Post Hawaii

So today (Sunday--the day after we returned from Hawaii) was the Remembrance Ceremony for Garry's friend Cory.  They postponed the event in order to let The Three of We return to Baltimore and take part since Garry and Cory were Best Friends Forever.

Well, Russ got up at 7am and said, "We've been gone for three weeks.  I'm gonna go visit my mom at the nursing home before we go to the funeral."

I thought that was OK and sent him on his way.

He came home, we got dressed up, we went to the funeral.  It was very sad and poor Garry had to deal with a lot of sadness.  Then, I noticed that Russ was cradling his arm to his chest, was wobbly, and a bit flushed.

I said, "Russ...what's going on?"

"Oh, the nursing home's cat bit me on the wrist."

"WHAT!?!?!  Let me see."

He showed me.  Puncture wounds.  Swollen wrist, spreading toward the armpit.  <sigh>  One more lovely thing.

So off to the Emergency Care we went!  A couple hours later he's on anti-biotics, pain medication, anti-inflammatories.

....But at least we're home in Baltimore!

I took him home, put him to bed, and began working on recovering from the trip, the robbery, the bills, etc.

Hawaiian Adventure - August 25

The trip is done.

We packed up this morning and got on the plane back to Maryland.

To...shorten a long explanation...

• Mom Edna is a Senior Citizen RollerCoaster JUNKIE from the Ozark Hillbillly boonies.
• Every year, Russ and Damian's company rents out our local Six Flags for a company party and Mom Edna wanted to go ride this park's rides.
• Mom Edna wanted to go to this year's Ren. Fest.
• Mom Edna wanted to go see Wicked when it toured through Baltimore this year.

Well...all these things are about 2 weeks apart from each other, so it didn't make a lot of sense to fly her to the hills, then turn around and fly her back here, then back to the hills, then back here...and so on.  So instead, we just decided to keep her until mid-October!

So, we all got on the plane in San Jose and flew to Vegas.  There everyone got off the plane except for Mom Edna.  She flew on to St. Louis.  The rest of us moved to another plane and flew to Baltimore.  Then, Mom Edna arrived in St. Louis, changed planes, and flew to Baltimore!

She was due to arrive 45 minutes after we landed.  But our flight was 30 minutes late taking off...and once we landed spent an extra 20 minutes waiting for an open gate!  As a result, Mom Edna arrived, got her luggage, and was looking for us long before we got off our plane!

But we all reconvened, got on the shuttle to Garry's work, then unloaded.  Garry took his folks home, then came back for The Three of We plus Mom Edna.  We drove home, dropped off the luggage in various rooms, showed Mom Edna her room....and then went to bed.

Tomorrow---though not part of the trip---is still a busy day.

PS:  Oh....did I forget to mention that our plane to Baltimore was filled with several dozen barely pubescent teenage boys who were part of a "supposedly" Baltimore-based "Christian" football team?     ....yeah...it was a relaxing a flight as you're now imagining it to be.

Hawaiian Adventure - August 24

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MOM EDNA!!

Today we woke up feeling a bit better.  We piled into the van and headed across the Golden Gate Bridge!  This morning, you could actually see parts of it!

We stopped at a little park on the other other side and let the crew wander around and take pictures.  They were back pretty soon.  It was cold out there!

Then we drove on to Sausalito to show them the funny houseboats.  We stopped at a very nice breakfast diner and had pancakes.  They were yummy.  Back in the van we then went to Muir Woods to stomp around in the Redwood park.

Then we returned to SF and decided to try to get the folks on the "Escape from The Rock" cruise which, although not a trip *to* the island, is a cruise *around* the island.  We were successful in that regard!  While they were cruising, we went to the Alcatraz tour and got three "stand by" tickets for later that afternoon.  Then, Russ and Damian headed to a lovely bar for several rounds of drinks.

The folks returned.  We hung around for the "stand-by" opportunity, but we only had tickets 18, 19, and 20...out of 20.  And they only took #1 and #2.

