HOSA Hub of Social Activity Post 2

HOSA Post 2 June 11th 2016 

Guess what? This past Sunday I went on a little day trip. I went down to Tucson to visit family. My cousin Bre is moving to Michigan and my aunt had a dinner to send her off. I also made plans to go to Tucson for the 3rd and 4th of July. So I am going to put both trips on one post after that is finished. 

Today, I want to do a second HOSA post about an social activity that happened June 11th. It was the last Saturday before my sister, Caitlin, started working. As you may remember she just graduated in May from school. She already had a job at the time, but it started June 13th. So, earlier in the week I said we should get a drink on the 11th as a send off. That is what we did, we also invited Kelsi because when we went out over my birthday we said we should get drinks soon. 

So I tried to find a location that was centrally located between us that we could have a drink. I wanted to try a place we had not been to before. I used this app called Untapped, which I use to track beers and rate beers that I drink. I like the app because it helps me remember if I liked a beer and sometimes it helps me remember why I liked it. I think the app could be better because it doesn't suggest beers based on previous ratings, but I don't think there is an app that does that! Untapped does have a list and map of venues though. So with that I was found a tap room called Huss Beer Company. I think perhaps I was familiar with the beer from beer festivals because it sounded familiar, but I had never been to the room.

I was a little concerned because the location is in a business plaza, but when I went inside it was very nice. When I first went in the lights were mostly off and the lighting was from the windows. The seating was super cute. There are many tables and chair sets that are all different. There are also games that you can play, which I wanted to play, but never got around to it. 

I arrived first, a little early, and found a table for us. The bartender came right out to ask me what I wanted. I think usually people go up to the bar to order, but I think I had a look on my face like a lost dog while picking a seat! The bartender was super nice and friendly. And I ordered a beer called Koffee. I have heard of coffee flavored beer before but never tried it. It is so yummy. It taste like chocolate covered coffee beans, but without the chocolate. The coffee I drink at work tastes more like water and/or burned water with a hint of the coffee taste. So the beer had a more pure coffee flavor. It was so delicious that when Kelsi arrived she ordered one. Caitlin cannot drink beer. Huss had one cider and one wine on tap. She got the cider, and it looked like apple juice. We nursed our drinks and chatted for quiet a while. As the evening waned the house lights did come on so that threw the chill vibe off. Which was fine. People around seemed to get a little more chatty, and the group playing Jenga caught everyone's attention a few times. But it was all in good fun. At one point a herd of people came in to get handles of beers to go. It was quite the location.

So at the tap room you can order food or bring it in, but they don't have food there. Since we didn't know that, and we didn't know much in the area we decided to go south a few miles to get sushi at a place called Sting Ray. It is right next to Orange Theory Fitness off the I-10 and Ray. Caitlin and I go to the OT Fitness sometimes and every time I go in I just think about the delicious sushi while I'm running on the treadmill. But I had never gone to Sting Ray before. 

We arrived around seven and were seated quickly. We ordered other drinks. I was going to get another beer, but then Caitlin asked if they served Sake Sangria. They don't officially have that drink, but they did serve it. So I ordered one, Caitlin did too, but only after making sure that it was gluten free. Then we decided to split some sushi rolls. It was quite tricky because certain ones had gluten, and we removed one of the ingredients in one roll, but the crunchy roll we ordered anyway and Caitlin didn't eat that one. It could have been quite the issue with the waitress, but she was so nice about it. She was very concerned and she seemed like she enjoyed learning more about the menu items as well. What a great attitude! The waitress also reminded Caitlin of Julia Stiles, which she took well too and was a running joke all night. 

The sushi was very good, so was the Sangria. This will probably just make my treadmill thoughts even worse, but oh well. We spend a lot of the night laughing about the jobs, guys and life in general. So it was really a good Social Activity! I think it was a good send off for Caitlin, even if she had to go home before midnight because she is a real working adult now and she wanted to get a good night sleep--not the day before, but two days before her first day of work!

