Beckers 1,136 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 I am so excited for you!! I hope you have an amazing time!!!And happy birthday/anniversary. And congrats and good luck to your daughter ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
BigTom 76 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Wow! You sure got married really young. Heck you were just a baby.I wonder about that myself and did not want to mention it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Wow! You sure got married really young. Heck you were just a baby. Haha... pretty sure that was a typo :) Looking forward to hearing about your trip! My brother and his wife are DVC members; they took a trip to Disney's property in HI last year or the year before and really enjoyed it.... of course, it's almost impossible to not enjoy Hawaii Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Wow! You sure got married really young. Heck you were just a baby. Since he's around my phase in life (as are you Yvonne) with first high school grad this year and all....I'm guessing Duane meant 20th anniversary. If it really is 50th, I'm thinking it must have been an arranged marriage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 152 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Wow! You sure got married really young. Heck you were just a baby. Thanks for catching this Yvonne, it is a typo, it was late last night when I typed this... my body clock was still on EST. What an adventure! Can't wait to see your pics. They will be nothing like you take, but at least you will get an idea of what we are doing... I am so excited for you!! I hope you have an amazing time!!!And happy birthday/anniversary. And congrats and good luck to your daughter ! So far things have gone smoothly and we are having fun.... Thank for the well wishes! I wonder about that myself and did not want to mention it. I AM from NC, so if you see something that doesn't make sense, by all means speak up! Haha... pretty sure that was a typo :) Looking forward to hearing about your trip! My brother and his wife are DVC members; they took a trip to Disney's property in HI last year or the year before and really enjoyed it.... of course, it's almost impossible to not enjoy Hawaii It certainly was typo... I will try to do better, but I was about worn out last night.. Hopefully with us stopping off in San Fran will ease our body clocks into the correct time zone. Hawaii is 6 hours behind EST. Since he's around my phase in life (as are you Yvonne) with first high school grad this year and all....I'm guessing Duane meant 20th anniversary. If it really is 50th, I'm thinking it must have been an arranged marriage. 25th anniversary.... I can't believe she has put up with me that long! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Millermouseketeers MaryAnn 150 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Have a great time! Sounds awesome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
disney4dan 68 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Sounds awesome, can't wait to see the pictures! Happy Anniversary and congratulations to your daughter. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 152 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Okay, now that you know what our overall plan is, its time to start the usual TR proceedings.... So prepare yourselves because I can't guarantee how this thing will turn out because this thing is pretty much happening live. I will try to keep up as much as I can in an attempt to repay all of the other awesome trip reporting Fiends who's reports that I have enjoyed over the years. This wonderful site along with a loud screeching sound greeted me at "O dark 3:40 AM yesterday morning... Yes kids, that is AM,as in the butt crack of BEFORE dawn... We had a 6:55 AM plane to catch and I wasn't taking any chances on anything standing in the way of me and the western territory beyond my front door. Everything went very smooth, Claudine was up and motivating, and surprisingly enough Ashleigh also did well with getting up and moving along. Let me pause here and give you a little insight into our little band of travelers.... I am probably the most laid back person you will ever meet (I feel this will come in very handy as this trip progresses) however, I hate to be late to anything! If I can't be there early, I would just assume not even go. Claudine is a nurse who has to be at work every morning, ready to go at 5:30, so this was just another morning to her. She has absolutely no problems with operating at this time of the morning. Now Ash however is another story... She is a typical teenager. She would rather sleep all day then stay up all night long... So I was pleasantly surprised when they all pulled it all together and out of the house on time. One thing that I didn't mention earlier when I laid out our plans was that Ash would be bringing a friend on our "little adventure". Since she is the only child, we always seem to have one of her friends tag along with us on the majority of our trips. So for this journey, we will be bringing her friend Jessie along. Jessie lives across the street from us and the two have pretty much grown up together. She is like my second daughter. Once we loaded all of the