Aloha

12 June 2005

The house went on the market today. The agent was pretty optimistic I think, but we will see what happens.

15 June 05

    Well I am starting the web pages. Figuring out what I need to do to transition away from Comcast to this new provider (and then stealing access at the nearest wireless entry point so I can up date these pages!).
    Today I submitted my dates for moving. I think pack out will be 17 to 19 Aug. Then on 24 August I will start my drive. Stops currently include Florida, Arkansas, and New Mexico. I still have to figure out the tourist traps I will stop at on my way. The destination is San Francisco on 14 September 2005. On the 15th I will drop off my car, and on the 16th I will fly to Hawaii! Then 10 days to find a place to live, then go to work.
    I did more cleaning up tonight. The house is technically on the market but no "for sale" sign is posted yet. I still have more work to do and cleaning. I filled the trailor with junk and decrepit computers. They go to the dump on Saturday.

19 June 2005

Lots of work this weekend. Started with a trip to the dump. I am getting rid of a lot of stuff. Needed to replace the storm door in the back. Discovered the mounting method of the door is different enough it the new one will not fit. With some carpentry it should fit the front edge of the opening. It does, but I need to paint. Did that and could not turn the water off completely, now I have a plumbing job to fix, no big deal replace a washer. Opps there is only the main shut off to turn off the water. So I installed two cut off valves (hot and cold) and replaced the cold water valve washer. I learned what "packing material" is. So a few more coats of paint and it looks like the door will fit great. Did not get to the lawn today.
I have not seen any traffic yet in the house to sell it. Only been a few days but the agent's boss said I should see traffic the first day!

9 July 05

Hi, well a lot has gone on. I went to Origins and had a good time. Played lots of games and helped out the Queen at her both. Saw a number of people from Maryland and let them know it may be my last Origins for a while. While I was there I received a phone call from my real estate agent, I had received two contracts. COOL! I was asked to send an email stating I intended to ratify the contract on my return. I did that Tuesday, 5 July. It was for a little over asking price (which had been reduced) with no contingencies. I was able to ask for a delay in closing so I would only have to do a rent back for a week. It would still be cheaper if I paid my mortgate for two weeks than a 1 week rent. That changed saved me a LOT of $$$.
Today I received a call that the home inspection indicates some plumbing problems in the basement. To the tune of about $800, but the agent will bring it by tomorrow and I will know more. I think one of the items is to replace a perfectly good pump on the waste water system, "just because they recommend it." It has worked for all 15 years I have been here, even through the renters! But I will probably just pay it and keep my ranting to the web page.
Today I made the trip to the former in-laws. After packing up the trailer, I drove the 3 hour trip to PA. They are doing well. Alan has moved back to the east coast, Kevin is now 10 years old. He was not interested in his Uncle Ray at all. But apparently Aunt Tina is cool. Glad to here it. His Mom is also doing well but working a lot. I had to drop off the stuff I have been storing (about 3/4 of a trailer full piled 3 ft high). The had space in Alan's room upstairs. I did not visit Gram, her age has caught up with here. Mom is married again (I assume based on the rings, I did not ask directly). That is good. Ron is a nice chap and kept the conversation going. Their house is great. They have been working on the landscaping. I helped fix their computer (needed the break from driving) and cleaned up some bad webpages off of it. Showed them adware to try and stop it in the future. It still had a problem but I did not have time to fix it. I recommended they buy lots more memory, they only had 128 Meg running Window$ XP. I actually saw a blue screen of death when it ran out of memory.
I played with my GPS software. Neat stuff. I ended up remember the way (I recognized it when I saw it but not before). In general the software made a good guess and recognized when I was off route. I will have to try it out some more and learn how it works before the "BIG TRIP" across country.

10 July 2005

Well the change for the home inspection is $1,800 not $800! Oh well, throw money at it and it goes away. I agreed with most of the inspection but was not happy with one comment, they are asking for an upgrade they don't need. The buyer will hire the contractor to fix it and my cost is capped. Emotionally I don't want to do it, but financially I just pay the money and walk away.
Started some packing up today. The computers in the spare room are now disconnected, cables packed up, and UPS units made safe for transit. I also started to put away some of the CDs in their cases. I found some boxes from the last move for them to fit in. I need to buy some more.

