Holidays are over, it’s 2012.
Well I’m finishing up my last day off before getting back into the regular world. This time of year is always crazy with all the people there are to see, so there’s just not much of a routine. It will be nice to get back into something consistant and being able to spread out all my work over a whole week. It just doesn’t pay to take time off because I have to do all the work either before or after I leave anyway. But anywho.
It was a really nice holiday season as far as I can ascertain. Doesn’t seem like as stressful as those of the past few years. Even with Luke here, it just felt like everything kinda fell into place. We made it out to Cimarron, Wichita, Kansas City… all in less than a month. It kinda blew our gas budget, but we made a little extra money with side jobs to come up with the difference. Seems like the Lord still finds ways to provide!
This last quarter of 2011 has really rekindled my excitement for gaming. I got Zelda around Thanksgiving and the new Mario Kart for Christmas. On top of that I got back into Guild Wars for the Wintersday, getting hundreds of holiday items that I need to consume now. Let’s just say I’m not too worried about Death Penalty for a while! I still need to get Super Mario 3D land, but I think that can wait while I work my way though Zelda and Mario Kart.
I’ve been having more fun with Mario Kart 7 than I’ve had with any game for a real long time. Honestly after the Wii and GameCube versions being so similar, I really didn’t expect this to be so compelling. But I’ve really been enjoying the new courses.. a lot. Online mode has been pretty fun too. There’s no communication between you and the other players, but it’s clear that you’re not just racing the computer. Mostly because there’s so many more cheap shots in Muliplayer. In the context of Mario Kart though that’s a good thing. For everytime you get screwed at the finish line, there’s an equal chance that you’ll be able to screw over somebody on the next race, and really that’s what Mario Kart is all about. Haha. I haven’t played a whole lot of Time Trials yet… but the couple ghosts I raced were very fun. I’m not quite ready to give a final review of the game yet, but initial impressions are very good and I’d already recommend it if you have a 3DS.
I’ve been getting into retro gaming more too. I’d like to bolster my collection some dating back to the Super Nintendo and before. I have the N64 pretty extensively covered, and besides a few more brand new controllers, there’s really not a whole lot else I’m looking for right now. I want to go real old skool. In fact at the top of my “retro list” right now is an old “Vectrex” console from the early 80′s. I never had one. And until a few months ago I didn’t even know one existed until I started watching some reviews from Classic Game Room on Youtube. I think I like it because it’s so far and different from anything that is still around today. It really hearkens back to the day when the real games were in the arcades, and if you had something at home that could approximate that experience… man you were living.
Well, happy new year. Hope yours is a good as mine is going to be. I’ve pretty much made up my mind it’s going to be awesome.
Luke’s First Trip
Well we just got back last night from Wichita. Luke’s first real road trip. It’s about a 2 hour drive to Wichita, and he slept (like a baby) all the way down there UNTIL we got off the interstate. We had to pull off for a detour for road construction and he just cut loose for the last 10 minutes of the drive until we got to Andrea’s sisters’ house.
He just has no tolerance for slowing down, haha. On the way home, Andrea was driving and I sat in the back seat next to his car seat. He would zonk out… until we hit a red light. He’d bawl and bawl, then once we started going again he’d calm down. Hit another red light, same thing! It was so funny. Once we got on the interstate doing 70mph he was out for good.
All in all he traveled pretty well. We had to stop once on the way back so Andrea could feed him, and after he had a full tummy, he again slept great all the way home.
It was nice to see everybody. Always seems like so much running to see everybody when we just go back for a weekend, whether it to Wichita, or Cimarron. But it’s always worth it.
How the dog and the car almost died
Well last weekend was the big camping weekend at Kanopolis Lake. We got off early, but everyone else had headed out there first thing so we were already going to be the last to arrive. Andrea and I got off at about 2PM and stopped by the post office to pick up the mail before we packed up and hit the road.
As soon as I got back in the car, Andrea said, “Um… its stuck.” Sure enough the damn car was stuck in park! And we were double screwed because we couldn’t even put it in neutral to get a tow home. So we walk back to the house. Luckily nothing is farther than three blocks away from anything else in Albert! We loaded up the tools in the back of the other car and headed back to see if I could figure anything out. I tried several things, but finally just had to unhook the shifter and craw under the car and shift the transmission by hand, which at that time caused the car to start rolling with me under it! Luckily Andrea was quick on the brake.
Next I swallowed some pride and walked over to the local restaurant and got the owner to help push the car into the street and give us a tow home. I told him I’ll stop by his place and rack up a big bill here soon.
So we made it home. And since we weren’t planning on taking Andrea’s car anyway we loaded up the Toronado as planned and got the heck out of town. Figured I’d worry about the Cutlass when we got back.
