Jen was right (Re: Sinise)

According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Defense, Gary Sinise and his Lieutenant Dan Band (a takeoff on the presumably much bawdier Dan Band, best known for their roles as the band from the wedding scene in Old School) will perform a concert in the Pentagon Courtyard Friday, May 16 at noon as part of Military Appreciation Month.

(A quick side note. I only woke up about an hour ago. Jen is still sleeping. That ten-hour trip from Hawaii to Washington, DC (not to mention the hour-and-a-half delay in Los Angeles and the six-hour time difference) really saps your energy!)

Also, I'm going to try to go back and add some photos to the previous blog postings to give you an idea of some of the things that we saw.

Lieutenant Dan!

Ha! I almost bowled over Gary Sinise on my way into the bathroom when he was on his way out!

He's really short...like 5" 5' or something like that. His head only came up to my chin!

Anyway...off to get the luggage and catch up on my sleep.
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Success!

Well, we FINALLY made it to DC after about an hour and a half delay at LAX. Evidently our pilot was on another plane that was delayed getting to LA. After waiting (on the plane) for over an hour we were told that we would be getting a pilot from another plane. When he arrived we were finally able to take off.

It's 316 EST, but 916 am were Jen and I still in Hawaii, we would normally only now be getting up. I can still dream, right? At least we have the weekend to catch up on our sleep before heading back to work. Work? Ack! I can't even think about going back to work yet!
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Celebrity Sighting

When we arrived in LA last week, Jen wondered if we would see any celebrities. I told her that we would probably have a better chance of seeing someone famous on our flight from LA to DC, even if it did leave at 600 am.

This morning I proved prophetic as actor Gary Sinise, who played Lieutenant Dan in Forrest Gump, and is currently starring in CSI: New York, boarded United Flight 324 from Los Angeles to Washington-Dulles. Jen figures that he's in town to go to Walter Reed or perhaps testify before Congress as he's been very active in pushing for greater benefits for military veterans.

He's also recently lent his voice to an army recruitment video and his band (The Lieutenant Dan Band) has performed many times for the troops. Here's their version of Baba O'Reilly with Sinise playing the John Entwistle role (bass guitar).

Well, we're getting ready to take off. Gary, Jen, and I will see you soon!
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15 Minutes Until Boarding...

Plane leaves at 6 am, arrives at 154 pm EST. So, five hours across country, the three hour time difference, 20 minutes to collect our baggage, 20 minutes to get on the shuttle and get to the car, then 30 minutes to get home and 5 minutes to walk to my bed...all of which means that I can be asleep in my own bed in six hours and 15 minutes. Should be around 315 pm EST.
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La La Land...

Jen and I have arrived in LA. I think I'd rather be in Dreamland. It's 450 am LA time, 150 am Hawaii time, and 730 Eastern time. Not sure what time it is anywhere else.

Next flight at 630 am or something like that.
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Aloha Maui!

Well, it's all over. Ten wonderful days in the island paradise of Hawaii have come to an end. It rained almost the entire day today, which made it a little easier to leave. Here are some shots of the view from our hotel balcony (click on the image to see a larger version).










As you can see, it's quite depressing, which was an adequte reflection of our feelings about leaving Hawaii. We spent this morning having one final breakfast on our balcony overlooking the garden and pool area at the Fairmont. Very sad stuff.

Still, we were able to have some fun on our last day in Hawaii even if we didn't have a nice hotel room at the Fairmont anymore. We were tipped off to a neat place called Mulligan's, an Irish restaurant located on the hotel's golf course. There, we watched the Celtics beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 5 of the NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals. Jen also got to watch the Phillies-Braves game, but, unlike the Celtics, the Phillies were unable to pull off a late comeback.

Funnily enough, our server's mom was from outside of Philly and remembered going to the Devon (Pa.) Horse Show (Jen is from Devon for those who didn't know) as a little girl. Here are some shots in and around Mulligan's, which cheered us up just a little bit.




And, despite the rain, we still managed to have a little fun. And we were still in Hawaii--even if it was a little rainy--so don't feel too sorry for us.

Most of our time in Maui was spent at the Fairmont pool and beach. The beach was very calm and HOT!! I think I got as much sun on one day on the Fairmont beach as I did the entire time in Kauai. Jen is even browner than I am and, as she likes to say, if she had my Asian-looking eyes, she could easily pass for a native Hawaiian girl.

We did take one day in Maui to explore the island, spending almost all of the day on Monday driving to Hana on the famous "Road to Hana" (If you haven't heard it, look it up on the Internet). The drive was filled with black sand beaches, scenic views, and waterfalls-although not as many waterfalls as we had hoped because it had been pretty dry out here over the last few weeks. (I'll post more photos as I have time).

