Family Travels

Sunday, March 21, 2010:

We’re at the San Jose Airport waiting for our flight. Free Internet access in the waiting area - yeah! Well, our trip is over and it is nice to be going home. I guess there is no place like home.

I asked the boys what the highlight of their trip was and here’s what they said:

Colby:
Favorite part of the trip: Skiing and snowboarding. It was cool seeing him race straight down the mountain.
Most memorable: Snow-shoeing. He hated it. Understandable, since he had to wear the same size show-shoes as we wore. He did great though - made it all the way up the mountain.

Kylan:
Favorite part of the trip: Skiing and snowboarding. He did great. I think he’ll have snowboarding wired by the next time.
Most Memorable: Falling down while snowboarding.

Aaron:
Favorite part of the trip: Skiing and going to the museums. Aaron seems more comfortable skiing than snowboarding. I was impressed with his control of the skiis.
Most Memorable: Same as Kylan - falling down while snowboarding.

Wendy:
Favorite part of the trip:
Making it down the blue run and Point Lobos.
Most memorable: Having her bottles of honey taken away at the security checkpoint. Bummers! Yes, honey is considered a liquid.

Dean:
Favorite part of the trip: Yosemite and spending time with Albert, Wendy and Michael.
Most memorable: The awesome beauty of Yosemite.

We are all thankful and glad that Dennis, Pam and Brendan could come on the trip with us.

What a great trip. What great memories. We’re already thinking about where we want to go on next. Gotta make the most of the years we have with the kids. It’s hard to believe that Aaron is going to be in middle school next year. Wendy and I realize that we don’t have too many years left with the kids before they’re all grown up and going off to college.  We’re so thankful to be able to create these types of memories with them and hope to create many more in the years ahead.

dean

Getting ready to head home. This is our last night in California. We have a 8:30 AM flight back to Honolulu. Hard to believe that our trip is over.

We had a great last day in Monterey. The day started by going to the Monterey Aquarium with Dennis, Albert and Wendy. Pam spent the day with Betty. If you haven’t visited the aquarium, I would highly recommend it. The exhibits are awesome, especially the seahorse exhibit - wow! Lunch was a restaurant by the aquarium. Can’t remember the name of the restaurant, but the food was great. By the time we were done with lunch it was time to rush back to our hotel to pick up our bags. We said good-bye to Dennis, and then headed back to San Jose, with a detour through Gilroy for one more quick shopping trip. Wendy and Albert met us there. Albert stayed in the car and slept. The boys and I went to all the stores in an hour. Wendy ended up staying at the outlet with Wendy and Albert. The boys and I headed to our hotel in San Jose to check in and drop off our bags. We then went to Fry’s Electronics - the big boys toy store. It’s always more fun to go to Fry’s with just the guys. I’m sure Wendy was saying the same thing when we left her at the Gilroy Outlet with Wendy (my niece).

Dinner was at a Vietnamese Restaurant in San Jose. The food was excellent! My nephew, Michael, also joined us for dinner. Well, it’s late, I’m tired, and we leave the airport at 6:30 AM. So, I’ll post a final recap of our trip when we get back to Honolulu. Till then….

dean

Friday, March 19, 2010:

Met Dennis and Pam at their friend Betty’s house in Salinas this morning then headed to Monterey. First thing we did was to visit the Point Lobos State Park. Pretty neat place along the coast and Dennis’ favorite park. The coastline is beautiful and different than what we see in Hawaii. We saw sea otters, sea lions, seagulls, and even a snake. We also visited the Whale Museum, which is a small wooden house next to the water. The docent there told us about the house and we learned that there were a bunch of Japanese divers who picked abalone when it was a booming business in Monterey. After the park, we had lunch at From Scratch at the Barnyard Mall. From there we checked in to our room at the Monterey Surf Inn and went to Dennis the Menas Park to let the kids run around, and to let Dennis take a picture by Dennis. Dinner this evening was at Smally’s Roundup in Salinas. The ribs there are delicious. The only bummer thing about dinner was getting burned by the waitress. Yup, the waitress dropped a cup of hot water on my arm and all over my pants. The back of my had got burned - hoping it won’t blister. The thing that urked me the most was the waitress’ comment to me after dropping the cup of hot water on me. She said, “the water wasn’t too hot.” What’s up with that!! No apologies, no nothing. I wonder if she would have felt the same way if some of that “not too hot water” was poured over her hand. I think not. Oh well, could have been worse. After dinner, we went to Betty’s house to pick up our bags and to have some homemade pie. Betty’s pie was the best. She used berries (don’t remember the name) that was grown on her family’s farm.

