Breck or Bust (Ski Trip - Colorado)

I've been looking for an opportunity to go skiing out West for years.  A great opportunity came up this Winter when some family was planning a trip out to Breckenridge and Vail and I jumped at the chance.  Jolene had work conflicts and we've also agreed that she does not handle altitudes well so she stayed behind.

The trip started with me beating the group there due to flight times with a chance to walk the streets of Denver as as slowly began to snow.  By the time the rest of them arrived the snow had picked up and we quickly retrieved our minivan rental to start the drive into the mountains.  In retrospect the fact that the roads were already covered in snow and it was pretty obvious our windshield wipers were not working well we should have taken a U-turn and traded up for an SUV (paying the extra money).

Do not drive a minivan through a blizzard in the Rockies

We continued our journey to Breckenridge that night through the snowstorm.  On multiple occasions I voted for us to pull over and spend the night waiting for sunlight to finish the journey the next day but was out voted by the team.  This eventually led to us stranded on the highway, sideways, in a blizzard at night with a group of firefighters trying to figure out how to help us.  Eventually a tow truck (already on scene) was able to tow us up the hill and let us "coast/slide" through the rest of our journey.  I once again tried to make the group stop in Frisco but they were going to make it to Breck(enridge) or Bust that evening.  Once we finally arrived that night we all agreed we'd never get back into the minivan "death trap" again.

After that initial challenge we had a great trip.  Able to ski-in/ski-out and walk to all the shops in Breckenridge.  During the week we were there we got 69 inches of snow and never did make it to Vail for a day as planned (illegal to drive without chains, roads temporarily closed, and multiple avalanches across the road we wanted to take).

Aloha! - Oahu and The Big Island of Hawaii (ALMOST)

On our way back from Japan we did a stopover in Hawaii.  The most cost effective way I found to do this was a red eye through Guam allowing us to sleep for a few hour on a bench waiting for our connecting flight.

Aloha!

Jolene and Mike Hang out in the Guam Airport!

It had felt like many people we knew had gotten a chance to visit the Hawaiian islands and one way or another it just wasn't meant to be for us.  This trip back from Asia to the States seemed like it might be our final chance to see what all the great stories were about.

Oahu definitely exceeded our expectations.  It was beautiful, it was easy to get around, the food was great, and we even got a chance to explore through a friend who now lives there and her boyfriend.  While not floating on Waikiki we toured and hiked the island.

• Pearl Harbor - This is something historically I've always wanted to see.  Definitely still a lot of lessons I hope we all learned from World War II.
• North Shore for a sunset, a sacred hilltop and some good grub (Uncle Bo's, etc.)
• Turtle Bay for a Mai Tai with Rae
• Diamond Head - Hiked from downtown choosing to get the full experience.
• Hiking to Waterfalls with Mostaffa! - We lost his shoes during this excursion and still feel bad about it.  We also learned that I have been raised in a world of shoes and I can't walk barefoot without complaining about how it hurts.  I need to work on my "Hawaiian Feet".
• Maui Brewing Co. - To try as many types of local brews as we could while listening to live music.

No trip to Hawaii is complete without a Luau!  To say Jolene enjoyed herself would not give it justice.  It was a great evening with a fascinating show of various Polynesian dances and stories.  There were also arts and crafts stations where we learned to make our own local head dresses, and start fires.

     

The final leg of our trip was to be to The Big Island (Hawaii) where we would stay in a AirBnb Tree House on the outskirts of the Volcano National Park.  As it turns out mother nature had other thoughts.  What appeared to be the worst hurricane to hit the islands in at least 50 years (Hurricane Lane) approached the islands on our last two days of Oahu before we were to fly south into Hilo (where the storm was approaching).  On what I'm sure will continue to be a story told for years I made the decision at 3 in the morning the day before our flight to alter our plans and fly back to the mainland rather than "into the eye of the storm" two days early.  I'm pretty sure if left to her own devices Jolene would have had us in a tree house fending off 30 inches of rain the following day!  Regardless of how the trip ended we had an awesome time with no official injuries.

 

 

 

Kyoto, Japan --- by way of the Shinkasen Bullet Train!

Continuing our trip in Japan we headed out to Kyoto the previous Imperial Capital of Japan. 