Hosa - Hub of Social Activity Post 1

HOSA Post 1 - May, 29th 2016

Now that I have explained what the HOSA is I can start my first Hosa post. (Here is link if you missed: HOSA). I have been wanting to share this for almost a month, but I could not work out how to do so on a travel blog. I didn't travel anywhere, unless you count to my parents, which I don't count. If you do visit Phoenix ever, then you might want to partake, so there is trip related value to people outside of the area.

Anyway, for this first Hosa post, I want to explain what happened on my birthday this year. As I said I went over to my parents house first, in the morning. Let's skip ahead a little, because that part wasn't too interesting. I mean for me it was interesting because my parents gave me gifts. Also, my mom and I went to get pedicures. So it was fun for me, but not very interesting to read about.

The week before that was my brother's birthday and I suggested that we should try an escape room, but by that time it was a little hard to coordinate. So we decided to go for my birthday instead. If you don't know what an escape room is I'll explain. What happens is that your and your group are locked into a room. Inside the room there are puzzles and clues that you need to solve in order to find the key and escape. You have one hour to escape. Now, if you are curious the door to the room is not actually locked, but if you leave the room then you cannot go back into the room. Also, these are all puzzles and there aren't any physical obstacles. That would have been fun too, but I think I understand why they limit to just the mental games and puzzles. The escape room we did was called the Puzzle Room.

Let me back up, because part of the fun during the day, though maybe not fun for the driver, my Dad, was that on the way to the Puzzle Room, we had to pick up my sister, Caitlin, and my brother, Tyler. Separately! It was quite hilarious, though don't tell my Dad. He seemed a bit stressed. We picked up Caitlin alright, except that she was a little slow at getting in the car, apparently there was an emergency session of her putting a gift in a bag! Also, Caitlin had just spent the day-before and the morning-of driving in a Razor thru the desert. She had barely arrived back.

Then, we went to pick up Tyler. He suggested that we meet off the freeway at Southern, but I said, there is not an exit at Southern. But he was saying there was, and my Mom believed him, which is fine, but she has google maps on her phone, so she could have looked. Then, for whatever reason, my Mom said that we needed to get off the freeway early, drive through the speed trap that is Guadeloupe. Then he ended up meeting us at a different location! All the while we were all trying to give Dad direction. He did the right thing by listening to Mom, but that wasn't the fastest thing!

Either way it doesn't matter, because we arrived at the Puzzle Room in plenty of time. The door is unlabeled maybe to be mysterious, but there was a sandwich board out front so it wasn't too hard to find. My brother had purchased a groupon for the room and he did it for six people. There are only five of us, so I invited my friend, Kelsi, to come. She was the only one who had done an escape room, before. However, she had never been to the Puzzle Room before. She wisely made the decision to meet us at the Puzzle Room instead of getting a ride.

Since we had never been before, the moderator took an ample amount of time explaining the game, and fielding questions, but I think we were all still confused. Once we were ready to start the Moderator did this funny script about us being there to look at a place to open a coffee shop. He explained who the previous tenant was and why the room looked the way it did, then he left the room because he "forgot" something. Then on screen there was a silly video about being trapped by the previous tenant and if we didn't get out we'd be cursed! For Life!

Anyway, after that the time starts on the clock. I wouldn't explain all the tasks, because maybe you want to experience them for yourself. I don't want to ruin it. I will say that I learned a lot about my family that day. Like, we cannot count to seven. However, we can multiply large numbers easily. We also turned off the lights so many times, that I think it fits the definition of insanity. As in doing the same thing and expecting different results! I also learned that you can't just decide which letter goes to which symbol on a cipher, you have to have a clue! Finally, if you open locked boxes, make sure you take everything out of the box!

The Puzzle room ended up being very fun. I love it! It was hard at first, since we had never done an escape room before, we had to learn as we went along. We were pretty good at the puzzles, but we weren't as good at finding the puzzles. So in the end, we lost. We were so close too, the key was in our mitts, but we didn't have enough time to escape! So, now we are cursed! For Life!

