Seattle

HEY! I' m in Seattle with my lil sister, Kiki. Arrived yesterday and since we are staying just a few blocks from the Space Needle, we made that our first experience. It was a beautiful and exceptionally warm day in Seattle, 86 degrees and sunny! The view from the Needle was great but the camera couldn't capture the view of Mt. Rainier that we could see with the naked eye. After the Space Needle we walked over to the Chihuly Garden. The glass pieces were so exquisite!  I cant4 even imagine how the hang them without breaking them.

We finished the evening by going to th Seattle Mariners gam at Safeco Field. The lost to Houston, of all teams, but we still enjoyed the experience. The stadium reminded us of theold Riverfront.  But Cincinnati entertains its fans so much better at GABP.

Friday, December 9, 2011

I DID it!! I drove the entire Hana Highway! By the time we got  back to the condo I racked up 180 miles today. whew!  We left by about 7:30 a.m. and filled up the gas tank (at $4.39/gal no less). We packed a picnic lunch and noted how light the traffic was this morning.  Always a good thing when driving a typical tourist route.
We brought along our Maui Revealed book to use as our guide and also a CD we found in our condo to act as an audio guide along the way.  Both were very helpful in finding all the waterfalls and parks we wanted to stop and see.  Some included a hike of at least 1/4 mile and with Kylie we felt those might be more than we wanted to accomplish and still make it as far along our journey as we intended.  From the time we began the trek along the Hana Highway we could see occasional dark clouds.  The first one produced a few light showers and stopped by the time we got to Hookipa beach and we parked to see the surfers on the north shore catching some decent waves.  While watching we saw a rainbow grow across the ocean.  I ran to the car for the camera and it began to dissipate just as quickly as it appeared. Meanwhile, Kylie met a little girl about her age who came walking off the beach.  Her surfer dad was standing nearby and Kylie and the little girl talked about Monster High and what they were wanting for Christmas.

We proceeded down the Hana Highway with it's over 600 very sharp curves and more than 50 one lane bridges.  Some of Kylie's requests on this trip were to see a black sand beach and some waterfall.  Many of our stops during the day were at locations that we did not stop at on our first adventure down to Hana.  The highlight was going beyond Hana and  seeing the Oheo Falls or Seven Pools as it is also known. It was a very treacherous drive and made me quite nervous.  Oh but maybe it ranks right up there with the Black Sand Beach in Hana too.  We had our picnic on the black sand beach and played with the sand and surf which was way to rough for swimming.  As a dark cloud loomed over the beach we began to gather our belongings when the winds picked up and the skies burst down on us and we ran for cover. With our towels over our heads we stopped under some thick trees and waited out the cloud.  We huddled together and giggled and talked about how this was just another "adventure" on our trip.  Then the sun came out and we were on our way again!!  Just another day in paradise!

Thursday, December 8, 2011

This morning we had to rise early (6 a.m) to get to the Lahaina Harbor to take our Pacific Whale Foundation snorkel, dolphin watch cruise to Lanai.  As the boat pulled out of the harbor, the crew gave safety instructions and served a continental breakfast of banana bread, papaya and pineapple with juices and coffee or water.  Kylie didn't think she would like the banana bread, but once I got her to try it she must have gone back 3 times for more.  They warned not to drink the citrus juices if you may get seasickness so I warned Kylie.  She said, "granmommy, I don't get seasick!"  So, ok, I let her drink whatever she wanted.  She chose cranberry juice.  The ride to the snorkel site was pretty smooth.

I think I could spend two nights on Lanai at the Four Seasons Resort.  Most all of this island is owned by David Murdock, but there's not a lot there.  Our snorkel spot was in a cove right in front of the Four Seasons.  Kylie and I rented neoprene tops to keep warm since the water was a bit cold. They worked great and I felt quite comfortable, but Kylie was complaining about being cold after we were in the water for 15 minutes.  Her little body just couldn't take it, but at least she got to see lots of fish.  We were out there for a total of about 30 minutes.  She and I got back on the boat but Chip went out with a group who were being given a reef tour by one of the marine biologists on board.  After snorkeling, the crew pulled up anchor and started serving a barbeque lunch of grilled chicken, hot dogs & pasta salad. We could help ourselves to soft drinks or drinks from the bar, so we went with the Bikini Blond again.

