FSAF #1 DESERT LOVIN'

No, not like that. Get your mind out of the gutter! Ever wonder why we like something? I'm not talking about Facebook, I'm talking real life. Today I took Vincent on a trip up to Lake Pleasant to get some pictures and be outside in the beautiful weather. We drove around inside of Lake Pleasant State Park, checked out the visitors center, took some pics of where I almost rolled our truck into the lake last weekend (that's a story for a different time), and walked around on the trails looking for wildlife I was going to head home. When I got back to Castle Hot Springs road I knew I should go left and head home, but instead I went right. While I was doing this Theresa's words were running through my head. When she had called less than an hour before, she said something to the effect of "don't do anything stupid, you have our son with you. You know sometimes you take dirt roads and trails and realize after it wasn't the best idea". She was right, that's how I almost put us into Lake Pleasant upside down in the Montero the previous weekend. So even with her voice in my head telling me not to, I headed north on Castle Hot Springs road off into the desert. Vincent was asleep so I reasoned that if it got really bumpy or sketchy looking I'd turn around, after all I had very little water for myself, no extra bottles for him, and no tire repair kit. As I explored, and took more pictures, I was thinking about the fact I love the desert. I don't know why, but I find it absolutely fascinating and beautiful. It could be because it's the polar opposite of the terrain I grew up around. Back in New England it's all grass and trees, it rains frequently, it snows way too much. Here we get almost no rain, no snow at all, the trees are few and far between, there are cacti everywhere. See, totally different. But I love it. I know it can be deadly, there are venomous snakes and lizards, the summer temperatures always exceed 100 degrees, the winter nights can get down below freezing. So, why do I love it? Is it because we can camp all year round? Is it because it's so different? Is it all the unsettled land we can go out and explore? Is it because desert racing is so friggen cool? Is it because of all the great mexican food? Maybe. Here's some pics (click on the thumbnails for bigger pics), enjoy!

adventure parents

Joe and I (and Princess Lucy Pants, of course) went camping this past weekend with my family.

Every year (for the past decade and a half at least), a group of people from my parent's work have been getting together every summer for a Summer Solstice Campout at Reynold's Creek, which is in the Sierra Ancha Wilderness east of Lake Roosevelt. Joe and I went in 2008 and 2009, and we missed it last year but decided to go again this year. And it was really awesome!

My folks recently picked up a cute little vintage canned ham trailer for themselves and this was their first camping trip with it.

It's so cute!!


And since Joe recently installed our hitch/tow assembly on the Montero (our birthday gift to each other), we ended up pulling their pop-up trailer and stayed in that for the weekend. It was really nice. I seriously LOVE camping!!! The stars, the fresh air, the cooking, the people, the lack of traffic and noise, the happy beagle...all of it! And it's always a little sad having to come back to the city, but it's nice knowing that it won't be long before we head out to the great outdoors again.

And, yes...we are planning on camping with our little one. Oh yes...and he will like it! He will be conforming to our life and what we like to do, so camping is just a given! And of course we're not expecting it to be perfect by any means of the word, but some things like this are important to us, so little Baby McG will be forced along for the ride.

After all, the Adventure Parents said it best when they said, "Just Because Kids Will Ruin Your Carpet Doesn't Mean They'll Ruin Your Outdoor Adventures."

Right? :-)

travel ambitions

Remember my post last year about places that I want to go in my lifetime?

Didn't think so. :-)

You can view that post here but, more importantly, I have realized that I want to update the list. I realize that some of these places are expensive considering we can't even afford the cost for a trip to New England! So I guess you could consider these somewhat lofty dreams...but daydreams are so nice, aren't they?

Salzburg, Austria


New Zealand


Rome and Vatican City


Alaska (via cruise)


Cannon Beach, OR


Santorini (and any of the Cyclades)


Ireland


Alaska
(okay, I know we already put Alaska, but the Northern Lights are just so awesome!)


Great Britain


Paris, France


Delft, Netherlands

do you know what that sound is, highness?....

...those are the shrieking eels!

This post, actually, has nothing to do with the Princess Bride (which is where that quote comes from, for those of us who are uncultured), but it just popped into my head for some reason.

Anyway...