The Puzzle Room is downtown, which is near where I work. So I know the restaurants in the area. After we were cursed, we decided to find a place to eat. I wanted to pick a place with delicious food, that is too far to walk to at lunch, and some place that my family had not been. So we went to Cibo. It is the best! The pizza is so good. It is in an old house, there are a lot of restaurants in old houses in Phoenix. As I said the pizza is very good, but the pizza is not served at lunch, during the week.

The only complaint about dinner was that the table next to us were a bit loud and the acoustics of that room made it a louder still. They didn't really bother me too much, but my parents are starting to get sensitive to loud restaurants. The outdoor seating may have been better, but my birthday is in May, and we weren't sure if it would be too hot so we sat inside. The pizza was just as good as I remembered it. They are 12" pizza, and you can share with another person, but I did not! We also had a birthday crepe, with Nutella and banana! Yum!

So, I think that's it for the first Hosa Post. The Puzzle room was fun, I can't wait to do a different escape room, hopefully this one will be more successful. Dinner at Cibo was delicious.

Dirty Thirty Vacation Las Vegas, Nevada

May 29, 2015

The next morning we woke up to sound of furniture being dragged across the floor above us. Which was strange because the only floor above ours was the penthouse. We tried to sleep for the next hour or so, but it wasn't happening. So we started to get ready for the day. We could take our time because it was pretty early.

While getting ready we ate our breakfast, which consisted of yogurt and kind bars from the cooler. I brought breakfast over to aunt Karen and Bre, but I forgot to see if the tanner worked.

It was my official birthday!!! So, I opened the presents, an awesome shirt from my sister and a tennis bracelet from my g'ma!

After we were all ready we decided to walk down to New York, New York to ride the roller coaster. We also wanted to get Starbucks because it was my birthday and I wanted to get a free drink.

There was one next to our hotel which isn't that surprising as there are many on the strip. Inside it was a little crowded but the line went fast. All the baristas were dressed up as Disney characters though some had better costumes than others. Anyway, I found out after I ordered that the Starbucks doesn't do free birthday drinks!!! Only one on the strip does! I was so sad. But I ordered my coffee anyway and found out that the price was double what it normally is. That's just peaches. We stayed at the Starbucks so 'Nana, a nickname for Bre, could eat a bagel.

Then we went out to the strip and started towards New York, New York. We stopped in at Paris on the way because I thought other people wanted to shop but other people were their because they thought I wanted to shop! So we walked around that place for no reason until we realized the error and went back to the strip. We then walked all the way to New York, New York. Occasionally, we were stopped by promoters and once Melissa had some eye cream demo done on her. However, we eventually made it to New York and made it through the Hersey factory, past Coyote Ugly and up to the roller coaster.

Melissa decided not to go so we brought a four pass and got on. It was so cool. I loved being pulled up to the top and looking all around the strip. I could see MGM's lion, Excalibur's castle and the Grand Canyon...well a sign that read Grand Canyon. Then the coast dropped us! The initial drop gets me every time but then I like it. The coaster was a little jerky and not as smooth as some of the newer coasters, but I got to coaster around the Statue of Liberty...the fake one not the real one. I enjoyed it over all. We got two free pictures from our ride. Caitlin looks like our mom in hers.

While waiting Melissa sat down in a photo booth to hide. When I went to look at her to get our receipt for the photos I couldn't find her. So I sent Bre out and she found her right away. They are the same person!

After finding Melissa and getting the photos we went back to the Hersey store and looked around. There were free samples and Bre got a present for Paul, a custom wrapped Hersey Bar. Super cute!

Then we went back down to Diablo's Cantina for lunch. We tried to eat inside but it was loud inside so we decided to eat outside which was interesting because we had to order at the bar. So Cait, Bre and I got to relive our waitress days. We first got two pitchers of margaritas that were delicious and chips with salsa and guacamole. For lunch I ordered the taco with soft corn shells they were so good, Caitlin, Karen and Melissa split two orders of fish tacos that looked great. During lunch the song Shook Me All Night Long played and we sang it at each other. Also, Melissa told Caitlin to do a cartwheel on the sidewalk which she did without question.

