Part 2: Twisted Ankles, Pig Control, and Amazing Scenery

The second part of our hiking day consisted of going to Manoa Falls to swim in the waterfall. Well, due to the lack of rain recently there was only a trickle coming down the waterfall so I got to see the waterfall and imagine what it would look like if the water was crashing down. After that we figured, 'why not hike a little farther?'

There was another trail leading off of the one we were on so we headed up. It was a little rocky and a little slippery at first but it got a little better later on. There were a lot of switchbacks and the elevation went from about 250ft ASL to 1800ft ASL. It was a beautiful hike with lots of bamboo on every side of us. It made a really pretty sound when the wind would blow and knocked the tops of the trees together. There were also warning signs that they were hunting pigs with dogs on certain days. I guess the wild pigs are just running rampant in those hills (unfortunately we didn't get to see any). By the time we got to the top we were muddy and hot and ready for a short break. We did see something that was very interesting though, 2 little old asian ladies had decided to hike up to the top as well, the only thing was that they were wearing white pants, light colored shirts, and slip on shoes. I was amazed because they were not dirty at all, I don't know how they did it but they looked like they had a great time.

On the way down, in the legendary ways of Christy, I twisted my ankles. Yes, I almost made it the whole way down without doing it but I was not that lucky. Of course I twisted them on the flat parts and not on the slippery rocks, the muddy areas, or the intertwined tree roots that were everywhere! No major injuries just a few good laughs. Well, here are a few pictures of our hike. Betsy-if you thought the other ones were high, just wait.

Beginning of our hikeMore gorgeous sceneryNatural tree archWhat a handsome man!Look how big these ferns are! Manoa Falls...just imagine it with lots of water...gorgeousFirst picture stop 1/3 of the way upRandy wasn't there...j/k but doesn't it look like he is super imposed on the scenery?

2/3 of the way up, you can see Diamonhead in the backround (our morning hike) That one is for you Betsy!Close up view of Diamonhead and the oceanBamboo galoreAll the way at the top looking East through the mountainsLooking NorthLooking West towards downtown Another one of the hot tired couple

It was a great last full Saturday in Hawaii! We are going to miss it here and we are definitely going to miss our friends Rob and Nellie, Darcie and family, and all of the wonderful people that we have met. Stay tuned for more pictures and stories of our adventures. I have a few random pictures to add so stay tuned.

Oh yeah, I forgot...we played a game called Chickenfoot (it's a version of dominoes), and Nellie whooped all of us! There I said it, are you happy now Nellie? :-)

4 day weekend

We are moved out of our apartment!!!! Woohoo!!! The property manager said it was very clean so hopefully we get most of our deposit back. I scrubbed and scrubbed everything in that house, Randy did 3 ceiling fans...or as he said, 'No, I did 3 light fixtures.' We are now at our Wyndham Waikiki resort room. It is a pretty nice room and we are very happy to be here just relaxing and enjoying our weekend in town and celebrating our 2 year anniversary that is on Monday the 3oth. I took a few pictures of the room. A very spacious, clean, and well decorated room. Randy's favorite part are the 2 flat screen TV's.

Christmas in Tennessee

Here are just a few of the pictures of our Tennessee Christmas with the kids. We had a blast! We went to an aquarium, rode up the mountain in a tram, rode a ski lift and came down on the alpine slide, made cookies, made a fire, played games, watched movies, went black light golfing, ate at Chick-fil-a and Sonic, drove go-karts (or go cars as Emma called them), went in an upside down building (Wonderworks), went to Dollywood, went on roller coasters (Jared's first ever), opened presents, made smores, Emma and I went ice skating, and oh so much more! I hope that everybody had a wonderful Christmas and New Years, I know that our family did!

BubbleShare: Share photos - Play some Online Games.

Vacation!!!

Just wanted to let everybody know that I probably won't be updating until I get back from my trip to Tennessee. Randy and I are going to Chicago to pick up his kids and then driving to Gatlinburg, TN to spend Christmas in a cabin in the Smokey Mountains. Yeah!!!