26 July 2005

I am sitting home waiting for the move "pre-survey." This is the movers coming over and figuring out how long the packout will take and what special crates they need to bring. I have received my official dates 16/17/18 of August. First day is the "hold baggage" which is limited to 300 pounds. Should be out of the house in about 2 hours (my guess) but I must be available between 8AM and 5PM.
Started packing this weekend. Lots of CDs are now in their jewel cases and boxed up. Took 4 hours and some of it was done already! Made another trip to the dump as well getting rid of some stuff as I won't have a trailer after this weekend. I will be visiting family this weekend. The next weekend is saying bye to the Asylum. Then two weekends to sort out everything else for the movers.

16 August 2005

Well it has been some time since my last entry. It has been busy. I had been slowly putting everything together. I thought I was making good progress. I was wrong. This past weekend I put in two good days (though I did have to do the lawn and other things for the new owner before I left). Monday night I continued packing things up.
Today the first group of movers arrived for my small "quick" shipment. This is stuff you really need first. Typically more cloths, kitchen essentials, entertainment stuff if you have kids (I don't). It also contains my computer which of course is my major form of entertainment. I am now limited to my laptop.
Today I also spent probably 12 hours or so finishing my packing. I through a lot of stuff away. The new owner said I could use the garage and she would have it hauled away. A life saver for me. The last load of laundry is in the machine. It will have to be laundramats from here on out.
My plans are pretty much set. I still have to book a hotel for next week. Should not be a big problem. Looks like a gaming day on Sunday. That will be good. My departure from Maryland is Friday. I will show up at my last Games Club of Maryland event, have dinner play a game and say goodbye. Then drive to friends in Virginia.

18 August 2005

Today was he move from hell. While the crews were helpful, the did have a certain “I am done” attitude. The packers were 3 women (one you can consider a kid). They too their smoke breaks but overall kept at it from about 10:30 AM to 5 PM. When the driver and a couple of guys showed up, some work was done but they were ready to leave.
Today a 4 man crew showed up and started to pack. They expected more things to be packed and inventoried. The first thing the leader did was call his dispatcher and order 4 more crates. Instead 90 minutes later the dispatcher called back and told him somebody would be by and he was to help at another job site, leaving only 3 people. They worked pretty steady. About 3:30 I noticed to doors on the crates did not fit and that they did not have a box for the mattresses. I called quality control and asked an inspector to come by. She stopped by about 45 minutes later and indeed the door I questioned and 2 others were unacceptable. The were to verify the doors were replaced the next day at the warehouse. She also insisted on the box for the mattress. They got good response out of the dispatcher.
When the boxes they could use were filled they went back to the warehouse. They called me back and indicated they would come back and finish the job. They brought two new guys (one of the three had hurt his back some on a step). They worked hard till midnight when they finally drove off. We all took a few shortcuts. I hope most everything arrives OK. I am tired.
I have checked into the Day’s Inn for the week.

20 August 2005

Slept in this morning. The first thing I had to do was complain to AllState to fix my bills. It turns out that both auto and home are due within 2 weeks of each other. When I had scheduled the original closing date for the house, I had asked to convert to a renter’s policy. Then the day of closing I had to extend the homeowners for a few days.
Well AllState moved the money from the homeowners to the auto and now have billed me (as delinquent) for the homeowners policy. I tried to pay but they told me I had to pay a collection agency. I was pissed. They eventually accepted my payment on the phone.
I then went to the post office, got a hair cut, went to the AAA to order a trip tik. I then remembered that I have to return my Comcast equipment. They closed the place in Catonsville! I had to drive from south Baltimore to White Marsh north of Baltimore. I arrived at 3:08, they closed at 3 PM. I have to make another trip.
I am trying to figure out now where I am going to stop and how much I need to drive each day.

26 August 2005

One more day in Maryland. It has been busy and slow. Work is pretty much set. I had a good luncheon and a well attended "goodbye cake break" as well. Jenny was wonderful setting it all up. There is still Chinese food in the work fridge but the cake is gone. I stopped by the house and was able to catch the new owner and fill her in on how the house works (heat, A/C, alarm, stuff). She has already painted a most of the rooms, looks pretty good and quite the change. She did mention that the initial money has run out so some of the changes she wants to make will come later (like the kitchen). Due to the large amount of stuff in the garage, I paid for the removal. She is a super lady.
Tomorrow I start out. I have a plot made on my laptop with GPS software, a trip tik from AAA, and lots of maps. ALOHA.
Oh, I made contact with the condo guy so I should easily get a 1 bedroom condo after my 10 days downtown in a hotel are done.

