Canadian Buffoon's Disney With a Teen Vacation - 08/13 - The Wrap

[pkondz]

Wow...yes kudos in order to you for volunteering for that...recital helping lol.

Thanks!

As a mom of a dancer...I get it...and I can't even imagine what it's like back there!!!

It's not so bad.
Organized chaos.

Well.... semi-organized.



Well... RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! SAVE YOURSELVES!!

I'm glad there are other worthy parents like you willing to take it on because...I wouldn't last a second lol

I can do it because I've seen enough of them
to know what goes on.
I found myself explaining the duties
to other volunteers last night.
That was a first.

"You can take them up to the balcony
if they're on after the intermission,
but make sure they're down at least six numbers before theirs.
What are they? Beginnings?
Make sure you come down when you hear Girls Want to Have Fun."

 

[franandaj]

Okay, but I'm totally in the dark about renting points
and how that works with magicbands and ADRs etc.

Renting points is a completely separate thing from Magicbands and ADRs. All of the MB and ADR stuff would be the same as if you booked the reservations yourself directly. The only change is that the DVC owner makes your reservations, DME arrangements and Dining Plan if you want it. From what I know about your trips DVC would not be a better value as you don't spend any time in the room and there is no free dining with DVC. You pay for it. Folks that I know who have evaluated DVC find that it costs about the same or a tad bit more than a value.

The only reason I could see you wanting to do it is if you wanted to give Ruby a splurge and you possibly cooked a meal or two in the room, and she wanted to use the Jacuzzi. Laundry is in the room and free, but most people who evaluate it find that values are cheaper. If you don't spend time relaxing in the room, it's not worth it for you. As you will see in my TR we spend a bit of time relaxing and enjoying the room.

You'd have to hold my hand.

OMG! Alison! I said "hold my hand"!
Get your mind out of the gutter!

I only thought about holding your HAND!!!!!!!

I even thought that you were being quite forward citing that....

"I Wanna hold your handa..and...a...aaaaand....I wanna hold your hand!"

Oh, there's tons of volunteering opportunities.
The school's gotten pretty big over the years.
Recital used to be about a 1 or 2 hour show.
Now it's 121 dances over three nights.

The only thing I remember about my sister's recital was that the 3 year olds were hilarious! They had no idea what to do and were just funny. My sister's dance was good, but nowhere near as fun as the little kids who had no idea of what to do.

Again, interesting.
Doubly so that the guy was in Canada.
I wonder if I'd have to pay that charge?

I know that when using PayPal there is a fee for international transactions so if we did a point rental kind of thing, it would most likely need to go through PayPal as any other transaction would not be prudent.

 

[pkondz]

Renting points is a completely separate thing from Magicbands and ADRs. All of the MB and ADR stuff would be the same as if you booked the reservations yourself directly. The only change is that the DVC owner makes your reservations, DME arrangements and Dining Plan if you want it. From what I know about your trips DVC would not be a better value as you don't spend any time in the room and there is no free dining with DVC. You pay for it. Folks that I know who have evaluated DVC find that it costs about the same or a tad bit more than a value.

Dunno. Sounds like a lot of work (re: owner making ADRs etc)
I honestly don't know if I even want free dining or not.
Last couple of times I've been so full....
Might be happy taking the discount
and paying OOP for a couple of ADRs and doing QS for the rest.

The only reason I could see you wanting to do it is if you wanted to give Ruby a splurge and you possibly cooked a meal or two in the room, and she wanted to use the Jacuzzi.

I won't cook (unless it's a long stay... and it won't be.)
And Ruby's not a Jacuzzi kinda girl, so...

Laundry is in the room and free, but most people who evaluate it find that values are cheaper. If you don't spend time relaxing in the room, it's not worth it for you. As you will see in my TR we spend a bit of time relaxing and enjoying the room.

In room laundry would be nice, but....
Not worth paying extra, I think.

And yeah... usually the room is just a place
to crash late at night for a few hours.
At least for me, it is.

I only thought about holding your HAND!!!!!!!

I even thought that you were being quite forward citing that....

"I Wanna hold your handa..and...a...aaaaand....I wanna hold your hand!"

Great! Now that's stuck in my head!

The only thing I remember about my sister's recital was that the 3 year olds were hilarious!

They always are!

They had no idea what to do and were just funny. My sister's dance was good, but nowhere near as fun as the little kids who had no idea of what to do.

They always start the recitals with the little ones.
And they never fail to entertain.

I know that when using PayPal there is a fee for international transactions so if we did a point rental kind of thing, it would most likely need to go through PayPal as any other transaction would not be prudent.

Makes sense.

 

[pkondz]

Update coming in a couple of hours!
(Maybe less...)

 

[pkondz]

The End is Nigh

Ask and ye shall receive...
if I feel like it.
And I do.

Some of you asked how the new puppy was
and wanted updated pictures.
Here's some I took just a few days ago.*

(* It was "a few days ago" when I wrote that.
I think that was a couple of weeks ago, now.
Luna's legs are about 2 - 3 times longer now.)

The girls, just before we let them off leash
and they went crazy:

Luna

Piper:

And Luna again
because you can never have enough puppy pics.
It's the law.*

*Schmidt and Anderson vs Schnauzer 1942**

Okay, that's it for canines,
back to Hawaii.

And our last day there.
(Boo!)


I usually start off these updates
by telling you what time I woke up
or what time we left the room.


And I have no idea.
I can guesstimate that we left
around nine am...
but I'm really not sure.

Who cares! We're on vacation!
For now.

Last day.

Oh, that's not so bad.
We merely have to leave
beautiful, warm weather,
sunny skies, pristine beaches,
palm trees and waterfalls for...


Cold and snow.




No! I'm not going! You can't make me!
(psst..... $500/night.)

Okay.
So you can make me.
But I don't have to like it!



Our flight wasn't until 11:40pm,
so we had plenty of time
to do whatever we wanted.
Plus, if you recall,
(and why would you... that last update
was ages ago!)
we extended our check-out to 3pm.
So we didn't have to rush to get out of the room.

So what do you do when you've
already done just about everything,
and there's a beach and an ocean
right across the street?

Watch TV!


Okay! Okay! No, we didn't.
We did go to the beach.
Well, Elle, Kay and I did.
Ruby was content to take her time
and get ready to go.
Remember, she burns easily.
Sitting on a beach in full sun?

She'd burst into flame.
I'm not kidding.
Poof. Gone. No more Ruby.
Just... soot.

(Ruby after a day in the sun.)

The three of us headed out.
We stopped in the lobby to get
some beach towels.
Just five or so minutes later,
we were on the beach.

And there was no one there.

Because... holy cow was it windy!
We dumped our stuff on the beach
and headed into the water.
The waves were big enough
that you had to jump,
which was a hoot.
We spent maybe half an hour to an hour,
just jumping the waves as they rolled in.
Occasionally a wave that was too big to jump
would roll in and we'd dive under it instead.

At one point, one of the girls pointed in the water
and said "What's that?"

The theme to jaws immediately started playing
in my head and my heart rate tripled.

"Oh, nevermind. It's just a shadow."

Keep calm... do not run screaming.
Think... You know what? Don't think.
Lalalalalalalalalalalaaaaaaa.....

It sorta worked.
I stayed in the water,
but kept looking for ... you know.


When I'd had enough, I headed back to the beach
and found our stuff mostly buried in sand.
I think if I'd stayed in for another half hour,
I wouldn't have found our things.

I sat on the beach and chillaxed
while the girls continued to hop
and dive in the water.

Now normally.... I hate this.
I hate sitting on a beach with nothing to do.
There's a whole wide world out there to explore!

I don't know if it was because of all the driving,
all the sites we'd seen or because we only had
one more thing to do...
But I didn't mind just sitting and relaxing one little bit.


Sounds stupid.
"Oh, poor pkondz. Had to relax. Oh, the horror!"
Well.... yeah.
But usually I get bored after two minutes
and want to do something.
But... not this time.

Around eleven o'clock,
the girls had had enough
and exited the water.

I let them dig up their own towels.


We sashayed back to our room
where we ate a delicious assortment
of leftovers for lunch.

I'm not kidding.
They were delicious.
Da Kitchen da next day was da-lish.