Lunch

After lunch we went back towards Planet Hollywood so that we could finally do some shopping, but we were distracted by the craps table! I was a terrible roller, but only put a few rounds on the pass line. Caitlin and Melissa were the only ones that did all that well, but we did get free drinks. During the game two guys came up to play and we thought they were friends, so we asked the one closer to us what the other guy's name was and he said Jason, that wasn't his name, but Melissa and Bre kept calling him that, which we decided was lucky because when we finally learned his real name he rolled a 7! During the game, one of the dealers thought that Caitlin and Jason were a couple, so for a while they played like they were. Caitlin kept telling Jason to roll her number and they'd get married, and we all took turns fluffing Jason's aura to add to his luck. It was pretty fun, but by the time we had to go Caitlin was down, but not by much and my mom was up, but not by much. We would have stayed longer but we needed to get back because we had to get ready to go to One, the cirque show that is at Mandalay Bay featuring all Michael Jackson songs.

We went back to the hotel and took time getting ready for the show. I thought we all looked really nice. We decided to take a cab over so as not to be late, but walk back later. When we were waiting for a taxi cab Bre realized her shoes weren't that comfortable, but she decided to stick with them, which turned out to be a bad decision. In the cab, Caitlin and Bre started to sing along with the radio, but in our family singing is not music to ones ears, so I'm sure that the cab driver was glad to get rid of us. We arrived about twenty minutes before the show and took our seats, then took turns going back to get drinks from the water fountain, eventually Caitlin bought a bottle for everyone to share.

ONE!

One was like many cirque shows where people dance, acrobat and tumble to a story that is amazing and partially unbelievable. The show was designed like the others and it was very good, but I have to admit that it was not my favorite cirque show. There was more dancing than acrobatics and the dancing wasn't as good as the other shows. I still enjoyed the show, but if you haven't seen Ka, Love or "O" then I would recommend seeing one of those before seeing One. I did like watching the lighting effects paired with the music and sounds, I thought they did a really good job with that.

After the show was over, we decided to go back to New York, New York using the monorail to go to Coyote Ugly or the Nine Irishmen. On our way to New York, New York, Bre decided her shoes hurt too much and she ended up buying sandals to wear the rest of the night. She left her other shoes behind, what a bummer! However, it turned out to be a good thing because we ended up walking the rest of the way back to our hotel, and it would have been way too painful to do so in the shoes she was wearing.

Martini

We tried to go to Coyote Ugly first, but the bouncer was a huge dick! We had a card from the manager at Gordon Ramsey's and he had told us that we could use it to get into Coyote Ugly and get a free drink. It didn't work, but instead of being cool about it not working, the bouncer was a jerk about it. He was so rude we decided not to go inside! So we went downstairs to Nine Irishmen. There was a live band playing music, they played Drunken' Lullaby's and Rattlin Bog which I really love! Also there were Irish dancers both performing at the bar and also some patrons that just knew the dances and were dancing near their table. We sat outside again which was cool because we could see all of the lights. Caitlin and I ordered martini's and everyone else got Dublin Ice Teas.

When we were finished with our drinks we moved on and were crossing the Brooklyn Bridge where we were stop by a bunch of people doing the Cupid's Shuffle, which we were forced to do in order to cross the bridge. Melissa and Karen made it across in one dance, but Caitlin, Bre, and I had to also dance to the wobble in order to cross. There were a bunch of other people on the bridge trying to cross and having to dance too, but so many of them were stuck dancing, and dancing. They were probably stuck there all night.

Double Barrel Bathroom Adventure!

