A Year of Change

Tonight around 11pm or 2am Denver time, we’ll take off for Los Angeles. Then about 8am we’ll leave L.A. for Denver arriving around 11 in the morning. Even though you have to check out about noon, the hotel is giving us a smaller room to use for the day at no charge. This is a big deal as otherwise you have to be all packed and have all your stuff ready to go before lunch.

A bellman at the front is bringing in two surfboards for the boys to use today. Yesterday while boogie boarding, Jag lost one of my watches in the surf. It was a watch from Kauai I got years ago that was really cool. He ran out of the water to grab his goggles and was headed back into the surf to search for it, but I stopped him telling him he’d never find it. He’s really bummed as I let him wear it for his 2 week trip and he’d been in and out of the water for two weeks with it on. I’m bummed too as I really liked it and it was over $1000 but you can’t get mad at him, it is what it is, and in the end, is just a thing.

We had a great dinner in Kihei that Jeffrey hooked us up for. The place has the largest wine cellar on the island and is now a new great new account. It was nice and we made it home by about 8. That’s it, we had a fun trip with a few ups and downs that’s just part of being a family, but we’re all good and healthy and happy and together. GB

We all rose early and went for a hike along the coastline for about an hour. The waves were incredible and we saw the blows of whales (water shooting straight up in the air from their blow holes) everywhere. The Humpbacks which travel from Alaska every year, all the way down to Maui, were here! It takes them about 4 to 6 weeks to make the journey and we’d been seeing them from a distance for days. You see this side of the island of Maui is their breeding ground. Maui and Molokai are connected under the water so picture a giant shelf between the two islands. The water here is only about 300 feet deep where if you go off the the other side of the island, it drops to 15,000 feet deep! A perfect place for Moms to calf and be with their newborn babies.

So anyhow, about 11 we headed down to meet the other people in our small 12 person group. One Mom and her 8 year old daughter, believe it or not, are from Vail and she goes to the same school with the boys! What a small World.

We all jumped in a van and drove to the boat to head out. Soon after leaving, we were spotting whales everywhere. For about 90 minutes, we’d see them and then motor on over to where we thought they’d surface, and then watch and wait. They were big, beautiful and amazing.

After the trip, Lori and I headed into town to hook up with my buddy Jeffrey. Today we met at a music store, just about like the one he and I ran 35 years ago. It was great to see him again and he’s still the same guy he was then. He told Lori one of the only people he missed in his life, was me when we moved away. We picked up right where we left off since a day or so ago when we first connected and will now stay in touch and see each other often. He even has a condo next to his that a couple from California own, that we can rent for about $100 a night whenever we want. He has the keys, wow!

Today I think the boys are surfing, we’ll let you know more tomorrow, So have a great day, take care and God Bless, Aloha!

Here’s a few pics, more later as we have better ones on the video camera but need to download them! Amazing in person!

REMEMBER, CLICK ON THE PICTURE WITH YOUR MOUSE!

Yesterday we ended up in Pa’ia which is known as the coolest little town in Hawaii. It’s a haven for everyone from old hippies to stoners to aging musicians to artists to Hollywood actors and last but not least, big wave surfers. You see right down the road from this little hamlet is Jaws which is one of the biggest, baddest surf spots in the World. After arriving and grabbing some grub to fuel up, we headed to the beach to take the boys boogie boarding. The waves here were bigger than they looked from the shore and I told the boys, never turn your back on the ocean. Unafraid, they headed in with me watching from the beach ready to sprint into the surf if anyone was crushed by thousands of pounds of blue water. Both boys soon found out the waves, when in the water, are larger than they look from the shore. After an hour or so, they were beat, so we loaded up and headed home.

We also connected with a life long buddy of mine from 40 years ago. He is a pretty famous guitar player within the industry as he did lots of studio work and moved here 5 years ago to ditch the Mainland and live life. Lots of musicians from my era live here too and tons are in town hanging out. We’ll hook up later today to reminisce some more on the good old days. Guess I am old if I can have good old days, ha.

First up though is Whale Watching. We leave at 11am with the Jacques Cousteau people (I think his son) to go see the whales breach which means jump out of the water. We’ll also hear them through specially designed microphones in the water.

Last night at 8:30 we went to Star Noodle for dinner. This is a cult place that’s hard to get into but Jag wanted to make reservations the other day when we picked up Malasadas (a type of Portuguese donut) for dessert. It was really really good and worth the late night start time.

That’s it, time to get moving, Aloha

REMEMBER, CLICK N A PICTURE TO BLOW IT UP!

Hope everyone is getting some chocolate or flowers today. For Lori and I, we opted out as our Valentines Day is great enough being in Hawaii. She did bring me coffee and I found her a cute little blue dress for $64 in the lobby gift shop that was on sale. It had to be the cheapest thing on the entire property as even drinks at the pool are $65! Of course I’m just kidding, they’re not $65 but might as well be as they’re actually $18 which is super expensive. We, to save money, went to the grocery store Sunday and loaded up on things for our kitchen. We had planned flowers to all you grandmothers but didn’t get it together, so get yourself some chocolate today!

Yesterday after my meeting, which was great, went down to Kihea and hit Aloha Boards, one of the last great local board shops on the island. After Cory, who works there, helped Ty build up a custom board to his specifications, we headed to Wailea for lunch. While the board was being built, both Jag and Ty got henna tattoos on their forearms at a place nextdoor. Now don’t worry, these go away in a week or so. They both chose some Hawaiian tribal pattern and were quite thrilled with their new body art.

