My Own Private Oliver
I spent four full days in Hawaii, and I have no tan to show for it. But I do have lots of pictures, which, just to warn people, you will all be seeing if you stop by my office. Willingly or not, the Hawaiian slide-show will be playing.
Ok, so Hawaii, for those of you who don’t know, kicks ass by the truckload. The temperatures were in the 70s and 80s while I was there. It was great. Short-sleeved shirts in February? Yes please.
I didn’t spend too much time outdoors, since I was technically there to work, but I did get to take some amazing hikes through Hawaii Volcano National Park. I went through rainforests, across a lava bed, along the shoreline, etc. It was awesome! One night, I made a three-mile hike to the ocean’s edge to watch the lava flowing into the ocean. And I was paid to go there! I love my job. I also got to see a waterfall and walk through a cooled lava tube.
This seems really disorganized. Let’s break it down by day, shall we? Yes, we shall, since it is my blog.
Day One: Technically began in Pullman. I left for the airport Sunday evening after watching the Super Bowl (read: gorged on less-than-healthy food, mocked Prince’s semi-erotic halftime show with his phallic guitar, and yelled out things about how much I love Peyton Manning). I slept at the airport because my flight was at 5 am and I had to check in by 3:30, and I live 75 minutes from there. My friends say I’m a heavy sleeper, and I think I proved this at their airport.
Day Two: Caught my flights, snored out loud on the six hour flight, much to the amusement/disgust of those around me, and called people from Honolulu to gloat about the weather. I’m a great friend. Checked into my hotel (which had a rainforest right behind it) and ate dinner with my boss. Fresh seafood and chocolate cake. My life is tough.
Day Three: Conducted the workshop and took a quick tour of the park. Fun times. We held our workshop outside since it was so warm. Last year, I went to Omaha for work. We did not conduct our workshop outside there.
Day Four: Interviewed some of the staff and went on long hikes. See above. This was the day I went on the ocean hike to watch the lava. Again, I love my job.
Day Five: Interviewed some more, and then did tourist-y things. This included going to a Japanese meditation garden, hiking to see the waterfall, waking along the shore, etc. I, of course, went shopping. Tacky souvenirs by the dozens! The only Elvis thing I found, though, was a book called Elvis in Hawaii. So that was a bit disappointing. But I did buy a tiki doll. And yes, I realize that this is offensive to the native culture, but every time I see it I make the Tiki Doll sound-effect from the Brady Bunch episode in Hawaii. Oh, and for future reference, Hawaiians don’t like it if all you want to talk about revolves around those Brady Bunch episodes or Elvis movies set in Hawaii (there were 3, FYI).
Day Six: Finished up work, walked around some more, and then caught my flight home. I had an overnight flight from Honolulu to Seattle. I didn’t sleep too much because Kicky VonLegspasm sat behind me. And she was 6, so I couldn’t yell at her. I arrived in Seattle at 5 am, and had to wait for my 8 am flight to Spokane. Which was delayed due to fog in Spokane. Delayed until noon. Which made for a cranky Ace, considering I was working off of little sleep (and this coupled with the knowledge that my Hawaiian vacation was over).
But I arrived home later that day to a very excited/lonely cat. She was a bit clingy my first night back. Wait until she finds out I’m leaving again in a few more weeks, and I’ll be gone for two weeks this time. Poor little Fat Skirt.
So that’s it. My trip was far more fun and exciting than what you are reading about, but oh well. I don’t want to rub it in too much and make everyone sad/jealous. Well, I kind of do, but I’m too lazy to type any more. And I have a week’s worth of work sitting on my desk.
Ok, so Hawaii, for those of you who don’t know, kicks ass by the truckload. The temperatures were in the 70s and 80s while I was there. It was great. Short-sleeved shirts in February? Yes please.
I didn’t spend too much time outdoors, since I was technically there to work, but I did get to take some amazing hikes through Hawaii Volcano National Park. I went through rainforests, across a lava bed, along the shoreline, etc. It was awesome! One night, I made a three-mile hike to the ocean’s edge to watch the lava flowing into the ocean. And I was paid to go there! I love my job. I also got to see a waterfall and walk through a cooled lava tube.
This seems really disorganized. Let’s break it down by day, shall we? Yes, we shall, since it is my blog.
Day One: Technically began in Pullman. I left for the airport Sunday evening after watching the Super Bowl (read: gorged on less-than-healthy food, mocked Prince’s semi-erotic halftime show with his phallic guitar, and yelled out things about how much I love Peyton Manning). I slept at the airport because my flight was at 5 am and I had to check in by 3:30, and I live 75 minutes from there. My friends say I’m a heavy sleeper, and I think I proved this at their airport.
Day Two: Caught my flights, snored out loud on the six hour flight, much to the amusement/disgust of those around me, and called people from Honolulu to gloat about the weather. I’m a great friend. Checked into my hotel (which had a rainforest right behind it) and ate dinner with my boss. Fresh seafood and chocolate cake. My life is tough.
Day Three: Conducted the workshop and took a quick tour of the park. Fun times. We held our workshop outside since it was so warm. Last year, I went to Omaha for work. We did not conduct our workshop outside there.
Day Four: Interviewed some of the staff and went on long hikes. See above. This was the day I went on the ocean hike to watch the lava. Again, I love my job.
Day Five: Interviewed some more, and then did tourist-y things. This included going to a Japanese meditation garden, hiking to see the waterfall, waking along the shore, etc. I, of course, went shopping. Tacky souvenirs by the dozens! The only Elvis thing I found, though, was a book called Elvis in Hawaii. So that was a bit disappointing. But I did buy a tiki doll. And yes, I realize that this is offensive to the native culture, but every time I see it I make the Tiki Doll sound-effect from the Brady Bunch episode in Hawaii. Oh, and for future reference, Hawaiians don’t like it if all you want to talk about revolves around those Brady Bunch episodes or Elvis movies set in Hawaii (there were 3, FYI).
Day Six: Finished up work, walked around some more, and then caught my flight home. I had an overnight flight from Honolulu to Seattle. I didn’t sleep too much because Kicky VonLegspasm sat behind me. And she was 6, so I couldn’t yell at her. I arrived in Seattle at 5 am, and had to wait for my 8 am flight to Spokane. Which was delayed due to fog in Spokane. Delayed until noon. Which made for a cranky Ace, considering I was working off of little sleep (and this coupled with the knowledge that my Hawaiian vacation was over).
But I arrived home later that day to a very excited/lonely cat. She was a bit clingy my first night back. Wait until she finds out I’m leaving again in a few more weeks, and I’ll be gone for two weeks this time. Poor little Fat Skirt.
So that’s it. My trip was far more fun and exciting than what you are reading about, but oh well. I don’t want to rub it in too much and make everyone sad/jealous. Well, I kind of do, but I’m too lazy to type any more. And I have a week’s worth of work sitting on my desk.
posted by Ace | 1:19 PM
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