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

[pkondz]

Happy Mother's Day to all the Moms out there!

 

[pkondz]

Oh damn it!

Console yourself with the thought that you were really close.

You weren't... but if it helps you, than by all means...

It's not fair, our money doesn't look like Monopoly money

Move to Canada.
Then you would be closer to me, closer to Disney
and your money would be pretty.

Why do I get the sinking feeling
that I would be a distant third
in that scenario?

That could have gone south pretty darn fast...

"Don't worry, Kay. Once we start moving he'll jump off."

Ten minutes later, lizard is holding on for dear life
onto the windshield wiper as Kay screams for me to stop.

Yay! I said something to that effect!

You did!
You're on a roll!



or not.

Not a fan?

Did you say something?

Nope.

Ooooohhhh....ahhhhh.....

This would be the appropriate response.

Yup. We've already established that Swifty.

Are you sure?
Might be fun, you know.

Ooooo!!! So prettyful!

Once again, this is the correct response.
You do good with tests, don't you.

No no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

Listen. I'm a dude.
We don't get 'subtle'
I'm not sure what you're getting at here.
You either do or do not like spiders.

Hard to say for sure.

Damn it!! I was going to say banana bread! Stupid other people guessing the wrong answer for me to copy

You should've copied off of Dee.
She got it right.

Why aren't I in Hawaii right now?!?!

Because it's too far and too wet to walk.

Well you can't beat good hygine!

With how many fingers?

At least one.

Wow. Totes harsh.

It was worth it

Thought so.

Hey Donald!

Donald says "hi" backatcha.
I think. Sucker's hard to understand.

So artsy

Think so? Huh.
Just the way it was, toots.

To get away from the boy on the other side who was washing his balls...

A valid reason...
Elle couldn't wait to get away from him...

We still laugh about this.

That's really good to know

Sober pilots are dull.

See? Rice! Just like I said! Points?

Hey! You did say that!
And it was definitely part of the meal!
I'm really going to have to think this over.
Hang on...













Still thinking...












no.

$500?!

I might've been a little bit

How shall it put this.
That last round?

You sucked.

But not by much.

Oh man here we go again...and there isn't anyone to copy off!!

Well, you can always change your answers.
I allow that right up to the last second.

I don't know! You went see some wildlife? I have no idea what you can do in Hawaii. No clue!

The thing you got from the van at the side of the road? Are you going to make me go back and look??

2


I would like some cheese to go with my wine. Oh and more peanuts please


I Donald Ducked


The shaved ice place?


Ruby.

You.


It was...late?

Late by...three hours??

I DON'T KNOW!!

But if I have to guess...you had to clean out the fridge? Meh. That will do!

Noted.

 

[pkondz]

Wow, that is beautiful!

Hawaii... I tell ya.
Everytime you turn your head,
you're always gasping at some new
beautiful sight.

Cool! That drive sounds fun!

It was! I'd drive it again in a heartbeat.

Again, so beautiful.

Yup!
Want to go back so bad!

Cool! Nice touch!

I always love those.
Especially when I'm the first pin for Winnipeg.
Doesn't happen often.

Wow it's really dark!!

It really is.
No photoshopping required.

Aw that's nice. That's my favorite thing to do when I go to the beach.

Awesome! One can never visit too many beaches!

This was a first for us.
I think our previous record was two.

Ooh that's cool, but also kind of spooky!

Interesting.
What makes you say that? The black road?

 

[pkondz]

I read the last WDW TR, but then I got an email recently from the DIS, and then you were brought up in conversation, so here I am!

I was brought up in conversation? By who?

 

[pkondz]

Picnics are always so much more fun in theory than in practice. Because in practice, you have to prepare it all. In theory you're just chilling out eating on the ground.

Step 1. Organize it.
Step 2. Shop for everything you'll need.
Step 3. Make everything ahead of time.
Step 4. Put everything in to-go containers.
Step 5. Make sure you bring everything you'll need.
Step 6. Find a place to picnic.
Step 7. Go there.
Step 8. Prepare the area.
Step 9. Prepare/cook the food you brought.
Step 10. Picnic.

When you're asked "Why don't we do this more often?"...
pass out.

(Though we are planning a picnic when we 'trek' up Mont Royal with friends this summer... probably sandwiches and juice boxes. We're quite the elaborate gang)

Surprise them.
Bring a tin of smoked oysters or some pâté along.