I still had to return the cooler we'd rented.
In fact it was overdue.
Not that I was worried.
I was pretty sure the extra $2.08 wouldn't break me.

Ruby mentioned a market that she wanted to visit,
I had seen the place and it was just down the street.
I suggested we all go, grab some drinks,
return the cooler and then check out the market.

And that's what we did.
We stopped at Foodland and grabbed various drinks,
hopped over to Boss Frog and returned the cooler,
and they waved the extra $2.08!
Now we can buy.... nothing.
You can't get much for $2.08.

Actually, even though it was only two bucks,
I appreciated the gesture.

And hopefully they won't notice
the severed head I left in there.


Just seeing if you were paying attention.
I didn't really leave a severed head in it.


Just an ear.



Now it was time for the Kihei Marketplace.
The reviews were good:
"Great place to get souvenirs in Maui."
"The best place for souvenirs and ambiance
we have found so far."

On our previous two visits to Hawaii,
I'd purchased a small carved turtle.
I was hoping to keep the tradition going
but so far had been stymied.
If I was going to find a souvenir,
this was the place to be!

Or... not.
If your idea of a great market
is cheap crap made in China,
then sure... this is the place.

Biggest disappointment of the trip.
Well, it wasn't a total loss,
Kay picked up a couple of $1 bracelets
for some friends back home.

Ruby asked if we could go to an ABC Store
to look for something there.
Sure!
At least their crap is
better than the crap we just saw.

Things are looking up.

Not very high... but up, nevertheless.


Speaking of looking up...
You're probably saying to yourself
"Geez, pkondz. Would you please shut up???
Where are all the pictures?"

The good news is, they're coming up soon.
The bad news is there aren't that many.
The worse news is that I'm going to keep
yapping away here for a while.


Wow. I heard that groan from here!

Impressive.



Sorry.
But sometimes you have to take the bad with...
well, the bad.
Badder?

Worse.


We arrived at the ABC Store and...
I have no idea what was bought
nor by whom.
I'm sure we bought stuff.
I think I might've picked up a chocolate bar
or something.
Ruby might have picked up some soaps.




With our unforgettable, precious purchases,
we returned to our room.
We finished packing, relaxed for a bit
(I think we actually did watch TV... or YouTube.)
and then checked out around 3pm.

But we still have tons of time before our flight!

How about... some more shave ice??

Yesssssss......


A few updates ago, I had told you
that there were two top places in Maui
for shave ice.
We'd been to one, Local Boys,
and now it was time to try Ululani's!
And there was one just a couple minutes
away down the street.

We drove over, parked and got in line.

Kay, of course, was drawn to the several
chickens that were milling about.

I wonder what they eat?
Seeds and bugs I guess.
Pretty sure no one actually feeds them.

Pretty soon we were near the front of the line.

Now I hesitate to say this
because I know all my readers
are exceptionally intelligent people.
But for any passersby,
here is a public service announcement.

If you're in line to buy food.
And especially if there's someone behind you
(but even if there's not)

WOULD YOU PLEASE MAKE UP YOUR DARNED
MIND BEFORE YOU GET TO THE WINDOW!?!?!?!?!?

(And for the rest of you.... you're welcome.)

While the people in front of us were waiting
for their treats, we studied the menu.

I have no idea what I got.
I do know I got three flavours,
but that's it.
I think it was Rootbeer, Passion Fruit, Strawberry.
And it may have been something completely different.


Okay. Show of hands.
How many of you have made
lemonade from scratch?

Come on! Let's see 'em!
How many??


Oh, put your hands down.
This is a TR, not a game show.
I can't see you.
(Well except for those three of you.
And you know who you are.
Wait.... No you don't.
Those cameras are hidden after all.)

(Don't worry about it.)


Anyway!
The recipe is simple.
Cut a lemon or two in half, squeeze.
Add water and sugar.
Voila.

The trick is the sugar amount.
Not enough and you have a sour mix
that isn't fit to drink.
Easily fixed.
Dump in some sugar, taste it.
If your face screws up in disgust...

...you need more sugar.

But what's just as bad...
actually worse, because you can't fix it,
is if you add too much sugar.

You get a cloying, overly sweet, sticky syrup.
And you don't want that either.
Actually, I'll take sour over overly sweet any day.

We get to the front of the line and place our orders.
Well, Kay, Elle and I do. Ruby passes again.

And this is how they make the shave ice here.
Other Ululani locations may be different.
1. Shave the ice. Obviously.
2. Shape the shave ice into a ball.
3. Poke holes in the ice ball
so the flavour syrups can penetrate.
4. Begin to pour the syrup.
Continue to pour for a slow three count.
Continue to pour as you make it a four count, instead.
Continue to pour as you recite the alphabet,
forward and backwards.
Continue to pour as you Google
"Diabetes, causes of".
Add more, just to be safe.
5. Repeat step four for any other flavours.
6. Hand sugary mess to unsuspecting customer.
7. Snicker.

There was one thing that was interesting
about this place.
There were picnic tables where you could
sit and eat your shave ice.
The shave ice was served in plastic holders.
The tables had holes drilled in them,
so you could place your shave ice in them.

Handy.

We're smiling for now...

We dug in and mmmm...
mmmm.....

mm.....

uh.. mmm??

ugh....

I don't feel good.


Wayyyyyy too much syrup.
We ate them, or most of them,
but we all felt sick afterwards.

So the clear winner in the shave ice war was:
Local Boys.
By a landslide.

Still not as big a disappointment as
the Kihei Market.
Or maybe it was?

Close one.


Holding our sore tummies,
we crawled back into the car.
Ruby was really kind and understanding.
She hardly pointed and laughed at us at all.



Still plenty of time before our flight.
Time for one last excursion.


A quick jaunt up Haleakala.
Haleakala volcano and its slopes make up
more than 75% of Maui.
It last erupted sometime in the 1600s.
And there's a good chance that it will
erupt again sometime in the future.

I'm sort of hoping that day isn't today.
Bummer to be incinerated while on vacation.
I probably wouldn't get the deposit back
on the rental car.


It's quite the drive up to the summit.
You go through several different eco-systems.
You start off in a tropical forest,
climb through the clouds and rain forest,
come out the other side into prairie grass
and eventually finish in desolation.

Wanna see?
Well... we didn't take too many pics,
but I'll share the few we've got.

Don't you feel that that sign is missing something?
Like: "No shirt, no shoes, no service"?

We started the drive up the mountain.
And when I say "drive up",
I don't mean there's a road that travels
in a straight line up to the summit.
That would be about 5 miles.

No, this road has the odd twist or turn.
And when I say "odd" I mean "lots"
As in 21 miles of them.
And instead of a 10 or 15 minute drive,
it takes about an hour.

Oh! And there's good news! It's not free!
About halfway up the mountain,
when you're already committed
and are going to go all the way or die trying,
there's a machine where,
for $10 a car, you are allowed to enter
Haleakala National Park.

I didn't really mind the fee.
Really I didn't.
$10 for four people isn't much.
That's what... about $5 a person?


When we got to the machine,
there were already two cars parked
in the small parking lot adjacent.
Two young men were huddled by the machine.

I walked over and could tell that they
were having problems.
"Is it not working?" I asked.
They turned to me and shook their heads.
We all tried a couple of things to get it to work,
but it was obvious that it was toast.

I was going to leave, but the two young guys
were standing around looking very confused.
"Look guys." I said. "It's not working right?"
They solemnly nodded.
"So if anyone asks why we didn't pay,
it's because the machine isn't working.
I'll be your back up, you be mine. Okay?"
They grinned and nodded again.

I hopped back into the car
and drove onwards and upwards.
Sometimes age brings wisdom.


Okay. It's super rare.
But it does happen!

And if we all got tickets...
I would've looked like an idiot.

Wouldn't be the first time.


We stopped at the Park headquarters...
where there was no one around.
Okay. Onward!

Our next stop was the Leleiwi Overlook,
where I took these shots.
We still had a little over 1,000 feet to the summit,
but were already above the clouds.

I didn't really see the need for a stop here.
Oh well. Whatever.
(It was only much later,
while I was writing this TR,
that I discovered that you were supposed
to follow a short trail to the real overlook.)