Camping was great. It’s always awesome seeing the family and the kids, and it was especially fun haning out with my buddy Chris! We just don’t keep in touch the way we should so it was great to spend a little time hanging out.
One of the nights though, Daisy (who loves to bark at anything that moves within 1,500 ft) took off after a truck. Andrea had her on a leash, but the leash slipped out of her hands. So here goes this stupid little wiener dog chasing after a big ol diesel pickup in the middle of the night with a leash flapping behind her. She runs along side yapping and yapping, then all of a sudden we could see Daisy in the headlights of the truck. About half a second later she appears to trip over something and the truck rolls right OVER her. She goes right between the tires and the truck keeps on going and a bewildered wiener dog finally notices Andrea screaming at her, and in a daze, trots straight back over to the campground. Our guess is her leash she was dragging behind her got caught under a tire and tripped her up.
But despite some unnecessary excitement it was a very excellent weekend. We got Andrea’s car fixed that following Monday after work and Daisy is still the same as always.
So I missed a day…
And so it’s already tomorrow on the east coast. I warned that the posts weren’t guaranteed to be packed with life lessons or interesting tidbits. And even then I forgot to even pull out my phone yesterday and at least post a “Sup”.
Oh well. The craziness continues. Went out to SWK this weekend. Kinda on a whim. But it’s always nice to make the rounds. As always just wish there was a little more time to spend with everybody. We really only have about 20 waking hours out there on a weekend and about twice that would make the whole thing a little more laid back from my perspective. I just always feel like I’m neglecting somebody.
So now it’s off to bed. A super busy week with Thanksgiving coming up and everything. Gonna have to scramble to get everything done in a short amount of time. Yay, Holidays…
Camping at Kanopolis
Took the weekend to go camping for the first time this year. It was just Daisy and me. Andrea was down in Wichita doing some much needed wardrobe shopping. It was nice to get away for a while. It’s nice to be away from the world once in a while and alone in my thoughts. While I’m not a very social person, there’s times when you’re out camping by yourself and about three hours go by and you realized you haven’t said a single word out loud, you feel the need to just start talking, just to say something. I ended up recording a few videos into the camera for no reason. I read a lot of my book, and otherwise just did a lot of thinkin’.
Kanopolis seems like a nice enough lake. I didn’t really stay near the water, I didn’t have a fishing license anyway. But I sure could have. There weren’t that many people camping there at all. Pretty much had my run of the place. And best of all. It was quiet and peaceful! Here’s a few pics of the outing.
My campsite, got a compliment on the car on the way into the campground!
Storms looked to be rolling in most of the evening, but never saw a drop of rain!
Saturday was just too hot for Daisy. She was much more lively on Sunday.
The storms all around made for some cool weather pictures.
Yup, I guess it’s official. I’m an old man.
For those unfamiliar with the Dropkick Murphy’s, here’s a video of their latest song:
We went to Kansas City over the weekend with Andrea’s sister Trina and her husband Jason. Had a good time roaming around, but the main reason we went up there was to see the band. It was at the Beaumont Club which was basically just a giant room with a dancefloor, a bar, and a stage. We showed up shortly before the first band went on. I was optimistic about the experience because while there were quite a few people there you still had room to move around a bit.
The first band was Larry and His Flask. To be honest I think I enjoyed them even more than Dropkick. Maybe it was the crazy dude jumping around stage with the bass violin, or just the fact that we hadn’t been smothered by people yet. But either way I thought their music was very different and cool. The second band was just a bunch of screaming. And by the time the Murphy’s took the stage it was so packed in there I was sticking my head up, not so much as to see the band, as I was to get a gulp of fresh air.
Don’t get me wrong, it was still a good time and I’m very glad we went. But given the choice I’d actually prefer experiencing my live music in a place where I can sit down, listen to the band, and perhaps even enjoy a cool beverage. And this I why I say, apparently I’m already a grumpy old man.
Let the travels commence!
Well tis the season to hit the road and visit all the family. Andrea’s been down to Wichita the past two weekends while I had to work. But either tomorrow night or Friday morning we’re both heading to Cimarron to make the rounds.
It all depends on the weather. First they were calling for a Blizzard Watch, then cancelled the Blizzard Watch, then this morning they re-instated it. Doesn’t sound like we’re going to get a lot of snow, but the wind will be the problem. It sounds like it’s going to all be wrapping up Thursday evening, so if the roads are fairly clear we’re going to make a break for it. If we can get out there, the trip back should be a piece of cake!
Got all my Christmas shopping done except for one person. And that Christmas isn’t until January, so I’ve still got time!
Merry Christmas, everybody!
To da Nort der, doon cha no?