I definitely not what you mean about not cooking on vacation. Like... if you have to cook for yourself... are you really on vacation? No.

It's not vacation.
"Hey! Let's have some fun! Let's vacuum!!!"

Same thing.

I take it about as far as bringing Poptarts for breakfast when it comes to preparing my own food on vacation. Though I'll probably steal your trick and buy muffins this time around. Not sure I'll get them from Tim Hortons though. The one closest to our place tends to run out of muffins. What self respecting Tim Hortons only has two chocolate chip muffins in its case at any given time? The nerve.

Frankly I'm frequently flummoxed by Timmies.
It's a donut shop.... and they don't have donuts?!?

(I say closest because let's be honest, you can find a Tim Hortons on about every street corner - I'm just slightly exaggerating, in my parents' suburb city there's three in a 2km radius. Two of them are on the same street. You could literally get a small coffee, drink it while walking to the next, and then go order another one. Except you probably wouldn't be done with the first one yet. That was a long parenthesis, I apologize if you got lost along the way. I made it a different color to help the interlude!)

That ratio sounds about right.
Timmies and Starbucks.

And not to worry about the interlude,
I'm the king of tangents.
(ask anyone)

The price of gas in the States is ridiculous. If I owned a car it'd probably make me cry. One would think it'd be higher in Hawaii of all places.

Umm... the price in the States is cheaper than here.
At least in Manitoba it is.
I thought Quebec prices were a little higher, generally.

Hang on.... time to Google.
Right now, the average gas price in Manitoba is 91.3 (88.9 in Winnipeg)
the average in Quebec is 103.5.
The average USA national gas price right now is 60.5
Maui's average is 83.0

That ain't no baby Florida lizard.

Not much bigger, though.
If she could have, Kay would've kept it
as a pet.

That beach picture is gorgeous.

Which one?

That water beats any Caribbean beach I've ever been on. Turquoise water is so overrated. (Unless it's winter time and I need a getaway then who cares about overrated)

The water's beautiful.
But at that time of year, it's a little cloudy at the shore
because the waves churn up the sand a fair bit.

My personal take is that the idiots in the water are idiots no matter what. I don't think there's such a thing as 'knowing what you're doing' when there's clear indicator that the water isn't suitable for swimming. Swimming skill is only somewhat helpful if you get swept into strong current. If anything I'd consider locals to be even more of idiots for being in, cause they should know better.

Never thought of that.
Good point.
All I know is, if they get swept out to sea,
they're on their own!

Man, just reading about Ruby and Elle not being around anymore is giving me anxiety. If I lose my wife in a crowd I panic. Like she's five and can't figure out how to get places.

I figured they'd just followed the large,
well traveled trail.

Good on you for exploring and spotting the lower falls! Most people probably bypassed it when they found out the upper falls were dry. Too bad that the other two missed it.

Most did, I think.
There were tons of people walking back and forth on the trails,
but at the lower falls, there was one... one other person there.

I'm admittedly not one for tight, twisty roads, but I'll do them if I trust the driver enough.

Then you can come with me!
Truuuuuust me.

The only experience I've had with them was on the Quebec peninsula. It was beautiful, in a terrifying way.

I was there!
Granted, I was about nine years old at the time...
I remember we visited Percé and Gaspé
and took a boat out past Ile Bonaventure.

Holy mother of Spiders, whyyy

Not to worry!
I decided to help other tourists and removed it.
I let it go in Quebec.

I like that 'Halfway to Hana' sign. I especially like the quotation marks around "The Original".

I didn't notice the quotation marks!
Makes you wonder what's so original about it?

Aww, how sad. Now you have to disown Elle.

Yup. But she brought it on her own self.

Oh well, I'm sure she'll have a good life (she's just gonna have to swim home is all).

She's a pretty good swimmer.
I'm sure she'll be fine.

Haven't seen her in a while, though...

Lots of waterfalls! I think I like the Pua'a Kaa State Wayside Park one the best. I just like that it sneaks under the road.

They're all beautiful, but I really liked the first one the best.
And then the three bears, I think.

Ruby's proficiency to getting sunburnts mirrors my own. I definitely empathize.

Just glance outdoors and come away red, huh?

Black sand looks so cool

Washing my balls. That sounds like a nice, original composition. It's nice to see youth taking such strong interest in sports like golfing

And music!

So, I'm a bit of a lazy bum. I think I would have personally enjoyed Hamoa beach better from the camera screen once whoever ventured down came back up Though I think I'd prefer going up the steep path than down it - I'd be scared of tumbling down with each steep step.