We continued our drive upwards
and stopped briefly at the visitor center.
(9740 feet elevation)

Again, there didn't seem to be anyone around.
Well, except for the young couple
who were unsuccessfully trying to get into
their rental car, a blue Mustang.
They tried the doors a few times before...
...walking over to the only other car in the lot.
Another blue Mustang.
That one worked.

They laughed sheepishly and glanced around
to see if anyone had seen them.
I tried to look as conspicuous as possible.

A very short drive later and we arrived at the summit.
(10,023 feet elevation)
There's an observatory here,
but unfortunately it's closed to the public.

And man! Was it windy!
The wind was howling
and you had to lean against it a little bit.
Remember how windy it was at the beach?
Multiply that... by a lot.

We struggled over to the only building for refuge.

Once we were out of the wind
and our eyes stopped watering,
we were able to appreciate the view.

The crater is about 7 miles across, 2 miles wide
and 2,600 feet deep.

Looking a little bit more closely,
(Thanks Mr. Zoom!)
you can see a few volcanic cones.

Here's an overview of the area.

We didn't linger too long.
1. There's not much more to see.
2. I didn't want anyone to start to feel
altitude sickness.
3. There's not much more to see.
4. No. Really. There's not much more to see.
5. We had a flight to catch.

We paused to take a quick snap,
(We were here!)
and headed back to the car.

I did take a second to climb a small ridge,
just to see what was on the other side.

Not a whole heck of a lot.
Which might explain why NASA
did Astronaut training here
back in the Apollo days.

The foreground does kinda look
like the surface of the moon, no?

The drive down was.... fun!
Well, for me it was.
Not so much for Kay,
who started to feel a little ill.

Having driven up the mountain,
I was now familiar with the road.

Or at least more familiar.

The road pretty much goes straight
for about 100 yards or so then hairpins
180 degrees left.
It continues for another 100 yards
then hairpins right.
This continues... forever.
(Or so it seemed.)
The speed limit was 30, I think.
So just for fun, I'd drive 60 or so,
brake hard, zip around the hairpin
and repeat.

I did that for about 20 - 30 minutes I think.


That may have been what contributed
to Kay not feeling well.


Nah. Probably something she ate.
Yeah. It was the shave ice still.


Once we got down to more level
and straight roads, she quickly recovered.
So much so, that she wanted
to get something to eat.

No one else was hungry, so Kay picked McDonalds.
Gawd help us.

McDonalds.


I don't remember what she ordered,
but I do recall they screwed it up.

She ate it anyway and didn't seem to mind.
Plus she got a Twilight Sparkle My Little Pony
out of the deal, so she was happy.

Is anyone still reading this at this point?
I do drone on.
Say "I'm not quite dead yet." for bonus points.
(And to let me know that you're still alive.)


No one was hungry....
but we couldn't resist one last visit to...


Krispy Kreme!

I don't know if the "Hot" sign was on,
but they were making donuts.
I just don't know if I ordered
any that were hot!

(Yes. I promise to do better next time.)


We each enjoyed our donut
and I went back to the car to get my jeans.
I didn't want to wear shorts on the plane.
(Gets cold on planes, ya know.)

And yes, I was still wearing the same shorts.
The one's I'd spilled red shave ice on.
Of course I was still wearing them!
They're antiques!
From a completely different period.

You don't see shorts like that every day.

I walked back inside Krispie Kreme
and tried the handle to the Men's room.
Locked.

There was no one else in the store.
Maybe you need a key?

I went and asked for a key and was told
that it was occupied.

I went back and waited a bit.
The door opened and a woman came out.

I double checked... yep. Men's room.
Some women use the Men's room
because they identify with waiting
in a shorter line.


We dropped the car off at the rental place
and grabbed the shuttle to the terminal.
We got to the WestJet desk about 8pm.
Our flight wasn't until 11:40pm,
so the desk wouldn't open until 8:40pm.
We just stood in the line and waited.

When the desk opened and it was our turn,
they weighed our bags.
One was 51.5lbs, the other 41.5lbs.

Wow. Talk about flashbacks.
The last time we were in Hawaii,
or possibly the time before,
one bag was over by a bit too.
They made us open the bags
and redistribute stuff
so they both were under 50lbs.

But that wasn't WestJet.

The agent didn't even blink an eye.
She did however, tell us that Kay
had been selected for TSA pre-check.

This meant that the only minor in the family
could take the fast line at security
and keep her shoes on.
Ummm... okay.
So take the 15 year old and separate her
from her parents.
Thanks, we'll pass.
Kay stayed with us.

I didn't see it, but while I was answering
questions, etc.
Elle got selected for a pat down.
She was not happy about it.

The poor child had been mooned
and now this!


We got to our gate
and had a two hour wait ahead of us.
Geez, this is as bad as Disney!
Self inflicted this time, though.

Our plane arrived at the gate at 11:23pm
Looks like we'll be late.
And we were.
We were wheels up forty minutes late
at 12:20am.


I wound up watching The Hobbit for a while.
And I was bored with it.
Maybe if I'd stuck it out it would've gotten better.
Dunno. Maybe I'll try again some other time.
I switched instead to some episodes of iZombie.
That was entertaining.
Quirky little show.

We landed in Vancouver and quickly collected our bags.
We had a long walk to customs.
Our connecting flight was at 9:15am so we had to hurry.
We were supposed to have arrived at 7:18am,
but the 40 minute late departure killed that.

Luckily, customs was quick
and we were through in no time.

We reached the next spot where we joined a line
to drop off our bags again.
There was an agent asking for anyone
who had a 9am departure to present themselves.
Our flight was for 9:15am. Close enough.

We stepped out of line.
(I'm frequently out of line.)

We dumped the bags and hustled off to security.
And there we encountered a long line of people
waiting to go through.
I was starting to get nervous,
since it was taking so long.
But eventually we got through
(with no pat downs for Elle. Yay!)
and ran/quick-walked to our gate.
When we got there, the plane had already boarded.
I think we were the last to arrive.
At least the last to arrive who made it on the plane.

Around 2pm or so we were landing back in Winnipeg.

And it was cold.

I made the trek to retrieve the car
while the others stayed indoors and warm.


I don't like those people.


We loaded up the bags and drove home.
(With a quick stop for fast food.)

Where I had to shovel the driveway
before I was able to park the car.

<sigh> Welcome home indeed.

And that wraps up the quickie Maui vacation.
Hope y'all enjoyed it!


What?
I'm forgetting something?
Oh! Right...



Contest!

Was it worth it? 10 bonus points for:
BibbitybobityLu, MarieLightning,
rndmr2, Terra Nova guy, natebenma,
franandaj, SoccerDogWithEars,
Captain_Oblivious, 6travel, afwdwfan,
jandlinz, Curiouser&curiouser!,
irene_dsc, queenbetsey, orangecats2,
Mrs T 2009, SnowWhiteOz,
TheLittleKatie, Gracefulskinny


Why did the stream cross the road?
10 bonus points for:
BibbitybobityLu, natebenma,
franandaj, Captain_Oblivious,
afwdwfan, Curiouser&curiouser!,
orangecats2, queenbetsey,
irene_dsc, SnowWhiteOz,
DonnaBeeGood, TheLittleKatie,
Gracefulskinny


Previous chapter's questions and answers:

1. One last excursion before we leave.
What is it?
Answer: Haleakala - 10 points

2. What treat did we eat? (again)
Answer: Shave ice - 10 points

3. How many beaches do we visit?
Answer: one - 20 points

4. Did you see it?
Answer: pkondz air banner - 5 points

5. Did you see the other one?
Answer: Donald with the cows - 5 points

6. What place do we re-visit for a sugary snack?
Answer: Krispy Kreme - 10 points

7. Who gets picked for TSA pre-check?
Answer: Kay - 20 points

8. Who gets patted down at security?
Answer: Elle - 20 points

9. Our flight was not on time.
Early or late? How early or how late?
Answer: Late - 5 points
40 minutes - 20 points within +/-10 minutes,
+/-30 minutes 10 points, +/-60 minutes 5 points