So we went back to the Italian restaurant where Dad Garry ate even more food!  Hooray!

Then it was back to the room where we packed up and prepared for our return trip to Baltimore.

Hawaiian Adventure - August 23

The curse of yesterday continues, although eases up a bit.

I may have mentioned that some mother had her demon child over her shoulder while in line at the Honolulu airport and that said-mutant sneezed a green, snot-filled cloud directly onto Russell's face.  He caught a cold and then passed it to Damian.  Damian started feeling the effects about mid-way through the Big Island part of the trip.

Today Damian (me) is in full grip of the thing.  My voice is gone, my throat like shredded glass, my body is producing more phlegm than I actually weigh, my nose is raw from the blowing.  I'm coughing like a fiend, and eating cough drops like they're candy.

So today we spent most of the day in damage-control mode from the robbery.  Garry had called his bank right after the discovery to block his ATM card and we found that not-suprisingly they'd tried to used it three times within the first hour after the theft.

Russ and I used Mom Edna's computer and went to all the web sites that our stolen computers connect to automatically and changed passwords.

Russ began filling out the insurance claim.  It's quite annoying the number of things they got both big and small.  My class ring, for instance, is useless to anyone but me...so you know they've chucked it in a dumpster somewhere.  <sigh>

But afterward we decided I still needed to get work done and that since the insurance would re-imburse us, we went out and replaced some items.  I spent the morning in the San Francisco Apple store--trying not to infect the sales twink there--and got a new MacBook, new iPad, new Smart Cover, new Magic Mouse.  Russ bought replacement warm clothes.

Then back at the room I set things up and did more damage control, and ate more medication.

Finally everyone was getting restless, so it was time to take the Arbogasts to Alcatraz.  Russ had bought them tickets for the 3:30pm tour.  We maneuvered our way through the maze of SF streets and finally dropped them off at the dock.  Russ went with them to pick up the tickets.  Mom Edna and Damian drove the van around the block in order to swing back by and pick up Russ when we was done.

Boy are those SF streets a nightmare!  There is no such thing as a left-hand turn!  None of the streets, apparently, run parallel to each other!  So if you think, "Oh, no left hand turn...I'll do a right-right-right...and it'll be the same thing."  Boy are you in for a surprise!  Apparently any "parallel" road actually runs at a swift and obtuse angle to the one you think you're following!  That little strategy caused us to bump into a parcel of no-right-turns, a string of one-ways all going the wrong way.  Instead of a one-block swing-around we toured San Francisco!

We saw the Coit Tower!  We saw Lombard Street!  We peeked at the Castro!  We did a leg through ChinaTown where "we" stalled traffic snarled up behind us by being forced into an un-wanted right-hand turn, that we couldn't take because---and I am not making this up---an 80-year-old Chinese Granny using a walker took 3 turns of the light cycle to hobble across the street!

Then we got the call from BoyToy Garry.  "Um, we got to the ticket counter and Russ gave her the confirmation numbers.  The lady said, 'Hon. You're a bit early for this trip.'  'Oh?' asked Russ, 'How early?"  'About a week!' she answered."

It seems that Russ had clicked the wrong date when he bought the tickets and they weren't good until a week from today!  Hoo-boy!

So Mom and I eventually worked our way back to the dock and they all piled in.  We then did Lombard Street again for the folks and ultimately headed back home.  Damian went back to bed to rest.  The crew walked to China Town to see the sights there and have dinner.

Somtime later, I got a call to meet them at a nice corner Italian restaurant near the resort.  We laughed at all our misfortunes, Dad Garry had a couple of beers while the rest of us demolished a bottle of Merlot.  Then we ordered dinner where Dad surprised us by eating almost all his order of spaghetti-and-meatballs, then helping BoyToy Garry with some spicy Buffalo Wings!  It's good to see him get his appetite back!  We wrapped up the night with coffees, tiramisu, chocolate mousse pie.

Then we went back to the room, did more "lost item" discoveries...and went to bed.