luggage into the truck we drove the long journey across the street to pickup Jessie and her dad so he could drive my truck back to house once we were deposited at the airport. I have no pictures of the luggage carnage that ended up in my truck, but all of you dads out there who travel with girls can appreciate where I am coming from. They feel the need to take it ALL with them. Dave, I don't know how you do it with all of those girls and just that van. Anyway, we made it to the Raleigh Durham International Airport and Hotdog stand with no issues, got unloaded, checked in all of the luggage, got through security and still managed to have time to sit down and eat breakfast in time for our departure at 6:55. Here is the cast of characters for this adventure... From left to right, we have the lovely Claudine, or as I refer to her from time to time, "my sweet Romina" (any Andy Griffith fans out there?), Jessie, my second daughter, and last but not least, the one who will eventually put me in the nursing home, Ashleigh. Then there is me... Our noble steed, what will propel us westward... There will be more on this leg of our adventure coming up.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caveat lector 181 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Epic journey on hand. Can u imagine what early settlers in covered wagons would think about it. Inconceivable. I share your passion for being early. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 I must always be early too. Hate running late. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
EnchantedSurprise 2 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 Looking forward to an Aulani TR! One of the owners where I work went there and loved it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
disney4dan 68 Posted July 13, 2014 Report Share Posted July 13, 2014 "Raleigh Durham International Airport and hot dog stand". Now that is funny! Beautiful girls, sorry about the whole luggage thing, but at least you'll have three sets of hair dryers, straighteners, 6 different shampoos, conditioners, face cream, spackle.... My wife is a nurse as well. Some of the most "calm under pressure" people I know. I complained about a tough day at work once. Just once. When nurses have a bad day, people end up in body bags. Looking forward to more of this report. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 I'm in! And am also usually early. HATE being late. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ajcjmom 8 Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 I'm in also. I am hoping to make it to Hawaii! All I need is to have CJ (son #2), get stationed there and I am there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
red...Susan 37 Posted July 14, 2014 Report Share Posted July 14, 2014 We were stationed in Hawaii for two years. I loved it. Begged to go back and we got sent to Maryland. Just not the same. It is a great place to see. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
alexwyattmommy 181 Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 WooHoo! Another TR to follow. This one is going to be really good, I can tell. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Memphis 105 Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 I'm in. When I first saw the pic of the plane ya'll were to board I thought I would not get on that thing the tail is broke and its not even in the air yet! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jmaul 65 Posted July 15, 2014 Report Share Posted July 15, 2014 Late to the party, but now I'm in. When I saw the title of the Elvis clip, I immediately thought of the Disney joint in Hawaii. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 152 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Aloha Y'all! Its currently 7:25 AM, Wednesday morning here in sunny and humid Ko'Olina Hawaii. I guess by now you have not heard of a plane having to ditch in the Pacific, so that means by the grace of God, and United Airlines, we made it! We arrived late morning on Monday and have been creating interesting things to tell... I just wanted to check in to let everyone know that I have not given up on this TR. Just finished uploading pics from the last few days into Photobucket and will be reporting them out when I get a chance... Some of the things to look forward to will involve, the butt crack of dawn again, explosion, semi-melt down, OMG that will not fit, the Gods are smiling upon us, sharks!, and AAAAaaahhhh! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Katman1356...Jason 1,140 Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Aloha Y'all! Its currently 7:25 AM, Wednesday morning here in sunny and humid Ko'Olina Hawaii. I guess by now you have not heard of a plane having to ditch in the Pacific, so that means by the grace of God, and United Airlines, we made it! We arrived late morning on Monday and have been creating interesting things to tell... I just wanted to check in to let everyone know that I have not given up on this TR. Just finished uploading pics from the last few days into Photobucket and will be reporting them out when I get a chance... Some of the things to look forward to will involve, the butt crack of dawn again, explosion, semi-melt down, OMG that will not fit, the Gods are smiling upon us, sharks!, and AAAAaaahhhh! Sounds like my last vacation. Have fun! