saturday..hung out with anthony (twon) and ..drats i forgot her name. sunday spent a little while with nick...he showed me a music site online i can find music and can get it for free...and then learned that yes frostwire is free...so i downloaded that too so now i can actually have new music on my mp3...what a novel idea! ...and from here the adventures begin!!
monday...
well i get to bed after experiencing the power go out in the dorm building...0730. i crawl in bed and fall asleep. wake up to pounding on my door...its maintenance to work on the shower. i let em in and shut my door, crawl back in bed, fall asleep. i woke up after two missed calls from michael (a friend from rotc)...so i call him back and he said he'd be by soon to pick me up. after he picks me up we head to brian head for me to finally experience snowboarding! it was 50 degrees outside..beautiful day. so i wear a short sleeve short, snow gloves, beanie, goggles, show pants, and of course the board boots. let me just say that after being a fast learner and hitting the slopes real fast...i got the hang of it. after getting the hang of it...i fell in love with the sport! learned as much as i could about it...had a complete blast! we even hot the bigger slopes...i did some jumps, crash landed many times of course but laughed and enjoyed the entire thing. i had a sun burn mixed with snow burn from about two inches abouve my wrist to about an inch above my elbow...plus the great goggle tan lines. priceless. after getting back to the dorms i looked up equipment and am really eyeing certain things to buy up later. well im trying to make sure i have a ride to vegas for tuesday and call up another buddy from rotc...he's down in mesquite and the decision is made for him to pick me up monday night, stay the night with him down at his family's place in mesquite and spend all day with him and then we head to vegas. picks me up and fell asleep watching flushed away at his place.
tuesday...
wake up and we head down the street to a buddy of his and we load up a single person powered parachute. head up to a cliff and his friend tried to take off with it but ended up snapping some of the parachute cords. head back and we take the double seaters out to a field, prep em, load up, and take off...it was amazing! after that was over we headed to lunch (mexican) and it was yummy. head to the house to change into golf appropriate attire and then head to falcon ridge. (the guy i was with, kagen-pronounced cajun-has free reign of the golf course since he dad was the one that designed the course...ya. apparently its a hobby for his dad to do that.) since the holes were busy we headed to play some pool...watched some tv...and then finally headed out to hole 6 to start out. so i had a hard time at first...honestly i did. sadly the typical golf teaching moment to teach how to swing was done...but thats cause honestly nothing else was working. once that was done i did really well and took pointers with better understanding. i did fairly well....ok actually i did better than kagen which is sad lol. after that we stopped to see what movies were playing, grabbed dinner, and then went back to the theater and watched the book of eli (which if you havent seen, its a really good movie with a twist at the end but just makes it that much better). after that, head back to his house, take a shower, get dressed for the airport, check in online and print off my boarding passes...hop in the truck with kagen and we head to vegas. we get to the airport and park...we had a hard time finding my airline...asked for some directions to get there...apparently its quite the walk from where we were. my only luggage was two carry ons- a backpack and a duffle-tote thing. we were looking in terminal 1...we had to go out, walk quite a ways, and then find terminal 2. we finally got there and as i walk up to security we say bye and he leaves. you know those new security scanners that you stand still and place your hands above your head? they had those...just for this particular terminal...weird. anyways, i made it through no problemo and once i found a seat at my gate i call grant up (ill prolly bounce back and forth between grant and woody from habit so try not to get lost). we talk for quite a while and i start my mp3 up after hanging up. brushed teeth, downed the meds, and boarded the plane.
wednesday...
my flight left at 0245 and ill put it this way...i wasnt past song 5 and when i woke up my battery was flashing at me and was playing song 101...i shut it off and looked outside...it was beautiful! ...blue sky, blue water, and an gorgeous green island right there...landed at oahu, changed to another gate and saw the open part of the airport with the garden and such there in the middle of the airport...got to my gate and changed my seat to a left side window as directed by woody. sat and talked to some people that were heading to the same place but were just on the flight before me. they were from canada and we were talking about how this is my spring break and talked about my school...which brought up utah. they talked about visiting sites on oahu...like byu-hawaii and then the temple. i asked if they were members...no they werent but he had been a religion teacher and was interested in other religions and loved learning more about other religions...(perfect set-up huh?). he explained how the temple grounds were gorgeous and that he had wanted to go inside and upon finding out he couldnt, he asked why...he said they explained it and i sat there nodding my head....so he then asked if i was mormon and i said yes i was...so he started asking me questions and he and his wife had to board their flight so i was like if youre interested in learning more here are some sites you can trust and handed him a sticky note with info on it and told him he can open up a phonebook and find the number of a church near him back home and could get ahold of the missionaries that way...(slick)...he thanked me and i never saw them again...got on my flight, only an hour, and i landed on kauai...(the island they filmed jurassic park, pirates of the caribbean, and many more things). i was way excited and when i saw woodys parents i knew he was close by...sure enough he was standing off to the side with the camera and we found out later that i since i was practically running the pictures all came out blurry....i then got a lei (fake and blue but itll last longer than real flowers). gave him a big hug...said hello to his parents. we got in the car and on the way to the condo we stopped to pick up some coconuts off the side of the road. once at the condo i changed into a bathing suit and a dress and we headed east. along the way we would stop and take pictures...more like woody would take the pics (since i disabled my phone so i would only be reached if i wanted to be). our first real stop was at kee beach...beautiful! there was even a monk seal cub sunning itself on the beach that had been roped off so no one could mess with him. on the way back east we stopped at the maniniholo dry cave where we all got to explore the cave...we went back as far as possible but the gab gets smaller and smaller the further you go. i had an urge just to scream in the dark recess of the cave to see what people would do...so i did. grant even knew it was coming and he jumped...lets just say i have some lungs and know how to scream! it was funny...next stop was the waikanaloa wet cave...pretty cool looking and hasnt really been explored...stop to see some waterfalls and the taro fields. the sites and such are just beyond words. also...there are chickens everywhere. its illegal to kill the wild ones...so there are chickens everywhere you go. hens, roosters, and chicks just wander the island. unfortunately i dont remember what we did after that...if we just went to the condo and stayed there or if we went more east and then headed back to our place...anyway it was a nice first day. sleeping arrangements get decided on-i get the mattress from the fold out couch. its laid on the floor and we put sheets and a blanket on it. add a pillow and the woody puts the couch cushions back on the couch and he sleeps on the couch. he and i have the living room and his parents have the bedroom. every night he tucks me in makes sure im all situated for bed before he crawls in his bed.
thursday...
after waking up, woody and i went walking down the beach in bathing suits...took lots of pictures and found lots of cool stuff!! there was a baby squid that had washed up on the beach, a couple of crabs i got to chase, a little hut made from driftwood, elephant leaves, and bark that was just sitting there on the beach, and a hawaiian guy came up and began net fishing off the shore. it was cool to watch him. headed back to the condo and met up with his parents...a guy sitting with them noticed the hibiscus in my hair and asked if it was in the right ear. (in hawaii there is a meaning as to when a flower is on a certain side). i looked at him and said that yes it was in the right ear but looked at woody. his parents even gave him an odd look lol...so the next time he put a flower in my hair he put it over the proper ear...(right side= single, available. left side= taken, married). ...its in the left side now.