10. What do I unfortunately have to do
when we get home?
Answer: Shovel snow 10 points

Answers:
BibbitybobityLu - volcano, shrimp, saw both, shave ice, Ruby, me, clean, late, 3 hours, snow - 35 points
MarieLightning - saw one - 5 points
rndmr2 - Haleakala, shave ice, 2, saw both, shave ice, Ruby, me, late, 2 hours, shovel - 45 points
Terra Nova guy - volcano, shrimp, 2, saw one, Krispy Kreme, me, Ruby, late, 30 minutes, garbage - 50 points
natebenma - aquarium, shrimp, 1, saw both, local boys, Elle, Ruby, late, 45 minutes, shovel - 65 points
franandaj - Volcano, shrimp, 3, saw both, Krispy Kreme, Kay, Elle, late, 20 minutes, shovel - 95 points
SoccerDogWithEars - waterfall, spam, 1, saw both, shave ice, all, me, late, 30 minutes, dishes - 55 points
Captain_Oblivious - Haleakala, shave ice, 1, saw both, Krispy Kreme, me, Kay, late, 20 minutes, work - 75 points
6travel - swim, slush, 3, saw both, local boys, Elle, me, late, 90 minutes - 15 points
afwdwfan - surfing, shave ice, 2, saw both, shave ice, Ruby, Kay, late, 2 hours, work - 25 points
jandlinz - volcano, shave ice, 3, saw both, Krispie Kreme, Ruby, Kay, early, 18 minutes, shovel - 40 points
Curiouser&curiouser! - beach, spam, 3 saw one, shave ice, Kay, Ruby, late, 30 minutes, work - 50 points
irene_dsc - volcano, shave ice, 2, saw both, shave ice, me, Elle, late, 30 minutes, shovel - 85 points
queenbetsey - shopping, shave ice, 3, saw one, unsure, me, Kay, late, 60 minutes, shovel - 40 points
Mrs T 2009 - zip line, shave ice, 2, saw both, shave ice, Kay, me, late, 10 minutes, laundry - 55 points
MAGICFOR2 - Haleakala, pineapple, 1, saw both, shave ice, Elle, me, late, 20 minutes, shovel - 65 points
SnowWhiteOz - Volcano, spam, 2, saw both, shave ice, Ruby, me, late, 25 minutes, laundry - 35 points
DonnaBeeGood - Haleakala, Krispy Kreme, 2, saw both, shave ice, me, Ruby, early, 25 minutes, shovel - 30 points
TheLittleKatie - Volcano, shrimp, 2, saw both, Krispy Kreme, me, Ruby, late, 30 minutes, work - 55 points
Gracefulskinny - Beach, shave ice, 4, saw both, shave ice, Kay, me, late, 60 minutes, laundry - 55 points
MHSweb79 - Volcano, shave ice, 3, saw both, Krispy Kreme, Ruby, me, late, 60 minutes, shovel - 65 points
orangecats2 - Volcano, shave ice, 1, saw both, Krispy Kreme, Ruby, me, late, 15 minutes, shovel - 85 points
Thumper_Man - Volcano, shave ice, 2, saw both, Krispy Kreme, Ruby, me, late, 60 minutes, work - 55 points


Has better eyes than me - MarieLightning - 5 points
Drives people crazy - rndmr2 - 5 points
For enduring endless torment - TheLittleKatie - 20 points
Panther! - SoccerDogWithEars - 5 points
Grills Kay’s friends - Captain_Oblivious - 5 points
Sand job - jandlinz - 5 points
Stiff upper lip - Mrs T 2009 - 5 points
Ba dum bum - SnowWhiteOz - 5 points
Who doesn't like a little lovin'? - Thumper_Man's Wife - 40 points


Standings:
franandaj - 290 points
irene_dsc - 270 points
Captain_Oblivious - 245 points
orangecats2 - 245 points
natebenma - 240 points
Gracefulskinny - 225 points
SoccerDogWithEars - 225 points
Curiouser&curiouser! - 215 points
jandlinz - 210 points
TheLittleKatie - 210 points
SnowWhiteOz - 205 points
6travel - 200 points
afwdwfan - 195 points
Terra Nova guy - 190 points
Mrs T 2009 - 185 points
MHSweb79 - 180 points
DonnaBeeGood - 175 points
MAGICFOR2 - 175 points
rndmr2 - 160 points
BibbitybobityLu - 135 points
Steppesister - 130 points
queenbetsey - 125 points
Thumper_Man - 115 points
vrajewski10513 - 85 points
DISNEYMOON10121991 - 80 points
cinderkelly - 70 points
GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes - 60 points
Thumper_Man's Wife - 40 points
cindianne320 - 20 points
MarieLightning - 20 points
ForeverDance - 10 points
ougrad86 - 5 points
Self_resqing_princz - 5 points
mmeb144 - 0 points


If I've made any mistakes,
let me know!

Next round:
(What? You thought you were done? Ha!)

1. We were supposed to arrive in Vancouver
at 7:18am. What time did we arrive?

2. Did we leave Vancouver on time?

3. Did you see it? Of course you did.
Did you see the other one?
Sure.

Did you see them all???

Now here's where it gets tricky.
You can absolutely wait for others
to do the heavy lifting.
"Yes! I saw them all!"
<copy and paste previous answer>

And by the time it's all said and done,
everyone will have the same answer.

Not so fast.

If you post the number of them you saw...
I'll deduct 40 points.
If you post what you saw...
I'll deduct 10 points per post.

So how do you tell me what you saw?
PM me.
It's the only way.

You want the prize?
The "culturally very important part of Hawaii" prize?
(And possibly a few chocolate bars if you're good.)
Then you're going to have to work for it!

I want details of every one you saw.

I'll post the wrap up and results
(and winner!) in a couple of weeks.
Hmmm... after I get back from Montreal, I think.
So around June 17th or so.
That should give everyone a chance to reply.


Good luck!


**I made that up. How long did you spend
Googling that???? Bonus points if you tell me.
More Bonus points if you tell me if you knew
what this is about, without going back to look.

Aloha​

 

[rndmr2]

I'm not quite dead yet. Still here reading

Nice last day

Sorry the Market was such a bust

Too Bad the new shave ice place wasn't as good, but cool that they had holes in the tables to hold them.

We did a bus tour of Haleakala when I was in Hawaii, it was crazy riding on a huge bus going up and then back down that road, sometimes it felt like the bus was too big to make it around some of those curves. It was a nice day, though. The driver was funny, telling us about another tour that they had going called "Bicycling Down a Volcano" and he would say it in a low droning voice every time we saw a group of bikes. It took people on a bus or van to the top and they would then get on a bike and ride all the way down.

1. We were supposed to arrive in Vancouver
at 7:18am. What time did we arrive? ------------8:30am

2. Did we leave Vancouver on time?--no

3. Did you see it? Of course you did.
Did you see the other one?
Sure.

Did you see them all???--------yes, see PM


**I made that up. How long did you spend
Googling that???? Bonus points if you tell me.
More Bonus points if you tell me if you knew
what this is about, without going back to look.-----------The Astronaut training?? I'll be honest and admit I had to go back to look

 

[pkondz]

I'm not quite dead yet. Still here reading

Good to know!

Nice last day

It wasn't a bad way to end the vacay!

We did a bus tour of Haleakala when I was in Hawaii, it was crazy riding on a huge bus going up and then back down that road, sometimes it felt like the bus was too big to make it around some of those curves.

I can't even imagine a bus doing that.
Those turns were tight!

It was a nice day, though. The driver was funny, telling us about another tour that they had going called "Bicycling Down a Volcano" and he would say it in a low droning voice every time we saw a group of bikes. It took people on a bus or van to the top and they would then get on a bike and ride all the way down.

A co-worker of mine did that bike thing
about a month before I went.
He said it was fun.
They deliberately chose a group
that let you go down on your own.

And... answers noted.

 

[pkondz]

Okay, this is funny.
I came on briefly to see if there
was anything new.

Oh! One new unread conversation.
Cool.

And another one.

Hunh?


And another one.

What's going on????


Oh.....

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Happy Monday! Just stopping by to say I'm not quite dead yet, and I saw them all! I will be back to comment.
Did Kay get the job?

 

[franandaj]

I got way too tired last night after having submitted my PM answers. Thank goodness the DIS now saves your quotes so you can come back and finish your comment.

re: owner making ADRs etc

Oh no, the owner doesn't make ADRs. The renter does that. If the renter wants the DDP, the points owner adds that to their reservation. The renter needs to provide payment for the DDP at the time when the owner reserves it, either in the form of a credit card or (more secure) a Disney Gift card.

