Final Thoughts

This is Malcolm, and I'm going to write my final thoughts about this wonderful adventure. Janice may or may not add hers as well.

We arrived home two weeks ago, so I've had some time to ruminate on the trip. The one best part of the trip was traveling with the woman I love. It is so wonderful to spend the day, doing fun things and experiencing new things, and then at the end of the day, be able to fall asleep with her. So, having her with me was the very best part.

Following that, the motorcycle ride was the second best. It's a real accomplishment to ride a motorcycle in each of the United States. She gave me the motorcycle ride as a 67th birthday gift. I liked it.

The cruise was next best. I liked every part of it. I've wanted to go on a cruise for many years, but I didn't want to do it alone. The food exceeded my expectations. Service was excellent. Freestyle dining is my idea of how to eat. Ship activities for all; it was what I wanted it to be. Will do fewer excursions and rest more on the next one.

The submarine ride was fantastic! Never thought I'd be able to do one, but glad we did it on this trip. Highly recommended for anyone who has ever had a hankering to ride on one.

Renting a Mustang convertible. What a way to go in style! We really enjoyed riding in style.

The bread in San Francisco. Delicious!

Walking on lava. Even though we were not allowed to see the fresh flow, I was tickled to be able to walk on the lava field we did walk on. I am so fortunate to have walked on a glacier in Alaska as well as lava on Hawaii. Another achievement not accomplished by many...

I could go and on mentioning things that I really enjoyed, but then I'd have to just regurgitate all of the earlier posts.  The entire trip was wonderful. It's certainly a  "do-over" trip!

I'm beginning to give thoughts to our next adventure. Another all-inclusive vacation on an island resort? Another cruise? A motorcycle cross-country tour? Hummm, not an easy decision. Maybe all three!!!

Until next time, stay safe.

Goin' Home

It was a week ago when we arrived home. All in all, the trip home went well. We had to be out of the room by 1:00pm, and our flight out of Maui wasn't until 9:55pm, so we had quite a big chunk of time to kill. The hotel was gracious in storing our luggage during the day, which allowed us the ability to walk around town without having to worry about our bags.

And, we still had the motorcycle to return to the dealer by noon. So, we got on the bike and took one more short ride up to Ila Valley, just to enjoy the coolness of the air. It felt great!

Alas, the time came when we had to ride to the dealership. When we got there, Janice made a sign for me to hold to commemorate my 50th state ride. We went outside and the staff took some pics and congratulated me for my achievement. I know there are many other motorcyclists who have ridden in each of the United States. But, compared to the general population, I'm in a pretty unique group.

A staff member drove us back to the hotel. Where we sat and sat. We were just plain tired and ready to be home. The clock would not tick fast enough for either of us.

We did go on a short walk to get a nondescript lunch in a mall, but we pretty much sat in a veranda next to the lobby, enjoying the breeze for most of the day.

Finally, the appointed time for the shuttle came, and we loaded our mess into the van and rode to the airport. A couple of hours, we boarded the big plane and took off for San Francisco. We both cat-naped as we flew high above the ocean. The landing in San Francisco went well; we disembarked the plane, and found that we'd re-board the same plane to Houston. 30 minutes later, we got back on the plane and took off for Houston.

The flight to Houston was fine; we got to witness a sunrise from 35,000 feet and saw lots of snow on the tops of the Rocky Mountains. Pretty neat experience. 

In Houston, we discovered that we had 20 minutes to get to the gate for the next flight. And it was two terminals away! We almost did the OJ thing, trying to get where we needed to be as quickly as possible. One shuttle ride later, and we made it with a few minutes to spare.  The flight to RDU was fine, and Adrian showed up to carry us back to home. Home sweet home!

Getting home was a long trip, beginning at 10pm om Tuesday and ending at 4:30pm on Wednesday. But we and our mess got home safely.