the north beach which is where the sailboarders and waverider tows rode the waves. We also saw large turtles about 4 feet long close to shore.

An exhausting but enjoyable day with a very good guide.

Big Island-Hilo

Monday...I think

My days are getting a bit mixed up. The day of the week doesn't seem to matter any more. But we are in Hilo another day.

I ended up in the night club again but vowed not to drink any more alcohol! I prefer to wake up refreshed rather than with a major hangover. So it's water or iced tea from now on.

The on board entertainment is very good. The Cruise Entertainment Crew are very talented and versatile-from singing as in Karaoke to stand up comedy to dancing and helping with the crew on other jobs during the day.

900+ crew on ship; 1200 passengers, 12 decks for staterooms, lounges, restaurants, pools 2, hot tubs, bars, spa with sauna, photo gallery. theatre, night club, reception area and other places I have not found yet.

Hilo

Woke up Praising God for this wonderful awesome experience. No hangover and felt refreshed and ready for a walk around deck. Everyone aboard is friendly like I said and is willing to make friends (except for the younger dudes who seem a bit aloof) Maybe they are on their honeymoon and are preoccupied with other thoughts.

Great chances for speaking about Jesus and our Mission Church we have started at Trinity. For instance there is a teen center on board and I talked with the girl who was in charge and it seemed to be a mission of hers to suppor t youth and keep t hem entertained and out of trouble. She had worked previously with Girls and Boys Clubs in Ashland Oregon. She agreed with my statement about the need to work with "at risk" kids and have a place where they could go and get help with homework and also have fun.

The rest of the day we stayed on board after the ship docked in Hilo on the Big Island. We explored, I signed up for the Internet Cafe. Bonnie was tired and went to the cabin and enjoyed some zzzz's. We both had lunch at the Buffet restaurant named Aloha Cafe.

I spent the afternoon by the pool rela..x...in' and taking naps now and then to recover from the time change and lounging in the jaccuzi.

Wow! this is the life!

We cruzed all night and got rocked to sleep by the rolling of the boat.

Sailin'

So safely down in Honolulu on the island of Oahu we proceeded through morre security to finally get on board the "Pride of America". A beautiful ship.

Everything I mean everything immaculate and beautifully designed and in the cabin very nice and user friendly with courteous staff. Everything is first class and you feel like Kings and Queens.

The first night was fun-even with the jet lag. I had my first drink on board a tall Daxquiri (strawberry) that kicked in and had me joining in the Karaoke singing. This had a twist to it-all the cruise directors stall were picked one by one to sing songs picked by the audience and it was like a Gong Show where you could gong them if you didn't like their rendition. I gonged one young man and was challenged by the MC who handed me a microphone and asked why did I do that?. I told him I was from Idaho and sang in a church choir and couldn't tell if he was a tenor or a soprano. the songs I picked them to sing were "I'm so excited" the Pointer Sisters and " Love, Love me do" by the Beatles of course.
A fun evening. I do remember chasing around the night club floor after this male singer with a baseball bat trying to bat him before I gonged him ( I forget why-that Dacquiri was tall and potent)

So ended the evening at sea.

! Aloha and Mahalo !

Great Flight with United------Boeing 767

Saturday 28th.

Hurray! Today we will be in Honolulu----all being well.
After a good nights rest at the Hotel in Aurora we made it quickly to the airport and checked back the rental car.

Denver Intnl is a super airport. It is NE of Denver and sits on its own with excellent access and well planned for quick movement from terminal to the three concourses. There is an underground train that is swift and moves people easily without a lot of walkingcarrying heavy bags The check in was much faster than SLC. Maybe because it was United or that it was Saturday with less traffic being a weekend. However it was good experience at Denver airport compared to Salt Lake. The whole day went alot better and everything went smoothe as silk. I felt like God was smiling on us and blessing us. Getting on board the United Boeing 767-300 which seats 269 was a breeze compared to the Airbus because of the twin aisles and 2 seats outboard near the windows.
I know you all are fascinated by this stuff (I was a Boeing employee so I feel compelled to praise their excellent design)

Back to the subject. Getting there is half the Fun!!?

The flight was 7 hours. You go thru 4 time zones so it makes for a long flight but they did a good job of providing plenty to do what with movies and beverages and lunch.Take off was just after noon and we arrive Honolulu at 3:04pm. We had 2 lady drivers up front. After the rather bumpy landing and we were safely parked at the gate and all the passengers had dis embarked I asked the Purser if I could go up front in the cockpit and talk to the pilot-he said yes so I was allowed to talk to her about the heavy landing She said she forgot about the rather strong 15 knot cross wind which took away the ground effect under the aircraft and caused premature touch down (any landing is a good landing if you walk away from it)

I would guess her age at about 50 to 55 quite mature. She was a Senior Captain. The other pilot in RH seat was much yuonger a tall brunette. The stewardesses were also mature; a sign of the downsizing of teh airlines and retaining older service employees. They all said they had lost much of their pension and therfore had to continue working.

More later.................

packing, packing, packing........itinerary

Wednesday

It snowed. It thawed.
Checked the website for carry on luggage rules at http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/9-25_updated_passenger_guidance.shtm I was rather alarmed when I read that all liquids, gels and aerosols must be specially packed in 3 oz original unopened cans or jars and placed in a qt sized ziplock bar until Bonnie informed me I should put all those things in my checked baggage.
I packed and unpacked and then packed again ----6 times. Whew!

Thursday

Day before we leave on vacation. Sorry so busy didn't blog, 'cus too busy----more on Friday.