On the trip back we saw some good whale spouts and then there was a BIG one and and then another and then TWO whale flukes (tails) up in the air.  SO COOL!  It happens so quick and you don't know when or where that it's impossible to get a picture.  We were just glad to get to see it!  Then a few minutes later, we had pods of spinner and spotted dolphin bow riding with our boat.  It was as if they were trained to put on a show.  Kylie could hardly contain her excitement and stayed at the bow of the boat the entire ride back to the harbor.

We came back to the condo by 1:30 and snacked and went out to the beach for the afternoon.  Kylie wouldn't snorkel so Chip went by himself out to Black Rock and took the underwater camera and saw a couple good sized sea turtles.

Dinner was decided by Chip so we went back to Cilantro for some more fresh salsa and the guy we met there last year was working.  Last year he told us he loved Cincinnati and was a big Reds fan. We talked with him a while and gave him my business card.  He told us he came to Cincinnati in September for Oktoberfest Zinzinnati and went to a couple Reds games.  He left my card at home and realized it when he got to Cincinnati.  So this time we took him some Cincinnati Chili mix and he was thrilled.  We were really glad we went back and got to see him again. 

Wednesday, Dec 7, 2011

Wednesday I woke up quite regretting all the Mai Tai's from the Luau the night before.  We had planned to drive the Hana Highway, but we needed an early start and I KNEW that was not going to happen.  Chip and. Kylie went down to the beach for 2 hours and let me sleep/rest. Grandpa Chip also helped Kylie string a beautiful Plumeria lei from all the flowers she collected that morning.  I was up by 11 a.m. and feeling better and we made an itinerary change and decided today was the day to go to the Maui Aquarium and then visit the Iao Valley.

Kylie enjoyed the aquarium which only exhibits marine animals that are native to Hawaii.  In comparison to the Newport Aquarium, she likes the Newport one better because it truly has so much more.  But we explained that was not the point of the Maui one and she understood.

From the Aquarium we drove north on 30 up into the Iao Valley.  There is a park there that contains the Iao Needle, as it is referred to.  It's beautiful and odd at the same time to drive through this neighborhood that leads into the east side of the West Maui mountains.  The views from these homes is incredible.  When we stepped out of the car we wished we had brought some jackets with us.  The temps had to be 15 degrees cooler at the foot of these mountains.  We hiked around the park and took some pictures which all look a bit dark, but the wind was howling and there was no sunshine.  Kylie kept warm by running around as she usually does.  She's so stinkin' active that if she sits still after 4 p.m on any given day, she will fall asleep right where she is.  No kidding....it's happened nearly every day here!

We cleaned up and changed back at the condo and decided to have dinner at the Hula Grill in Whaler's Village.  We sat in the dining room where we had two menus to choose from.  I tried to talk Kylie into something more local but she insisted on chicken fingers.  This is something we are going to have to work on, real hard!  I had the Maui tomato and onion salad with Surfing Goat Cheese and a fish taco.  Chip had a Goat Cheese Pizza with greek olives and spinach.  We each had a Bikini Blonde, a Maui Brewing company light wheat beer.  After dinner we walked around Whaler's Village, an upscale open air shopping mall and found a local hula group giving a show so we stopped to watch.  Kylie was amazed at the little 5 yr old boy performing and the young hula dancers that could REALLY shake those grass skirts!   I found a prezzie to add to my Christmas list.  At a Brighton store, they had rings that have a bead that you can remove and interchange with other beads, including Pandora!!  Very cool.
I'm also learning Kylie really likes to shop......

Tuesday in Maui December 2011

Knowing that we would need to be at the Old Lahaina Luau by 5:15 p.m. we decided to head out early and take Kylie to the Southwest part of Maui and visit Makena Beach.  We snorkeled there last year and really enjoyed it.  There's a public beach with facilities, nice parking and a great view of Molokini Crater.

