Tropical November

We must digress some to get everyone caught up on our comings and goings. The senior Millers can't compete with their children's blogs (I think their father taught them all too well). Anyway, a trip Jim planned in July finally became a reality in November. Jim and Glenda left the 19 degree weather of Bend for the 80+ degree weather of Hawaii and a cruise for seven wonderful, tropical days.

The cruise was many months in the making. We had miles that we could apply for a free airline ticket; we found great airline deals from Portland, Oregon to Honolulu, and we found a great cruise package. After all the travel arrangements were made, Jim set out to find the best excursions and things to do on the islands. He ended up renting cars on three of the islands. To say we had fun is an understatement; to say we created memories for a lifetime barely scratches the surface.

We arrived in Honolulu dressed in long pants, sweater, and heavy jacket (remember where we came from). When Jim went to baggage claim to get the bags, he found Glenda's right away. After searching for several minutes, Jim was almost convinced that his bag was lost. An attendant in the area asked what the bag looked like. Jim described it and went to talk with Glenda. From a distance Jim heard the attendant's voice asking if this was his bag. Jim looked over to see something completely wrapped in a plastic bag--there it was! Jim began taking off the bag when he discovered that the whole back of the luggage was torn to simmerings. Off he went to make a claim on the bag and found that the ladies were waiting.

Well, that was the start of an absolutely wonderful week. No destroyed bag was going to dampen our spirits. We soon were on our shuttle headed to the dock. We checked in with the cruise line and went aboard. As soon as our luggage made it to our stateroom (it wasn't long since we were on the lowest deck), we changed into shorts which we wore until we flew home a week later.

I won't bore you with paragraph after paragraph of the things we saw and did while in Hawaii. We saw volcanoes, lush jungles, beautiful flowers (and this was winter there), blue water, and colorful fish. We ate Poi rolls, malasadas (Hawaiian doughnuts), and Hawaii Shave Ice. We drove many miles, listened to Hawaiian music in the car, and laughed and enjoyed. The best part was that we got to share it together.