HI EVERYONE!!! I know it's seemed like a bojillion years since we last blogged, so I thought I'd drop you all a line. It really hasn't been a bojillion years, but tons of things have definitely been going on, so we've been a little preoccupied:

SEPTEMBER

• LUCY - We are not millionaires because Lucy did not win the cutest dog competition. :o( For those of you who actually did vote and continue to show your endless support of our gorgeous beagle dog, THANK YOU! Maybe we'll have better luck next year. Or maybe we'll start a dog talent competition, or something. Lucy's pretty amazing at sitting, laying down, rolling over, speaking, and playing hide and seek! Anyway, to see information on the winner of the competition, click here.

OCTOBER

• SWINE - I'm pretty sure I had the swine flu in October. Joe and Alanna and I had planned a camping trip for the first weekend of October and, even though I started feeling like death with a fever of 103, NOTHING was going to get in the way of camping. I had a fever for a couple days and we were scheduled to go on a Friday night and I really didn't want to pull the plug on the trip. So we headed out of Phoenix and during the ride I think something pretty crazy happened because I don't remember much from that night. My fever seemed to skyrocket and I was freezing and burning up all at the same time. I'm pretty sure I was delirious (Joe and Alanna can probably give more details) and it seriously felt like I was actually dead. Not fun. We stayed one night and packed up first thing in the morning. :o( Sad!! It probably wasn't really the swine flu (I tend to exaggerate), but it was pretty brutal. On the positive side, I've hit my sick quotient for the year, so hopefully I won't be sick again for a long time.
• LUCY - Lucy turned TWO!! YAHOOOO!!!! Okay, so maybe this is only exciting to us.
• KIDNEY - Joe celebrated his first anniversary with his new kidney on October 7th!! It's definitely been a roller coaster as far as that goes - being more apt to get diseases and virus due to the suppressed immune system. They are constantly meeting with him, always doing new lab work, adjusting medications due to differences in blood levels and new viruses that pop up, keeping him healthy, etc. The Mayo Clinic and all of Joe's doctors in this city are really top notch. And so is Jen for being the awesome donor!! :o)
  

NOVEMBER

• MOVING - We moved into a new place!! Moving is always super stressful (especially when you realize about 1/3 of the stuff you own could probably just be thrown away), so we are glad to have that over and done with. And, as of yesterday, we have now been in the new place about a month and are pretty much all unpacked and settled in. It's a nice place, too. It's just about 3 miles away from our previous place, so it's in the same general area, but it's about $200 cheaper per month, so we're REALLY excited about saving some extra money. Which is something that isn't easy to do this day and age.
• WILDLIFE - We take Lucy for nightly walks around the new neighborhood and have had the opportunity of seeing and hearing different wildlife such as rabbits, owls, coyotes and even javelinas!! HOW COOL IS THAT??
• WORK - The coming of this month signaled my first anniversary at my current job. It's really crazy how time flies when you're having....fun? Yeah. Amazing. There are DEFINITELY days when things drag and situations get stressful at work (poor Joe never seems to hear the end of it, either) but, for the most part, I have actually grown to really enjoy my new position. This month has been really stressful at work because it's the end of my first year, so I had to work some overtime and work as hard as possible to make sure that I ended it with a bang (want to get some good points on my review!!). It's hard to do with unexpected issues that come up, fires that need to be put out, lives to save, etc. But on the other hand, there is a lot of teamwork involved, so there is a lot of time to continually improve upon communicating effectively with each other. There are great benefits and a lot of opportunity for growth. There are people who really make each day worthwhile. And among all the good and the bad (which you seem to find no matter WHERE you work), it's really been a pretty good experience so far.
• NEW MOON - I have nothing to say about it that won't make you all roll your eyes. So will spare you my thoughts.
  
• THANKSGIVING - It's scary how quickly Thanksgiving has come and gone, you know? My family traveled on a tour of Ireland for the holiday last week (the price was right) but Joe and decided to save our bucks (will visit Ireland someday...) and stuck around Phoenix. We had an awesome dinner celebration at my aunt and uncle's house and hung out and played games afterwards. We went camping amongst coyotes for a few days at Apache Lake, where we went last Thanksgiving. And had a really nice, stress-free weekend. I love Thanksgiving. And I am still so very thankful for everything listed here...and more!!
  