Then we went across the street, to the Monte Carlo and stopped at the Double Barrel. There we got shots. We had coupons from the girls outside so we ended up getting six shots. Someone had the bright idea of drinking Jameson's shots which tasted about as good as firewhiskey, I mean like battery acid. It was so gross and after the first shot, Melissa divvied up the last shot in our shot glasses so we all had a bit more to take. Then, Bre, Caitlin, Karen and Melissa spent a weird amount of time in the bathroom. The bathroom had the stalls in a separate room and the sink and mirror were outside so that the guys and girls could share it, but the entire time they were crowding the mirror, the guys were not washing their hands! I was outside the Double Barrel waiting for everyone to finish with the bathroom.

After that we continued our journey down the strip, back to the hotel. There was an interesting encounter in the Cosmo with a bachelor party. There was about nine guys all in various stages of being inebriated. The bachelor wasn't the most drunk, but he was a close second, also one of the guys had a camera and was filming, he was the least drunk. Anyway, the bachelor was wearing a shirt with a list of things to do while he was still a bachelor, like a scavenger hunt. They asked if we would sign the shirt with a little note of advice. I wrote, Stay Single. And a few of the guys pointed out that someone had written that the bachelor had a small dick, so Bre wrote a note saying that it was large.

While we were signing the shirt, the guys were trying to get us to do some of the tasks listed on the shirt, only most of the easy things like give a kiss on the cheek, were already checked off, some were checked off more than once! So there were only hard things like, get a girl to flash you, or get a girl's thong. Hearing this Melissa said, Caitlin will do it she will flash you. Which got the entire bachelor party laughing. Caitlin quickly denied that and explained to Melissa what exactly flashing was. In the end, Caitlin gave the bachelor a basic twerk lesson, and we got away.

PBR Rock Bar and Grill

After that we went across the street to the PBR Rock Bar and Grill. We were able to get in without a cover charge, Caitlin and Bre ordered drinks and we went back towards the beer pong tables. In the bar the music was playing loud and so we were dancing, singing and drinking, also taking pictures. It was so much fun.

Then we continued on our way, Bre and I were ahead, and we almost made it all the way back, but then we saw a bunch of guys dressed as Superman, at Margaritiaville, so we had to ask them why. They said they just did it because, but Bre and I decided it was because then girls ask them why! They were from Australia and really nice. We asked them what was the weirdest thing in the United States and they said that tipping is pretty weird, and also sales tax. I guess they are used to the price listed being the true price of what they are buying.

When we got back to the room, Caitlin, Karen and Melissa were already there and they were eating cheese, nut thins and salami. So we joined them and I think we ate all of the cheese and salami, but only one box of nut thins. Afterwards everyone went to bed!

Dirty Thirty Vegas Vacation

How it began. For my thirtieth birthday celebration, my sweet sister, Caitlin, orchestrated a birthday trip to Vegas from May 28-31 2015. The party-goers include Melissa, (my mom) Aunt Karen, and Briana (Bre). We decided to stay at The Linq a hotel on the strip, see One, a cirque du soleil show and have a pool day, but like any great Vegas vacation, so much more happened.

Thursday, May 28, 2015 Phoenix, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada:

The previous evening, Aunt Karen and Bre traveled up from Tucson, in Uncle Jim's new truck, and stayed with Melissa. I also spent the night so that we could have an early start in the morning. The plan was to be on the road by 8:30, but we left closer to 9. Aunt Karen and Bre followed Melissa and me to Caitlin and Dave's house which was down the freeway a bit and on the way to Las Vegas. After giving Aunt Karen and Bre a tour of the house, and leaving my car there we piled in Uncle Jim's truck and started on our adventure.

Joshua Trees, from the Public Domain

Aunt Karen drove. We had to take the 101 all the way up through Sun City and it seemed to take forever to get out of the Phoenix area, but eventually we made it. The hills in that area of Arizona are pretty cool to see especially when we reached the area with the Joshua trees. If you don't know what a Joshua tree is they kind of look like a tree from a Dr. Seuss book with funny little tuffs of leafs. They grow in the Mojave Desert in the southwestern United States. There were a lot of them in between Wickenberg and Kingman. 