We arrived late one night via bullet train (cool experience) and got a cab with a couple people who were going to join us for a tour the following morning.  The one young man with us was Japanese and helped us communicate and tell stories with the cab driver.  The driver had only perfected enough English to tell his samurai vs. ninja story making for a limited conversation.  He also preferred to argue with the Chinese-American man in the front seat (which seemed like it might get serious).  To break the tension I mentioned that Jolene drove a Toyota Camry and all the Japanese in the car thought that made her quite special.

We got to visit the city’s famous historical and cultural attractions like the Golden Pavilion, Kyoto Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle.  The nightingale floors (anti-ninja) made chirping noises as you walked on them making it basically impossible to sneak through the castle.  Interestingly enough my house in the suburbs of the Chicago makes the same chirping noises.  No ninjas in my house!

In the afternoon we toured Sanjusangendo Hall, home to 1,001 images of Buddha; Heian Shrine, famous for its red exteriors; and Kiyomizu, a Buddhist temple with a large veranda built into a hillside.

Our guide Tammy did her best to entertain us with "jokes" as she helped us around the city.  The gentleman who showed us around in the afternoon after our local lunch said that he believed over half the woman we were seeing in kimonos were actually Chinese tourists just renting them for the day.  I've yet to officially prove that but it did put a different perspective on things.

While our time in Kyoto was short we saw a lot.  To top off the trip we took a bullet train back to Tokyo but purchased our own sake and sushi for the ride.  Riding on trains (basically always on time) with your own snacks is something no one should ever pass a chance at.

 

 

 

 

 

Tokyo, Japan - Jolene made it to Asia!



Origami - By Mike and Jo 

It all stemmed from a past conversation Jolene had with a friend of mine.  He argued that her trip to the Sinai Peninsula did NOT count as her stepping on the continent of Asia.  A couple years have passed but I’ve put that argument to rest by asking her to accompany me to Japan.

 

While visiting Japan we used Tokyo as our home base and stayed at the Hyatt Centric in Ginza.  Fun area with shops and easy access to the rest of the city.  Jolene instantly fell in love with the respect, rules, and order that were apparent in everything we did on our trip.  Even without knowing the language she still became an instant master of the subway system among other things bringing back memories of her achievements in Berlin all those winters ago.

Tokyo was hot and humid partially due to a typhoon that had just passed!  That didn’t stop us from trying to see as much as possible during our limited time.  We walked through Shibuya Crossing (debatably the busiest intersection in the world), visited quite a few temples, and even made it to a cat café to take a break.  While we had a ton of good food while there we definitely focused our energy on different types of ramen/soba and sushi.  One morning we work up extremely early and did a sushi breakfast at the Tsukiji Fish Market.  The food was amazing, we waited for about 45 minutes to get seated at the little place that only had room for 8 people!

 

We also did a day trip outside of the city to attempt to see some of the country side.  We went up the 5^th station of Mt. Fuji but even at that altitude during the time we were there we were surrounded by low lying clouds.  After that we headed over to Lake Ashi for a boat ride to the cable cars that took us to the top of Mt. Komagatake.  This time we were actually in the clouds.  The entire mountain top was engulfed in moist cloud giving it a “haunted” feel making it difficult to see things more than 20 feet in front of you.

 

Jolene insists one of her favorite parts of Tokyo was the time I left her alone in a food court and put her in charge of getting us a table while I was getting us ramen.  She was able to interact and people watch with the locals and really got to see how people were acting in a normal day scenario.

 

I still am not sure if I’ve decided what I enjoyed most but the chance to sit in for sumo practice at the largest/top sumo stable in Tokyo was pretty amazing.  After practice a local guide helped us interact with a couple of the wrestlers.  One guy who just turned 18 agreed to take a picture of us pretending to wrestle.  I seriously tried to move him without success while he exerted zero effort.

 

Regardless of what memories end up sticking… leave no doubt … Jolene has now been to Asia!

HEY ARNOLD!

When we heard some of our favorite people moved to Arnold we made it a goal to get there as soon as possible.  We had an amazing time and both the area and their home fit them perfectly.  Since they have lived there I constantly joke that is seems like they are always on a boat.  To confirm my suspicions they took us out on a sunset boat ride and kayaking / paddle boarding, only taking a break for some local crabs.

We have a witch in the family. Isn't it wonderful? (Orlando, FL)

No words can describe how much fun Jolene had at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter so pictures will have to do!  She will definitely be handing out candy this October as Hermione.