DECEMBER

Dude. Back off. It JUST STARTED!!! he he.

Really, though. December. Ahhh.

• Weather changes (finally).
  
• Holiday decorations.
  
• The season of giving.
• Making new year resolutions.
  
• Spending time with family.
• Enjoying life.
  

Hmmmm. I utterly love this time of year. :o)

Ciao for now!

faces in places + just places

Faces in Places
Do you ever find the shape of a face in things like the clouds, or a textured wall, or any other completely random place? Every once in awhile, I notice faces in different things and, believe it or not, there is a blog that points out this exact thing. I'm not quite sure how I originally came upon this blog, but I think it's one of the dorkiest, yet possibly one of the coolest things ever. It's called "Faces in Places". Check it out!!




Just Places
The following is a list of places that I want to go in my life. Some of them are places that I'm not sure we'll be able to afford the trip for a LOOOOOONG time. Others are trips that could possibly be very attainable and may sound a little weird and definitely un-exotic. Nonetheless, these are the places (in no particular order) that I would most like to go at some point in my life.

• Australia - all of it
  
• New Zealand
• Hawaii - I know I've already been...but want to go back so bad!!
• British Columbia - Vancouver, Whistler
• Alberta - Banff
• Nova Scotia
• Maine - again!!
  
• Vatican City
• pretty much any other part of Italy
  
• Paris
• anywhere in Alaska - an Alaskan cruise would be awesome!
  
• Washington - Seattle, Mt. Rainier NP, Olympic NP, North Cascades NP
  
• New York City - again!!
  
• Oregon - Portland, Eugene, Astoria
• Niagara Falls - again!!
  
• Santorini
  
• pretty much any part of Greece and the Cyclades
• the entire UK
• New England - going next month! YAHOOOOO!!!!
  
• Jerusalem
• Madrid and Barcelona
  

reflections

The past week and a half have been kind of a blur for me. A lot has happened, both good and bad, but most of all...growth. A lot of growth in myself, growth with family and friends and, especially, growth with Joe. One thing I've learned in the past week and a half is that life throws you curve balls without even a moment's notice, you just have to learn how to catch them.

Today I am thankful for:

1. Family - Especially Mom, Dad and Alanna. You are my most favorite people in the whole entire world.
   
2. Alanna - I am so thankful that your trip in the South Pacific was safe and that you are finally home!
3. Friends - You know who you are. I can't tell you how much it means to me to have you in my life as my lucky stars and rocks of support. I learn more from each of you every day.
   
4. Lucy - My little ball of beagle fur. I am thankful for your hugs, your yawns, your kisses, your stretching, your cockroaches, your zoomies, your growls, your cuddles, the way you smell, the way you run up to us when we get home like we are the most important people in your universe. I love everything about you!
   
5. Work - In these tough economic times, I am so thankful to be working for a solid company that has much interest and support of their employees. Without this job I would not be able to camp, travel, pay rent, pay bills, buy groceries, etc. I am so thankful to have this job.
   
6. Health - I am thankful to be alive. This summer has been pretty rough (especially with regards to heat), but my health is something I definitely need to stop taking for granted and try to preserve. I'm starting to get into the swing of the gym again and, once the weather cools off, we'll be able to go for rides and hikes again.
   
7. Jen - I am so thankful that you gave one of your kidneys to Joe. It is the most amazing gift a person could ever receive. Sadly, words really can't even express gratitude for a gift like that.
   
8. Recreation - I am thankful to have the opportunity to do things like camp, sight see, swim, relax, read, spend time with family, etc. The joy I get from these simplest of things makes the weekends so precious to me.
   
9. (last, but not least) Joe - No matter how flawed you are at times and no matter how perfect you are at times, what amazes me most is how much more I grow to love you each and every day.

life, work and alanna wanna fanna

Life is good.

It's getting really, Really, REALLY hot now. And, with the monsoon season actually picking up a little, the past few days have been wicked humid...so it's been kind of like a sticky furnace outside. But life is good. We've been spending a lot of time hanging out with family, swimming, camping, playing with Lucy, relaxing, etc....just doing all of the things that you SHOULD do during summertime.