Ready to go!
Well this past weekend Andrea and I went to the Twin Cities, primarily to watch my team (the Vikings) play the (49ers). I was telling Andrea that I’m glad I have her around, because trips like this I would never convince myself to go on because it’s: too far, no time, expensive, or whatever until I talked myself out of it. Luckily she just orders tickets and says, “We’re going. Too late!“ ha ha It really was a blast… and an adventure.
I don’t have any vacation time built up at work yet, so we had to take the trip in as few days as possible. I would loved to have been able to fly, but that wasn’t really in the budget and would just be a lot to spend on a football game considering the already healthy chunk of change for the tickets. So we decided to drive. When we went to Branson we rented a car because we didn’t really trust either of ours for super long hauls. But this time I figured, for the price of a rental car, we could get Andrea’s exhaust replaced and take her car, and rather than just throwing that money away on a one time use deal, we’d spend it on something that would actually last a few years. So the decision was made. We were taking her car.
Grandpa Wayne has been doing pretty bad with his emphysema and he probably doesn’t have much time left, so we detoured about an hour to go through Sabetha, KS to see Grandma and Grandpa for a short while. I like driving through that area of the country. Rolling hills and old barns make up the horizon, lots of old farm machinery parked here or there. Some of it still gets used, some of it has been just sitting for sale for years by the farmer who’s waiting for the right offer. There’s just something really rustic about the scenery and time’s erosion seems to work a little slower around those parts.
North towards Bellville on US 81.
Seneca, KS. Almost to Sabetha.
The Starlite Motel in Seneca. Taken this weekend with old timey black and white effect! Oooh. Vintage!
I was working late running the Great Bend HS football game until after midnight, so Andrea was sweet enough to drive the first leg to Sabetha. We hung out with Grandma and Grandpa for a while. Grandma has made so much progress since basically having a stroke over a year ago. Sadly Grandpa has gone the other direction. He was doing well enough to recognize us and recognize what we were talking about, but he kept drifting in and out. Like you’re talking to someone who’s half a sleep. It’s painful to watch someone who knows they are dying and it’s something I don’t have a lot of experience with. As I think over it, I hope to write more about it as I can make sense of my thoughts. For now, all I really know is that I for one hope my own death is swift.
From there we headed to St. Joesph, Missouri. I don’t think I’ve been to St. Joe since Mom lived there a few years back. It was very unique period of my life where EVERYTHING was changing. Mom and Dad were recently divorced and I was finishing high school getting ready to start the whole college thing. It was almost like a waterfall of experiences between what I was… and what I am. Just thinking about St. Joe brings back a flood of memories all at once that you have to stop and sort them out. The feelings were so jumbled at the time that the images pop in my head so randomly. I can remember so many seemingly insignificant things, but it’s hard to put it together in such linear was as I can so many other memories. I remember such insignificant things like using white bandage tape to hide the wires for Mom and Duane’s surround sound against their white walls, and I remember thinking that Duane’s 120MB SuperDisk drive was THE BOMB! It’s like I remember tons of little pieces, but they don’t really fit together to form a greater picture.
120MB!??? I can fit ALL my files on one disk! Holy crap!
Wow, this post has taken a bigger detour than I expected. Okay, back to Minnesota. The one thing we did do at St. Joe was switch drivers. I took over and we turned north towards Iowa. I did most of the driving through Iowa and was pretty white knuckled through Des Moines traffic. I couldn’t handle that kind of stuff every day.
I had just gone to the eye doctor and got a new perscription, still waiting for my glasses to come in, but I got some contacts for the first time in probably at least 10 years. Not going to wear them all the time, just for things it would be nice to ditch the glasses. But the doc gave me some free ones and said to wear them for a few days and see how they feel. They feel just like they used too. Dry and sticky and a PITA to put in and take out. I got a 30 pack that will probably last me a year once my specs come in.
Who needs glasses when you aren't looking at the road anyway?
North towards Iowa on I-35. It was cloudy and cool most of the way, but didn't see much rain.
We made great time at almost 100 MPH. Okay, Andrea's speedometer is just wiggin, it was more like 75 MPH. Still made good time!
Really? You're going to spend millions building a Casino, and you're going to call it... Terrible's?
Minneapolis, it is!
Almost there! But really.... there's nothing in the next 211 miles worth mentioning?
Nicest rest area I've seen.
After leaving at 7:00 AM, the sun sets on our first day of the vacation near the Minnesota State Line.
We ended up making pretty good time we rolled in just shortly after 9:00 PM. Our hotel was easy to find and right near the Mall of America. After a marathon drive like that it was nice to FINALLY reach our destination!
After sitting for 12 hours, there's nothing like finally sitting.
Interwebs!