When we got to Wickenberg we stopped at McDonalds, for a bathroom break, and Caitlin saved a little elderly lady from the giant curb! She also walked her to the door. Go Caitlin! At McDonalds, we also took apples from the cooler in the back of the truck and snacked on those, since none of us had breakfast. Then, we were off. We traveled through up 93 through Nothing and Wikieup, Arizona on our way to Kingman. 

In Kingman, we decided to stop for lunch at the In-N-Out, because they serve their burgers protein style which means that Caitlin and Aunt Karen can eat them. The wait was long when we got there, but it was longer by the time our meal was ready because 13 bikers from Sweden, on a tour of the Southwest, United States, decided to stop to eat there as well. They had just spent two days in Las Vegas and were on their way to the Grand Canyon and from there Scottsdale, Arizona. They were really nice guys!

From Kingman, it barely took any time to get to Las Vegas, recently a bridge was built over the Hoover Dam so instead of spending time driving down to cross over the dam we were able to travel over it in minutes. You can see a little of the dam from the bridge, but it's easy to miss. We were still able to see Lake Mead after going over the bridge.

Bernadette, Bre and Caitlin

We made it to the hotel with out much of a problem though there was a moment where we weren't exactly sure where the valet was. We were able to check in online before we arrived so it was a matter of getting the keys to our rooms and then we were up in our rooms. At first we agreed to head down after making sure out bags got into our rooms, but by the time we left everyone had changed outfits, and were looking cuter for it.

Bre had never been to Vegas before, so we decided to walk down the strip a bit so that she could get a look, and then try to see the water show at the Bellagio. The Linq is across the street from Ceaser's Palace, and we stayed on our side of the strip as we walked down past the Cromwell and Planet Hollywood. There were plenty of people out on the street, though it was too early for the strip to be lit up. We stopped to talk to a promoter about going to a pool party at Drai's later that weekend. We crossed the pedestrian bridge near the Bellagio and found a good spot to watch. The water show was set to "Your Song," by Elton John and it is always cool to see the water shows on the strip.

After the show was over we went into Cesar's Palace in hopes of finding a place to eat. Inside, Aunt Karen told me that the ceiling changes from a dawn sky to dusk sky over an hour. I had seen that before, though I hadn't realized that is what happened, so it was interesting to see this time. We also got to see a replica of The David! He was almost as cool as the real one, and you can take pictures of him!

We finally settled on, Gordon Ramsey's Pub and Grill for dinner, I am not sure how this was decided, but I think it was because it had a gluten-free menu, but also because we were really hungry by then. I ordered a Shepard's Pie which was really good and a Stella beer. Bre ordered me a dessert because it was my birthday! It was so good, but it wasn't gluten-free so Caitlin and Aunt Karen couldn't eat it. More for the rest of us. The manager came out while we were eating dessert and told us to visit Nine Irishmen later that week and gave us a card. He also got me a shot of tequila for my birthday. It was delicious.

After dinner, we walked around the shops at the Cesar's Palace, Bre wanted to try to get the self tanner that my sister had used the night before, so we found a Sephora, and Angela helped us. She said the self tanner Caitlin used was good, but was supposed to be left on over night and turned your skin a little green, but another kind dried faster. She said that if Bre didn't like it we could find her the next day and return it for the other. We never returned! I also got free lipsticks because it is my birthday! Bre also got free lipstick. If you are in Sephora in Cesar's Palace ask for Angela, she was great!

When we were finished with our purchases we decided to go back to The Linq. It dark then and we could see the lights, but we only had to go across the street to get back to our hotel so we didn't see much of it. Bre and Aunt Karen decided to go up to bed, they both said they were tired, but I think Bre wanted to try on her new tanner.