Well, only two more days and it’s back home and back to the grind. I’m tired. Time to to sleep. Another full day tomorrow.

dean

Thursday, March 18, 2010:

The Yosemite part of our trip has come and gone. We had breakfast in our room, took the valley tour, and packed up and said good-bye to Yosemite. We had a great time, but it was definitely too short. The drive back seemed a lot faster than the drive to Yosemite. We went back through Merced to eat Mexican food at Maria’s. After eating lunch there with the Jinnohara’s, we said good-bye to Brendan who was scheduled to fly out of San Jose that evening. We headed to Gilroy, a farming town whose major crop is garlic. You can tell because the town smells like garlic. We checked in to the Quality Inn and Suites across from the Gilroy Premium Outlets. The hotel was pretty empty. Actually seemed like we were one of the only ones there, and the outlet seemed the same way. Almost seemed like a weird dream. There weren’t too many good deals and it was nice to leave the outlet and get some dinner. We ate a Chevy’s, a Mexican food chain right next to our hotel. Our room was pretty spacious, but it wasn’t quite done yet. I think they’re still renovating the rooms because the door jambs on our bathroom was not painted, and neither was the door. Oh well, at least we know it’s new.

Tomorrow we meet up again with Dennis and Pam and go to Monterey.

dean

Wednesday, March 17, 2010:

We spent another day at Badger Pass playing in the snow - skiing, snowboarding and snow-shoeing. Today was the first time snow-shoeing (and the last for the boys) for the Tomitas. The ranger took us all the way up to the top of a hill to a point that overlooked a lot of the park. It was pretty spectacular, but I must say it was probably a bit much for all three boys. I was impressed that they made it all the way to the top. I think the fear of bears and the thought of being left behind in the snow probably had something to do with them keeping up. It’s one thing to walk up a hill with regular shoes, but try doing it with tennis rackets strapped to your shoes. It’s a different experience.

The boys all decided to ski instead of snowboard today, and they all did great! All of them went up the lift on their own and made it down on their own. Colby figured out that since he couldn’t turn too well, the best way down was straight. Needless to say, he beat his brothers down the hill. Pretty cool though, after a few times riding on the lift with me, he said that he was going on by himself - and he did the rest of the afternoon. In fact, I had to tell him that the park was closing and that he had one final run. Kylan and Aaron did well too. I think they can go on some intermediate runs the next time. I guess the ski lessons on previous trips was worth it.

After skiing, we drove back to the Yosemite Lodge and bought dinner from the food court and ate in our room. We also went to hear the nightly ranger talk which was very interesting. Do you know which animal in the park killed humans? If you guessed the bear, you’re wrong. It’s actually the deer. I don’t know, but I think I would be more afraid of a bear than a deer. Bambi killing someone?

Tomorrow, we go on a park tour and then head back to the city. We’ll spend an evening in Gilroy - right next to the outlet. Dennis and Pam will head back to San Jose to take Brendan to the airport and then head to Salinas where they will be staying with a friend. We’ll meet up again on Friday in Monterey to do things there.

I would love to come back to Yosemite one day and spend more time here and hike parts of the park. Actually, it would be fun to visit during the different seasons since each presents Yosemite in such a different way.

dean

Tuesday, March 16,2010:

Today was snow day. We spent the whole day skiing and snowboarding at Badger Pass. Badger Pass was great - not crowded and the runs were just right for us. We got there around 9:00 AM and left at around 4:00 PM. The three boys took snowboarding lessons and actually did quite well. After completing their two-hour lesson, all three of the boys were able to come down the hill on their own - including getting on and off the chair lift. Colby took the quickest route down the hill - straight. His way of stopping - fall down. I was really proud of all three of them. Learning to snowboard is no easy task. I think all that practice riding their ripstiks really helped them today. The Jinnohara’s and Wendy skiied and I snowboarded.

Dinner this evening for us was instant saimin. salami, cheese and crackers in our room. You wouldn’t believe how good cup noodles taste after a whole day spent in the snow. Michael, thank you for letting us borrow your electric hot pot. Everyone is turning in early this evening. It’s only 9:30 PM and the boys are sleeping already. I guess the snowboarding wiped them out.

The snow seems to be melting and the season changing from Winter to Spring. The weather on the slopes was warm today - we could have skiied in shorts and t-shirt. By the way, the guy who setup our snowboarding equipment today used to date the sister of one of the teachers at KS. He said that she used to live in Kaimuki on 11th Ave, only three blocks from where we live. Pretty cool.