We didn’t do a whole lot Saturday night. We went to the MOA breifly before they closed so I could get a Vikings shirt for the game, but for a store that sells ONLY Vikings stuff, I was really disappointed with the selection. None of the shirts tickled my fancy and most of them were around $30. I found a polo shirt I really liked, but it was $75 freakin’ dollars! I found a nice pair of pajama pants though, which I’ve been wanting for years! We ended up just going to Wal-Mart down the road, and I found a t-shirt I really liked for $12. I guess I’m just a cheap bastard.
Andrea wanted me to get a jersey, but I'm just not a jersey wearing guy.
After the shopping we headed back to the hotel. We were hungry and there was an Outback Steakhouse in the hotel, so we decided that will work. I ate WAY too much and probably drank WAY too much too. They were having a special on Sam Adam’s Oktoberfest beer. Two for one. I guess I thought that just meant half price, but nope, they brought me two mugs! Ha ha.
If only drinking two at a time made it twice as good. It's not. It's just messy.
So I fell asleep with a stomach ache thanks to the obnoxious quantity of food in my belly. And when we woke up, it was time to get rolling and ready for the game! Tail gating would have been fun, but there’s not a lot of parking around the Metrodome, and traffic wouldn’t be much fun either. We decided to take the “Light Rail” from the Mall of America up to the Metrodome. The whole trip was probably 30-45 minutes on a train packed with Vikings fans. I’d say it’s a lot like a subway ride, only not under ground… but I’ve never ridden the subway so I can’t say. It was a little uncomfortable with so many people packed in, but all in all it was probably be best way to go.
The train pulling into the Mall of America.
View of downtown from the rail.
Pulling into the Metrodome!
It was really cool walking up to the Metrodome. Here in Kansas you don’t see too many things that are THAT big. I love that gameday atmosphere, where everybody is pumped up for the game. Andrea was worried she’d be the only 49ers fan, but there were plenty of them around that she didn’t draw too much attention to herself. hehe
Our seats weren’t too bad. We were in the corner of the endzone in the upper deck. We weren’t close enough see the whites of their eyes, but we had a great view of the action.
We got to our seats early. About an hour before kickoff. Didn't really feel like we were waiting around a lot though. It was cool just to watch the players warm up and take in the atmosphere though.
Airing up inflateable boat for the players to run through.
Filled!
Here's a good picture of our view. After some fireworks and pregame festivities it was time for kickoff!
It's still weird to see Favre as a Viking. But after this game I'd be a believer.
The game itself was amazing. Both teams were undefeated coming into the game, and both teams really fought hard the whole game. It was just a great game to watch, and we couldn’t have picked a better one to go see in person. The San Fransico 49ers scored what looked like a game winning touch down with less than 2 minutes left in the game. A field goal wouldn’t be enough to tie, so the Vikings needed a touchdown in 90 seconds to win. Somehow Farve lead them down the field, and with TWO seconds to go, Farve through an amazing pass and Greg Lewis made an even MORE amazing catch. And after that it was over!
You just have to see it. To me it was all a blur, but the one thing I remember was the sound of the crowd. Listen to the roar when he makes the catch in the video below. It was an amazing moment to be a part of. I wanted to jump and hug Andrea…. but she’d have none of it. I’m sure in her mind they had already won the game and she was celebrating, only to have it abruptly ripped away. Couldn’t have been fun. Ha ha!
After that we were really beat. We road the train back to the MOA and did some shopping. By the time we got back to the room at about 8:00 I was content to just kick back on the bed and watch the Sunday Night football game on some fuzzy cable TV.
The next morning we slept in and decided to take a short detour on the way home. We’d been there once before but it was more just driving through. This time we decided to stop and check out Wabasha, Minnesota. A somewhat famous little town.
That's right... Home of Grumpy Old Men. The movie, that is.
Last time we were hear was years ago when we had just gotten together. We stopped by Slippery’s tavern but they were closed and we didn’t really have any extra money anyway. THIS time they were open and we just HAD to try it out. Now this isn’t exactly what you see in the movie. There is a bar named Slippery’s in Wabasha, and it was there BEFORE the movie, but what you see in the movie isn’t the real Slippery’s. Which shouldn’t be a suprise to the keen observer (or those who have just watched the movie way too many times), because the Slippery’s in the first movie doesn’t even look anything like Slippery’s in the second movie. So visually there’s not a whole lot in common. But it was still a cool place to check out.
The REAL Slippery's
Looking out the window from our table.
They're showing Grumpy Old Men on the TV! What are the odds? Oh see the small ice fishing pole below the TV that's the Green Hornet!