28 August

At my sister's now. Just had a wonderful dinner. Driving was easy. Strange weather, basically drove through 5 or 10 minute thunderstorms, then back to sunny weather.
Saturday was my first full day of driving was about 600 miles. Not too bad. More than I expected (500). Ate at a seafood place, it was good.

29 August

At my brother's now. Had a great dinner visiting. Went to Jupiter today. (the city, not the planet). Some interesting trees making a canopy over the road. Then I walked down the beach. After 2 minutes, I felt a few drops of rain. Everyone started picking up heading for shelter, something about seeing the rain traveling up the beach :-). It poured for 20 minutes and was gone. I went walking down the street to look at the trees closer and the puddles were full of hot water! Then I walked down the beach some more, watched the waves and birds. Next time I put my feet in an ocean it will be the Pacific!
Guess my plans for New Orleans is a wash.

31 August

I am now at my sister's in Little Rock. Nice place. I arrived about 9PM so I will head out a little later to check out near the "Library" I will not be going into it. Her three kittens are playful and need to be declawed, they scratch me a bit last night.
The drive was about 750 miles.  I did not know I would be passing through Europe to get here (Leeds, Carlisle, and Stutgart). I am sure there were more but those were the ones I noticed. Alabama definitely was a change, there were HILLS! Roads were still pretty straight. The drive was pretty easy though, one little sign that said "Central Time Zone". Should have mentioned I drove through five states. I had not expected to drive through Tennessee. I also hit Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas.
The mapping program is working pretty well. Yesterday though it was a bit flacky. Took me a while to get it running, ultimately I had to start a new file and then it worked fine. It was confused over new construction on route 78. It tried to turn me into some side roads to avoid a quarter mile of highway! I took the highway and it recalculated the route correctly after that. It also kept saying I was on 78 east, then west, then back to east. Strange. But it turned out to be the same way the AAA triptiks said to come (minus the side streets).

1 September

Just a quiet day today. I watched a little TV, then went out on the Little Rock RiverSide market. Walked around and down towards the Presidential Library. It does look like a double wide on stilts. Next to it is a former railroad station. It was a good looking building. I also noticed a disused railroad bridge over the Arkansas River. There was another one further up river next to Little Rock namesake "little rock" Not well kept. They are planning some kind of pedestrian cross walk on the disused bridge. It looked neat. Beth says it will be part of a full loop that she is going to be able to run.

3 September

I am in Graham, TX now.
Yesterday I left my sisters about 1030 and drove to Hot Springs, AR. I walked around town and had lunch at a small shop. It was a nice sandwich. I then spent about 3 hours walking around the woods. I went up to the tower and looked around. Too much Bill Clinton for me, he seemed to be mentioned everywhere. Oh well.
After picking up my shot glasses (for my collection) I drove to the Texas line, Texarcana. One side of the road was in Arkansas, the other in Texas. So my hotel was in Arkansas, I had dinner in Texas! It was a chinese food buffet.
Today I drove to Possum Kingdom State Park, nice name. Guide says it is known as PK park. I arrived about 4:30 or so. I had expected that there would be a hotel or two nearby. Much to my surprise, the closest hotel is here in Graham, about 35 miles away! I will get up a little earlier tomorrow and head back to the park. I will walk around the lake and stuff then head on. The next stop should be Buffalo Gap.
The drive today was pretty good. It varied from flat and straight on the highway to a little hilly. When I got on Route 180 it changed to a two lane road (at 60 to 70 mph) with hills and bends. It was a fun road. That last part (Park Road 33) was 60 mph on a much narrower and windy road. Fun with little traffic. Stopped to take a picture the "biggest wheel barrow in  the world". Only in Texas. When I stopped, a car did stop and make sure I was OK. Don't think that would happen in Maryland very often.
Gas prices are just about $3/gallon. So far I have not had to pay above that but I am filling up anytime I see it at that price (1/2 tank or less). I did actually see it after my last fill up for as low as $2.84. I have not seen lines at any station.
I have passed several places that have been supporting refugees from New Orleans. On Rt 30 in Dallas there were directions to buses posted as to where to go. I have not watch much news on that story.