Actually, the walk down wasn't bad.
It was steep, but it was designed for a jeep (I presume)
to be able to do it.
But that walk up... Oy!

Oh, right there. Elle's reaction to the road going along the cliffs. That sounds about right

You two could hold onto each other.

Good to see Donald's enjoying his Hawaii vacation, too, chatting up local birds.

As soon as I noticed that bird,
I knew Donald had to go there.

This is turning out to be quite the traumatizing trip for Elle. She might need therapy.

It would explain the constant screaming...

 

[pkondz]

I wonder if Mark the chicken survives to the end without being eaten, will they give him a spot on the jury?

Nah. He probably doesn't give a cluck who wins.

Me too. I might also have Buff collection that grew embarrassingly larger than it should have...

You do? Actual Buff's worn on the program?

 

[pkondz]

Great update!

Beautiful pictures!

Thanks!

Gas here in Western NY is higher than a lot of the country (about $2.33 or so). We had it down to 1.75 or so but that didn't last long, I just hope it doesn't get back to over $4/gal. That hurts when you drive for your job, sometimes as much as 40-50 miles or more one way.

I hear you. I used to commute 2 1/2 hours to get to work.
(I'd stay overnight, then commute back.)
I don't think I was ever more aware of gas prices.

I would have passed out if I saw that lizard on my car! (BTW same goes for that crazy spider too!)

And Kay would've brought Chromosome home
if she could.
(Not the spider, though.)

I love all the waterfalls, too bad the upper of the Twin Falls were dry but great that you were able to get to and see the lower ones.

And no one was there!
One person came up behind us
shortly after we got there.
There were tons of people on the main trail.

I think the ones at the Pua'a Kaa park were my favorite.

You're the second person to say that!
I liked the first one the best.

There would never be too many waterfalls for me to not want to go look at them.

Ruby didn't even get out of the car for the last one!

Love the black sand beach! I remember seeing one when I was there years ago but I don't think we actually went on it. I know we didn't swim there (my Mom wasn't a fan of the beach).

Ruby and I saw one 20 years ago on the Big Island.
I just remember it burning our feet!
And there was a sea turtle sunning itself on it.
This was the first time we got wet.

That one beach (Hamoa?) was definitely worth the trek down (and back up) to see it.

I thought so too!

Poor Elle had a traumatizing day! First she had to hear that one guy sing to his balls then to get mooned!

That's what made it so funny!

That is a crazy drive! Where I used to live in Virginia (near Roanoke) there were a couple of roads like that we had to take to get home to our little town (New Castle) from Roanoke or Salem which is where you went if you wanted to do or see anything. They were about 35-40 miles from our town. The one road leading to where we lived was up the side of the mountain and had a lot of really sharp switchback type curves (with no guardrail), luckily there wasn't a cliff on one side. What was really scary is that there were this huge logging trucks that would go up/down, it was scary to have one coming towards you on one of those curves.

Yep. That would do it all right.
I remember one time cresting a hill,
and a huge mining truck was coming
up in the opposite direction.
It was raining and the road was pretty
much nothing but mud.
I touched the brakes and as the truck
roared past us, we slid past in the opposite
direction.
Easily could've been killed.
Got lucky that time.

1. One last excursion before we leave.
What is it?---------------I'm going to give my guess from the last one another shot and say Haleakala

2. What treat did we eat? (again)------------Shaved Ice

3. Might as well keep the trend going...
How many beaches do we visit?----------2

4. Did you see it? Of course you did.
It was obvious. If you didn't, don't wine.
Just go back and look.
Bonus points if you saw it.-----------Definitely saw it! Not a fan of wine but I would love to try pineapple wine.

5. So you saw it. But did you see the other one?
More bonus points if you did.-----------------------Yes

6. What place do we re-visit for a sugary snack?--the shave ice place

7. Who gets picked for TSA pre-check?--------Ruby

8. Who gets patted down at security?--------you

9. Our flight was not on time.
Early or late? How early or how late? ----------- 2 hours late

10. What do I unfortunately have to do
when we get home?--------------Shovel snow

Noted.

 

[orangecats2]

I am
I wonder if Mark the chicken survives to the end without being eaten, will they give him a spot on the jury?

The jury? He should be a finalist!

Me too. I might also have Buff collection that grew embarrassingly larger than it should have...