I ordered a glass of "Slippery's Red". I wasn't too impressed at first. Seemed like it lacked flavor, but for some reason when I drank it a long with some of the greasy fries, it tasted fantastic!
After that it was on with the long trek home. Which got even longer at around 11:00 at night. Andrea had run over something on the way to Kansas City. Neither one of us saw what it was so who knows what it could have been, but when we stopped for gas, Andrea noticed the right rear tire was really low. We tried to air it back up, but it was losing air too fast. So we dug her jack and spare out, and while jacking the car up, the jack stripped out and broke! So we had to limp to the nearest Wal-Mart and buy a new jack, then change the tire in the parking lot, and drive all the way home at 50 mph on an 18 year old spare tire! Come 4:30 AM we FINALLY pulled in the driveway. I got a couple hours of shut eye, then I headed back to work. Vacation over.
So despite the flat tire it was a really great trip, and I’m glad Andrea made the plans to go!
Scenes from the Labor Day weekend.
Well Andrea and I hadn’t been back to Cimarron since April of this year. Which is really kinda sad since we’re only two hours away. We really have to do better. But we took the three day weekend and made the rounds to see everybody. Had a great time! I don’t know about Andrea but I know I ate WAY too much the whole time. But it was awesome to see everybody and I even got Dad to weld up Andrea’s fuse block bracket for her car. I really gotta get him to teach me how to weld.
But here’s a few highlights of the trip. Check out my Picasa Gallery for a ton more pictures!
Solving the world's problems.
The Duncan cookout.
Opening turns of the Duncan Invitational Croquette Tournament.
Playin' Wii Sports Resort
White girl
It was a blast. Should have got some pictures of the ribs from Mom and Duane’s. MAN those were tasty. I got about a half slab in my fridge, just waiting for tomorrow night!
Thanks to everybody that was there. It was an awesome time! And we’ll be back sooner next time.
Back home again.
Well we are back from Branson. It wasn’t exactly what we expected but we still had a really good time. There’s definitely not a lot to do at night there. The streets are bumper to bumper during the day, but at night you’ve got free run of the place! If we were to do it again, we’d definitely try to rent a cabin or something out by Table Rock lake, just to have some nice space to relax in during the downtime.
The big building is called the "Chateau on the Lake" or something like that.
Tons of places to fish and camp. And the water was crystal clear!
Cottages down by the marina.
It’s so beautiful out there. All sorts of trees, hills, and water. I’d love to rent a house boat or something sometime and just spend a week out there fishing and drinking beer, and taking in some of the sights. I’m a geeky boring person, so I really enjoyed all the museums. Some were better than others, but the Titanic museum is well worth the price of admission (and at $20 a person that’s saying something). Come to find out, that big ship outside? Yeah, only 1/2 scale. MAN was that a big boat. No pictures allowed inside, so soak it all up while you’re in there. We spent 3 hours there, and I’m sure we didn’t get a good look at everything.
There’s also Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum. Just a collection of weird cooky stuff. Kinda neat but thought it was a little pricey. The Hollywood Wax Museum was very cool. The Dinosaur Museum has life size replicas of Dinosaurs. Pretty cool, kids would LOVE it! I would have liked more scientific info, but it was still neat to get up close to T-rex and others.
Big ole Stegosaurus.
Say goodbye!
Everything in Branson seems to cost at least $10. So take your number of stops planned for the day. Multiply by $20 and add food and gas, and there’s your budget. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not to say it isn’t worth it, but a lot of times I found myself forking over $20 or $30 just because I knew I wouldn’t have a chance to do this stuff again for a long time. (Which I’m sure is their plan.) $10 a person to ride an elevator 16 stories seemed a little steep, but I’m still glad we went up Inspiration Tower, and got a good look at the Ozarks. $10 a person to ride one of the 50 different go-kart tracks… lame. Since when do gokarts AUTOMATICALLY hit the breaks going down hills. 20 m.p.h. speed limits FTL. $10 per person for a really retro indoor mini-golf was okay since we had the whole place to ourselves pretty much. But they could have been a little more creative with the course designs!
Inspiration Tower
Branson from the top.
Goofballs
Indoor mini-golf. Fun, but I recommend one of the 17 outdoor mini golf courses (unless it's snowing).
In Branson, you're never more than 100 ft. from a gift shop.
Part of what surprised me about Branson is just the atmosphere. I knew it was all about country music, and live shows, but the way the city is laid out creates a very confusing experience. With so many hills around, there’s not too much “off the beaten path”. There’s just not that many paths to choose from. So mixed in between really upscale theaters and condos, you’ll find old vacant buildings reminiscent of the 50′s and better days. Then you might run across large cleared and undeveloped areas. It’s almost like the town is caught between two eras. The old tie the suitcase to the top of the car, Griswold family vacation days, and the new multi-million luxury timeshare days. And without space to separate the two, it just seems odd. Not bad or scary, just not what I had expected.