I've never had a renter use the DDP or DME. I guess they have all driven their personal vehicles.

I won't cook (unless it's a long stay... and it won't be.)
And Ruby's not a Jacuzzi kinda girl, so...

OK then all you would want is a studio. Less points, more affordable. We are in one of those for the last night on my trip.

In room laundry would be nice, but....
Not worth paying extra, I think.

With a DVC studio you have access to complimentary laundry in a centralized location.

And yeah... usually the room is just a place
to crash late at night for a few hours.
At least for me, it is.

Yeah you will find out pretty soon that's not the case for us.

Who cares! We're on vacation!
For now.

Last day.

I hate that feeling.

So what do you do when you've
already done just about everything,
and there's a beach and an ocean
right across the street?

Watch TV!

That's probably what we would do.

When I'd had enough, I headed back to the beach
and found our stuff mostly buried in sand.
I think if I'd stayed in for another half hour,
I wouldn't have found our things.

I. Hate. Wind.

Sounds stupid.
"Oh, poor pkondz. Had to relax. Oh, the horror!"
Well.... yeah.
But usually I get bored after two minutes
and want to do something.
But... not this time.

Huh. Seems hard to do with sand flying in your face.

Biggest disappointment of the trip.

You mean you weren't looking for cheap Chinese souvenirs from your trip to Hawaii?

Ruby asked if we could go to an ABC Store
to look for something there.

I thought that was a liquor store.

WOULD YOU PLEASE MAKE UP YOUR DARNED
MIND BEFORE YOU GET TO THE WINDOW!?!?!?!?!?

I mean really! I already know what I would get if I could eat sugar.

Wayyyyyy too much syrup.
We ate them, or most of them,
but we all felt sick afterwards.

And we all now know what happens to me on sugar overload.

A quick jaunt up Haleakala.
Haleakala volcano and its slopes make up
more than 75% of Maui.

Woohoo! Glad I changed my answer!

It's quite the drive up to the summit.
You go through several different eco-systems.
You start off in a tropical forest,
climb through the clouds and rain forest,
come out the other side into prairie grass
and eventually finish in desolation.

I did not know that but it makes sense. I have been to the top of Haleakala, but I was too young to pronounce ecosystem, much less know what one was.

As in 21 miles of them.
And instead of a 10 or 15 minute drive,
it takes about an hour.

That's a definite commitment!

They turned to me and shook their heads.
We all tried a couple of things to get it to work,
but it was obvious that it was toast.

Oh well. Happens with parking meters all the time.

Our next stop was the Leleiwi Overlook,
where I took these shots.
We still had a little over 1,000 feet to the summit,
but were already above the clouds.

Cool.

Again, there didn't seem to be anyone around.
Well, except for the young couple
who were unsuccessfully trying to get into
their rental car, a blue Mustang.
They tried the doors a few times before...
...walking over to the only other car in the lot.
Another blue Mustang.
That one worked.

Who would have known that a blue Mustang was such a popular rental car.

We struggled over to the only building for refuge.

As I said, I hate wind.

In college the Santa Ana winds would rip through campus and if you had to walk against them, people would literally be walking at a 120-140° angle just to make any progress forward. I didn't have a cat then so I walked everywhere.

That may have been what contributed
to Kay not feeling well.

Ya think?

No one else was hungry, so Kay picked McDonalds.
Gawd help us.

McDonalds.

Choice of absolute last resort.

Say "I'm not quite dead yet." for bonus points.
(And to let me know that you're still alive.)

I don't want to go on the cart! I'm not dead yet!

Of course I'm still alive!

We each enjoyed our donut
and I went back to the car to get my jeans.
I didn't want to wear shorts on the plane.

Or come home to subzero temperatures in short?

And yes, I was still wearing the same shorts.
The one's I'd spilled red shave ice on.
Of course I was still wearing them!
They're antiques!
From a completely different period.

One reason we travel with more luggage than the queen is that we have at least two of everything if not three.

I double checked... yep. Men's room.
Some women use the Men's room
because they identify with waiting
in a shorter line.

Was there a line for the women's room? Maybe they like that exotic toilet?

When the desk opened and it was our turn,
they weighed our bags.
One was 51.5lbs, the other 41.5lbs.

That's why I carry a luggage scale.

So take the 15 year old and separate her
from her parents.

Perhaps they in cahoots with a child trafficking network.

We were wheels up forty minutes late
at 12:20am.

Uh oh.

We were supposed to have arrived at 7:18am,
but the 40 minute late departure killed that.

I can see that.

We stepped out of line.
(I'm frequently out of line.)

Really?

When we got there, the plane had already boarded.
I think we were the last to arrive.
At least the last to arrive who made it on the plane.

I hate that.

Where I had to shovel the driveway
before I was able to park the car.

Of course. Nothing says welcome home to your frigid climate like reality!

Standings:
franandaj - 290 points

1. We were supposed to arrive in Vancouver
at 7:18am. What time did we arrive?

8:05AM

2. Did we leave Vancouver on time?

Yes.

3. Did you see it? Of course you did.
Did you see the other one?
Sure.

Did you see them all???

I think so.

I'll post the wrap up and results
(and winner!) in a couple of weeks.
Hmmm... after I get back from Montreal, I think.
So around June 17th or so.
That should give everyone a chance to reply.

At first I thought that would be forever from now, but it's only 11 days. You must be leaving real soon!

Oh! One new unread conversation.
Cool.

And another one.

Hunh?


And another one.

What's going on????


Oh.....

Well you asked for it!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Some of you asked how the new puppy was
and wanted updated pictures.

All together now: Awwwwwwww...

And Luna again
because you can never have enough puppy pics.
It's the law.*

*Schmidt and Anderson vs Schnauzer 1942**

Who was the schnauzer's lawyer?

Oh, that's not so bad.
We merely have to leave
beautiful, warm weather,
sunny skies, pristine beaches,
palm trees and waterfalls for...


Cold and snow.

Just plain wrong. On so many levels.

So what do you do when you've
already done just about everything,
and there's a beach and an ocean
right across the street?

Watch TV!

(Ruby after a day in the sun.)

Yikes! How do you get her put back together?

The waves were big enough
that you had to jump,
which was a hoot.
We spent maybe half an hour to an hour,
just jumping the waves as they rolled in.
Occasionally a wave that was too big to jump
would roll in and we'd dive under it instead.

Always a good time.

At one point, one of the girls pointed in the water
and said "What's that?"

The theme to jaws immediately started playing
in my head and my heart rate tripled.

"Oh, nevermind. It's just a shadow."

(golf announcer voice) I believe that's a Kraken, Bob.

Now normally.... I hate this.
I hate sitting on a beach with nothing to do.

I've never been a big fan of that, either. So...boring...

I don't know if it was because of all the driving,
all the sites we'd seen or because we only had
one more thing to do...
But I didn't mind just sitting and relaxing one little bit.


Sounds stupid.
"Oh, poor pkondz. Had to relax. Oh, the horror!"
Well.... yeah.
But usually I get bored after two minutes
and want to do something.

I can understand the need to rest after driving the Hana highway, though!

Now we can buy.... nothing.
You can't get much for $2.08.

Wait, let me give you my $0.02.

Nope, can't do anything with that, either.

And hopefully they won't notice
the severed head I left in there.


Just seeing if you were paying attention.
I didn't really leave a severed head in it.


Just an ear.

Very Van Gogh of you.

If your idea of a great market
is cheap crap made in China,
then sure... this is the place.

But I can get that at home!

You're probably saying to yourself
"Geez, pkondz. Would you please shut up???

I usually say that at least once a day.

We arrived at the ABC Store and...
I have no idea what was bought
nor by whom.
I'm sure we bought stuff.
I think I might've picked up a chocolate bar
or something.
Ruby might have picked up some soaps.

This is the kind of crackerjack trip reporting we've come to expect from you.

But for any passersby,
here is a public service announcement.

If you're in line to buy food.
And especially if there's someone behind you
(but even if there's not)

WOULD YOU PLEASE MAKE UP YOUR DARNED
MIND BEFORE YOU GET TO THE WINDOW!?!?!?!?!?

Amen.