The waters were pretty calm when we arrived but it took a while to convince Kylie to go out with us. After strapping on her snorkel vest we all got in the water, which was a bit chilly at first, but we got used to it pretty quick.  Once we got into deeper waters I had a bit of a panic attack. Happens to me the first time I snorkel every year. I breathe so fast through the snorkel I feel like I'm going to pass out. Eventually I adjust.  I think Kylie thought it was funny.  We saw some colorful fish including two big angel fish and then a very large green sea turtle swam right under us.  I tried following him to get a picture.

By 2:30 we headed back to the condo since it's about an hour's drive and we needed a few supplies from Safeway grocery.  Chip called for a taxi, which arrived a half hour early, so we could partake in some Mai Tai's.  Kylie brought her Kanani, American Girl doll dressed in her Luau outfit.  Kylie herself dressed in her Hawaiian dress we bought her last year.  We received Kukui nut leis instead of fresh flower leis and I was a little disappointed since I had been telling Kylie all about the beautiful flower lei she would be getting at the luau.  Might have to e-mail someone at the Old Lahaina Luau and ask about that.  Kylie loved seeing all the crafts presented at the Luau and watching them unearth the pig from the Imu.  When we sat at our traditional mat seating, she was the only child in the area and was loving it.  I tried to get her to sample as many items from the buffet as I could, but she really didn't want any pork.  I put a scoop of the Lomi Lomi Salmon on my plate and since it just looks like a chopped up tomato salad I got Kylie to try it and she really liked it and kept eating it.  I waited until dinner was over to tell her what it really was. The show was entirely different from last year, which made me happy and I think I enjoyed it more. Kylie was amazed at how the hula girls could shake their hips.  We practiced later that night at the condo.

Surfing in Maui

Monday, December 5, 2011.
Today Chip and Kylie took surfing lessons at Maui Wave Riders. V-Man was the instructor and Kylie got along great with him.  I played photographer and stayed on the beach.  After some instruction on the beach everyone paddled out to the bouy and waited their turn to be called out to the waves and assisted by V-Man into the "perfect" wave.  Kylie made two attempts and stood up each time.  I will have to add the good photos later as my netbook does not have a CD rom drive and the best photos were taken by the professional photographer (not Teri).  Chip did VERY well since this was his third time to go surfing and he needed very little help from the instructor. He can definitely Hang Ten!

After surfing we went to Annie's Island Ice and ordered Shaved Ice.  I split one with Chip with coconut ice cream on the bottom and pineapple and orange dreamcicle syrup on the ice.  Kylie had strawberry ice cream with Tiger Blood syrup on her ice.  Quite refreshing!  We walked up the road to take pics under the huge Banyan tree in Lahaina afterwards.

For our afternoon we took a drive along the coast to the North end of West Maui and stopped at scenic points and even had our picnic lunch at a beautiful overlook.  We hiked down to the blowhole but the surf wasn't high enough to create the best spurts but we did see two good ones.  Got back to the condo around 5 p.m. and walked out to the beach to see the sunset. Jayson and Jaclyn were able to see us playing in the surf at sunset from the cabana webcam.  We fixed a pasta alfredo and peas with salad for dinner and Kylie just tucked herself into bed at 7:45 p.m.  I KNEW she was gonna be one tired little Keiki today!!  Happy Monday!

Maui, December 2011

On this trip to Hawaii, we brought our granddaughter, Kylie as part of her 8th birthday present. She was uber excited and so were we.  Getting up at 2:30 a.m. proved to be no problem for this little girl who enjoys adventures with us.  On the weekends she likes for us to ride bikes through our subdivision but tells us that SHE is taking US on an adventure and proceeds to lead the way down one street and then another hoping to get lost only for us to always find our way back home again.  So Saturday we told her WE are taking HER on an adventure that she will write about in her journal and be able to reflect on for the rest of her life and maybe someday get to repeat some of it and share with someone else.