Work is.....uhhh.....work. But it is good, too. :o)

Some days are better than others (as is true with any occupation), but I am really starting to feel like I'm actually doing okay there. When I first started, I was totally overwhelmed. It's almost too difficult to explain in words, so I will just say that I knew I would get used to it, but it was a little stressful at first. Especially since we are judged quantitatively in several different categories - something that I have never experienced before. It's different, and started off a little rocky. Recently, though, over the past few months, I've been doing a little better and better with every week. And it has even gotten to the point where I was given an award (a fancy piece of paper) at an awards ceremony in front of 900+ of my peers in the Northeast Division. I'm not 100% sure of what the award was for, but it has something to do with not sucking. So getting that recognition for my efforts made yesterday a really nice day. Now I just have to start doing BETTER so that I get another award at the 4th Quarter awards ceremony (won't hold my breath, but it doesn't hurt to try).

And, finally...Alanna is AWESOME!!!


Alanna has spent the past 2+ weeks on her expedition with Project MARC in the island nation of Vanuatu, and is now in tourist mode in Australia. The expedition was supposed to last all month, but due to some certain circumstances (which I'm not fully clear about yet), the volunteers have completed everything they could and have finished the mission. Since the mission has ended ahead of schedule and my folks aren't flying out to meet her until the very END of the month, Loni has decided to take an inclusive guided tour around some of Australia's islands and up to the Great Barrier Reef. Her first stop, today, was at Fraser Island (pictured above) and I am seriously jealous of all the different places she has been seeing. What a neat experience to have!! It's a little scary because she's all by herself, but she's a big girl and I'm sure she's doing just fine. Plus, I kind of have this sneaking suspicion that she's having the time of her life.

the meaning of "humanitarian"

Main Entry: humanitarian
Pronunciation: \hyu-ma-nuh-'ter-ee-uhn\
Function: noun
Date: 1844

: a person promoting human welfare and social reform : philanthropist

— humanitarian adjective

— hu·man·i·tar·i·an·ism \-ē-ə-ˌni-zəm\ noun

---

Right now my sister, Alanna, is flying to the South Pacific. Let me explain...

A buddy of mine, Seamus O, who I've known from a fairly young age - we went to the same church growing up, the same high school and even college - has been quite the world traveler since finishing up his college days. He's been extremely active in theater circles and has been a crewman for a sailboat, doing a considerable amount of volunteer work overseas. In all reality, the phrase "doing a considerable amount of volunteer work" doesn't even do justice the works that he has undertaken over the past several years.

Seamus O is an advocate and volunteer for Project MARC in the island nation of Vanuatu (located to the East of Australia and to the West of Fiji). The most basic way to summarize what this organization does, is to say that it provides volunteer medical services to Vanuatu's most remote island communities.

Part of being a Project MARC volunteer involves sailing vessels, building small clinics, and training village health workers. One of the big projects for this year was going to be the construction of a clinic on the West Coast of Santo (an island in the nation of Vanuatu). Because the ships are not available to help them transport supplies, etc., they are not able to get this project underway at this time.

Instead of building this clinic, they will be undertaking an expedition instead, spending the next month or so traveling on foot from village to village, surveying and evaluating each location for what their needs may be (clinics, supplies, training, medical help, etc.) so that these villages may get the medical attention they need.

I now return to my first statement.

Right now my sister, Alanna, is flying to the South Pacific. She is traveling there to do embark on this expedition with Project MARC. Her path crossed Seamus O's over the holidays and she decided that it was just something she wanted to do.

As her big sister, I am a little nervous for her - especially because there will be no contact with her until she sets foot back on American soil - but I am extremely excited that she is taking advantage of this opportunity. I know it will be a challenge for her (mainly because she HATES camping and bugs and will be sleeping in a tent for a month), but I think she will learn so much about herself, and others, in the process. I already can't wait for her to get back, but I am so proud of her and wish her the best of luck on her voyage.

According to Merriam-Webster, a "humanitarian" is a person who promotes human welfare and social reform. The expedition that these individuals are on is, by no means, a simple undertaking. The gifts they give freely - their time, their own money, strength, blood, sweat and tears - emphasize the fact that these individuals fully embody the meaning of this word. Each of these people deserve our prayers, good wishes and utmost respect for changing the lives of the inhabitants of this island nation.