I have no idea what I got.
I do know I got three flavours,
but that's it.
I think it was Rootbeer, Passion Fruit, Strawberry.
And it may have been something completely different.

Or maybe broccoli, asparagus, and navel lint. One of those.

Okay. Show of hands.
How many of you have made
lemonade from scratch?

Nah. Too much effort involved.

Actually, I'll take sour over overly sweet any day.

I dunno...I've tasted some pretty sour lemonade.

Continue to pour as you Google
"Diabetes, causes of".

Wayyyyyy too much syrup.
We ate them, or most of them,
but we all felt sick afterwards.

Yuck. Can't have that on a long weekend.

It's quite the drive up to the summit.
You go through several different eco-systems.
You start off in a tropical forest,
climb through the clouds and rain forest,
come out the other side into prairie grass
and eventually finish in desolation.

That drive was pretty cool!

I didn't really mind the fee.
Really I didn't.
$10 for four people isn't much.
That's what... about $5 a person?

Eh, close enough. Oh, and here's a $5, give me two tens.

We still had a little over 1,000 feet to the summit,
but were already above the clouds.

I loved that!

I didn't really see the need for a stop here.
Oh well. Whatever.
(It was only much later,
while I was writing this TR,
that I discovered that you were supposed
to follow a short trail to the real overlook.)

Oh, come on! What kind of moron would head to a spectacular destination and then stop short?? And not even realize it?

Well, except for the young couple
who were unsuccessfully trying to get into
their rental car, a blue Mustang.
They tried the doors a few times before...
...walking over to the only other car in the lot.
Another blue Mustang.
That one worked.

Gorgeous color here. Nice that it was mostly clear.

We didn't linger too long.
1. There's not much more to see.
2. I didn't want anyone to start to feel
altitude sickness.
3. There's not much more to see.
4. No. Really. There's not much more to see.
5. We had a flight to catch.

I imagine some of the hikes are pretty cool. Not that I did any of them.

The foreground does kinda look
like the surface of the moon, no?

The road pretty much goes straight
for about 100 yards or so then hairpins
180 degrees left.
It continues for another 100 yards
then hairpins right.
This continues... forever.
(Or so it seemed.)
The speed limit was 30, I think.
So just for fun, I'd drive 60 or so,
brake hard, zip around the hairpin
and repeat.

I did that for about 20 - 30 minutes I think.


That may have been what contributed
to Kay not feeling well.

Well, it'll be memorable. And besides, it was a rental car. They'll clean it later.

No one else was hungry, so Kay picked McDonalds.
Gawd help us.

McDonalds.

Rental.

Is anyone still reading this at this point?

Zzzzzzzzz...huh? What?

Say "I'm not quite dead yet." for bonus points.

I'm not quite dead yet.


I'm feeling better.


I feel happy!

Krispy Kreme!

I don't know if the "Hot" sign was on,
but they were making donuts.
I just don't know if I ordered
any that were hot!

(Yes. I promise to do better next time.)

If they were making them, then the sign was lit. Hopefully you got a hot one! (although I think you'd remember)

I double checked... yep. Men's room.
Some women use the Men's room
because they identify with waiting
in a shorter line.

The poor child had been mooned
and now this!

She'll never want to go to Hawaii again!

I wound up watching The Hobbit for a while.
And I was bored with it.
Maybe if I'd stuck it out it would've gotten better.

Sorry, I don't think it does. If it was the first one, anyway. I didn't bother with the next two. It was pretty obvious they were taking a story that was enough for one movie and stretching it to 3.

Check out the Honest Trailer for it sometime. Hilarious.

Where I had to shovel the driveway
before I was able to park the car.

<sigh> Welcome home indeed.

Brutal. Just brutal.

And that wraps up the quickie Maui vacation.
Hope y'all enjoyed it!

Absolutely! Thanks for giving in to peer pressure and sharing it! I'm glad you got to see so much of the island in that limited time. Brought back a lot of good memories.

1. We were supposed to arrive in Vancouver
at 7:18am. What time did we arrive?

If I add the amount of time you were late, that puts arrival at about 8:00 a.m.

2. Did we leave Vancouver on time?

Sure.

3. Did you see it? Of course you did.
Did you see the other one?
Sure.

Did you see them all???

I think so. I'll go put a PM together.

**I made that up. How long did you spend
Googling that???? Bonus points if you tell me.
More Bonus points if you tell me if you knew
what this is about, without going back to look.

No Googling. The last name listed gave it away for me.

Well, I had to go back to look. However, for the purposes of the contest, I knew exactly what this was about without having to go back to look.

 

[TheLittleKatie]

OMG STOP.

Owwww

Remember, she burns easily.
Sitting on a beach in full sun?

She'd burst into flame.
I'm not kidding.
Poof. Gone. No more Ruby.
Just... soot.

I have friends who burn almost this much

At one point, one of the girls pointed in the water
and said "What's that?"

NO.

The theme to jaws immediately started playing
in my head and my heart rate tripled.

STOP.

"Oh, nevermind. It's just a shadow."

We sashayed back to our room

There it is! The sashay! I feel like you haven't sashayed in a while.

And hopefully they won't notice
the severed head I left in there.

I wonder what they eat?
Seeds and bugs I guess.

Oh no...!!!

Okay. Show of hands.
How many of you have made
lemonade from scratch?

Oh, put your hands down.
This is a TR, not a game show.
I can't see you.

this update is cracking me up.

Oww you guys

Is Ruby camera shy?? I don't know how to imagine her..

Those blue skies

Was it really jacket weather?!

Is anyone still reading this at this point?
I do drone on.
Say "I'm not quite dead yet." for bonus points.
(And to let me know that you're still alive.)

I'M NOT QUITE DEAD YET

Some women use the Men's room
because they identify with waiting
in a shorter line.

Where I had to shovel the driveway
before I was able to park the car.

Oh man. Well that' better than going to work I guess (which is what I guessed).

For enduring endless torment - TheLittleKatie - 20 points

Yes I accept.

Standings:
franandaj - 290 points
irene_dsc - 270 points
Captain_Oblivious - 245 points
orangecats2 - 245 points
natebenma - 240 points
Gracefulskinny - 225 points
SoccerDogWithEars - 225 points
Curiouser&curiouser! - 215 points
jandlinz - 210 points
TheLittleKatie - 210 points

HEY not too shabby!!!

1. We were supposed to arrive in Vancouver
at 7:18am. What time did we arrive?

..... 7:58am?

2. Did we leave Vancouver on time?

...... YES.

3. Did you see it? Of course you did.
Did you see the other one?
Sure.

Did you see them all???

Now here's where it gets tricky.
You can absolutely wait for others
to do the heavy lifting.
"Yes! I saw them all!"
<copy and paste previous answer>

And by the time it's all said and done,
everyone will have the same answer.

Not so fast.

If you post the number of them you saw...
I'll deduct 40 points.
If you post what you saw...
I'll deduct 10 points per post.

So how do you tell me what you saw?
PM me.
It's the only way.

You want the prize?
The "culturally very important part of Hawaii" prize?
(And possibly a few chocolate bars if you're good.)
Then you're going to have to work for it!

I want details of every one you saw.

OK so I multi quoted a bunch of stuff which I've had to delete since reading this... So I'll get on that PM!!!

 

[DizzneyDi]

Just delurking to say I'm sorry I missed so much of your trip report, pkondz! I did manage to get in and read from time to time before, during and after my big move, and I finally caught up just as it's ending. I've never been to Hawaii, but I don't think I'd want to spend such a short time there. I mean, sure, it had to be better than staying home shoveling, but I probably would have come home exhausted. (It took me a good 2 weeks to recover from the 3 days it took us to drive from NY to FL, and all I actually did for those 3 days was sit there in the U-Haul!) Still, I'm glad you and all 3 of your girls got to go. As usual your pics are gorgeous!

I'm mostly settled in my new digs in Palm Harbor FL and loving it so far. I've spent the past few weeks marveling at the fact that there are palm trees and beautiful beaches everywhere I look, and I LIVE HERE NOW. It's hard to believe the vacay isn't going to end and I don't ever have to shovel snow again. We're in the midst of Tropical Storm Colin today, but all it's meant for us so far is lots of rain and the occasional gust of wind. I think the really bad weather has been inland ahead of the storm.