Also, I would like to say welcome back to my friend Elizabeth who is returning from 15 months in Iraq...Today (Thursday). Welcome back sweetie!!!! And also a welcome back to Ross, my former boss! I miss you and your families so much and can't wait to see you again soon. Thank you for your friendship and support.

For You Jenny

So, I took some pictures of food on Brian's and my trip from TX to WA. I can only find one right now but I will find the other pictures that I took and add them to this post.

Brian and I went to a Flea Market in New Mexico and the only thing that we bought was some Fry Bread. Basically, you drop the dough in some really hot oil and then cover it with a topping of your choice.

A.K.A The Elephant Ear

We also had a variety of other foods that were a little better for us but most of those pictures are missing at this time. We did have some very good Rainier Cherries.

We also filled our tummies with...

I will post a couple of other food pictures once I find them! Hope you enjoy the first picture Jenny!!

Diesel Fried Chicken

"It was a bit greasy but it went down quick." - B. Van Houten


So, we started our road trip at 3 AM from Hutto, TX. We decided that we just wanted to start heading out of town while we were awake anyways. We ended up stopping in the hometown of Lyndon B. Johnson. We left around noon and continued on our way out of Texas. So now comes the first funny story:

Brian and I had been on the road for around 6 hours. I was driving at the time when we passed a sign for gas. I pulled in to the parking lot and the gas was kind of pricey but I asked Brian what he thought we should do. 'We should be fine, let's just go a little further down the road.' Okay I say...being the good obedient sister. As we get down the road the gas light comes on. Guess what, no gas stations. We finally get to one and gas was $3.39 p/gal. So being the smart kids that we are we decided to get 3 gallons and fill up further down the road. So we start back on our way and guess what....gas light, again. So we pull off and get 2 more gallons of gas for $3.25 p/gal. The next town is about 23 miles away. So I am driving, not stomping on the gas, going up and down hills trying to make sure that we make it without puttering to a fuelless stop. About 10 minutes away from Van Horn, TX...GAS LIGHT!!! So if I count correctly...3 low fuel lights in 45 minutes, approx. $17.00 for 5 gallons of gas, and the fact that I, the little sister, was correct when I said we should get gas and pulled into the gas station. :-) Needless to say we were laughing pretty hard. But hey, if we had run out of gas we could have just dropped my car off the trailer and drove to get some. So see, we had a plan.

Washington or Bust! Thank Yous First

Well, first things first. I am out of of the Army! Second, due to a few different circumstances I decided to move all of my household goods to Renton approximately 4 days ago (Tues). So, after realizing it would cost a small fortune to have somebody move it for me I decided it would only cost a smaller fortune to do it myself...with a little help that is. So first off, thanks to my parents for the gas money and all the help with making sure my car is safe for me to drive. (Even though it is sitting on a car carrier behind the Penske truck right now.) Next, thanks go to my brother who flew in last night (Thursday night at 1000) to help me drive this rig up to Washington. Even with getting lost on my way to the airport which I have been to many, many times in Austin. And then we got back to my Sister-In-Laws house to finish loading up the truck. Thanks to Megan who let me borrow her husband the day after their 2 year anniversary. A few more thanks and then I will make another blog with pictures and updates on our trip. Thanks to my Sister-In-Law Linda for keeping all of my stuff in her garage for so long, car included, and for helping me unload everything when I brought it down there and helping to load up half of it this time. Also, thanks to Nicole and Raven, two of my nieces who helped pack up the truck also. Almost done, I would like to thank Gail for being such a great listener and for helping to take care of me as if I was her own daughter. And thanks to Sami for always making me laugh. Last but not least, to Dedra, Ross, and my boys for including me in your family. I also want to say thank you to everybody who has been praying for me over the past years and especially lately as I have been going through so much change and start some new adventures in my life.