Well, tomorrow it’s back to the slopes for another day of skiing and snowboarding. The boys all decided that they want to ski instead of snowboard tomorrow. We might also try tubing, too.

Hard to believe we’re at the half-way point of our trip already. In a way, I kind of wish there wasn’t any internet or cell phone access from Yosemite. It would have been nice to totally enjoy the beauty of Yosemite without having to think about school or work. I guess we’ll have to come back again one day when I’m done with school and work isn’t so busy, then I can really relax. The good thing is I think Wendy and the boys, and Dennis, Pam and Brendan are relaxed and having a great time - and that’s a great!

We just changed our plans a bit for Thursday. We were supposed to go to Monterey, but will be spending an evening in Gilroy, so we can visit the Gilroy Premium Outlets. We passed it on the way up and it’s huge. We’ll let you know how it is on Thursday.

Well, time to do some reading for school before calling it a night. More tomorrow.

dean

Monday, March 15, 2010:

Greetings from Yosemite! Well, we finally made it to Yosemite. It took a while to get here, but it was worth the drive. We’re staying at the Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. It’s very convenient to be staying right in the park. The rooms are what you would expect to find at a National Park. Pretty basic room - simple and clean.

We had breakfast at the Homewood Suites with the Jinnohara’s this morning and then headed to Yosemite. We had one big decision to make - head North or head South. Huh, I thought Yosemite was to the East of San Jose? Yup, too bad there isn’t one straight road from San Jose to Yosemite. Each of our GPS devices provided a different route. Wendy’s google map said to head north. Dennis’ friend said to head south. We ended up following Dennis’ friends advice and headed south. The drive was supposed to take 4.5 hours. It ended taking around 6 hours; however, we made several stops to buy food, fill in gas and go to the restroom. So, 6 hours was about right. Once we got out of the city, it was pretty much miles and miles of farmland and rolling hills. Nice and relaxing.

Lunch was on the road - salami, cheese, and crackers.

Stress! I forgot that I needed to complete two online tests before class this evening. Tracie, thanks for the reminder. Good thing there is wireless connection in our room at Yosemite. I was able to complete my tests in time and will be attending class “virtually” this evening. Yikes, it’ll be 11:30 PM when I get out of class.

We saw some deer this afternoon. They were right by Wendy and she didn’t even know it. Good thing they weren’t bears.

Dinner tonight was at the food court at the lodge. Cafeteria food. The food is okay. Actually, Kylan, Aaron and Wendy opted for cup a noodles in the room. Colby and I had a bowl of chili.

We’re relaxing in our room right now. Tomorrow should be a full day. We’re planning to go to Badger Pass for skiing, snowboarding and tubing. The temperature up here is warmer than San Jose or San Francisco. It’s in the high 60’s right now. Forecast for tomorrow is low 70’s. Hopefully, we can still go skiing. That’s all for now. Need to get ready to login to class.

dean

Sunday, March 14, 2010:

How can you get up on time and yet be one hour late - can you say Daylight Savings! I got up this morning actually thinking I was up early, but then realized that I forgot to set the clock ahead one hour before going to bed. So, what I thought was 6:45, was actually 7:45. We were planning to leave the hotel by 8:30 so we could get to the Exploratorium by 9:00 to get parking. Fortunately, we were able to get out of the hotel in time and ended up getting really good parking. Because we were early, we walked around the neighborhood to find some breakfast. The area around the Exploratorium is pretty cool. KInda like Sienfield meets the Cleavers. Trendy but quaint. Definitely a place to take a nice Sunday morning stroll.

The Exploratorium is a definite “must-see” if you have kids. I think I enjoyed the place as much as the boys did. I told Kylan that it’s a place that I could see him working at some day They make all of their exhibits right there and the way Kylan likes to invent things, I think he would be a natural.

After the Exploratorium, we went back to the Cow Hollow Inn to grab our luggage and headed back to San Jose to check back in to the Homewood Suites. Lunch was at In-N-Out Burgers. Their hamburgers remind me of Tropics Bakery in Kaimuki. It brought back memories of sitting at the counter and watching them prepare the hamburgers right there on the grill. These are about as close to the Tropics as I think I’ll get.