4 September

Received a number of emails today that said people are reading the log here. Thanks! I cheated downloading email in that I was going to stop at a Days Inn but it was $79 plus tax and next door was $46. No Internet next door though. $30 was a bit much for an internet connection. I was trying to figure out how to do pictures but have not been able to yet. I am also finding out that a number of them are not coming out well. Partially due to the fact that I can not see the preview well when I have my sunglasses on. They seem too dark. I have to be more careful.
I am now in Carlsbad, NM. I started the day hoping to do a decent hike in PK lake park but found out their "hiking" trails were only two, one is 1 1/2 miles long, the other is 1 mile and mostly overlaps the longer trail. It was a pretty walk and the lake was calm at first, but swimmers and boats were on the increase (a good thing).
I then started driving. Decided to head up toward Guadalupe National Park near Carlsbad. The lady at the rest stop recommend I take Route 59, but I followed the computer map which up till then had been pretty much spot on. It was a good drive but more on "B" roads. They were still 60 to 75 MPH but there were these signs that said "Watch for Water on Road." The landscape was very flat for the most part, scrubby plants and lots of cacti. Then the hills started, just small ones. Driving down the two lane road, a blue sign just popped up, "Now entering Mountain Time". So much for celebrating time zone changes!
For about 30 minutes I could see the rain and storm off to one side, looked like I would drive around it. Nope. The rain was not too bad, wipers worked well so visibility was OK. Then "water on the road" was fun. I drove through a number of rivers after that. The deepest was probably 7 or 8 inches and 50 feet long. If I hit that at speed I don't think I would be typing right now. It was fun but I had to be careful. My cell phone said "No Service" and it was raining! Traffic was pretty minimal too.
There are a LOT of trucks in this state. Seems like 2 to 1! Considering on my drive I drove about 40 miles up Route 285, then I saw that sign, "Next Services 60 Miles" For a state with oil wells, they don't have a lot of gas stations! I decided as I got to the NM/TX line, I headed for Carlsbad, it would have gas and hotels. I put in just under 13 gallons so I still had another 50 miles or so.
Dinner tonight was a BBQ place. It was OK, not great. Tomorrow I will do the caverns then head on to El Paso and the Hueco Mountains. There is an aerial tram there that I will try. I am also told the drive is nice toward El Paso not using Route 10.
So a few numbers. I have driven about 3212 miles and used about 117 gallons of gas for an MPG of 28.2. Thanks a lot to my brother-in-law for a great tune-up and I think cruise control helps too. The whole trip should be more than 4,400 miles. Looks like on average I have paid about $2.73 per gallon. High was $2.999. Low was when I started at $2.499 (and it repeated 4 days later).

6 September

I am at Casey's now. Had a good time getting here. Went to Carlsbad Caverns. I took the King's Palace tour and then walked the big room. Huge cavern, lots of volume. After that I drove the 9 mile dirt road around the area. It was interesting, I saw what I think was a road runner. I was moving slowly in the car (5 to 8 mph) and the bird was running away faster in front of me! After that I went to the Guadalupe National park and walked around on of the trails. It was an old ranch. Where they had dammed up the water about 100 years ago, it was a small oasis. Most of the rest of the area was cacti and shrub. I got back to the car just as it started to rain.
I then drove to El Paso and stayed there for the night. Then onto Casey's first thing in the morning. We took off for White Sands first. It was a fun walk across the sand dunes. It was like walking on a beach with no water. The sand was very fine and had a hard top layer. If you broke that layer, then you stepped into very loose sand. We walked around different dunes and then discovered we had lost the markers! Casey indicated hiking with her was not for the "faint of heart." I would have to agree. We found the Loop Road and decided the car was to the right. We were wrong. After walking the loop we found the car, drove a short distance and found where we entered the loop walking! It was a good walk. I had not expected to walk barefoot though and the tops of my feet are a bit red.

8 September

I am in Holbrook, AZ. West of the Petrified Forest National Park and 160 miles from the Grand Canyon. The day started by going out to breakfast with Casey. She was a great host.
Yesterday (7 Sep) we went to the Cliff Dwellings in the Gila Wilderness. It was interesting and the weather was very cooperative. It was fun to see a site you see in documentaries. We also had a great chance to listen to the rain. Just as we finished the dwellings it started to rain heavy but with small drops. So the sound was very nice to listen to. It lasted only a few minutes and we could hear the rain stop (of course by the silence). The roads into the forest were fun for Casey to drive and great scenery. We went in a different way than we came out. I did experience some height sickness that was a combination of a big fall off the edge of the road and the fact that sitting in the truck. It did not last long.
Today I drove toward the Grand Canyon. It would have been a day trip but you have to start early because some of the roads were 60 MPH. Passing through the mountains on Rt 180 was great. I have been near the Alps once but that was a LONG time ago. I took a picture as I crossed the Continental Divide. I think the high point was about 8500 feet. I learned my GPS program altitude is pretty good. It only differed from the signs by 10 feet or so. The roads were nice and wide so you can look around some as you drive.
I had not realized it till I was there but I decided to go through the Petrified Forest National Park. It was very interesting. It is a road is about 28 miles long that has stops to see the petrified wood. It creates wonderful colours in the rocks and you can see where the trees were. I stopped at several of the sites and took a lot of pictures. I then went through the Painted Desert. It was late in the evening so the e shadows and colours were great to see. At one of the stops there was a large black bird sitting on the information sign. He let me walk up pretty close and made some sounds. I took several pictures and a couple of short movies that include his sound. I suspect it was a vulture of some sort, it appeared to have a beak about 2 or so inches long.
So I recommend if people make this trip, bring a large memory stick and extra batteries. If I did not have the power inverter in my car (12V to 110V) so I can plug in my computer and my camera I would not have all the pictures that I have. I suspect tomorrow will be the same thing and I have only one battery.