SIDE NOTES

• You can access the Project MARC website here.
• You can access Seamus O's blog here (or on the sidebar of our blog).
• For your information, there are 3 videos that showcase, with considerable detail, the works of this organization (which is a non-governmental organization) by clicking here. The link will take you to the first of three pages (courtesy of Seamus' parents) - each page with a streaming video, 2-5 minutes in length. The links for additional pages/videos are at the top of the first page (1. project MARC, 2. 2008 Donor Thank You, and 3. 2009 Water Project Appeal).

to move or not to move, that is the question...

As I mentioned in the last post, my buddy Heidi and her husband Mike bought Joe and I a trip out to Eugene, Oregon for a couple days. Our time there was so short and packed with running around trying to see and do as much as possible - it was quite the whirlwind trip. But it was so unexpectedly wonderful and seriously one of the coolest gifts. I wish we were still there!

Here are some of our snapshots:

Trying to avoid contracting the swine flu.


Heidi, Collin, and Mike.


Moss covering every inch of a tree.


Joe standing beside a really small tree.

Heceta Head.


lighthouse at Heceta Head.

View the rest of our pictures from Oregon HERE in our online photo gallery!!

For quite some time now, I have wanted to travel up through the Pacific Northwest. I don't really know why - maybe just because of the fact that the weather is quite opposite that of Phoenix. Whatever the reasons were, our time spent there blew my mind - we were able to spend some really nice quality time with Heidi and Mike, went on some quick hikes, visited Veneta, went to the Saturday Market in Eugene, got rained on, traveled out to the coast, enjoyed the fresh ocean air, poked around looking at anenomes, climbed rocks, relaxed, fell asleep to the sound of rain, played with cutie-pie Collin, drove around town, and even saw Portland (even if only for about an hour).

It was just plain awesome.

And a real wake up call for us in terms of figuring out where we want to settle down to start a family. I still have a huge soft spot for New England - the family, the people, my previous employer who I still keep in contact with. But one interesting thing is that the Pacific Northwest, we found, actually reminds us a LOT of New England (just tending to be not as frigid in the winter time and a little greener because of all the rain). On the other hand, there might be an opportunity for us to consider in Illinois with my friend, Anna, and her family. But at the end of the day, I also have a huge soft spot for Arizona - the family, my history here, and the multitude of things that we have yet to explore here.

So this is the question - with Joe and I having explored different parts of the country and narrowing down our choices as to where we want to "set up shop", how do you select one knowing that there will be things that we will miss so dearly, and knowing that our decision affects others as well? We feel like we are being pulled in a few different directions, so how do settle on one, especially when the feelings of family and friends are involved? And how do you know which decision is the right one? This is a decision that we will definitely not be taking lightly, that's for sure.

oregon...here we come!!

Joe and I are just a few hours away from heading to the airport to fly out to Oregon to visit friends, Heidi and Mike, and their family in Oregon.

They live in a town called Veneta and I think it's about halfway up the state and about an hour from the coast. They actually live fairly close to Euguene, and Allegiant Air flies directly from Mesa to Eugene. We've never been to Oregon and up until last year I didn't even realize that Mesa had an airport! So I'm really looking forward to this new adventure!!

Plus it will be really good to visit with Heidi. Both her and Mike are unbelievably sweet and actually bought our trip out there as a wedding gift. Can you BELIEVE that?? I really can't say enough how awesome of a gift this is!!

I am actually kind of nervous to be flying with the swine flu going around (they have actually closed a school here for a whole week because of the pandemic). And I was actually beginning to think that we weren't going to find face masks anywhere because we literally went store to store the other night in search of them, but they were all sold out. Joe then had the brilliant idea to go to Home Depot after work yesterday and found a bunch of them there. So we're all set. Still kind of scared of germs, though. I definitely don't want to get this swine flu thing-a-ma-jigger. But Joe is so more susceptible than I am because of the immuno-suppressants he is on. His immune system is so low because of the medications that he REALLY needs to be careful!! So we've got the masks and I have refilled our hand sanitizer bottle to bring with us (yes...the bottle is under 3 ounces).