Plus, I am writing this post in the moving truck driving down the freeway. My brother set up his phone to be used as a modem so we have internet while we drive, as long as we aren’t going through an area without coverage. I still cannot believe how much technology has changed since the big gray phone that weighed as much as a small dog.

Dog Sitting

Hello Everybody! I wanted to show you pictures of the dogs that I am babysitting. I say babysitting because they are very very big babies! The poodle's name is Niles, he is a lot of fun and loves the water! The schnauzer Stormy a.k.a. Toby's Half Brother is, well, a lot like Toby. He is very protective of me and has a lot of the same characteristics that Toby does. Both dogs have been really good and we even went to Petsmart and on a few walks. It is funny because they will run around the house and play with each other like Faith and Toby do. (Those are my moms dogs if you didn't know.) I can't wait to have my own house with lots of 'puppies'.




Stormy










Niles









Stormy & Niles

AHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

This is where our Friday started!! This was both mine and Randy's first trip to Six Flags and Randy's first time on a "real" rollercoaster. Apparently the one that I took him on before wasn't a "real" rollercoaster because it wasn't big enough. So, we went on some big ones! He definitely got a little "thrilled' later on in the day! I wasn't at all "thrilled" though because I am a daredevil! Oh yeah, I think the date stamp on my camera was a little off! The real date was 05/26/06.






The first ride of the day was the Superman:Tower of Power. We started off slowly so that we could warm up into the larger rollercoasters.





We then went on a couple more coasters, even one that was completely in the dark. We both liked that one. You could not tell when there was going to be a turn or a drop, it was awesome! My mom would love it! Just kidding mom. :-)

This was us waiting to go on Spongebob Squarepants 4-D the Ride. It was a fun virtual reality ride. "I was scared like a little baby girl!" said Randy in between sobs. Nice shades!!









We even saw the King himself, Elvis Presley! Fun Factoid: I was born in the same town as Elvis, Tupelo, Mississippi.






The yellow and blue coaster is Batman the Ride and the light blue ride in the backround is the Mr. Freeze. Both Randy and I decided that the Batman was our favorite coaster. The Mr. Freeze was probably one of the shortest rides. Here are a few facts about the rides. Batman: The Ride- 109 feet 6 inches high, 2700 FT long, 50 MPH, and many many loops.
Mr. Freeze- 238 FT high, 1480 feet long, 70 MPH in 3.7 seconds, and worth the wait.









We even got to hang out with some of the Warner Brothers characters. I can't tell if the character is the one in the orange shirt or the rooster?! I stuck with bugs. We also say Sylvester and Daffy! I tried to get Randy to get pictures with Wonderwoman but he said, "No, I don't want to make her look bad." (Okay, so maybe that was a little bit exagerated on my part.)



We went on the Texas Giant which was a huge wooden rollercoaster, that has been repeatedly named the #1 wooden rollercoaster in the world. It was fun buy jerked you around a lot and wasn't a very smooth ride. We also went on the first ride that was ever at Six Flags Over Texas Theme Park. It was a nice calm rollercoaster with rolling hills. We went on another ride that took you straight up as if you were in an elevator and then dropped you straight down, short but what a rush. We also went on Yosemite Sam's Gold Rush Adventure (or something like that). It was like a Small World but with guns, gold, the roadrunner, and of course the wiley coyote. We went on a few more rides but that is enough explaining...ON TO THE FINALE!!!

TITAN

Height of First Drop: 255 Feet Length of Track: 5,312 Feet (over one mile)
Top Speed: 85 MPH Duration of Ride: 3.5 Minutes
Fun Facts: 120 Foot Underground Tunnel, total steel used to build Titan would build 16,000 cars, enough electrical cable to wire 40 homes, approximately 45,000 bolts used, and 175 sensors monitor the trains at all times.
*all technical info about coasters was found on the Six Flags website

Now knowing all that...who wouldn't want to ride?!

Of course this is only part of the rollercoaster but that huge climb you see was what started the ride. It was a blast!!!

All in all it was a great day; hot, thrilling, and death defying...what more could you ask for?