I’m glad we went and I had a great time. But I probably won’t be back until we have some kids to take with us, or we get a group of people who want to split renting a cabin on the lake or something. There’s no shortage of things to do there. Which reminds me, we never did go see a show. Not really Andrea or I’s thing, which surely adds to why we might be Branson misfits. Haha. It’s not the cheapest vacation if you plan on running and doing stuff all day everyday. But like anywhere there’s always fun things to do that don’t cost a dime. Like taking in the lake or visiting the fish hatchery! (Seriously, it was actually fun.)
Trying to decide the best way to torture these fish.
Table Rock Dam and powerhouse.
Oh yeah. We rented a Mazda 6, and now Andrea wants a new car. Greaaat.
Don't get used to it.
She never even let me drive it on the road. I got to pull it around the hotel once.
Speaking of cars... just saw this driving around. All I can say is WTF?
A real "head turner".
Welp, I have a little over a week left at Dillon’s. Better get to work!
We’re in Branson
We’ve had this trip planned for a while, and I can’t believe it’s already here. We were messing around on the internet one night and discovered Branson is home to the Titanic Museum. Andrea’s a big fan of the movie, and I’ve always been facinated by the story since I was in grade school, so that was kinda the seed that was planted to start the planning.
We got to town around 4:30 or so, and have just kinda been feeling our way around so far. There’s a lot of stuff here, but honestly I feel a little out of place. Branson seems set up for two different demographics. The Senior Citizen, and the Family Vacationer. Lots of buffets, gift shops with oversize broaches, and about 200 different go-kart tracks and water slides. And of course TONS of shows to go see.
But that’s not to say there’s nothing for us to do. Just today in the short time we’ve been here we found a nice microbrewery called Charlie’s and I had an excellent dark wheat beer while Andrea enjoyed a tasty chicken-fried steak. We also visited the Hollywood wax museum. Lots of celebrity figures and stuff and they let you pose with ‘em and take your own pictures even. Pretty cool. I know Mom’s coming in a few weeks so I won’t post all our pictures and spoil it, but here’s a couple of my favorites. The rest of the pictures are in my Picasa gallery if you want to see who else is in the museum.
Jack Black and I sharing expressions.
This one kinda freaks me out because the picture almost looks real! Even the wax Hef' can get the ladies in bed!
So we’re back at the Holiday Inn Express now. In our SECOND room. At just before midnite (while typing this post actually) water started dripping from our ceiling into our room. Tried to call the front desk… but the phone didn’t work! So I make myself halfway presentable and go up to the front desk and explain what’s going on. Didn’t have to be mean, or nasty or anything. And they sent somebody over to look at the leak, and immediately moved us to a king suite! Nice. We don’t have our own hot tub or anthing, but it’s a lot nicer room, and all it cost was a few drips!
But now I need to sleep. Tomorrow is on to the Titanic museum, and whatever else we end up doing. Who knows! Here’s a few pics we shot today of the outside of the museum. I don’t think the ship is QUITE full size, but it’s damn close. 4/5 size maybe. Still pretty darn big.
ICEBERG! I hope the museum is still floating tomorrow.
Weird to see half a ship right in the middle of town.
Our Home. I wish!
Here’s the place we stayed in Hawaii. So nice I felt out of place!
More of the pics.
You may have perused the gallery already, but for those who haven’t and those who wondered what they were looking at…here’s a few more with commentary.
Opaeka'a Falls - The house at the top of the falls is actually for sale. $4.25 Million and it's YOURS!
Wailua Falls - You might recognize it as the waterfall from "Fantasy Island".
Of all the waterfalls on the island, the ones below were my favorite. These falls are about 3 miles from Hanalei, where the picture was taken. If you look at the full size picture in the gallery, you’ll see a few baby waterfalls to each side of the big one in the middle. The top of this mountain gets over 400 inches of rain a year, it’s one of the wettest spots on earth.
Waterfalls descend from the clouds.
We made it back!
I must say, if you ever get the chance to go to Kauai…GO! Andrea and I both had a fantastic time. We were there for eight days and seven nights and at the end of it we STILL weren’t ready to leave. It’s amazing how beautiful it was everywhere you looked.
The island was bigger than I thought it would be. Only one hiway went around the island, except for about 10 miles. So if you want to get from the north side to the west side, it’s about a 2 hour drive clear around the island to get there. The island is only about 35 miles wide, but we managed to rack up almost 800 miles on our rental Jeep.
Here’s a few highlights. Check out all the pictures in my Picasa Gallery.