I'm embarrassed that I'm a big fan and I have none! You can send me one if you have too many!

 

[KathyM2]

Some people may not enjoy tight, twisty roads.

I'd be one of them...I love the views...and I'd probably be ok in the front seat...but back seat...uh...I'd be needin' some barf bags lol

It was an overlook with a nice view of the north coast.

Sooo pretty!!!

Just because it was big enough
to carry away a small child...

OK I may have nightmares from that picture...gah!!!

 

[pkondz]

The jury? He should be a finalist!

 

[pkondz]

I'd be one of them...I love the views...and I'd probably be ok in the front seat...but back seat...uh...I'd be needin' some barf bags lol

That's okay. pkondz airlines provides them...
and they get used.

A lot.

Sooo pretty!!!

OK I may have nightmares from that picture...gah!!!

You should! That sucker was big!

 

[Terra Nova guy]

You do? Actual Buff's worn on the program?

Not ones actually worn by contestants, but you can buy the exact same buffs they wear on the show. I started my collection with the Tocantins buffs (season 18) and got most seasons until Philippines (season 25). Plus I picked up a few from previous seasons whenever they came back in stock. I probably have at least one buff from more than half the seasons now. And the two 10-year and 15-year buffs with all the logos. Anyway, I stopped because it just got a bit ridiculous, as you can imagine.

But if you and @orangecats2 are interested, I got them from planetbuff.com and they also sell a lot of non-Survivor buffs as well.

 

[pkondz]

Not ones actually worn by contestants, but you can buy the exact same buffs they wear on the show. I started my collection with the Tocantins buffs (season 18) and got most seasons until Philippines (season 25). Plus I picked up a few from previous seasons whenever they came back in stock. I probably have at least one buff from more than half the seasons now. And the two 10-year and 15-year buffs with all the logos. Anyway, I stopped because it just got a bit ridiculous, as you can imagine.

Ah. I was wondering since they used to auction off show memorabilia.
I remember when they auctioned off the torches.
Don't know if they still do that.

But if you and @orangecats2 are interested, I got them from planetbuff.com and they also sell a lot of non-Survivor buffs as well.

Not for me, but I could've used them when we had our Survivor pool party.

 

[Terra Nova guy]

Well, except maybe while camping.
Or BBQing if we rent a cabin.

In my experience, camp food and BBQ are not really “cooking”. Normally the “presentation” is pretty far down the priority list when you’re camping. Of course in my case if I’m camping with friends, that’s often because it’s 10:00 at night and dark by the time we have supper, possibly because a glass/bottle or few of something was getting in the way of the actual cooking.

"Okay, Kay. Say goodbye to your little friend.
It's time to go."
"His name's Chromosome." She stated.

At first I thought he had an extra set of toes. Then I realized he’s shedding his skin. Thought that was interesting.

See the cars on the far side of the ravine?

This drive was a blast!
Some people may not enjoy tight, twisty roads.
But I thought it was fun!

I didn’t notice the cars in the pic at all. It took me a bit to see it. Looks like a fantastic drive. Although probably not if you get motion sickness. That pretty much rules out my girls, I think. Oh well.

And considering there are sights like these:

It ain't gonna get much faster!

This is Upper Waikani Falls.
It's also known as the three bears.

It looks incredible. I used to watch “Lost” back in the day. This waterfall seems very familiar. I suspect they filmed some of the show there.

What a bunch of idiots!
But... they were having fun.
And they weren't just sitting on their phones.
So I silently saluted them and their antics.
Still... I hoped no one would get hurt
as they roared off while jumping wildly
up and down in the back of the truck.

I know what you mean. When I see my teenager stuck on her phone most of the day, part of me wishes she would get outside and get into a (little) bit of trouble. Other times when I think of it, I’m happy enough to have her in the house…

Worth it, though.
Think it was?

Yes, absolutely! The more sand the better! You know what they say “like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives”.

"Elle got mooned! Elle got mooned!" We all chanted in unison.

So, in the last update we saw your nuts. This update there’s ball washing and full moon fever. What’s this trip report turning into? 50 shades of pkondz?

Next round:
1. One last excursion before we leave.
What is it?

2. What treat did we eat? (again)

3. Might as well keep the trend going...
How many beaches do we visit?

4. Did you see it? Of course you did.
It was obvious. If you didn't, don't wine.
Just go back and look.
Bonus points if you saw it.

