The first couple of weeks...

February 5, 2009

The movers came today, and suddenly our move to the other side of the world became very real. Between the holidays and the wedding we have really never had a chance to sit down and think about what we’re doing. I suspect we won’t really have that opportunity until we’re sitting on the runway next week.

The movers were great – they brought a 200 cubic foot plywood shipping container to our door, and packed as much as they could into it. Here’s KC in front:


The picture above is of Ainslie Bell at Rocky Mountain Overseas, Inc., overseeing the packing process. I’d highly recommend him next time you find yourself in the midst of a move.







February 9, 2009

That was a rough 48 hours, but once we took off for Portland, we were able to let some of our worries go. All right, that’s really not true. Once our cell phones don’t work anymore, then we’ll be able to throw our hands up and stop solving problems that aren’t that important anyway.


It started on Friday night, when we realized that we hadn’t made nearly as much progress as we’d been pretending. We’d done some packing for the trip -->




but we hadn’t done nearly enough work on storage. Packing for Hawaii is much more fun than shoving all of your belongings into the garage.

The hordes of help started pitching in on Saturday, with Jeremy tackling the plumbing,






Kellen making repairs in the garage, and Kathy – Grime Destroyer – taking charge of the cleaning end. We, in the meantime, mostly ran around flapping our arms helplessly until KC’s mom and Cynthia showed up. (Matt’s mom had also spent the previous weekend at the house packing and sorting). With this crack team in place, we packed more than I ever knew we owned. Goodwill was the happy recipient of 15 bags of purge, and there’s no doubt we would have tossed more if we had more time.

On Monday morning, Matt was calm while KC was panicked. As it turns out, panic was the more appropriate response. We headed back to the house, and Matt mailed packages and ran other last minute errands while KC tried to wedge the last few items into storage in the garage. There are no pictures of this carnage, fortunately.

Amazingly, everything fit and, after altering our plans for getting to the airport, we arrived with a few minutes to spare.


Farewells are hard,




but we got on the plane and were off to Portland before we knew it. KC’s dad met us there and we were off to McMenamin’s Edgefield Inn, a quirky establishment in a Portland suburb.



After a failed attempt at snooker and some delicious pizza, we were off to bed, anticipating our flight to Hawaii the next morning.



February 10, 2009

We both feel like we’re reasonably well-traveled, but we realized this morning that neither of us has ever ventured farther west than dipping a toe into the Pacific. Today changed all that as we boarded a flight bound for Honolulu. We touched down after an uneventful 6 hours, and headed off to pick up our rental car, a fabulous Toyota Yaris. We had grand plans to drop off our luggage at the hotel and head out for some hiking and sightseeing, but we gave these up after seeing our beautiful hotel,
and realizing that we didn’t want to venture back out into the Oahu traffic. After a walk on the beach, Matt laid down at 7 p.m. to rest up for just a minute before venturing out to dinner. We woke up at 1 a.m. with the lights still on.

February 11-12, 2009

What a great couple of days! We stayed at the Marriott Ihilani, a resort out on the west end of Oahu, away from the Waikiki crowds.

We started Wednesday with a trip to the Arizona Memorial (pics below), and followed up with a visit to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (a/k/a The Punchbowl). Here are a few pictures from Pearl Harbor:





Part of the memorial wall, which marks the site of the tomb for hundreds of American sailors killed when the USS Arizona exploded and sank.



Oil still seeps up from the hull of the Arizona.




Looking back across toward the Arizona Memorial and Ford Island.



After visiting the Arizona Memorial, we took a tour through the USS Bowfin.




Our entry was somewhat delayed when Matt threw out the tickets along with his hot dog wrapper. Unfazed, but also unexcited by the prospect of digging through mustard-related trash, we went to the office and begged ourselves a new pair of tickets.















More than 50,000 American servicemen are buried or interred at the Punchbowl, which is located in an extinct volcanic crater overlooking the Waikiki area.




Visiting the two memorials in succession was a moving experience, and we thought an appropriate way to pay our respects.











After spending most of the day at the two memorials, we braved the Honolulu traffic and headed towards Waikiki, where dinner, and fruity beverages awaited at the Halekulani awaited.





The Orchid restaurant came highly recommended, and neither the sunset from the patio nor the steak disappointed.


On Thursday we decided to do some hiking, and scrambled up to Manoa Falls, a popular hike just north of Honolulu.



We then drove to the North Shore with the hopes of seeing surfers on the big waves, but had to settle for the spectacular scenery. Unfortunately, it was too dark for pictures, so we will ask our readers to just rely on our detailed description, immediately preceding.



February 13-14, 2009

We ended up losing most of today to the International Date Line, but we still managed to cram in a catamaran ride,



some snorkeling, and a plane ride to Yap.

After spotting a few whales we sprinted to the car in order to make our 3:30 departure for Guam.




The Honolulu airport has a strange developing-world feel to it, so spending time there before our flight departed seemed like good practice for the next couple of years. In one last



effort to satisfy his craving for junk food, Matt stuffed his face with Pizza Hut, while KC settled for a Quiznos sub. We boarded for Continental Flight No. 1 a short time later,







and after 7 ½ hours in the air found ourselves in Guam. We had a quick connection, so we didn’t get to experience all of the wonders that Guam has to offer (including the world’s largest K-Mart). Maybe next time.




Our flight to Yap was only an hour, and we landed in a rainstorm (not surprising). We were whisked through customs after announcing who we were (somewhat surprising).



One of Matt’s colleagues and KC’s new boss met us at the gate, and the police department showed up to transport our luggage (very surprising). No red carpet or military band, but we did get a few odd looks from the tourists.




We’re in an apartment until renovations are finished on our house next month. We’re each about a block from our workplaces. Here's the view out the window. It’s nice.