The plane trip had two stops, one in Houston and the second in San Francisco.  Kylie was just amazed how we could be in such far away places so quickly.  I was relieved that she has such a "glass is half full" attitude towards travel. She loved observing all the different shops in each airport and we both couldn't resist the Body Shop with its variety of tempting scents luring us as we passed.  I got some coconut shimmer lotion and peppermint foot scrub.  Already needing BOTH of those!  After arriving in Maui and getting our rental car we went to WalMart for groceries.  NOT at all like our super WalMart since there wasn't a produce dept or any fresh meats.  Everything was picked over by the tourists who arrived earlier in the day and it was 7 p.m. by now.  We got what we could which was only bread, milk, snacks, beer, 2 bottles of Maui pineapple wine, paper products, juice, water, a pair of water shoes for Kylie and our total bill came to $122.  Guess that's to be expected when milk alone costs $4.58 a gallon.  We drove on to Kaanapali where our condo is located and had some burgers at Teddy's Bigger Burgers where Kylie looked at me with the most red and tired eyes and exclaimed, "Hawaii is NOT what I expected it to be".  I felt bad for the tired little thing and told her she would see the Hawaii she expected tomorrow.

In the morning we went for a walk on our beach at the Maui Eldorado Resort. Kylie was definitely excited about the beach.  After our walk we had some breakfast, I went to the local grocery to finish the shopping, and then we packed up drinks and supplies for the beach.  We spent the rest of the afternoon playing on the beach.  Chip was able to get Kylie to put on the snorkel vest and get out in the water beyond where the waves were breaking but she wouldn't go any further.  Later Chip swam out around Black Rock by himself since Kylie just wasn't ready to go snorkeling.  We played in the waves in front of the cabana so Jackie and Phil and Aunt Kiki could watch us on the webcam on top of the cabana.  We built a great little sand castle that people kept stopping by on their beach walks to check out and take pics so they could post them on THEIR Facebook pages. LOL.

After cleaning up around 4 we went into Lahaina and walked around town window shopping.  Of course we found a cute Maui flipflop charm necklace and a headband with a plumeria flower on it. In the Croc store we got Kylie a pair of croc flipflops and some Hawaiian jibitz to put in a stretchy bracelet. We brought our Maui wine with us since many restaurants here have a BYOB policy with no corkage fee. Dinner was at Cilantro, a fresh Mexican casual diner where they have a salsa bar and some great fish tacos.  The slight taste of pineapple wine goes well with the spicy tacos and salsas. Kylie had a quesadillo and we could not talk her into taking a bite of the tacos.  She's already going back on her promise to try new things, but oh well, it was the first day.
BUT A FUN ONE!

It's been a while

July 19th, 2009 and it feels like a cool spring day. No complaints here, except I do like to get in some pool time on the weekends. But it does make for comfortable working out in the yard. Chip spent much of the weekend resurfacing his mom's driveway. Dirty, hard work. Don't think he had much of a weekend. I spent time working around the house. Little jobs here and there eventually add up to some accomplishment. I usually like to take some time each weekend and prep for all my meals for the week. That way we can have some really nice meals without having to spend two hours a night preparing them.
I'm also starting to write in "The Book about Myself" that Rene' gave to all of us this Christmas. Since my mom did this sort of thing, she felt we should all fill out a book like this to pass on to our kids and grandchildren. It will probably take me the next year to write enough to bring it up to the present, but it will be fun to go over my life's history as I answer all the questions (201 to be exact).