Melissa wanted to play blackjack, Caitlin and I kibitzed. Well, we started too, Caitlin sat down with Melissa at a losing table and when Melissa decided to move tables she stayed there and talked to the dealer about craps. I went with Melissa to kibitz some more. She found a better table and was winning her money back. I stayed around for a while, but some of the younger guys at the table were making some blackjack moves that was worrisome, so I went back to the first table to talk with Caitlin and the dealer until Melissa was finished. She ended up pushing for the night and we decided to go to bed.

Day 1: Caitlin and Bernadette's adventure in Hawaii.

Day 1 of the trip. I set off at exactly 5:50am for the airport. I had one stop getting to Dave's house because he was going to drop my sister and I off at the airport so that we wouldn't have to pay big bucks to park for a week. Upon arriving there I found that Caitlin and I were both wearing Cardinal shirt and I my cardinals hat. We laughed because she said she should have known that I would wear that. The shirts turned out to give us a lot of attention in Hawaii especially since by the time we arrived they had won 40-11 and everyone was letting us know!

The plane ride was quite long I passed the time by watching glee, sleeping and read "The Maze Runner." Caitlin slept at the beginning and then did homework. She is in her first semester of physical therapy school. So she needed to study because she has to take a test online during our vacation.

We flew on Hawaiian. The gave us samples of kona coffee and free rum passion fruit drinks before landing in Honolulu.

In Honolulu we were supposed to have a layover of a few hours but our flight had arrived early and they were able to get us on the island hopper plane not one but two flights ahead of schedule. However they couldn't move our bags. We took the chance anyway and took the flight over.

In Kauai in  a blink of our eye we went to baggage claim services and asked them to put our bags in their room for our parents to pick up. We gave our baggage claim numbers and info. The plan was to get a ride to the timeshare. However, we found out quickly that we couldn't without our Dad's permission but since he was in transit that wasn't happening. The lady at information told us that the Marriott near the airport would pick up people who had a few hours to spare before their flight then she said there was a beach and a bar to get a drink. We were in! Now I am making this sound simple but it tool about an hour but we still had almost three before everyone else arrived. If we had more knowledge at the beginning we could have been at the beach early. Still it ended up being a nice time and I think a good choice to take that earlier flight. Although it meant we missed all of the cardinals game and not just some.

So after we called the shuttle we arrived at the Marriott and went down to the beach. When we arrived Caitlin was taking pictures of the view to send to our G'ma who could have been very worried about our adventurous spirit since we had been communicating with her. A really cute guy asked if we wanted a picture taken and we said yes. So he took two one of the main view and another facing away from the sun.

Then, we decided to get a drink at Duke's. We were in Hawaii on vacation after a long flight. So we wanted a drink. We both got lava flows which are like strawberry pina coladas. She started to study again. So I looked about and read more.

About an hour later my sister asked when do you think they will get in exactly. I looked up and saw a plane coming in and said I think that's them. We laughed. But 5 minutes later my brother sent message saying that they had arrived. So we took the shuttle back to the airport.

So ends the adventure for only the two of us, but it brings the adventure of #emeryscotthawaiitrip

Friday 3/9/2012 LOG

I was the first one to breakfast again! I had huevos rancheros! YUM! Friday was the day of the wedding. Bre had to be at the wedding venue at 2:30 to take photos. So we decided that we would go shopping again. Then we would go to the tequila store and then to ten ten pie for a beer.

First, our shopping adventure. Bre and Caitlin had a few things they wanted to see again, but they didn't buy anything! At the market my sister wanted to look at the cowboy hats again, and my aunt and uncle wanted to look at a part of the market we didn't see before. So, my sister and I decided that we would meet at the jardin at 12:15. I asked her if she meant the place with the trees that we cut funny. They are cut in little squares. We don't have anything like that in Phoenix. She replied, the place with the horse (statue). Which is actually the civic center. I said alright. So, I caught up with my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin. They were almost finished with the last part of the market. I explained to them that we were going to meet my sister and mom at the jardin.

