First West Coast Experience

Our first west coast trip together.....We flew into Phoenix, Arizona early morning and drove to Sedona, Arizona. This is one truly beautiful city. We stopped at the Chapel of the Holy Cross and lit candles in memory of Christa's mom and both my parents.

 

 We continued traveling across the Arizona desert heading to New Mexico and took a side trip to visit the famous Meteor Crater that was made over 50,000 years when a meteor hit earth. It was amazing to see in person.

 



 

It was a quiet, peaceful and interesting place to see and gather your thoughts as you stood there imagining what it was like when the meteor hit this spot 50,000 years ago.

 

Paradise At It's Best.....Aloha

Awww, Hawaii at it's best. Sharing the sights and sounds of Hawaii with the one that you love is life at it's best.

We went snorkeling at Hanaumna Bay, the sight used in the movie Blue Hawaii with Elvis Presley. We relaxed on the beach and saw lots of colorful fish.

The hike up Diamond Head was long and exhausting but well worth the trip. The trail starts out paved but quickly turns to dirt. It winds around until you come to a set of steps that leads up to the tunnel that goes through the mountain. Once you exit there you enter the mountain. Then after a spiral staircase climb to the top you exit to the most awesome view of Hawaii.

Pali Lookout is another awesome view where the wind blows hard and you can see for miles and miles.

It was the site where King Kamehameha forced the enemy soldiers over the cliff to their deaths to claim victory over the Hawaiian Islands..

We ended our trip to Paradise with a visit to Paradise Cove Luau. The night was awesome with music, food and a polynesian show.

Our trip to Hawaii was the most romantic trip that we had taken and the trip that we forever dreamed of sharing together. Hawaii is our favorite place in the world and we are now looking forward to returning to Paradise and the land they call Hawaii.

Birds Eye View Hawaiian Style

Paradise with a view! Our room on the 29th floor of the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. The morning sunrises to the afternoon breezes the view was always beautiful.

On one of our first few days we had a visitor that came to our balcony. A cute white pigeon came for a visit looking for a handout. Christa opened up a pack of crackers that we got from the plane ride to Hawaii and fed it to the pigeon. He appeared to be very hungry as he pecked at the crumbs for more then 10 minutes.

We finally had to throw the rest on the balcony and let him eat alone the rest of the morning as we hit the beach. For the rest of our trip he returned every day looking for a treat and even returned on our last day to say goodbye before we left to go home.

Look forward to seeing him when we go back.

Paradise With A View

What a choice we picked for a hotel. The Sheraton Princess Kaiulani on Waikiki Beach was the perfect pick.

Located just across the street from the beach and situated right in the middle of all the action. You can't ask for a better hotel than this one.

The hotel clerk that checked us in was wonderful. She explained to hotel, gave us directions to where to eat and even granted our request for a high floor.

We were excited that we were given a room on the 29th floor (top floor) of the hotel. Upon entering the room we were amazed at the awesome view we had. It was a true birds eye view.

I honestly believe that we were given the greatest room with a view in all of Hawaii.

Paradise Finally Shared Together

After dreaming for 26 years to make a trip to Paradise with the love of my life, we finally made it. Hello Hawaii.....thanks for making our dreams come true.

The moment we stepped off the plane we knew we were in paradise. The moment we stepped off the plane we were greeted with a beautiful flower lei. Our hotel "Sheraton Princess Kaiulani" was the perfect choice. Perfect location, great hotel and awesome room/location/view that we received....on the 29th floor.

We could hardly believe that we were actually in Hawaii together. It was wonderful to finally put another piece of the puzzle together in a life together with my beautiful wife. We now have 11 days to share and make wonderful memories together in the land that is truly called paradise!

The Final Leg Home!

August 12-13, 2010....Our last day and night of vacation. We took Amtrak from New York City, New York to Atlanta, Georgia. We departed New York City at 2:25 pm on Thursday and arrived in Atlanta at 9:50 am (2 hrs late). It was Christa's first trip overnight on a train and at first she was nervous but ended up liking it. We ate our meals onboard (Steak for dinner) and breakfast. It was included with the cost of our room. We had a room (#2) on the Crescent, train #19.

This is a view of the room with the bottom bed folded out for the night. The photo at bottom is what the room looked like in the day when the bed was folded up. The room had a second bed that pulled down from the ceiling. It was a great trip home and a good nights sleep as well.

After 19 days we are now home and I for one wish we could go back and start all over again. Christa thinks differently as she is glad to be home with the kitties. I love you baby but I wish we could do it all over again!

Awesome New York

August 11, 2010...we stayed at the Affinia Manhatten Hotel across the street from Penn Station. Awesome place right in the middle of everything and within walking distance of many sites.

Our hotel was just around the corner from the Empire State Building. I took a walk around the Empire State Building the morning before we left New York and it was a wonderful site to see.

We made a visit to Carlos Bake Shop via the Water Taxi from Manhatten across the Hudson River to Hoboken, NJ. We started to wait in line to but some goodies but found the line to be two blocks and a two hour wait to get in. Sorry but we had to go because it was hot and we had to much to see during our one day visit to New York City.