Also, it always breaks my heart to be away from Lucy. It may sound like I'm just whining. But I really love that dog. I love coming home to her after work and seeing her happy and excited to play with me. I love when she rolls on her back and does the cockroach. I love how loud she is when she yawns. I love how cuddly and sweet she is in the mornings and how rambunctious and playful she is in the afternoons. She's just a gem. Shamefully, I even cried when we dropped her off before our trip to Hawaii. This time, she will only be there for 5 days/4 nights, so it's not quite as long. I'm still going to miss her, though.

Besides all of the nervousness about flying and leaving our puppy behind for a few days, we are SO EXCITED to be going to Oregon. Oregon has been on my "to do" list for quite some time and I am so excited to see my friend and her family. I am just so grateful that they are sending us out there for a few days. It will definitely be a nice break from routine. Not only will it be mid-60s during the day and COLD at night, but it will be GREEN and hopefully (fingers-crossed) my allergies will have a little break from flaring up.

Wish everyone would come with us!! But, don't worry....we'll take lots of pictures.

being back on the mainland = bittersweet

Well, everyone...you can rest peacefully now because we are back home, safe and sound, from our vacation in Hawaii. Anyway, it would be near impossible and just ridiculous to load all of our 600+ photos into one blog, so I made some collages from our different island experiences. Enjoy!

OAHU

We flew into Honolulu last Friday (9/12) and stayed in a hotel on Waikiki Beach there. Honolulu was crazy and, if I may be so bold to say, the traffic there rivals that of Boston on it's WORST day. While Joe was at dialysis on Friday night, my family and I ventured to the Punchbowl (which is a national cemetery where a lot of veterans of WWII, Korea and Vietnam were buried). We were even fortunate enough to find the grave of my mother's uncle (my grandma's brother) who died in WWII and was buried there. It was a beautiful way to start our vacation. The trees were amazing and it was so green there. Saturday morning we had breakfast on the beach and then we hiked the Diamondhead Crater Trail, which is an extinct volcano that offers amazing views of the Oahu coast. We had enough time to relax and explore a little of the Honolulu area before boarding our ship, the Pride of America, Saturday night.

Punchbowl National Cemetery

Breakfast on the Beach, Waikiki-style

Diamondhead Crater Hike

The Pride of America

MAUI

On Sunday morning, we arrived in Maui - which was the first destination of the cruise and, after the craziness of Honolulu, became the favorite island of pretty much ALL of us. We drove around the coast a little and found Hookipa Beach, which is world famous for surfing, windsurfing, etc. It was so gorgeous and BLUE there! We even saw a monk seal taking a nap on the rocks. After Hookipa, we went back to the ship to get ready for the night time entertainment - a REAL Hawaiian luau!! We drove out to Lahaina and saw the United States's largest banyan tree before heading over to the Old Lahaina Luau. The luau was one of the greatest nights to date. On Monday morning, Joe had to head over to dialysis in Maui and, afterwards, we spent some more time at the beach before heading back to the ship to sail on to our next destination.

Hookipa Beach, Hana Coast

Old Lahaina Luau

Morning at the Beach, Maui

HAWAII

We anchored in Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii, on Tuesday morning and had a big day in store for us there. We took a wonderful tour of some very "Hawaiian" things. We got to tour Rainbow Falls (which earlier in the year flows faster), the Mauna Loa (macadamia) Nut Factory, and Volcano National Park where we saw Kilauea Crater (which has been erupting since 1983), Devastation Trail and even walked through an actual lava tube! On our way out of Hilo on the boat that night, we got to see (from a distance, of course) actual lava flowing into the Pacific Ocean. My snapshot of the lava flow isn't the greatest since we had to zoom way in, but just imagine orangy-hotness oozing from the earth and splattering hot lava into the ocean, creating an enormous cloud of sulphuric smoke. We even used my dad's binoculars to take a closer look and actually saw the lava splashing up into the air. Words can not describe how cool it was! The next morning we arrived in Kailua-Kona (the other side of the Big Island). My family went on a snorkel and raft excursion while Joe and I spent the day walking around the little town and snorkeling on Turtle Beach. The only turtle we saw was out of the water on a rock, but we also saw some really amazing fish.

