Welcoming Party!

Well we just got back from Hawaii on Friday and we are off again today to Portland Oregon to visit our daughter Stephanie and son-in-law Randy.

We had a fairly smooth flight, but didn't appreciate the welcoming party that we received once we got our rental car and headed down I-5 South. As you can see below, there was wall to wall traffic that extended our commute to Lake Oswego by at least an hour.

We had a nice dinner at P.F. Chang's and we are off to hike the kid's favorite trails tomorrow, followed by a BBQ with Randy's family. Should be a great day in the sunshine and cooler weather.

Hope your Labor Day weekend is safe and enjoyable and thanks for the visit!

Can't Believe It's Over

Well our week in paradise sure went by fast as we knew it would. We had a wonderful time of rest, relaxation and great family time in an absolutely beautiful setting.

We left Turtle Bay yesterday and headed down to Waikiki, which was an absolute mob scene. As the pictures shows below, it was wall to wall people in a hot and humid environment that wasn't much fun. Tracy and I commented how different our time at Turtle Bay was compared to this mob scene and how disappointed we would be if Waikiki was our only destination.

We headed home on a miserable redeye flight and I only wished that I could sleep on an airplane, it would sure make the time go faster.

Well we are home and it is time to get back to the reality. Thanks for following our wonderful time in paradise and the great memories that we will have forever. Have a great weekend and take care!

People Everywhere!

No Room For Another Umbrella!

Surfers Everywhere...

Up, Up And Away...

Well another wonderful day here in Oahu, with beautiful blue sky's, white clouds, light rains and colorful rainbows.

Yesterday was taken up with helicopter rides and surfing lessons by some of our group, Tracy and I just kicked back and enjoyed the pool and walks around the beach.

Tracy has been hoping to see turtles, but nothing so far, but tomorrow is another day.

Hope you are all having a great week and thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Off To The Waimea Waterfall!

Well yesterday's adventure was the Waimea Valley and a beautiful walk amongst the lush green plants and trees on our trek to the Waimea Waterfall.

As we were walking, we enjoyed a wonderful light rain that kept us cool, but drove up the humidity. I wish I could post the many beautiful pictures that I took, but I am using my iPad blogger app, which does not make it practical and you probably wouldn't appreciate having to wait for them to download.

After our morning at the falls, it was time to visit the famous Matsumoto Grocery Store for Shaved Ice, boy it was good and is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

Today is supposed to be a restful beach day, although Tracy's brother arranged for a helicopter ride for today as a Birthday present for her Mom. So we will all be rooting them on as they take to the sky for what I'm sure will be a beautiful trip.

Hope you are all having a great week, thanks for stopping by and Aloha!

Even The Snails Are Pretty Here!

Well another day in paradise and Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law Pat. We won't be celebrating in a fancy restaurant on the sand like last night, because Pat likes grilled hotdogs on the patio, which is more my style too.

Tracy and I were awakened by birds early this morning because we had all the windows open to hear the wonderful sound of the waves. So we decided to head off for a nice early morning walk along the shoreline.

Tracy's goal was to see some sea turtles, because of course we are in turtle bay, but no luck this morning. In stead we saw some feral cats and a beautiful snail in the grass, we sure don't have snails like that in Arizona!

So we are off on another adventure today that I'm sure will be great. Thanks for stopping by and I hope your week is great!

Happy Birthday Cec!

Well today is the big day, Tracy's aunt's 70th Birthday and one of the big reasons we all gathered here in Paradise.

We are having dinner tonight at a restaurant in the resort that has tables on the sand, and we will enjoy a wonderful dinner as we watch the sunset. Doesn't get much better than this!

Yesterday was a trip to the swap meet at the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu. The swap meet wraps around the entire stadium parking lot and they have all the trinkets and trash that anyone could want. Of course we left with our share including t-shirts, jewelry for Sarah, a hat for me and a purse for Tracy. The challenge now is that we didn't have an inch of extra space in our luggage on the way over, so I'm not sure how any of it will make it back to Scottsdale.