Friday, May 1, 2009

Friday, May 01, 2009
Arrived in Palma de Mallorca by 7 a.m. today. IT'S RAINING!!! It's the first rain or "bad weather" we have seen since we left home. Although in Barcelona the second day we had a 5 minute shower in the afternoon while we were having beers on La Ramblas under some umbrellas. It is predicted to clear up here in the next hour and become a sunny 68 degree day. So we will just wait it out and hang out here on the ship and drink cappuccinos or something?!?!?
The rain seemed to let up so we got our $8 round trip shuttle tickets that take you from the pier to the city centre and went out to meet a shuttle. It was quite a drive about 2 miles, so there's no way we would walk that and still get all over the city. Palma, Mallorca is a picturesque town from the harbor. The Cathedral stands out over any other landmark as you approach it from the sea. The bus stopped very near the Cathedral and we walked across the street and were right in front of it. It just happens to be a holiday in Mallorca today, Workers' Day, very similar to our Labor Day. Most shops didn't open until noon or later. We did walk around the city and make our way to the ship's recommended store for pearls, Majorca. I found a classy sterling silver pendant with two large Mallorcan pearls in it. I had read about Mallorca being famous for its pearls so that was a sure stop in my shopping excursions. We snapped a number of pictures of the Cathedral and the lovely flower garden across from it and then headed back to the ship.
We were all hungry again by now so we went up to the Garden Café and had lunch. I finally found the guy making the personal pasta dishes and waited in a short line to get my made to order Alfredo pasta with mushrooms and broccoli.
After lunch Chip and I decided we need to go back into town so he could call his mom and I could call Rene' and check in to let them know we didn't get lost anywhere and will still be coming home on Saturday night. I can't believe here I sit tonight in the middle of the Mediterranean and tomorrow night I will be at home with my puppy dog.
We made our phone calls and then looked thru some shops and Chip found a tshirt for Kylie. Then we realized we had not yet had a Mallorcan beer. So we found a number of little bars and cafes which were now all open and oh, by the way, the sun came out and was shining and all the locals came out for their holiday and opened some of the stores and LOTS of restaurants and bars. So we went into this little bar and looked at their beers and the owner started talking to us about their local beer and asked us where we were from. Then he talked about how laid back it is in Mallorca and how stressed and pressured we Americans are. He said we should live there. Now Chip wants to go back….maybe someday. After talking to the owner a while we took our beers outside, which he said we could even walk down the street if we wanted. But we sat at the tables outside and he sent out some appetizers to us. We thought they were onion rings, since that's what they looked like and I bit into it. It didn't seem much like an onion and so I took another bite. Then the "onion" pulled out of the breading like it sometimes does only to see that these were actually squid rings!!! They were a little rubbery and I've stated in an earlier blog, I'm not a fan of rubbery food. It was really nice of the owner, but we didn't have much need for the squid rings. Now if Ivan and Denise had come back out with us, Ivan would have loved it!!
Alas is it our final evening on the Norwegian Jade so we began to pack our bags when we returned to the ship. That's always so sad. We are not putting our luggage out for them to take into the terminal though. With this FreeStyle cruising you can keep your luggage and just walk off the ship whenever you want instead of waiting for your luggage color tag to be called. We went to the final show which was a Magician/Comedian and it was enjoyable. I can never figure out how those tricks are done. We used some of our coupons from our booklet in the casino and I got a free pull on the "Win a Free Cruise" machine and won $30 in slot machine play. Of course that $30 didn't win me anything. So now I'm finishing this final blog and taking the computer up to the Garden Café at 10:30 p.m. in order to post it and let Chip get a late night dessert.
Two full weeks…….it actually felt like such a long time with so many ports and so much to do, I can hardly remember what I did where and when. I'll have to read my blog when I get home and enjoy it all over again!!!BTW, Ivan and Denise, it was great to meet you and hope to

