ALOOOOOOOOOHAAAAA!

Ah....home again...from our awesome trip to California and Hawaii.


Boo hoo, but also sort of happy to be home. I'm sure that will wear off pretty quickly. Oh, wait, it just did.

It was a great trip, filled with lots of fun memories for me, and just a super relaxing time to be honest. It's been tough not having a vacation in two years, so it was a much needed rest!

California...what can I say. If I could afford to live there right now, I would. Not on a teacher's salary...oh wait, make that two teachers' salaries! Seriously we had such an amazing time there. Most of all I loved the weather...humidity? What's that? I didn't miss it one bit. We were staying in San Fransisco, and went to the classics (Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge) but we also went to Muir Woods (most stunning redwoods ever), Sausalito (quaint little boat town), Monterey (best aquarium ever), Napa (Bouchaine Vineyards, we love you!), Sacramento (to visit Patrick's cousin) and Kirkwood/Lake Tahoe (So nice!). We rented a convertible while we were there. Good choice! Altogether we drove about 1000 miles (!) in 8 days! Whoah! Now, for New Yorkers, where everything you need is within arms distance literally, that's a lot! But where we were, everything was at least a half hour drive (which is nothing for these people by the way). Luckily we found super cheap gas (2.99/gal!) but we had to fill up three times I think!

Anyway, it was just really great...and then we had our cruise in Hawaii! I swear, I feel like we went on three vacations. Hawaii....ahhh....well the goal for Hawaii was to get a nice tan and lay out on the beach all day. We certainly got that accomplished! Not to mention a nice sunburn! It was just so laid back and chill there. Everything moves at a glacial pace there....they say there's real time then there's Hawaii time. We were definitely on Hawaii time right off the bat. We were excited to start our trip but then we also were concerned about our dear friend....Flossie. This little lady was following us! As we left Honolulu for Kauai, she was heading straight for the Big Island! Ah! That was where our next port (Hilo) was! The captain told us we might not make it to Hilo and even worse, we'd end up just at sea for the next two days if she really hit, because after Hilo, we were still on the Big Island in Kona! Oh man! What could we do? Patrick and I prayed one prayer over and over...just that we would stay safe and out of harm's way. God once again delivered, because the next morning, the captain announced that Flossie was downgraded to a tropical storm and was headed in the other direction! Yay! So we get to Hilo and see the awesome volcanoes, and craters, and visit the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory (highlight for me!) and THEN we hear about the earthquake in Peru. We also hear that there's a tsunami warning for Hawaii as a result! Last time there was an earthquake in Peru, a huge tsunami hit Hawaii, and so all the people were worried. Ah! More prayers for safety....answered. No tsunami. Thank you God.

Kona was great! Famous for coffee and snorkeling. Patrick went snorkeling at Turtle Beach. I tried, but I just get really panicky in the water for some reason. All the coral really freaks me out. So I went back on the beach to lay out, after Patrick walked me back. So he's barely gone 5 minutes and then he's coming back and his finger is like dripping blood! Apparently he was just putting his flippers on his feet and a wave came, he put his hand down and sliced his finger on some coral! Poor baby! It was a bad cut, and after sitting for about 20 minutes, he wanted to go back out again. He said a sea turtle was following him, and he saw some amazing fish! Anyway, that was a really nice day!

Then we went to Maui...went to a luau and saw the most awesome show, which included the #1 Fire Thrower in all of Hawaii three years in a row. Boy was he ever! We met some nice people at our table, and feasted on some good food! Of course we met a couple on their honeymoon... from Queens! So crazy, but there were a lot of Queens people there! The borough must have seemed empty!

Let's not talk about the flight home right now. It'll spoil the good feeling I have right now. All I have to say is that the seats in the airport are surprisingly comfy when you're sleeping there OVERNIGHT! But I digress....

We took 400 pictures in all! I love digital cameras. Remember the days of film, where you had just one chance, and you didn't even know if you got the shot? I loved being able to delete the bad and keep the good. Honestly, half of the 400 pics were food pictures. We decided to take pictures of all the foods we ate and it was so worth it. Those of you who know us know it's all about the food with us! Why not document it? Still working on developing the pics. I don't know if I should post the pics here. If anyone reads this and wants to see them up let me know.

What an awesome trip. We really just did whatever the heck we wanted. I did sooo much research before going...restaurants, sightseeing, etc. We didn't do half of that stuff, but I had a better time just hanging out with my man in the most beautiful places! We just did the vacation our way, and I love that! Most of all, I loved that I got to spend the time with Patrick, realizing once again that God really has given me a treasure of a husband, and I literally fell in love with him all over again.

Those of you who haven't been to California or Hawaii....go. Now.