9 September

I started the day traveling to the Grand Canyon. It took about 3 hours. I stopped at a tourist information center in Flagstaff. They have me a number to make reservations at a lodge in the Grand Canyon. So that is where I am, the Yavapai Lodge, little expensive but awfully convenient. I actually picked up a hitchhiker. The route takes you through the mountains and rather sparsely populated so I picked her up, besides, she was young and cute (mid 20's). She knew the area well and gave me some hints. She had friends who work at Phantom Ranch so she was hiking to the bottom.
It is rather amazing here. On top it is rather windy but the scenery is wonderful. I decided to do the Bright Angel Trail. I started with a bottle of water in my hand and decided (after reading the same thing over and over again (in different places)) to go back and buy a backpack, more water, and some trail mix. The trail is easy to follow. You have to step aside though to avoid the mules/burros on the way up (at least when I was there). The trail is steep. You get great views and can watch the shadows and colours change. I walked down for about 1:20. I walked up for 3:15. I saw a herd of wild goats (1 male, 4 female, and two kids) feeding on the way up. Saw a number of hawk/vulture/condor kinds of birds but I have no way to identify them. For dinner I ate at the cafeteria, food was ok, and the beer was expensive!
The lodge is basically hotel rooms in town house style. They have about 5 buildings I think for this lodge. The room is basic, two queen sized beds and a daybed like couch. Then a full bath, that is all. The building I am in has no air conditioners. Not a problem this time of year.
I am a bit sore, I have to wait and see how I feel in the morning. The legs are really stiff. I just have to "behave" and not tackle too much. But I know I am silly!

10 September

Well actually it is Sunday (11th) now but the day was fun. After several false starts (lost my keys (fell into a bag in my backpack), left my wallet behind but I was able to register for a second night in the canyon!, forgot my camera, then I thought I could purchase more bottled water at the trailhead, but I could not, so I had to circle back on the bus. I decided to take the South Kaibab trail. It was interesting because it has ridge walks when most trails follow the sides of canyons. It was a super walk. It was steep so I ended up taking it very slow down so my knees would not hurt. Again I planned about 90 minutes down so it would take 3 hours up. I easily passed the Cedar Ridge rest. I was about 50 feet (across a BIG drop) from a condor that was resting. He just sat there while a handful of us stood, talked, and took pictures. BIG bird. Someone also loaned me their binoculars and I was able to see the one he pointed out and one he had not seen. The condors have a flock of scavengers that hang around for scraps. I would have thought they would stay away but some were within very few feet.
When the alarm went off (90 minutes) I was beside a large rock formation (Nulle's Bluff) and it looked like when I got around it, I would be on a ridge and could see pretty much all the way around me if I continued. About 20 minutes later I was not disappointed. Other than the bluff, I could see more then 3/4 of the way in a circle. I rested some and then headed on up. The walk up is very different than down, simply by where you look. I find it easier to look up and around when I am going up so I see more. It was great. I will comment that the first walk had more colour when I started later, nearer to sunrise/sunset has more colours. I think there were also more clouds the first day so you saw shadows. It took just over 2 hours on the way up, so it was pretty close to the way down! I spoke to a ranger on the way up and I probably walked another 1/2 to 3/4 of mile. That would make it between a 4 and 4 1/2 mile round trip.
While I wanted to walk further along the ridge (it was flatter than most of the path I had done) and lead to a series of switch backs you can see from the top and all down the trail. It was also further out into the center of the canyon. I decided against it. I am so glad. My legs were like rubber and sore when I reached the top. The bus arrived as I did and I could only manage a fast walk the 50 yards or so. I did get off at the Yaki Point. Rested there about 30 minutes.
I then caught shuttles to Hobi Point for sunset, arrived about 10 minutes before it set. It was hot most of the day but it was very cool and a lot of us were in shorts and T-shirts! I then went back by shuttle (after waiting for 4 of them) and had dinner at the cafeteria.