Well, we're boarding flight 46 to Los Angeles right now. We're schedule to arrive at 600 am LA time and then hop on a plane to DC around 730 or something like that. I'll check back in when we land if I'm not too tired.

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Bye to Kauai, Aloha to Maui!

It's 1:30 pm Hawaiian time on Friday afternoon and your favorite honeymoon couple is sitting in the Lihue airport on the island of Kauai awaiting Flight 336 to Honolulu. We arrive in Honolulu at 2:47 pm and then fly to Maui where we will arrive at 3:47 pm.

The last two days have been a whirlwind-so much so that I haven't had a chance to write anything for the blog.

On Wednesday, we got up bright and early to go ziplining. There were about 12 in our group and we piled into a white van and drove to the middle of the island. The first zipline was also the longest. We were given two options: go forward and jump off the edge or face backwards and fall off the edge. Being the adventurous sort, I was the first in our group to go backwards. It's pretty scary, but very exciting. Imagine stage diving backwards off a 100 foot platform. You free fall for only a split second-just long enough to wonder if you're going to plunge to your death before the line grabs you and you speed across the canyon. The next time across I went backwards again and so did Jen! Don't worry-there are photos!

The next zip was a part zip, part repel. You back down backwards and feed the rope from behind your back to go down the line. This time we could control our speed and take in the scenery around us-trees everywhere, a small waterfall, and ANOTHER rooster (they're everywhere on this island I tell you!). At the end of this line, we took a little break for snacks and juice.

The next line was the most fun because we got to go UPSIDE DOWN! We started off at the top of the ledge, faced backwards, stretched out our arms and closed our eyes as the zipline jerked us off the platform. You didn't go upside down automatically, but doing so was pretty easy. You just had to pull your feet up over your head and rotate your body backwards. Then you zoom across a small stream on the zipline and then back across and then back across one more time. When you finish, you're still up pretty high so the guide has to take you down with a 12 foot ladder.

After that zip, we had a pretty decent hike to Kipu Falls where a rope swing and a cliff and waterfall awaited us. We didn't want to risk taking the digital camera across the stream, but, if we had, it would have looked something like this (http://earthweb.ess.washington.edu/~justin/HAWAII/Kauai.htm). There was also a rope swing that let you go even higher into the air before you let go and splashed into the swimming hole below. There were some locals there when we were there doing all kinds of crazy stuff. One kid swung out on the rope, didn't let go so he could swing back and land into a tree only to jump from the tree and do a flip before landing in the water. (If you go to YouTube and search for Kipu Falls, I'm pretty sure that there's video of what these kids were doing.

After the ziplline, Jen and I went back to the hotel and finally got some good beach time in. That night, we went to dinner at a place called Tomcats. I got beer battered shrimp with chili as an appetizer and Jen got poke'. For our main course, I got pasta with ahi, shrimp, and tomatoes. Very delicious! Jen had Macadamian nut-encrusted Mahi mahi with mashed potatoes. She also had a "Cononut Willy" to drink-it tasted a lot like a Dreamcicle. The portions were so large that we had to get a doggie bag!

Well, the plane is getting ready to take off. I'll tell you all about Thursday in the next posting.

Aloha!
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Up, up, and away!

Jen and I went on a helicopter of Kauai this afternoon. It lasted about an hour. We saw the beach where Harrison Ford and Anne Heche landed in Six Days, Seven Nights (http://m.youtube.com/details?v=L4wjbua7ZWY&warned=1) the waterfall used in Jurassic Park (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSG-4vMtd8Q), which is located on private land and is only viewable by helicopter.

There were seven people on the plane-three in the front (including the pilot) and four in the back. They weigh you when you come in and get a computer to decide where you sit. Thankfully Jen and I didn't have time to eat too much at the wedding ad we got to sit in the front next to the pilot (Brant was his name). But again, I told them that we were on our honeymoon, so that probably played a part as well. Again, Jen and I are going to use the "We're on our honeymoon" thing for the rest of our lives-whether we're on vacation or just in line at Harris Teeter.

Anyway, the front of the helicopter was all glass and so was the side, which meant that I had probably the best vantage point of anyone to take photos-and believe me, I took a ton (probably around 200). In fact, I took so many that my camera's battery was almost dead by the end of the ride!

We also saw Waimea Canyon, which is also known as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific (http://www.hawaiiweb.com/Kauai/html/sites/waimea_canyon.html). According to the previous link, the canyon measures "10 miles long, 1 mile wide, and more than 3,500-feet deep. And, according to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waimea_Canyon), the canyon was formed by a "deep incision of the Waimea River arising from the extreme rainfall on the island's central peak, Mount Waiʻaleʻale, among the wettest places on earth (Wikipedia says that it averages more than 460 inches of rain over the last 32 years).