Off to church this morning and then just enjoying the beach until our big dinner this evening. Hope you are all have a great weekend, thanks for stopping by and Aloha!

Our First Day In Paradise!

Well we made it and it is truly paradise here at Turtle Bay. We had a wonderful family BBQ on our patio and were entertained by a wild Wedding Reception across the lawn from our condo.

We have two condos, one upstairs and one down, I have posted our views from both below. There are 14 of us here and somehow we hit the lottery and landed the upstairs master suite that is larger than our bedroom at home and with a much better view of course!

Had breakfast on the patio and you will notice no watch, I am truly in vacation mode!

Well we are off to the swap meet in Honolulu...not my cup of tea, but I am the designated driver on one of the rentals, so we are off. Thanks for stopping by and more to follow. Aloha!

Hawaii Here We Come!

So we are sitting here at the airport awaiting our flight, I see a plane at the gate, that is good, but no flight crew yet, but we are early.

So we had a nice Monsoon last night with lots of rain that lasted through this morning. I think it is trying to get us prepared for the 60 percent chance of rain predicted on the weather report for Turtle Bay.

We have left the cats in charge of the house with Sarah checking on them to make sure that their cat parties do not get out of hand. Midnight let us know that we better text him from time to time to check in.

Hope to have some great pictures to share with you, so stop by again soon and have a great weekend!

We're Outta Here!

Well we have had enough heat over the last several weeks and we are ready for some cooler temperatures and some much needed hydration.

We booked our tickets to Hawaii so many months ago, I can't believe that it is finally here and we are ready.

We are so much looking forward to our week in Honolulu at Turtle Bay to celebrate our 30th Wedding Anniversary and I just hope it doesn't go by too fast. 

So check back as I will be updating our blog with what I know will be beautiful pictures and great adventures that I can't wait to share with all of you!

I want to welcome John & Judy Hollinger as our latest followers.  Take a moment to visit their blog and welcome aboard John and Judy and thanks for joining us. 

Hope you all have a great rest of the week and I am off to pack!

158 Degrees...Really?

Well it has been really hot here in Arizona and over the last few days, we have had extreme heat condition at 115 degrees.

This morning I was up and at the yard work early, not wanting to chance another heat stroke.

When I was done, it was time for a dip in the pool to cool down. When I checked the digital temperature gauge in the pool, it read 158 degrees...wow.

Of course it was not actually 158 degrees, it was probably more like 95 degrees. The warm water temps actually brought Tracy out for her annual dip in the pool. Last year she didn't make it in, so she made up for it this year. I was going to post a picture of the event, but I was told in no uncertain terms that I would not be posting any pictures.

When we moved to Arizona 19 years ago,Tracy had no desire for a house with a pool and I insisted. When the girls were young, we used it much more than we do now, it gets very expensive to maintain when compared to our current use.

So needless to say, it has been an inside day today, trying to avoid this heat. I am sure looking forward to a break in this weather come October.

Hope your day was a great one and thanks for the visit.

When Is Enough, Enough?

Tracy's car, a 2004 Mercury Sable has some demons in the electrical system that we have been battling with for years. I drove the car before Tracy and the problems started then, but disappeared for over a year.

When the car is really acting up, the check brake system alarm and ABS lights come on, the AC stops running, the door locks go up and down and the CD player stops working, sounds like the car is possessed.

We have taken it in more times then I can count and they are never able to get the car to act up, they probably just think we are crazy.

So Tracy and I have been talking about when it is time to cut our losses and get rid of the "Golden Chariot" as she calls it and get something else.  

Yesterday the car wouldn't start when Tracy was leaving work, so I came down and gave it a jump and she was able to drive it home.  I called the dealership that we use and told them the battery appeared to be dead and we would bring it in Friday morning.  I then went out and was able to start the car ten times in a row without even a slight hesitation. 