11 September

Woke up several times through the night. Took ibuprofen hoping it would help. I am mostly mobile but the legs are stiff, even tonight when I am writing this. I had to stop and take one last look as I left a little after 10AM. I checked out and had breakfast at the cafeteria. I then started driving, I am now in Bakersfield, California. The drive was interesting. Had to drive out of the mountains and then into the desert then back into hills again. I went out route 40, then detoured onto a stretch of "Historic Route 66" now known as route 10. I stopped briefly at a gift shop. I then drove through a "ghost town". Hardly, it was wall to wall cars and shops. I passed on it and drove on. It was a great road, lots of windy roads and rock/mountain scenery. Very sparse vegetation. Road was just wide enough for two cars. It was a good detour.
I had to purchase some gas and the first place was $3.199, did not take credit cards so I put in $20. The next station was the same price and took the card, so I filled up. Total was about 14 gallons so I cut it too close, I was getting worried. I then crossed the state line and I saw prices at $3.39 to $3.79! I will have to put in about another half tank I think so I end with less than a quarter tank.
I then drove through the desert, much more like I expected though is still had a lot of small vegetation. I guess I think of deserts like in the movies or White Sands, just a lot of sand. The drive in the desert was of course flat and straight. Not so for the mountains to follow. Some of the inclines (up or down) were very straight, but toward the end it winded its way down or up the mountainsides. The climbs had to be nearly a 1,000 feet. I did check sometimes on the GPS screen (shows altitude) but paid more attention to the driving at 70 to 75 mph.
Toward the end of the trip I went through a wind farm, there must have been hundreds of windmills. It was pretty neat.
I stopped at sunset so I could see my way around still. Tomorrow plan is to go see the big red woods. Then off to Oakland. Timing has worked out pretty good. I am doing laundry now as I type. I have to put all of my stuff in two bags now so I can board the plane on Thursday.

13 September

Today started really slow, I had no desire to do much. I decided to go to Yosemite National Park. The drive was OK. The park has some Sequoias and is formed by glacier ice. The drive through the mountains was fun again. I paid more attention to the drive than the scenery. Guess I am ready to go to Hawaii. Tomorrow I will drive to Oakland, find the place to hand in the car and airport. If it goes well, I will go find the hard rock.
Tonight I packed my bags. Had to through out some stuff since I bought stuff on the trip. I can only use two bags on the plane. Mostly old T-shirts.

14 September

Took my time again today. I stopped at a California Tourist Information Center to find out what my best options were. I decided to drop the car off a day early and then find a hotel near the airport (the information center provided me a Quality Inn). I then stopped and gave the car a good cleaning and vacuum. I had done this just before entering Yosemite National Park as well. I arrived at the car processing center about 1:30 or so. It took less than an hour to get the car turned over. I then took a taxi ride to the hotel ($60!). I could have done the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) but decided I did not want to deal with the luggage. I arrived about 4:30 or so. I spoke to Joan and Dave briefly then went out to dinner. The BART stop is about a mile away. I walked there but then decided I really was not up to the adventure. So I walked back and found a place to eat on the way back. I started to watch a movie (Bettlejuice) and promptly fell asleep. I woke up for a bit and went to sleep for the night.

15 September

I am sitting in Oakland airport waiting for my flight. Should be a long boring day. Hawaii here I come! I checked in my two bags, one was about 30 lbs, the other was 85! I knew it was heavy but... Cost me $25. The limit was 50, so even if I moved things around it would have been over by 15 lbs. I don't feel I have an excessive amount of stuff for 3 plus weeks even doing my laundry. Glad they don't weigh my laptop bag, it has enough power supplies and junk in it. It weighs close to 25 lbs or more.
I am now sitting in LA airport having a beer. Want it to help me sleep on the flight some though I don't think it will be big problem. Slept some of the first flight already.

18 September

Well I have arrived. I was promptly picked up by my sponsor who helped with luggage and getting the rental car. I then followed Dan to the hotel. All reservations were correct. Friday I actually got out and drove to some of the places I might live. This is going to take some getting used to! I then walked on Waikiki Beach, putting my feet in the Pacific Ocean. Only a few short weeks ago they were in the Atlantic.