5. So you saw it. But did you see the other one?
More bonus points if you did.

6. What place do we re-visit for a sugary snack?

7. Who gets picked for TSA pre-check?

8. Who gets patted down at security?

9. Our flight was not on time.
Early or late? How early or how late?

10. What do I unfortunately have to do
when we get home?

1. seeing a volcano (I've been guessing it since the start, why give up now?)
2. Shrimp from a truck
3. two
4. Yes.
5. I’m gonna raise the honesty flag here and say no, I did not.
6. Krispy Kreme
7. You
8. Ruby
9. Late by 30 minutes
10. Take out the smelly garbage.

 

[natebenma]

It actually licked her phone.

"Okay, Kay. Say goodbye to your little friend.
It's time to go."
"His name's Chromosome." She stated.

That is awesome!!!

According to Wikipedia,
there are 620 curves
and 59 bridges to navigate
almost all of them one lane.
Sounds like fun.
Let's go!

How could we pass that up???

Like this...

Neither my husband nor I like to drive. Not on long, straight roads, not on death defying roads with too many curves, bridges and not enough lanes.

We have unfortunately passed along our feelings about driving to our kids- Nate is going to be at least 18 (July) before he gets his license. He took a drivers ed class back in August 2014, but he still hasn't completed the on-road instruction and does not seem to be in any rush to schedule lessons. Fine by me. I see how lousy and inattentive other drivers are, and I am perfectly content carting my kids around.



We rented a car on Maui under protest, but as a necessity, but there was no way I was going to be driving that route- I do most of the driving when we are together. And we figured our teen boys would not be impressed with the sights we would see.

So thank you so much for bringing the gorgeous scenery to us!

Loved the waterfalls, loved the beaches and I'm so glad you and the girls went for a dip.

SO worth it! Including the steep climb up and down to Hamoa.

See the cars on the far side of the ravine?

This drive was a blast!
Some people may not enjoy tight, twisty roads.

And as he did so, he sang a sweet little song:
"Washing my balls! Washing my balls!"

I cut her off. "Turn your head to the right."
She did.
This is what she saw:

(Why did the stream cross the road?
Tell me why for bonus points.)

To get to the stream bed.

She'd just experienced her first full moon.


"My eyes!" She cried. "Can't unsee!"

Elle sure got the full Hawaii experience!

From nuts to butts.

The stop at the Maui winery looked nice but oh, my, Da Kitchen!!!

Your meals all looked fantastic. Yay for leftovers!

 

[natebenma]

Next round:

1. One last excursion before we leave.
What is it?

Aquarium

2. What treat did we eat? (again)

Shrimp

3. Might as well keep the trend going...
How many beaches do we visit?

1

4. Did you see it? Of course you did.
It was obvious. If you didn't, don't wine.
Just go back and look.
Bonus points if you saw it.

Saw the wine sign.

5. So you saw it. But did you see the other one?
More bonus points if you did.

Yup, the cows had company.


6. What place do we re-visit for a sugary snack?

Local Boys Shave Ice (NOT the red flavor)


7. Who gets picked for TSA pre-check?

Elle

8. Who gets patted down at security?


Ruby

9. Our flight was not on time.
Early or late? How early or how late?

Late, 45 minutes

10. What do I unfortunately have to do
when we get home?[/QUOTE]

Shovel/Snowblow

 

[FantasiaMagic]

Interesting.
What makes you say that? The black road?

Just the picture in general! It's cloudy, and it's in the middle of nowhere, and yes the black road! Spooky, but in a good, movie scene type of way!

 

[franandaj]

We had a long day ahead of us,
and one thing I wanted to do
was get some food so we could have a picnic.

This is something we really enjoy doing...
and never do.

We end up having at least one picnic per year because we get tickets to a show at the Hollywood Bowl, sometimes two or three. I definitely prefer Urban picnicking as opposed to rural picnicking but we'll get to that in replies!

And pkondz does not cook while on vacation.

Nope. Not gonna happen.
Well, except maybe while camping.
Or BBQing if we rent a cabin.
But that's it!

I can see it on a short trip, but I'm one of those kinds of people who gets really sick of restaurant food after a while. If I can schedule at least one meal where I can cook something simple and tasty rather than have yet another night of giant portions of restaurant food, I'm going to take it!

I drove back to the same Foodland
I'd been to the day before.
I grabbed some more muffins for breakfast,
and another Spam musubi
(at Kay's request, no less!)