So we made our way over to the jardin. On the way, I said wait, Caitlin said that we should meet at the plaza with the horse. It wasn't really out of the way. We just turned up the next street. We arrived there are 1:05 and waited for Caitlin and my mom. And we waited. And we waited. I love watching people so this was a good chance to watch people at the civic center. However, we were worried about my mom and sister. So my aunt and I went to the hat shop because it was not far from the civic center. They weren't there. By the time we got back to the civic center, Caitlin and my Mom were just arriving. They went to the jardin plaza!!! Which is what she said, but that was not the plaza with a horse! What a mix up!

After everyone was found we walked to the jardin to go to Ten Ten Pie which has great fish tacos. I ended up getting steak and cheese tacos. They were very good too! The people that didn't get tacos however, didn't really enjoy their meals. We also ran into Katie and she sat to talk with us for a bit before we ordered. Then she went to take a wander!

Before the bill came Jim and Briana went back to the hotel to start to get ready. Caitlin and Melissa wanted to go to the tequila shop before they went back, but I wanted to get back so that I could shower before my sister and mom because they tend to take long showers! So after lunch Karen and I went back to the hotel and they went to the Tequila shop.

I will post about the wedding separately because I think it will be a very long post!

LOG OF THE SAN MIGUEL

I've been packing, doing laundry, yelling at the television because House wasn't on, and thinking of a way to complete the travel blog this time. I have come up with a plan! 

Recently, my Grandfather past away. Upon his passing I found out that he liked to keep logs of various sailing trips because he loved sailing so much. He eventually typed out one of them which I was able to read. I'm sure he will be sorely missed at this occasion. Therefore, I write this blog -- in spirit of his passing and his enjoyment of logging his trips. 

I will try to use this blog in the same fashion in a sailors log. I'm not really sure on the rules. I only have the one log to go off of. It seems fairly simple. I need to list the "crew" and then write about the events each day. Sounds like a typical modern travel blog! So really the only difference between me blogging this trip and me not blogging the last trip, is that this time, I have a little more motivation to do it. My Granpa Bill Saegart. I hope that is enough!

LOG OF THE SAN MIGUEL

CREW: BERNADETTE EMERY

MELISSA EMERY

CAITLIN EMERY

KAREN AND JIM SCOTT

BRIANA SCOTT

CARRIE SAEGART

RAE MILLER

WILLIAM MARTIN

I may need to add someone later. 

Travel blog, take two

So, I guess I'm not very good at blogging on trips. Especially, trips with limited internet connections and no laptop! 

Ho Hum!

Well, I'm going to San Miguel de Allende in Mexico on Wednesday! So, I will try this again. Even if I only blog one day, it is one post that I can look back on in the future that will help me remember what my trip was like during that moment! Might not make the best blog, but it is nice for me to have. 

We are visiting my Aunt. She lives in San Miguel. We are visiting for her wedding on Friday! 

One day before trip.

May 16th, 2010

Italy awaits! Only one day until I am on a plane to Italy. I am going with my Mom, Melissa and we are meeting my sister, Caitlin. Caitlin has been studying in Milan, Italy for the last four months. She says she really enjoys it there, but she is excited to have us join her.

Today, we prepared to go on our trip by not packing. That's right I still haven't packed. I'm planning to do that tomorrow before the flight. Yikes! I hope I don't forget anything. I think I am so reluctant to get started because I'm not sure what I want to bring. It's so complicated. Some items won't be necessary like straighteners and blow dryers because my sister already has those things. There will be things that I need that I don't usually pack for vacation too. I'm planning to bring two cameras and lots of cute clothes. Instead of packing, I helped my little brother, Tyler, with his history assignment. It was fun. I got to create a timeline about 1999. It feels like it was yesterday. It is also Tyler's birthday on the 21st. We decided to celebrate by opening presents and going to dinner.

Mom bought trip insurance because she is worried that something could go wrong. Apparently, British Airways is threatening to go on strike Tuesday, the 18th. That is the day we arrive in London, from London we go to Milan, hopefully. I will let you know how that turns out on Tuesday.