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Eagerly awaiting your trip report! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 152 Posted July 16, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 Well it seems that my little travel party is taking their time getting up and at 'em this morning, so I will see how much I can update everyone with our adventures up to now... but first, I want to respond to everyone up to this point. Epic journey on hand. Can u imagine what early settlers in covered wagons would think about it. Inconceivable. I share your passion for being early. So far this journey has been a blast... My motto is "Go early or stay home!" I must always be early too. Hate running late. Dave, you must have the patience of Job... I can't imagine you getting all of your crowd moving in the same direction on time.... I only have to deal with 2 women... Looking forward to an Aulani TR! One of the owners where I work went there and loved it. As Guy Fieri would say (if you watch, the Food Network) this place is "off the chain!" More on that later... "Raleigh Durham International Airport and hot dog stand". Now that is funny! Beautiful girls, sorry about the whole luggage thing, but at least you'll have three sets of hair dryers, straighteners, 6 different shampoos, conditioners, face cream, spackle.... My wife is a nurse as well. Some of the most "calm under pressure" people I know. I complained about a tough day at work once. Just once. When nurses have a bad day, people end up in body bags. Looking forward to more of this report. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk RDU has really made some nice improvements over the years. As for the luggage thing... for the four of us, we had to check 5 bags, and carried on a total of 6 between us all. The sad thing is, that for me, I got a weeks worth of clothes in 1 rollaboard sized bag and carried on my rolling computer case. The remainder was for the "others" in my travel party. I'm in! And am also usually early. HATE being late. Glad you are here... and you are definitely not late for this... I'm in also. I am hoping to make it to Hawaii! All I need is to have CJ (son #2), get stationed there and I am there! If there is any way that you can get here, it is worth the trip... We were stationed in Hawaii for two years. I loved it. Begged to go back and we got sent to Maryland. Just not the same. It is a great place to see. Definitely not the same... talk about a change of scenery... WooHoo! Another TR to follow. This one is going to be really good, I can tell. I hope I don't disappoint... However, I can guarantee, that this won't be a trip report like the other TR Masters on this board... I'm in. When I first saw the pic of the plane ya'll were to board I thought I would not get on that thing the tail is broke and its not even in the air yet! Glad to have you... So far all of our modes of transportation have worked well... Late to the party, but now I'm in. When I saw the title of the Elvis clip, I immediately thought of the Disney joint in Hawaii. Not late... just a few made it here before you... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
red...Susan 37 Posted July 16, 2014 Report Share Posted July 16, 2014 You need to get a shave ice with beans and ice cream from the North Shore and don't forget a dole whip from the plantation. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Duane 152 Posted July 17, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Okay, so when we left off, we were all sitting at RDU eagerly awaiting our the official start of our journey... At 7:55 we were heading in a westward directiion enroute to SFO via a connection in the tranquil little town of Chicago. Just about 20 minutes before we were to touch down, the pilot delivered some news that did not sit well with other members of our traveling party. "There is bad weather currently over the field and we are going to circle around for about 20 to 30 minutes more until it moves off so we can land". Now under the best circumstances, our connection time was going to be close, but now that we are joy riding in the sky, that connection window, just, uh flew out the window... pardon the pun. Now to me, this is adventure flying, and it becomes a puzzle on how am I going to work this out, but to my wife, we were gonna miss our connection, and will have to hitchhike our way to SFO... Once we finally landed and I whipped out one of my many travel apps, I soon discovered that our connection had also been caught up in the bad weather and was delayed for almost an hour and a half... So peace descended once again on the Miller clan... When we finally took off from Midway, the remainder of our plane travel was uneventful all the way to SFO. When we landed we promptly retrieved our bags from baggage claim and noticed that all of our bags were soaking wet. I guess the luggage gorillas at Midway left our bags out in the open during one of the many monsoons between our flights. Oh well what can you do... We are on vacation! We picked up our rental car, loaded the bags and drove over the hotel just outside of the airport. Once we got into the room, we found that the