I also grabbed some drinks,
some more fruit and some
pre-made croissant sandwiches.

That's another thing, for someone who hates shopping, I'm surprised that you went to the grocery store twice! I would make a list and get it out of the way once, so I didn't have to waste my time going back twice.

We left the hotel not long after 9:00am.
I didn't even bother to look at the time.
Who cares? No agenda! Free!

Somehow I'm finding that while you believe this, others in your party may have a hidden one.

And it's while I was inside, paying for the gas,
that Kay met a new best friend.

The rest of the famn dambly was sitting in the car
(Don't worry. I cracked the windows.)
when Kay spotted something on the hood.

What a cute friend.

Good thing you left the windows cracked we might have had to call the ASPCP!

He seemed pretty comfortable there.
So she got closer.

When you zoom in like that you can tell he is molting his skin!

Today we were going to drive the road to Hana.

Yay!

Just a few minutes of driving brought us
to our first stop.
Kay had read that Baldwin beach
had some nice white sand.
She had requested a stop there.
Why not?
I keep telling you, no agenda!
Are you not listening?

Yes I'm listening but I hear something that sounds like an agenda....

Notice the red flag?
No swimming today!

Why? Is the water full of bacteria?

"Well, it's not too much further." They said.
"Maybe another 100 yards.
But the fall's dry because there's no water."


Um... okay.


Another guy, heading back, piped up.
"It's amazing! You have to go see it!"

Jerk

And to think we almost missed this!

We finally tore ourselves away from
this little patch of Heaven,
and rejoined Ruby and Elle.

Glad you were able to find that littl e piece of heaven.

What's the worst that could happen?
Plummeting hundreds of feet to your death
in a flaming wreck as you scream
at the top of your lungs?

Worth the risk.

So not a big deal.

They heard some guy telling his girlfriend/wife/whatevs
that there were spiders and they drop from the trees.
She freaked out.

I would have got right back in the car. Nothing freaks me out more than giant bugs!!!!!

Who's ready to continue on?

There was a mad stampede for the car.

Oh.
Kay named the spider... Rex.
Fitting.

I would have been leading that stampede!

See the grass roofed structure just past the red car?
That's where we had our picnic.

I would have been afraid of giant bugs living in the grass roof!

Kay is now my favourite child.

Note to self. Tell pkondz what he wants to hear.

Ha! Places to go! Things to see!

I smell an agenda!

I told you. Nothing scheduled for today.

Oh.

We get to the bottom and...
it's black all right.

Back sand beaches are so pretty!

I'm so glad the girls suggested a swim,
and even more glad that I agreed to it.

We had a blast!

Well I'm glad you could put aside your non existent agenda for some fun.

And as he did so, he sang a sweet little song:
"Washing my balls! Washing my balls!"

Maybe he was planning on fixing Brussel Sprouts for dinner?

we saw them one last time.
And I couldn't help it.
I burst out laughing.

They were pulled over to the side,
and several were lying under the truck
looking up and trying to figure out
if they'd broken a spring or a shock absorber.

Idiots.

This place just screams Hawaii,
don't you think?
(And that makes 4 beaches for the day.)

Yay again!

Worth it, though.
Think it was?
Tell me if you think it was
or was not for bonus points.

For you folks, yes it was worth it. You are able bodied and able to climb in and out. For us, no. We would have to call in a search and rescue team to get Fran out of there!

There's the Pools at Ohe'o.
Aka: The seven sacred pools.
Except they're not remotely sacred.
(It was called that to get the suckers...
er, I mean tourists to visit)
And honestly, when I heard that there
was a fee to see them... it just turned me off.

So nevermind.

I totally agree.

Amazing when you think of it.
There were so many breathtaking sights
and so many waterfalls on this trek
that after a while, the brain just says "Enough!"

I know exactly what you mean. Not the same scenery but when we did our Southwest road trip, as beautiful as each canyon was, by the time we had seen so many wonders of nature, eventually we started to get numb to it.

She was so engrossed in the cow
on my side a few yards back,
that she was completely oblivious
to the ones just outside her window.

So I guess she didn't see the cow herder Donald and his pal either?

You go from lush, lush, lush to...

well, desolate.

Yup. Makes sense. Rain shadow effect. Same thing happens with the mountains here. Lush green on the west, desert on the east.

We crested a hill and saw where
the streambed crossed the road.
(Why did the stream cross the road?
Tell me why for bonus points.)