Prior to the helicopter tour, we went to a little shopping center and found me some hiking shoes. We saw a McDonald's while we were there (no, we didn't eat there) and, wondering what it served that was "local," took a look inside. One word. SPAM. Yes, the Hawaii McDonald's serves SPAM as part of its breakfast menu. SPAM and sausage I think. They also had BBQ pork in addition to the usual Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with cheese, etc.

The rest of the afternoon was spent driving around the Island and going to the grocery for stuff. Would you guys believe that milk is $10 a gallon over here and ice cream is $7.50 for half a gallon? About the only thing that was a good price was California wine. We also bought some pineapple and fresh mangoes. Haven't eaten those yet, but I'll be sure to report back when we do!

We're going out to dinner as soon as Jen gets back from the fitness center. I'm waiting for her on our balcony that overlooks the garden pool, which has a waterfall. It's also surrounded by palm trees and shrubbery. Oh! I just saw another lizard scamper across our balcony!

What else? Tomorrow morning at 815 pm, Jen and I are doing a zipline your. It should be a ton of food. Evidently there is a waterfall and a small pond at the end-you shoot down the zipline and then swing down into the water. I can't wait! It should be a ton of fun!

TTFN, (http://www.disgalaxy.addr.com/Characters/tigger/tigger.htm),

Jason
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Zzzzzzzzz

So, as best as I can figure it (and I had to do a lot of figuring) there is a six-hour time difference between Hawaii and the East Coast of the United States. Fun Fact: Hawaii does not observe daylight savings time, a fact that made the calculation a little more difficult.

Day 1: After we landed, Jen and I received a lei greeting. Evidently we hadn't paid for one, but the lei woman had some extras and thought that we "looked like we were on our honeymoon." Then it was on to the Dollar Rent-A-Car place to pick up our Jeep Wrangler, which had been given away to someone else. However, we ended up getting a free upgrade to a four-door Jeep Wrangler. (this should be a link to what it looks like: http://www.backcountryjournal.com/bcjbumpersorder.html. Ours is bright red.)

By the way, from now on, Jen and I have decided to say that we're on our honeymoon. People are so nice to you and love to give you free stuff, upgrades, and what not. (The hotel is providing a free bottle of champagne and has another free gift for us that we haven't picked up yet).

After we finally got our Jeep, we drove back to the Sheraton Kauai Resort (http://www.sheraton-kauai.com). The drive to the hotel is AMAXING!!!! There are mountains all around you that just seem to jump up out of the ground out of nowhere. Everything is so green and the flowers are ridiculously beautiful.

Our room over looks the garden pool and there's a ton of flowered trees and other vegetation right outside our front door. I think that this vegetation is the permanent home to the first visitor that we received in our room-a little brown lizard (don't worry there are pictures, I just can't post them from my BlackBerry). I was able to chase him out of the room. And no, he didn't leave his tail behind him when he left (if you didn't know, some lizards can do that as a defense mechanism. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMGg_jdRbcc)

After we settled into our room, we went to a small little restaurant on the resort property and had pizza with pulled pork and pineapple. The restaurant was right on the ocean, and, although we couldn't see much of the ocean, we could see the white caps as the waves crashed. After a full day of travelling (16 hours by my count), the sound of the waves nearly put us to sleep. In fact, Jen is stilll asleep as I type this!

That's all for now!

Love,

Jason (and Jen)
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Fuel Prices

Because I know that my dad will want to know, the average fuel price per gallon near the airport is $3.98 a gallon, which, to be frank, is a little cheaper that I thought it would be...or maybe I'm just a little numb to high fuel prices after paying so much for it in the DC area.
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Aloha!

It's 5 p.m. Hawaii time and Jen and I just landed in Lihue on the island of Kauai.

It's a little cloudy, but the ocean is soooo blue and everything is so lush and green...definitely a huge difference from what we encountered in L.A.

Well, we're off to grab our luggage and our rental Jeep (and some tennis shoes and hiking boots for me because I totally forgot both!)
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Thank you!

Hi Everyone,

Jen and I just wanted to send a BIG thank you to everyone for such an awesome wedding weekend. We're so happy that so many of you were able to join us and we'll be sharing photos with each of you sometime in mid-May.

We love you all very much and are honored that you were able to join us. We hope that you had as much fun as we did!

Love,

Jason and Jennifer
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I Love L. A.

Well, it's 12:17 p. m. Here in L. A., cloudy skies, and lots of smog.

We have a two-hour layover here and then we're off to Kauai. Our travel agent says that L. A. is about the halfway point, so we'll be on celebrity watch for the next couple of hours until we take off from Gate 69B on Flight 69.
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Taking off!

Here Jen and I are...Gate C17 at Dulles International Airport, Flight 83 to Los Angeles.

We'll arrive in Los Angeles and then we'll be off to Hawaii!!!

Stay tuned!
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