And to answer the question I'm sure you would ask if I shut up and let you talk, yes, I have been to WDW. In fact, I already have my Florida resident annual pass. DS and I spent a lovely day at Epcot last week. It's an easy hour and a half drive and we were home before midnight even though we stayed to see Illuminations!

 

[TheLittleKatie]

**I made that up. How long did you spend
Googling that???? Bonus points if you tell me.
More Bonus points if you tell me if you knew
what this is about, without going back to look.

Hahaha I missed this, but yes I had to go back to see what it was about. Points for honesty?!
And while I was reading it, I spent precisely 0 minutes googling it, because I assumed you were full of BS

 

[irene_dsc]

It's not so bad.
Organized chaos.

Well.... semi-organized.



Well... RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! SAVE YOURSELVES!!

Lol. The only time I helped out at a dance recital, I was helping the littles change outfits between dances. That was pretty chaotic, but organized chaos. Um, mostly.

For drop-off, they just had one spot, so I'm not sure how they told the kids where to go after we traded a kid for a pick-up slip. (They seriously had a whole procedure at the end where everyone lines up on the stage, and then parents have to go retrieve their kid by presenting a slip of paper, I think in alphabetical order, but I forget their system for making sure the parents didn't all storm the stage at once.)

Luna

I can see why this one had to come home with you guys. Truly adorable. I'm still not getting a dog however. At least the kids will eventually move out and take care of themselves.

So what do you do when you've
already done just about everything,
and there's a beach and an ocean
right across the street?

Watch TV!

That would be my kids, I'm sure.

Now normally.... I hate this.
I hate sitting on a beach with nothing to do.
There's a whole wide world out there to explore!

Only if I have a good book.

Just seeing if you were paying attention.
I didn't really leave a severed head in it.


Just an ear.

Someone already said it, but yeah, you and Van Gogh...

Kay, of course, was drawn to the several
chickens that were milling about.

They are cooler than your average chicken. Purty.

Okay. Show of hands.
How many of you have made
lemonade from scratch?

Come on! Let's see 'em!
How many??

I have, but my Dad made it the best.

So the clear winner in the shave ice war was:
Local Boys.
By a landslide.

Will try to remember if I ever get there!

(It was only much later,
while I was writing this TR,
that I discovered that you were supposed
to follow a short trail to the real overlook.)

Oops...

Well, except for the young couple
who were unsuccessfully trying to get into
their rental car, a blue Mustang.
They tried the doors a few times before...
...walking over to the only other car in the lot.
Another blue Mustang.
That one worked.

I can so see that happening!

Say "I'm not quite dead yet." for bonus points.
(And to let me know that you're still alive.)

I'm not quite dead yet. Only mostly dead.

And yes, I was still wearing the same shorts.

Yikes. I still think Harley shorts would've been cool.

Some women use the Men's room
because they identify with waiting
in a shorter line.

I wound up watching The Hobbit for a while.
And I was bored with it.
Maybe if I'd stuck it out it would've gotten better.

Nope. It doesn't get better. Waaayyyy too long.

1. We were supposed to arrive in Vancouver
at 7:18am. What time did we arrive?

2. Did we leave Vancouver on time?

3. Did you see it? Of course you did.
Did you see the other one?
Sure.

1. 8:05

2. Yes

3. Of course I did! But you already know that.

**I made that up. How long did you spend
Googling that???? Bonus points if you tell me.
More Bonus points if you tell me if you knew
what this is about, without going back to look.

I didn't spend any time googling it, because I realized at the time you had to have made it up. But by the time I got to the end of it, I had no idea what you were talking about!

Good luck to Alison, but not too much! (I still can't believe I'm currently in second place!)

 

[pkondz]

Happy Monday!

Is it Monday?
I'm not sure how to distinguish that from any other day.
My last day off was in May
and my next one isn't for at least five days.
Maybe more. I haven't looked that far ahead.

Just stopping by to say I'm not quite dead yet

Good! Better that way.

and I saw them all!

Did you!
Well, you're going to have to PM me
and prove it then.

I will be back to comment.

Standing by.

Did Kay get the job?

Doesn't look like it.
She only wants seasonal
and they only hire long term apparently.
Hopefully she'll learn from that
and next time say she can work longer
(Then in September, when she has band, etc
she can tell them when she's available.)

 

[pkondz]

I got way too tired last night after having submitted my PM answers. Thank goodness the DIS now saves your quotes so you can come back and finish your comment.

They keep it.... but not for very long.
Leave it for a few days and... poof!

Oh no, the owner doesn't make ADRs. The renter does that. If the renter wants the DDP, the points owner adds that to their reservation.

Ah, okay. That makes more sense.

I've never had a renter use the DDP or DME. I guess they have all driven their personal vehicles.

I'd probably use the DME...
but not the DDP if it wasn't free.

OK then all you would want is a studio. Less points, more affordable. We are in one of those for the last night on my trip.

I'll wait for pics to see what they look like.

With a DVC studio you have access to complimentary laundry in a centralized location.

So no coins (or bills) needed?
Nice.
Do they provide soap too?
Or at least a machine to buy some?

Yeah you will find out pretty soon that's not the case for us.

No surprise there.

I hate that feeling.

It's the worst.

That's probably what we would do.

I. Hate. Wind.

But that's where the answers are blowin'!

Huh. Seems hard to do with sand flying in your face.

Actually, no!
It was really windy, but it wasn't lifting the sand.
It was just drifting, not blowing,
so it wasn't bad at all.

You mean you weren't looking for cheap Chinese souvenirs from your trip to Hawaii?

I thought that was a liquor store.

Not in Hawaii.
Er... they might have liquor too.
Didn't notice.

I mean really! I already know what I would get if I could eat sugar.

And we all now know what happens to me on sugar overload.

We don't want a repeat of that!

Woohoo! Glad I changed my answer!

That's a definite commitment!

Yep. You're either going or not.
No half measures.

Oh well. Happens with parking meters all the time.

Yep. I was completely not worried.

Who would have known that a blue Mustang was such a popular rental car.

Well, at least two of them.

As I said, I hate wind.

In college the Santa Ana winds would rip through campus and if you had to walk against them, people would literally be walking at a 120-140° angle just to make any progress forward.

I'd heard of the Santa Ana winds,
but didn't realize they were that strong!

I didn't have a cat then so I walked everywhere.

Of course. Because a cat would dig in its claws
and you couldn't budge.

Totally get it.

Choice of absolute last resort.

Actually, I think starvation would be last.
And preferable.

I don't want to go on the cart! I'm not dead yet!

Of course I'm still alive!

Nice to see the reference catch.

Or come home to subzero temperatures in short?

Yeah... that too.


I actually was thinking more of the plane.
Those flights (especially the night ones)
can get cold.
I can always change on arrival.

But of course now I don't need to, either.

One reason we travel with more luggage than the queen is that we have at least two of everything if not three.

"Where's your luggage pkondz?"
"I'm wearing it."

Was there a line for the women's room? Maybe they like that exotic toilet?

Both restrooms were the same, I think.
(Not having gone into the women's,
I can't say for sure.)
One room. Toilet, sink, mirror.

And there was no line.
But the women's might have been occupied.

That's why I carry a luggage scale.

If I'm over, I'm over.
Everything in there I want to keep.
I'll pay the fee.

If they force me to redistribute
(stupid, when you think about it)
then I will.

Perhaps they in cahoots with a child trafficking network.

You mean I could've gotten rid of her
that easy?

Now you tell me!

Really?

Really!

I hate that.

And everyone stares at you
and blames you if the flight's delayed.

Of course. Nothing says welcome home to your frigid climate like reality!

I wasn't ready for that reality.

Heck, I'm not ready... every year.

8:05AM

Yes.

I think so.

Noted.

At first I thought that would be forever from now, but it's only 11 days. You must be leaving real soon!

Yup. A week Tuesday.

Well you asked for it!

I know!
Such a "D'oh!" moment.

 

[pkondz]

All together now: Awwwwwwww...

Stub your toe?

Who was the schnauzer's lawyer?

The firm of Kay & Nine.

Just plain wrong. On so many levels.

No kidding.
It just ain't right.

Yikes! How do you get her put back together?

You don't.
She's just CGI now.

Always a good time.