To punish the tourists who broke their rental contract by finishing the road on the part they're not supposed to drive on.

"Lookit my bum! Lookit my bum!"

Elle's eyes were drawn to the sound.
She let out a little wail.
It was a combination of "ew" and "nooo!"
Sort of an "Ewwwwnnnoooooeeeewwww!"


She'd just experienced her first full moon.


"My eyes!" She cried. "Can't unsee!"

I don't think I've ever had a similar experience but I wonder what my reaction would have been where. I was her age!

We still talk about that event.
More so than anything else we did on the trip.

Love when memories like that are created!

Who knew you could make wine from pineapple?
Well... who knew you could make it taste good?

Of course you can! And I'm sure it's delicious.

Elle ordered fish & chips.
It was enough fish to feed three people.

Looks like it!

Kay, after much discussion, settled on a noodle dish.
She managed to eat maybe... half of it.

That looks yummy! And like it makes good leftovers!

In this case, the Kanak Attack Combo Moco
Teriyaki Chicken, Teriyaki Beef, Chicken Katsu,
2 eggs, onions, mushrooms all over white rice
and topped with gravy.
Very healthy and light.

I'm sorry but not only is it way too much food, but the combo of ingredients is kind of gross. Why do Hawaiians put eggs on everthing?

"I can let you have a late check out of 3pm..."
The front desk guy said. "For $100."
I debated for a second,
then decided it'd be worth it.

That would be worth it.

"Any later than three will cost $500." He stated.

!!!

"Three o'clock's fine." I quickly said.

How much per night were you paying? That sounds like an entire other night!

franandaj - 7:00, Hana, chicken, cream puffs, saw it, 4, mixed plate - 35 points

Yay! I got almost all of them! Or just enough to tie for scorING high points on this round!

6travel - 175 points
franandaj - 175 points

Woohoo! Tied for lead!

1. One last excursion before we leave.
What is it?

Snorkeling

2. What treat did we eat? (again)

The shrimp

3. Might as well keep the trend going...
How many beaches do we visit?

3

4. Did you see it? Of course you did.
It was obvious. If you didn't, don't wine.
Just go back and look.
Bonus points if you saw it.

How drunk do they get when they drink the wine?

5. So you saw it. But did you see the other one?
More bonus points if you did.

mentioned it above

6. What place do we re-visit for a sugary snack?

The shave ice shop

7. Who gets picked for TSA pre-check?

Kay

8. Who gets patted down at security?

Elle

9. Our flight was not on time.
Early or late? How early or how late?

Late. 20 minutes.

10. What do I unfortunately have to do
when we get home?

Shovel snow.

It's not vacation.
"Hey! Let's have some fun! Let's vacuum!!!"

Same thing.

Believe it or not there are vacuum cleaners in DVC rooms. I will cook on vacation, but vacuum. No way!

Hang on.... time to Google.
Right now, the average gas price in Manitoba is 91.3 (88.9 in Winnipeg)
the average in Quebec is 103.5.
The average USA national gas price right now is 60.5
Maui's average is 83.0

So I'm guessing that is litres. How does California compare? I believe gas is $2.69 a gallon. I didn't notice on the way home from the airport and truthfully I only left the house yesterday to go to the grocery store. We are always amazed when we visit other places in the US and gas is so cheap.

 

[MarieLightning]

When you're asked "Why don't we do this more often?"...
pass out.

I think that's my favorite step.

Frankly I'm frequently flummoxed by Timmies.
It's a donut shop.... and they don't have donuts?!?

I know! Like, if you want me to go to Dunkin Donuts, just say so (Which, I actually just found out the other day there's still a couple of those in Montreal. Here I thought they were fully extinct in Canada, or at least in Quebec)

Hang on.... time to Google.
Right now, the average gas price in Manitoba is 91.3 (88.9 in Winnipeg)
the average in Quebec is 103.5.
The average USA national gas price right now is 60.5
Maui's average is 83.0

Not much bigger, though.
If she could have, Kay would've kept it
as a pet.

I kinda figured, when she decided to give it a name

Which one?

Weeell that's a good question. I think the first one. I'm making my first attempt at multi quoting, so maybe next update I'll be more clear!

Then you can come with me!
Truuuuuust me.

Sounds sae. But I think I'm gonna, erm...

I was there!
Granted, I was about nine years old at the time...
I remember we visited Percé and Gaspé
and took a boat out past Ile Bonaventure.