When we got the car to the dealership, they tested it and of course, found nothing wrong.  They did say that they suspected the super junction box to be the problem and would have to order the part and could have it installed and ready by Monday, for a mere $784.

With Sarah still in school, we hate to use our financial reserves and going into debt is just not an option, but when do we stop throwing good money away to fix a problem that may not be fixable? 

We decided to go with the repair and give it one more chance.  We firmly decided that if this doesn't work, we will be in the market for another car. Of course as soon as the weather cools down a little, Tracy could ride her bike the half mile to work everyday and get some good cardio exercise...hey that's an idea.

We should know more on Monday in this mystery of the demon possessed car, hope you have a great weekend planned, enjoy and thanks for stopping by for a visit.

Steak Anyone?

Well as you know from Sunday's post, Sarah has moved into a house near ASU to start the new school year.

Sarah has been a vegetarian for many years following a trip with my in-laws to a chicken ranch. As a result, Tracy has done a great job of preparing salads, vegetables in many different forms that I've never seen before and lots of pasta, but very few steaks.

To reward my efforts in getting Sarah moved, in the blazing heat, tonight was steak on the BBQ!

Although I probably could have just cooked it all on the sidewalk, I decided to use the grill.:-)

Hope your day was great and stay cool!

Moving Day!

Well today is the day that Sarah has been looking forward to for weeks. She is moving into a house with two other roommates for her sophomore year at ASU. Sarah made a firm decision that she could not live another year in the dorms, so she set out to find just the right place to live this school year.  

The house they have rented is a 1950's era three bedroom, two bath, two blocks from the school. The owner gets $1400 per month rent and has no problem keeping this house or her two other rentals close by, rented. I told Tracy that I wished we had been smart enough to get into this type of business several years ago..oh well.

Sarah has been packing for weeks and so far we have filled my business partner's Kia Sorento, Sarah's car and her boyfriend's mom's Suburban. I had to remind her that she only has one small bedroom in the house.

So we were on the road promptly at 10:00am under overcast skies, which were very much to our liking. When we arrived at the house, we found to our surprise that the key for house that we picked up last night was actually for the laundry room rather than the house. Note to self, always check keys prior to leaving all future rentals.

So with some telephone calls and text messages, we were able to get the key and begin the move in process, just about an hour later than we had hoped.

Of course after we unloaded, it was time to head out to lunch and then IKEA for some more furniture and kitchen necessities.

As I added up the receipts over the last few days,I think the dorms and the required meal plan costs might have been a better deal. The good news is that Sarah is all moved in and ready to start another great school year and that's what counts.

I want to welcome Kate of Kate and Terry-Travels in Cholula Red as our latest blog follower. If you have a moment, please visit their blog to see some great pictures of vintage trailers that are well worth your time.

Hope your Sunday was great, below are some pictures from our day and thanks for joining us!

Oh no...the key doesn't work!

IKEA...working the list with Mom.

Where will it all go?

 

My Project!

Summers Done?

It is hard to believe that Sarah is moving into a house with two roommates this weekend to start school August 13th.  Where did her time off go?  When I came home this afternoon, Sarah was so proud that she had packed up her room to move and that the floor was actually visible.

I didn't know here room had carpet

I was a little curious as to where all her stuff went, so I did a little searching and didn't have to look very far...

What happened to my workout room?

I walked into the workout room and found where all the boxes had been relocated to.

I have to admit that the last ten or so weeks has been challenging with Sarah's days starting at noon and ending way into the early morning hours.  I know that when she is at school, she is very independent and makes her own schedule and when she comes home she is used to still having that freedom.  It will be nice to get back to more regular hours, even though we will miss seeing Sarah's smiling face each day.

I am happy to welcome Carol Murdock and Box Canyon Blogger to our little adventure.  Both have blogs that I would encourage you to check out and welcome aboard to you both!

I hope you are all having a great week, thanks for visiting and stay cool!