Wednesday April 29

Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Today's port was Cagliari, Sardinia, an Italian island. Our ship wasn't scheduled to get into port until 11 am, so we had plenty of time to sleep late FINALLY, and then have a nice breakfast in the dining room versus the Garden Café where you have people scrambling all over and then spend too much time trying to find a seat while your food gets cold. Also, I can order tomato juice in the dining room and that's not available at the café. We sat at a table at the very back of the dining room by the windows where I could look down and see all the churning of the ocean as the ship was speeding ahead towards the island. The ship had been doing quite a bit of rocking as we got further into the Mediterranean last night and this morning. A number of people were feeling ill. It just helped rock me to sleep. I think it's a pretty cool feeling.
After breakfast we looked up Cagliari on the laptop to figure out what all there is to see on the island. Since many adventures would require an expensive taxi or taking a ship excursion, we decided to just hike around the city on our own. It was a beautiful sunny & warm (70 degrees) day. We all put on shorts and had to take a shuttle from the pier to the city. The main street near the pier was Via Roma which had expensive boutiques; however, by US standards, the prices were reasonable for the items being offered. Designer shoes, handbags, men's suits, jewelry and there's a very popular store here in all these cities we have visited called Mango. It reminds me of a Banana Republic only better. One of the popular jewelry items we saw was silver filigree. I boht a pendant that is a filigree flower and Denise got a bracelet. The store owner created the pieces himself and sells each piece by weight. My piece only cost 10 Euros.
In Cagliari, the city is on a hill and much of it is surrounded by the old fortress walls. We had to walk up streets that went straight uphill and would curve around. Following the maps we were given and trying to find the names of the streets was an interesting task. We really didn't fear getting lost because as you went up into the city you could always look back towards the ocean and see the port with a beautiful view of the ship and realize that all you had to do was go back down steps or roads and eventually get there. Throughout the city are these towers they call Elefont towers or Elephant Towers. We paid 4 Euros each to climb the stairs of these towers which then put you five stories above where you are in that part of the city and the views are incredible. I had to suck up my fear of heights as these wooden steps were quite steep and short. I had to turn my foot sideways to avoid hitting my shins as we climbed. Once at the top we took pictures and within a few minutes the town clocks struck Noon and all the church bells began chiming throughout the city. From the top of this tower we could hear each church bell and from which direction it was coming. That was a great and unexpected bonus that made the trek worthwhile.
From the tower we headed across town down the roads and quaint alleys with their ancient cobblestone pavement. Sometimes it was a bit hard to walk on; I can't imagine trying to ride a bike or wear high heels on these streets. Each time a car came through you had to duck between cars or get close to the buildings. Speed limits don't really exist although most people in cars are cautious of pedestrians, but not the Vespa and motorcycle drivers. Crossing roads has been a fun challenge for most of this cruise. Mind you, I'm not complaining, I love the old world charm of the streets of Europe.
We headed for the Roman Theatre, but there was not much left of it and they had actually constructed bleachers on top of most of it in order to hold current day concerts. We headed back down the hills of the city towards the shopping district and stopped to have some sweets from the Pastry shops. We tried an orange peel and almond candy that we were told is served at special occasions like weddings. I also an another cannolli as I don't know when I'll have one that tastes quite like the ones here. Everyone else got a gelato. We walked along the coast for quite a bit trying to get past the port area so we could visit one of the nearby beaches. Unfortunately, we would have had to walk at least another mile to get past the port and we only had 1 ½ hours so we turned around and went back to the ship.
We got back early enough to put on our suits and sit by the pool. My nose got a little too red but at least there was some sun. The entertainment show was at 7:30 p.m. and it was the Flamenco Dancers from Barcelona. That was probably the best entertainment other than the comedian on the ship so far.

thursday, April 30

Thursday, April 30, 2009
Today was a Sea Day so we slept in late and had breakfast in the dining room. Then we went to bingo and the raffle for the free cruise. The new bingo gives you an electronic gadget that keeps track of all the numbers called and all your cards. You just have to yell "BINGO" when your machine flashes when you win. I got down to needing one number and someone else yelled bingo, so no money for me!!!
We went to the pool and hung out and once again I didn't use sunscreen on anything but my face. So tonight my thighs are sore. I went to a wine tasting in the afternoon and met a few more people and talked about our experiences during this cruise. Lots of people got pickpocketed, sad to say. But not us, glad to say.
We went to the early show which was called "Smokey Joe's Café". Everyone who saw it yesterday raved about it. It was better than the singing show we saw the other day, but still not that great. Tonight there is a Chocoholic Buffet so I have to cut this short so we can go in a few minutes.
More later……..