Hawaiian Adventure - August 22

THE TRIP TO HELL ADDITION

We left the Big Island on time.  Checked out of the room, returned the car, got on the plane, got all comfy.  Had an eventless flight to California, Oakland.

We got the van, picked up the luggage, drove a few miles away to Denny's for a 9pm dinner as we were all hungry and tired.

Then the shitstorm hit.

We walked from the door of the restaurant to the door of the van.  BoyToy Garry stopped and said, "Oh shit."

The driver's window had been smashed in.  Glass was everywhere.  We opened the door and looked inside.  After a quick inventory, we discovered that 4 bags were missing: 1 of Damian's, 1 of Russell's, 1 of BoyToy Garry, 1 of Mom Lisa.  The mostly-but-still-only-partial list of stolen goods includes:

• various and sundry clothing items
• Russell's $1000 digital camera including 2 zoom lenses, camera case, and several memory card.
• Russell's  Compaq computer, with all the pictures from the trip on the hard drive.
• Russell's iPhone 4
• The AlienWare backpack that all that was stored in.
• Garry's Gameboy 3d and 4 games.
• Garry's Digital "Pocket" camera.
• Garry's wallet ($80), his bank card, his driver's license.
• Damian's Razr-Blade sunglasses ($140 a pair)
• Damian's iPad 3 !
• Damian's 15" MacBook Pro!!!  with all the pictures from the pictures on it.
• Damian's portable hard-drive (with all his iTunes files on it!)
• Damian's "Underwater" digital camera, with 3 spare batteries and 3 spare memory cards
• Damian's AlienWare messenger bag
• Various other "supporting" cables, cradles, etc.

All added up, Russell has calculated about $10,000 of stuff.

We immediately called 911 and got the Oakland Police who said, "Yah...well...you're #68 on the list so we're not likely to get anyone out to you for...oh...4 or 5 hours."    So we opted for Plan B which was to file a report online.

 We returned the van to the rental center, did all that paperwork, got a new van, went on to the resort in San Francisco.  We did another damage survey.

Great.  Just great.  I'll post more about the rest of the trip later.

ALO---f*ing---HA

Hawaiian Adventure - August 21

I'll edit this post later on to add full text and pictures.

But today was our last day on the island.  We have to pack up tonight and be out of the room early, early on Wednesday.  So I won't be able to update the blog for a day or two or three.

Damian caught Russ's cold and so spent most of the day in bed with a sore, raw throat.  Dad Garry and Mom Lisa took the bike out for one last ride.  Damian finally got out of bed and The Three of We plus Mom Edna walked up the street to the ABC store for last minute souvenirs and to "cash in" our receipts for some free gifts.  We stopped at Lulu's for a last round of drinks.

Back at the room, Damian slept some more while everyone else headed to the pool for some sunbathing.  They returned.  The motorcycle returned and went back to the rental place.

Russ cooked all the leftovers as our dinner.  We began packing.  Blah.

With the sun down, The Three of We walked out to a nearby beach and Garry tossed a couple of leis into the surf in honor of Cory.

Then it was back to the room, eat the final bites of ice cream, and then to bed.  We have an early start tomorrow.

Hawaiian Adventure - August 20

After several days of charging around the island, we decided to take it easy today.  We all woke up–which was a victory in itself–and while Russ cooked up breakfast, Damian went for a quick 2-mile run!  Yay!  First bit of “work out” in a week!

Breakfast we delicious as always.  Then Mom and Dad Arbogast hopped on the Harley and went on a free-range bike ride!  Russell (who had picked up a cold in Honolulu) bundled Mom Edna, BoyToy Garry, and Damian into the van we we went the Kekaha Kai State Park Beach…what we call the “Turquoise Beach.”  And with little wonder.  The water is exactly that color!

We walked to the far end of the beach and set out our towels.  Then we went out into the water to frolick a bit.  It was sooooo windy and rough, though..

…that we shortly headed back to the beach to sun ourselves.  However, the clouds had rolled down from the mountain and the wind was blowing so strongly that our towels had been buried by the blowing sand!  We dug out and tried to nap–with various degrees of success–while the sand tried to scour the flesh from our bones!