majority of our clothes were soaked and to add to the impending drama, Claudine found out the one of the aerosol cans of sunscreen had exploded inside one of her suitcases and stained some of her clothes... We won't go into the dirty details of the semi-melt down that took place after she found out that many of her clothes were now stained with sunscreen. I told her that we would wash them when we got in the room at Aulani. Here is what the majority of the stains looked like Needless to say, she was NOT a happy camper! Again, what can you do, but just move on... So we ventured out to forage for food, then turned in from a somewhat eventful day. Now for all of you out there who have traveled from the east coast to the west knows that your body clock takes some time to readjust. We all woke up early early on Sunday morning and watched the sun rise over the San Francisco Bay... Claudine and I went down to partake of the free breakfast once they opened up, while the younger ones got ready for the day. The plan for today was for me to show them as much San Fran touristy stuff that I could possibly cram in. Back in another life (career), I worked in the semiconductor industry, and the majority of the suppliers were headquartered about 40 miles south of San Fran, so I pretty much have seen all of the sights around the city. So this day, I played the part of the tour guide and chauffeur. Once we got all of the girls in the car and headed off into the city, they started whining about how hungry they were... For those of you who have ever been to SFO, knows that there are no shortage of little restaurants and cafe's all over the place... Our choice today would be this little place. Its just across the street from Ghiradelli Square. A little food pictures of kitties This would be a sausage, egg & cheese on a croissant You be the judge if they were happy with my choice of venues... Ash had already wolfed hers down and was ready to move on... After we finished up, and since I scored a pretty sweet parking spot (that's our luggage hauler in front of that BMW) with a well fed parking meter, we thought we would go and check out Ghirardelli Square. I'm pretty sure this is where it all started back in the day, Now its just another shopping center in the converted chocolate factory. There is a Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop just like the one in DTD, as well as a candy store along with many other trinkety shops. Now if you notice, it looks to be a very gloomy day... but its not, at least in what we think back east.... Usually in San Francisco, from early morning and up through about 10:00 the clouds and fog tend to linger and make it look like its going to rain, but the sun usually comes through and will burn it all off in short order. From Ghirardelli Square, we head off toward Hyde St. Hyde Street is where the famous San Fran Cable cars turn around to head back to Union Square. This is also where the National Park Service runs the Hyde St Pier. This is looking up Hyde St. If you look closely, you can see one of the cable cars coming down the street... We wanted to take the girls on a cable car ride, but there were no fast passes for this attraction and there was simply too much ground to cover, and not wanting to stand in a mile long line, we passed. This is the entrance of the Park Service Hyde St Pier. The large white boat you see here was a ferry used before the Golden Gate Bridge was built. Its a paddlewheeler named the Eureka. Back then, this was the only "fast" way to get from Marin County over to San Francisco. They had several other assorted boats and ships to see, but the girls were having no part of touring any of them. We make our way down to the famous Fisherman's Wharf... Now its a mixture of cheesy t-shirt shops and seafood restaurants, but I bet is was something to see (and smell) back in the day. As you walk past a lot of these restaurants, you can pick up all kinds of seafood related items, especially dungeonous crabs freshly steamed... I hate I was still full from breakfast, otherwise, I would have enjoyed a fresh steamed crab sandwich on a sourdough roll! A trip to San Francisco wouldn't be complete without a picture of Alcatraz Island, or "The Rock" as the guests used to call it There are all kinds of tour operators that operate boats out to The Rock several times a day. But again, I didn't think the girls would want to spend their time touring a rotting prison out in the middle of the San Francisco Bay. I have taken the tour several times in the past and have enjoyed each time. The most popular tour is a self guided affair where they give you a modified walk-man kind of thing, and you get a narrated tour at your own pace. We have more ground to cover when I get come back... Its been yet another action packed day, and its time to check out for the evening. Mahalo! 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CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted July 17, 2014 Report Share Posted July 17, 2014 Sorry about your soaked luggage and the sunscreen! That's not a good way to start vacation. I would have had a meltdown too. Your San Francisco pictures are great. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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