After lunch we went to Pep Boys to pick up chains for our car. We actually tried Kragens first, but they didn’t have our size, which ended up being a good thing because the chains at Pep Boys were half the price and we can return them if we don’t use them. Dennis, Pam and Brendon met us there and picked up chains for their car, too. We headed to the Great Mall after to do some shopping and met Wendy and Albert there. The Great Mall is a pretty big indoor mall that kind of reminds me of the Ontario Mills Outlet. I couldn’t belive how crowded the place was - and it’s Sunday. Wendy and Albert treated us to dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Mountain View. Can’t remember the name right now, but the food was delicious. Michael and his friend Melissa also joined us. We just got back to our room a little while ago. It’s supposed to be 10:30 PM, but since the clocks are ahead one hour, it’s now 11:30 PM. Got to wind down and get to bed soon. Tomorrow we have a long drive (about 4.5 hours) to Yosemite. I have four cans of Starbucks double expresso shots to keep me up for the drive. Well that’s about it for now.

More tomorrow from Yosemite - if I have Internet connection. If not, I’ll be back online on Thursday.

dean

Saturday, March 13:

One word from each of the boys to sum up the day:

Aaron: Horrible - because of a headache after the boat tour
Kylan: Exciting - because he got to see new things on the bay cruise
Colby: Happy - because he got to see his cousins - Wendy, Albert and Michael

A full day spent in San Francisco with Michael (my nephew), Wendy (my niece) and Albert (Wendy’s husband). It was really nice meeting up and hanging out with family. I can still remember when Michael and Wendy were the same ages as our boys. Hard to believe that they are all grown up and on their own. I am happy to see them both doing so well.

Our day started off at the California Academy of Science where we visited the planetarium, tropical rain forest and oceans exhibits. It took us a while to get there though, and our GPS now has two strikes against it. Instead of taking us to the correct location, we were guided to the Moscone Center - sorry, but the GPS wasn’t even close. We ended up using the iPhone GPS and that got us to the correct location. If you haven’t been to the California Academy of Science and you have young kids, I would highly recommend it. Even if you don’t have young kids, it a neat place to visit.

Stop two was Fisherman’s Wharf to eat lunch. We had lunch at the Fisherman’s Grotto Restaurant. The food was pretty good. Actually, when you eat lunch at 3:00, pretty much anything taste good. After lunch everyone but Michael and Albert went on the Blue and Gold Fleet Boat Tour which took us under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz Island. I think Aaron and I will be waiting on shore the next time. Neither of us got sick, but Aaron’s head and my stomach would have been much happier if we had stayed on shore. After the boat tour we went to Pier 1 to meet up with Albert and Michael and walk around a bit. We picked up Taco Bell and called it an evening. It was nice coming back to the room fairly early. The boys are relaxing. Our stomaches are full-and happy! Life is good. No bushman. We all decided that it wasn’t necessary to see the bushman in person. YouTube would be good enough. You did all hear about the bushman? I saw him here the last time I was in San Francisco which was 10 years ago. I was thinking, if the bushman is still performing, he must be making pretty good money hiding behind his cardbox box and jumping out and scaring people.

The Jinnohara’s should be arriving shortly and we’ll meet up with them tomorrow back at Homewood Suites in San Jose. Well, I guess I better shower and do some reading before calling it a night. Oh, forgot to mention, good news, Wendy is back to normal!

dean

March 12, 2010 Pt. 2:

We just returned to our hotel room at the Cow Hollow Motor Inn in San Francisco. The room is pretty standard. Nothing fancy. Clean and convenient. That’s all we need since we will probably be in the room only to sleep.

After breakfast this morning, we packed up and drove up to San Francisco. We made one stop (REI) along the way. Our plans were to drop off our bags before heading out to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, but when we arrived, our room was ready-yeah! The drive to the Jelly Belly Factory took us over the Golden Gate Bridge. Wow, pretty awesome structure. The drive was pretty long just to see how Jelly Bellys are made, but I must say that the tour was pretty worth it. After the tour, we drove a short distance and ate dinner at Red Lobster - guess who chose the restaurant. The guys would have been happy eating at In and Out Burgers, but the food at Red Lobster was good. Acutally, at 4:00 PM lunch taste good pretty much anywhere.

So the junkest part of the the day was driving back from the Jelly Belly Factory. The GPS, instead of taking us on the same route back, routed us all the way down to San Jose and then back up to San Fran. What should have been about a one hour drive ended up taking us two hours. The whole reason we said that we decided to stay in San Fran for a few days was so that we wouldn’t have to drive back and forth. Well, today we drove up to San Fran two times. Oh well. It’s about 8:30 PM and we’re getting ready to wind down for the evening. Everyone is having a great time. One thing we noticed is that the boys are sleeping less in the car than on previous trips. I guess they really are growing up.

Tomorrow we’ll be meeting Wendy and Albert to go to the Academy of Science and the Japanese Tea Garden. Hopefully, the weather will be a little better. More tomorrow.

dean