We actually got off on Ile Bonaventure and took a 2 hours hike (which we'd been told would take about an hour). It was fun Then the next day we went kayaking for an hour cause obviously, if you can't have use your legs anymore, why should your arms be functional. (But it was actually fun)

Not to worry!
I decided to help other tourists and removed it.
I let it go in Quebec.

...Well, off I go

I didn't notice the quotation marks!
Makes you wonder what's so original about it?

I think it just speaks to the fact that a lot of people don't know the proper use for quotation marks Like here https://www.buzzfeed.com/copyranter/unnecessary-quotation-marks-harmful-to-your-health

Just glance outdoors and come away red, huh?

I'm typically like that guy in the middle


Also, I just want to mention in passing, I'm borrowing your guessing game if that's okay! We're doing it for our PTR rather than our TR itself, so there's a lot less guessing involved, but you know. I can give you full credit if you would like

(You can also test out if you're as skilled at guessing as you are at making other people guess )

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Soooo... I'm guessing an invite
to the wedding isn't going to happen...

You are more than welcome to come. There's plenty of room at the kid's table.

You didn't! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

In my defense, I didn't know what it was when I signed up. They were going to do a big special reveal later, but in typical high school fashion the secret leaked. The theatre and chorus teachers were NOT happy.

So you're a silver lining kind of gal, huh?

Most of the time.

Hey! Did I get it stuck back in your head???

Actually, no, but that's only because I've recently discovered the Hamilton soundtrack and been listening to it nonstop. So most of the time I have one of those songs in my head.

According to Wikipedia,
there are 620 curves
and 59 bridges to navigate
almost all of them one lane.

I really really want to do this.

Non-aggressive. Bite would be similar to a bee sting.)

But if it's non-aggressive, how do we know what its bite is like?

But, hey! If you're gonna go golfing,
you're gonna want to have clean balls.
Am I right?

Well, I don't care, because I know I'm going to lose them anyway.

(And that's beach #3)

Man I really did not do well this round.

Tell me if you think it was
or was not for bonus points.

Definitely worth it.

Kay was thrilled.
She loves cows.
I told you she was an animal lover.

So. Funny story about cows. Two Christmases ago, Joe and I flew down to Naples, FL to spend the holiday with his grandma. All around town, we kept seeing "panther crossing" signs. Well, we're driving back to Miami because it was cheaper to fly through there, and the highway cuts straight through the Everglades. As we're passing a large expanse of tall grass, I see a black shape above the grass.
"Oh wow, a panther" I think to myself. "I didn't expect it to be so tall"
We keep driving, and then I see more and more black silhouettes.
"Self" I say to myself "Panthers don't normally travel in herds"
Yeah.....they were cows. I snort and Joe asks what's so funny, so I fill him in on my thought process.
To this day, if we see a cow we yell out "Panther!"

He carved them into Hawaiian guardians,
obelisks, an infinity vessel and King Kalākaua.

Yeah, I totally see that.........sort of.............

"I can let you have a late check out of 3pm..."
The front desk guy said. "For $100."

Yikes. But, I've been in situations I think it would have worth it. The worse was a hotel at Myrtle Beach that wouldn't grant us late check-out on the same day I was running a half marathon. So the whole race I'm stressing a bit over how much time I'll have left and whether or not I'll have time to shower. Luckily for Joe, I did, but it was still a stressful way to end the morning.

Barefoot and drunk - SoccerDogWithEars - 5 points

You were here this weekend? I didn't see you

1. One last excursion before we leave.
What is it?

A waterfall

2. What treat did we eat? (again)

The spam/sushi thing

3. Might as well keep the trend going...
How many beaches do we visit?

1

4. Did you see it? Of course you did.
It was obvious. If you didn't, don't wine.
Just go back and look.
Bonus points if you saw it.

Actually, I missed this one, but saw it when I went back.

5. So you saw it. But did you see the other one?
More bonus points if you did.

This one I saw right away.

6. What place do we re-visit for a sugary snack?

The Shave Ice place

7. Who gets picked for TSA pre-check?

Everyone except you

8. Who gets patted down at security?

You

9. Our flight was not on time.
Early or late? How early or how late?

Are flights ever early?? I'm gonna say 30 minutes late

10. What do I unfortunately have to do
when we get home?

Dishes. I was gonna say something the puppy, but then I remembered Luna wasn't there yet. Speaking of Luna.......ahem. Pictures please?