Here we are just getting off the plane waiting for our bags. We were enamored right from the start as we walked through the airport, and everything is open to the outside air. There were some fences and gates to keep people from bypassing security areas and the like, but no matter where you are, you’re breathing fresh ocean breeze!
Andrea at baggage claim in the Lihue airport.
From there we hopped on a shuttle to the car rental place. Which was hidden away in a little industrial area. We’d never have found it ourselves. From there, Andrea’s dream came true when they handed us the keys to our Jeep for the week. She’s now for sure she wants one of her own!
Andrea in heaven.
Then we headed up the coast for a beautiful drive to Princeville on the North Shore. We took lots of videos, but it’ll take some time to get ‘em uploaded so look for that post later. As a wedding gift, Andrea’s Dad let us use his timeshare. It was a real classy place. I was quickly feeling out of place!
Entrance to Princeville.
Our building. We stayed in the top left condo.
My favorite spot.
The view off the balcony. Looks too pretty to be real, but it is!
We got all checked in. Took a moment to take everything in, and then hopped in the suits and headed for the beach! But more on that later. It’s 2 AM (only 9 PM Hawaii time!) right now and should get to bed. Jet lag sucks!
To be continued…
Well, this is it…
My last little bit of internet time before we take off. Our flight leaves 8:30 AM tomorrow morning. (I’m excited!) And we’ll get back around noon on the next Friday. We’ll have lots of pictures and videos and lots to talk about, I’m sure!
Talk to y’all soon!
Lapse in Blogging
Well I haven’t blogged for the past few days, because I haven’t hardly been near a computer.
Andrea’s sister, Trina, came into town Friday afternoon. And we headed out to a United Way fundraiser Friday night. It was pretty fun. The food was good, but not great. They said the buffet line was ready and everybody was just sitting there. So I hopped up grabbed a plate, and what do you know, everybody else finally followed suit. Guess those hoity toity folks have a problem with starting a buffet. But it was a fun night. They had a magician/comedian there that was pretty good.
Saturday we went to the zoo here in Great Bend. It’s not the best zoo in the world, but it’s the best FREE zoo I’ve been to, and pretty nice for a town this size. But apparently free also describes the containment of the animals. There were a few peacocks and assorted birds roaming around. But by far the most startling, was the small alligator just swimming along in in the pond right next to one of the walking paths. Andrea being the nut that she is, decided it’d be fun to throw sticks at it. After snapping a couple sticks in half, it swims right at us! Let me remind you, there’s no barriers, or fences, or anything stopping this little guy from crawling up and snacking on a toe or two! So we trotted our little butts out of there! Still not sure if there was supposed to be an alligator there or not….
Saturday night we went to a going away party for one of the guys here at work. That was pretty fun, I played in a “dimes” tournament. Apparently I’m not very good at throwing a dime into a cup. I lost pretty easily. At least I still have some Mario Kart skillz!
Sunday got up early to haul our cat down to SWK for a little vacation of her own before we head to Hawaii this week. Andrea was going to come too, but she was up early up-chucking and decided to stay home and rest up. I felt sorry for her. But I didn’t want her to drag being sick out and into vacation time. So I went and had a good time. Got to see my family and get headed back in decent time. It’s so much nicer to live a little bit closer that I can head down and back in a day and actually have some time!
And now it’s Monday and there’s nothing to do at work again. But no biggie, it’s a three day work week for me!
Returned from the wild west.
Welp. Had a pretty good trip. Job interview went well from what I could tell. Hopefully it didn’t go even better for somebody else.
Stopped by the old dealership. Gagnon Motors, not in business anymore. But I did get to catch the owner Mr. Gagnon himself! He actually remembered the car when I threw out the name of the guy that bought it. Even remembered what color it used to be! Pretty cool.
Said they stopped selling GM in 2000 and after a fire in 2002, he just salvaged what he could and uses it for his own shop. Had a good time talking to him, and he seemed to enjoy seeing the car and talking about the old days.
For me it was kinda cool to see the car come full circle. Not too many cars go 230,000 miles and make it back to where they were sold after 23 years. I bet when he sold this car in 1985 he didn’t expect it to outlast the dealership. 
While I was out in BFE, I drove out to castle rock. Take I-70 to the middle of nowhere, then head 14 miles south down a dirt road and you find Castle Rock. Saw a sign for it while I was enjoying some DQ in Quinter, KS and had some time to kill so I figured what the hell.
So I guess even if I don’t get the job, I at least had an enjoyable day off.
SW Kansas Here We Come!
Welp, we’re heading off to SW Kansas this weekend. We’re dropping off the cat at Matt’s mom’s place so she can catsit for us for a while. We’re definitely moving out of our apartment, can’t stand living in a creek flood zone. So, they’re going to start showing off our apartment coming up in June, since we have to put in our 60 day notice on the first.