Rainbow Falls/Macadamia Nut Factory/Orchid Gardens, near Hilo

Hawaiian Volcanic Action

Turtle Beach, Kona

KAUAI

Our final island on the cruise was Kauai. On Thursday, we took a drive out to Poipu Beach, where the water was blue and a monk seal swam within a couple feet of my mother. So freakin' cool!! Joe even thought I was joking when I said, "Hey! There's a seal!" After Poipu, my family went on a zipline excursion while Joe and I hung out at Kalapaki Beach before his dialysis that evening. The next day, we spent our finaly beach hours at Kalapaki Beach again, before sailing out of Kauai and back to Oahu to disembark. On the cruise out of Kauai, though, the captain steered the boat along the breathtaking NaPali Coast before sailing back to Honolulu - an awesome way to end our time at sea.

Poipu Beach, Kauai

Kalapaki Beach + Cruising by the NaPali Coast, Kauai

Once I upload all of our photos to a gallery, I'll let you know the link so that you can see all of the fun we had on our trip. Joe and I were half-heartedly discussing "accidentally" missing the last sail out of Kauai and just staying there. But we had to get home to our little Lucy (who we missed so FREAKIN MUCH!!!) and, plus, housing prices are pretty astronomical there. So we thought better and decided to come home. Still thinking about going back someday but, for now, responsibility and Joe's upcoming transplant prevent us from becoming a Hawaiian at this moment. But don't just take our word for it - GO THERE! Besides being a backdrop for some of Hollywood's most popular films (From Here to Eternity, King Kong, Blue Hawaii, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Waterworld, 6 Days 7 Nights, 50 First Dates, Jurassic Park - to name a few), Hawaii is just an amazingly beautiful place. So just go. In fact, GO NOW!!

Vacation !!!!!!!!!!

Here's Joe:
Lucy has already been dropped off at Dog Days in Tempe, and T and I are just doing some last minute cleaning before we go. As I type T is vaccuming and the dishwasher is going. All we have to do is shut everything down and leave. All our bags are packed and waiting by the door. We are officially on vacation until Sunday 9/21. I had kind of a morbid thought earlier, if this plane goes down, it's gonna wipe out the entire Kolberg , and McGowan Families since I'm the only son.

Here's T:
Yeah...now that I'm officially freaked out, thanks to Joe, I'm just gonna have a SWELL trip! I'll have to make sure we all read those emergency pamphelets a million times while on the flight over the Pacific so that we know them backwards and forwards with our eyes closed. he he he Kidding. It's gonna be a blast!! Sadly, I already miss our dog. Having never had a dog before, I've kinda got hooked on the little four-legged beast. And, yes...embarrassing, I admit...I even shed some tears after we dropped her off. What?!? You gotta problem with that? She's my child, all right? The most I've spent apart from her is one night. How am I gonna do TEN NIGHTS?? I will miss her like crazy and can't wait to pick her up when we get back, but I have a feeling I'll survive. She'll have a ball with the other dogs....and, I mean, come on! We'll be in HAWAII with the family!!! YIPPEEEEEE!! It's gonna be a blast! We'll have to make sure we are frugal and don't go bankrupt while we're there, but we're so EXCITED! And we'll be sure to take tons of pictures and post some as soon as we get back.

SAYONARA!!

it's about time!

Finally, finally, FINALLY Joe and I are able to travel somewhere! Ever since we moved back last year (yes...it's been a year...CRAZY!!!!), set back after setback has happened and, especially with all the airlines going under, flight prices to the Northeast have been pretty terrible. So the only travel we've done is camping here and there within a couple hundred miles of Phoenix. Which is fun, don't get me wrong. We LOVE to camp! But this will be our first real "vacation". In a year.

Starting this Friday, we will begin our trip to lovely Hawaii where we will be cruising around the islands with my parents, sister and a few family friends. Money is extremely tight right now and I don't start training until September 29th (which means I don't get paid until October 15th)...so this next month will be interesting, to say the least. Is there ever a time when money isn't a worry? Because I'm honestly getting a little sick of it.

But, if there was ever a time to get out of town, I guess it would be right now. Besides the fact that we have to leave Lucy behind (about which I am completely heartbroken), and besides the fact that Joe will have to go to dialysis several times while we are there, it will still be an awesome and most welcome vacation. We'll have to count our pennies, of course, and keep track of everything...but it'll be a nice break from Phoenix and the perpetual summer heat.