Russ got up and wandered around the beach taking more pictures!

Then it got colder and colder.  Then it started to rain.  So we gave up, did some souvenir shopping at Walmart, then came back to the resort.

Eventually the afternoon wore on, Mom Lisa and Dad Garry rumbled back to the room.  Russ began cooking dinner.  Then he came to the lanai and said, “Look what I found in the bathtub!”

Yoiks!  He captured it in a plastic carry-out bowl and we looked it up.  It seemed to be labeled as a “Huntsman” spider and is supposedly more-or-less friendly, eating the giant cockroaches and silverfish that infest the island.  Be that as it may, he got hustled outside into the wilderness and far from our room!

Then we had dinner, sat around and watched sunset while we chatted and laughed about things.

All too soon, the day was over and it was bedtime again.

ALOHA!

Hawaiian Adventure - August 19

Today was "Volcano" day at the Big Island!

We got up early, had a nice breakfast, then piled into the van.  We thought (rightly so) that the drive might be arduous for the motorcycle, so we all went in the van.  We left Kona---and everyone promptly fell asleep.  Except for Damian...driving....and driving....and driving.  About 1/2 way there, we stopped at a lava field for a stretch.

Then we moved on...our first stop was the Punalu'u bakery.  We love that bakery.  Their baked goods are soooooooo yummy.  We each ordered a breakfast malasada.  Garry had a Strawberry-filled one.

Damian might have ordered a chocolate-filled one...

We enjoyed our breakfasts, then moved on to the Black Sand Beach where we saw many treasures including--yes--more Green Sea Turtles.

We spent some time there, then moved on to the Volcano Park.  Any other time we've been here, the park has been overcast, rainy/misty, and very spooky.  This time it was bright and sunny and happy!  Not very mysterious at all!

Still we drove around, then went to our one-and-only hike (really) for this trip.  We looked down at the old crater...

Then hiked down into it!

It was nifty, but more so when (as I mentioned) it's misty and rainy.  For you see, when that is the situation, the rain drains through the cracks in the "old lava" and down to where the current lava is flowing...then it gets heated up and comes back to the top as steam!  But...even though the day was oddly sunny and happy...we still found some steam vents.

It was a fairly easy hike down to the crater, but coming back up, there was some complaining.  But we did manage to snap some nice pictures on the way back up.

Back at the top we went to a picnic bench for a fabulous Russell-packed lunch.  Then we walked out to see what the current lava flow was doing...

It had shifted in the last few months, so there wasn't much we could do to observe it other that that picture there.

Then we turned around, piled into the van....and Damian drove home while everyone slept.

But we made it alive and then we had another great Russell inspired dinner...enjoyed some hot-tub time, then---as usual---collapsed into bed.

ALOHA!

Hawaiian Adventure - August 18

Today was waterfall day on the Big Island!  We got up nice and early, had breakfast, then decided to take a picture of the door to our bungalow.   Each door is hand-carved with different scenes and is therefore unique!

We then climbed in the van (and on motorcycle) and headed back across the Saddle to the Hilo side of the island.  Dad Garry and Mom Lisa followed on the motorcycle.  Russell hung out the passenger-side window to take pictures of them.

It was a lengthy drive, but we made it!  Our first stop was at the roadside near Umauma Falls. Many pictures were taken.

Then we headed on to Akaka Falls park.  Many more pictures were taken...

After we had our fill of all that beauty, we went on to Rainbow Falls.  More pictures were taken...

Then, realizing it was an equally long drive back to Kona, we mounted up and headed back across the Saddle.  Where...the weather hit us!  Rain, fog, cold...  Here's Garry's folks on the bike (yes, Russell hanging out the window again!)  Garry's dad says, "It was cold!  My goosebumps were stacked on top of each other!"

But we made it home just in time to catch the tail end of sunset.

Russ cooked up a great dinner and we all dropped into bed, knowing that tomorrow, we were headed back across the island for Volcano day!

ALOHA!