Especially when you can't get that at home.

(golf announcer voice) I believe that's a Kraken, Bob.

Great commercial.

I've never been a big fan of that, either. So...boring...

Yep. At least, usually.
If there had been anything left to do,
I might've felt differently.

I can understand the need to rest after driving the Hana highway, though!

That was a long day, wasn't it?

Wait, let me give you my $0.02.

Nope, can't do anything with that, either.

But now I have $2.10.
Maybe enough for some chips?

Very Van Gogh of you.

I actually thought of him when I wrote that.

But I can get that at home!

You can get Chinese made Hawaiian crap at home?

I usually say that at least once a day.

You're way behind Ruby on the frequency scale.

This is the kind of crackerjack trip reporting we've come to expect from you.

I know my audience.

Or maybe broccoli, asparagus, and navel lint. One of those.

Nope. I'll only do one veg on shave ice.

Nah. Too much effort involved.

But soooo worth it.

I dunno...I've tasted some pretty sour lemonade.

You have a point there.

Yuck. Can't have that on a long weekend.

Nope. Wayyyyy too much.

That drive was pretty cool!

Eh, close enough. Oh, and here's a $5, give me two tens.

I used to work at the airport foreign exchange.
One guy actually tried that on me.
Gave me a $20 and asked for
"A five, a ten and two fives."

Nice try.


20/20 hindsight.
I should've given it to him.
"Here you go, five, ten and two fives."
Except substituted the fives for ones.

I loved that!

It was like flying, without the airborne part.

Oh, come on! What kind of moron would head to a spectacular destination and then stop short?? And not even realize it?

Gorgeous color here. Nice that it was mostly clear.

I don't recall if you posted photos?
Was it clouded in when you went?

I imagine some of the hikes are pretty cool. Not that I did any of them.

I would've liked to, but.
Ruby wouldn't
Kay definitely wouldn't.
No time.

Well, it'll be memorable. And besides, it was a rental car. They'll clean it later.

I wonder... would they charge you?

Rental.

See above... but... yeah.

Zzzzzzzzz...huh? What?

Nothing. Go back to sleep.
Nothing to see here.

I'm not quite dead yet.


I'm feeling better.


I feel happy!

Very good.

If they were making them, then the sign was lit. Hopefully you got a hot one! (although I think you'd remember)

I really don't!
I certainly wasn't looking for it.

She'll never want to go to Hawaii again!

She's young. She'll survive.
Or not. I don't care.
I thought it was funny.

Sorry, I don't think it does. If it was the first one, anyway.

It was.

I didn't bother with the next two. It was pretty obvious they were taking a story that was enough for one movie and stretching it to 3.

That's what I thought... without seeing any!

Check out the Honest Trailer for it sometime. Hilarious.

Will do!

Brutal. Just brutal.

Yup. Totally sucked.

Absolutely! Thanks for giving in to peer pressure and sharing it! I'm glad you got to see so much of the island in that limited time. Brought back a lot of good memories.

And thanks for all the tips from your TR!

If I add the amount of time you were late, that puts arrival at about 8:00 a.m.

Sure.

I think so. I'll go put a PM together.

Noted.

No Googling. The last name listed gave it away for me.

Well, I had to go back to look. However, for the purposes of the contest, I knew exactly what this was about without having to go back to look.

Noted.

 

[franandaj]

They keep it.... but not for very long.
Leave it for a few days and... poof!

Good to know. I usually don't go more than a day before I finish it up. Usually on my phone.

I'd probably use the DME...
but not the DDP if it wasn't free.

That would be easy since it doesn't cost anything, only need flight numbers.

I'll wait for pics to see what they look like.

Well, you've already seen what a one bedroom and a two bedroom look like in the pictures I posted on the last update. A one bedroom has the living room, kitchen and bedroom with the jacuzzi bathroom and toilet/shower bathroom. Just take out the second bedroom with the additional bath. One bedrooms (at VWL) rent for between 28-53 points per night depending on time of year, so multiply that by $12 per point and you have $336-636 per night for a one bedroom.

On the other hand, a studio at VWL goes from 15-28 points per night depending on time of year, so that would be more like $180-336 per night. The studio would be like Jim and Alberto's room with a pull out couch instead of the second bed. It would have a mini fridge, microwave, toaster and coffee pot. Probably not cheaper than a value, but in case the amenities of staying at a Deluxe were of interest, it's cheaper than rack rates on the rooms, I think.

Every resort has a different point chart and costs (in points) per night S-TH is cheapest, F&S are kind of outrqgeous, but that's how it goes.

So no coins (or bills) needed?
Nice.
Do they provide soap too?
Or at least a machine to buy some?

This I can't answer, we almost always have one bedrooms and they do give us one box of laundry soap.

But that's where the answers are blowin'!

I'd heard of the Santa Ana winds,
but didn't realize they were that strong!

Sometimes they just blow in nice warm air from the desert and Las Vegas. Other times they are brutal and cut right through the center of the San Fernando Valley. I went to school at CSUN which was right in the middle of the wind tunnel that nature created. It was really noisy and windy there. I was so happy to move to Long Beach, we don't have hardly any winds here!

Of course. Because a cat would dig in its claws
and you couldn't budge.

Totally get it.

Stupid phone. I meant CAR!!!!!!

Actually, I think starvation would be last.
And preferable.

I prefer not to starve, so I would take the awful instead.

Nice to see the reference catch.

Of course I had memorized that movie in High School.

Yeah... that too.


I actually was thinking more of the plane.
Those flights (especially the night ones)
can get cold.
I can always change on arrival.

But of course now I don't need to, either.

Interesting I don't seem to have that problem, but I don't fly where it's cold anymore either.

If I'm over, I'm over.
Everything in there I want to keep.
I'll pay the fee.

If they force me to redistribute
(stupid, when you think about it)
then I will.

It's just no fun redistributing it and showing everyone there what is in our suitcases. I would rather take care of it in private.

And everyone stares at you
and blames you if the flight's delayed.

Luckily since we don't usually do connections we haven't had much of this problem

I wasn't ready for that reality.

Heck, I'm not ready... every year.

I could never be ready for that!

Yup. A week Tuesday.

A week from tomorrow or a week from next Tuesday?

 

[MarieLightning]

Wow, you really went for it with all the little intruders in your pictures for this update

SO. MUCH. FLUFF.

Our flight wasn't until 11:40pm,
so we had plenty of time
to do whatever we wanted.

Perk of late flights for sure. Unlike our upcoming return flight from Disney this August. 9 AM. You can calculate the Tragical Express pick up time for international flights

So what do you do when you've
already done just about everything,
and there's a beach and an ocean
right across the street?

Watch TV!

Okay, but that's 100% Amber and I in the Caribbean. To be fair, you don't go swimming after dark and the pools tend to close at like, 6 PM in All-Inclusives. Interestingly, each place we've been to had a different go to channel to watch. Mexico was Disney Jr.

The waves were big enough
that you had to jump

Those are the best!

You can't get much for $2.08.

Hey, you can probably get a couple of chocolate bars, and that's something!

WOULD YOU PLEASE MAKE UP YOUR DARNED
MIND BEFORE YOU GET TO THE WINDOW!?!?!?!?!?

On one hand, I definitely get you on that. On the other hand, I have terrible eyesight even with glasses so sometimes reading the menu is tricky if I'm not close enough.

Usually though I'll stay out of line while and stand to the side to get closer to the menu while figuring it out, if the layout makes it possible to do so.

1. Shave the ice. Obviously.
2. Shape the shave ice into a ball.
3. Poke holes in the ice ball
so the flavour syrups can penetrate.
4. Begin to pour the syrup.
Continue to pour for a slow three count.
Continue to pour as you make it a four count, instead.
Continue to pour as you recite the alphabet,
forward and backwards.
Continue to pour as you Google
"Diabetes, causes of".
Add more, just to be safe.
5. Repeat step four for any other flavours.
6. Hand sugary mess to unsuspecting customer.
7. Snicker.

Those clouds look really comfy

(Yes, I am aware they would not actually be comfortable. Stupid science)

I didn't see it, but while I was answering
questions, etc.
Elle got selected for a pat down.
She was not happy about it.

The poor child had been mooned
and now this!

This trip was really rough on Elle's innocence. The poor girl.