Searching for a new place has been kind of difficult. It has almost wore me out, even though it’s only been a few weeks since we’ve started looking. 
Matt says that it will take time. I believe him, but I wish it wasn’t so hard around here. I was looking on rent.com for places in Wichita, just for fun, and came across a lot of places that were a hell of a lot cheaper than around here. I found a two bedroom apartment for about $425/mo down there that would cost us around $700/mo around here. It’s just ridiculous.
Anyways, I’m excited to see the other half of the family. I didn’t get to go with Matt the last two times he went down there. So, I hope everybody else is excited to see me!
I haven’t forgotten.
I haven’t been posting lately. But as the picture above shows, I haven’t been just ignoring the blog. I haven’t even had time to play any games for the past week! So you KNOW I’ve been busy. I’ve just had a lot going on.
I went up to Sabetha to see all the grandparents with some time off I had the end of last week. Grandpa Wayne doesn’t seem to be getting any better. He’s lost most of the strength in his legs and has trouble getting out of chairs and has been using a walker to get around. Grandma called today and said they ran some tests and that he needs to stop taking chemo immediately. So say a prayer that he can start feeling better one way or another.
Between then and now it seems like I’ve just been busy doing odds and ends stuff. Fixing little things on my car, and doing stuff around the house I’ve been putting off. I’ve been strangely motivated lately and just haven’t been on the computer much longer than to check e-mail, and haven’t played any games or watched TV or anything.
I did get a chance to see the new Bond movie. It’s what a lot of people said it would be, more like the early Bond films. There’s really no gadgets, although there is plenty of high tech stuff. It’s all just a lot more believable. It’s certianly a different Bond film, and I think a nice change of pace for the series, and great timing to introduce the new actor. Check it out if you have the time, and the $8.50 to buy a movie ticket. =P
Coming up I’ll be heading to SWK for the Thanksgiving weekend. I’ll be eating a total of 4 Thanksgiving dinners this week, so I’m hoping to not pack on more than 10 pounds. Wish me luck!
As of lately.
Well not much out of the usual going on. But it’s been a while since I’ve blogged anything and I’m starting to feel guilty.
I’m over in Hays right now for Biebs birthday bash. Had fun last night playing Mario Kart on a big projection screen with a bunch of people. I didn’t do as bad as I thought I would after so long not playing that game. But I held my own. Biebs did end up with more 1st places than I. So much for being the KartMaster. 
Andrea headed down to Wichita to see her family and have HER birthday bash. He birthday isn’t until the 6th though. So I don’t know how she gets off having all these birthday celebrations! He he.
All in all. Not much to report. I did take Old Hiway 40 from Junction City to Hays on my way out here. That’s a really pretty drive and I wish I would have taken my camera. Part of it winds through the Flint Hills and there’s a lot of old towns and stone buildings along the way. Plus the weather was beautiful and it was all so picturesque. It took about 45 minutes longer than I-70, but there was so much to see that it didn’t seem bad at all.
So today, I’m just hanging out in Hays. Biebs has to work, so I’m gonna chill with him at the Eagle radio station. Too bad I forgot my Power Hits shirt!
Back in action.
Well I’ve been on hiatus for a while. As most of you know I was on vacation for a week in Yellowstone. And before that, blogger was being a bitch, so I couldn’t make any posts.
But alas, I’m back. And able to post again. Had a great time in Yellowstone. And I’d post some pictures, but I don’t have any. Andrea’s dad has a really nice digital camrea, so I’m going to wait for them to burn all the pictures to DVD and get them then. We took something like 800 pictures. It’s more than a gigabyte of pictures anyway. So as soon as I have them, I’ll get a few of the cool ones up. Thoughit was hard to take a bad picture there. Everything was so beautiful.
We also stopped by Mt. Rushmore. It was pretty impressive. But I have to admit, when I looked at it, I couldn’t help but remember the “Mt. Mario” in PilotWings 64 that had Mario’s face on it. That’s not geeky is it? He he.
All in all we covered over 3,300 miles in 10 days. More than enough to drive from New York to L.A. All at 14 miles per gallon. UGH! Still cheaper than flying though. But I think it’s the last big vacation like that for a while. Next year, I think I’ll go to Missouri.
this weekend
ok this weekend im bringing my camera and your going to put up the photos because you dont have a photo of me in your photo section =P
Live from New York…
Well I finally got around to getting Andrea’s pictures from her New York trip at the end of last month uploaded. You can check ‘em out in the photos section.
Enjoy!
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Posted By: Justin
Just found out I’m going to Tallil Air Base, Iraq in January. Should be interesting.
