Our 50th State - Hawaii

As promised here a few pics from our trip over to Oahu and Maui.


We got a fabulous package deal from Hawaiian Airlines and flew from San Francisco to Honolulu. We stayed at the Hilton on Waikiki Beach with a view of Diamond Head and the ocean. The view was great, the hotel was ok.


downtown Honolulu

The view from our hotel in Waikiki, Diamond head

Luau.....the Pig !

From Here to Eternity.....beach scene !

The Waikiki beach area is very crowded and very upscale. There is also a huge Japanese population and it is a favorite vacation destination for them. It reminded me a lot of Tokyo. We toured the Island, saw Pearl Harbor and the Arizona monument and climbed Diamond Head. It was 4 days and very expensive. Although a highlight not to be missed is the Polynesian Cultural Center run by the Mormon Church. Everything you could possibly want to learn about south pacific island nations is presented in a fun and exciting format capped off by a huge luau feast and dazzling stage show.

On top of Diamond Head

the view from Diamond Head toward Waikiki Beach

On the Arizona Memorial

Arizona Memorial

Spectacular Hawaiian sunset

We then flew over to Maui and met friends Bob & Betty Sobeck in Lahaina. We stayed at the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel next door to their family condo at Whaler's Village. Maui is spectacular and very casual and relaxing. We enjoyed the fabulous weather (80's) and abundant sunshine along with some great dinners, some fun sightseeing, a Cirque performance and golf at Kapalua's Plantation course, home to the PGA Mercedes Championship.

An outrigger at Mama's Fish House

Surfin'

Cirque

Golf at McKenna in Maui

On top of Haleakala, with Bob & Betty

the 605 yd. 18th at Kapalua

Great vistas at Kapalua

More great views

Lefty Bob at Kapalua

Number 1 at Kapalua


Enjoy the pics.

Gene & Laurie

Long Time Betwen Posts.....

Hello & Holiday Greetings.


It's been a month since my last update and much has happened in our lives during that time. First off, we are now in Tucson, Arizona at our winter RV site in the Voyager RV Resort.


Voyager is a full service, active adult resort with every imaginable amenity from pools and hot tubs to hotel, restaurant, beauty parlor, health clinic and golf course. We were here all last winter and have made many friends in the complex and surrounding area. There are about 20+ guys I play golf with twice a week and Laurie has her fun band, Red Hats and painting. This is a fun place to spend the winter and Laurie's cousin and husband live in Tucson as well.



Last tine we spoke our travels had us in northern California and we spent 15 glorious days in Hawaii. I'll post pics from there shortly, but after returning from our 50th state we did some sightseeing around San Francisco and Sausalito and headed south to Monterey for the Thanksgiving holiday.

We figured that since we could not be with family for the Day, we would find a beautiful locale, a great restaurant and enjoy a quiet, relaxing dinner overlooking the ocean. Which we did at the Intercontinental Hotel's bay front restaurant.

Unfortunately, the day before Thanksgiving we received a call from the Marlborough, MA police that Laurie's brother had passed away suddenly. He was 67 and it was unexpected.

Air travel on the holiday weekend is chaos and we were forced to wait until the following Tuesday to get a flight back east. We relocated to just outside Los Angeles and spent 6 days handling the affairs and cleaning out his apartment. Our daughters, son-in-law and grandchildren came up from Long Island and we could not have done it without their help and support.

After returning from Massachusetts, we headed for Tucson and have set up here for the winter.

Christmas is here and we exchanged some gifts with grandkids while back east but we won't get to see them for the holiday.

We're meeting friends in the desert, near Gila Bend for New Years Eve at a BLM campground. Should be fun to have a pot luck dinner, campfire and a group campout again.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we wish each of you a healthy, prosperous and safe 2010.

Gene & Laurie