Next up was Monkey Pod, a great restaurant that sells a lot of our wine. Then it was back up island but we stopped at a local fruit stand on the way for fresh pineapple, mangoes, star fruit and more. Then it was off to the ocean where Lori and the boys surfed some waves with their bodies and boogie boards. Finally at 7, it was off to another good account, Sal Peppe, a great italian restaurant in Lahaina that again sells a lot of our wine.

Today we’re not sure what we’re doing. Tonight though at 8:30, we’re going to Star Noodle, which is this cult like restaurant in an industrial area that’s super tough to get in to. Jag really wants to go but Lori is unsure as she’d like to be in bed by 8:30! It’s windy here but nice. Oahu has been getting tons of rain and wind but we’ve been lucky.

Time to run as Lori and I are taking our daily morning beach stroll, giving homage to the local Gods and life itself! Ok, we really don’t know the local Gods but Jag is educating us. In closing, here’s an email from Jag’s teacher who ran the kids school trip. She’s from Hawaii. Read this, pretty darn impressive, here’s the email from his teacher below, (Lori hates this picture, ha ha) Aloha!

Dear Doug and Lori,

Thank you for your thoughtful email. I just wanted to tell you that Jagger, though he was one of only two freshman students on the trip, really emerged as a leader in Hawai’i. It is important when Hawaiians gather for a meal to do a pule, or prayer, to offer thanks for the abundance of food, drink and friends, and after the first night when Aunty Alva led it, I asked for a volunteer to perform this task.

Jagger did not hesitate. For two sets of distinguished guests, Jagger led us in our pule, thoughtfully, maturely and authentically articulating gratitude and the intention to continue learning and growing on our journey together. I was so impressed, as were the elders in our presence. He made a deep impression on his peers, as well. You have a good boy there…a good young man, I should say. You can tell he has been raised with a lot of love in his home. It was a pleasure to have him on our intraterm course. You should ask him to share with you the reflection he wrote and shared with the group on our last day together. It made me cry! In gratitude…

Aloha Nui,

Kim

We had a fun first full day. We hit the pool, the beach, town, a few stores, mainly for groceries, and a beach side restaurant for dinner. Everyone got some sun and no one burned bad, but we were close. This morning around 9:30, we’ll head to Kahalui where I have a meeting and then we’ll drop down to Kihea for some lunch and to take Ty to a great local skate board shop that we promised him for his birthday. Lori just brought me an espresso as we have an espresso machine in our room! After my call at 6am (work), we’ll take a walk and probably hit the gym, or fitness center, as they call it here.

When we walked down to the beach, we saw some whales frolicking in the water jumping straight up and making huge splashes. An employee of the Ritz said it was a baby one and there’s tons of whales out there right now which is good as we go out on a Zodiac boat that holds 12 people whale watching, I think on Wednesday. Lori tried to get a picture but only caught the splash, see below.

Here’s some photos for fun, have a great day and GB

HERE’S A QUICK TIP, CLICK ON ANY PICTURE WITH YOUR COMPUTER MOUSE AND IT WILL UP! TRY CLICKING ON THE BOYS, IT’S A GREAT PICTURE!

We finally made it but boy was it a long grueling trip. After leaving Vail at 5 am Hawaii time, we made it to the Ritz at midnight on the nose. Jag of course, flying back to Colorado and back to Hawaii, could have gone to China, South Africa or India in the same amount of time. No matter what though, we’re here!

It’s 5:40am so we only had about 5 hours of sleep or so. We have a suite that has two rooms overlooking the massive pool and ocean. It’s really a different level of service here at the Ritz Carlton. Our balcony stretches the entire length of the room and we’re on the 7th floor which is the same floor the lobby is on as the hotel slopes down towards the ocean. We’ll get some pictures up soon.

This morning we need to wash all Jag’s clothes as they’re all dirty. Luckily I brought some extra clothes for him in my bag. I’m still trying to kick my cold and hoping the tropical air does the trick.

Jag seems a few years older after only being gone a week. He and his brother clearly missed each other as they hung out from the time they got together. We flew Coach, big mistake, but after having to change the flights due to Jag’s flight schedule, that’s all I could get. Next time though, it’s First Class. Thankfully I have about 330,000 miles through working the system, using my Mileage Plus Card and converting points from American Express to United.

We drove by the Pink Palace where we have fond memories of spending a week with Dixie and Don a few years ago. It’s hard to miss as it looks like a big pink pyramid. Even at 11:45 at night, in a rain storm, you could see it!

The boys are still sleeping and probably will for a while. It’s so humid it’s sort of sticky and damp. Lori just found out where the laundry room is so time to get moving. It’s really really nice here, very theraputic with the ocean breeze and smell of the salt in the air. It just started raining in a massive downpour out of nowhere. No worries though as we’re in Hawaii! Oh wait, it just stopped! Aloha!

Ok, here we go, this morning Jag’s plane will touch down at 11:45 and ours will take off about 3:30. In between we’ll hang out at the airport and probably eat lunch at Elway’s. We’re all packed and just have to shut our suitcases. I’m still kicking my cold and learned not to take Dayquil at 3 in the afternoon, as I woke up about every hour on the hour for most of the night. Due to our late flight we land in Maui about 10:30 which is like 1:30 am Denver time. Then we drive about 40 minutes or so to our hotel after getting our rental car and baggage. So a long day of traveling is ahead of us. I had it worked out to land at 1 in the afternoon but Jag didn’t get back in time to catch the early morning flight.

Yesterday Lori and I cleaned Jag’s room and earlier in the day I dropped Mojo at the doggie daycare. It’s not so bad as he’s out of a kennel for most of the day and plays with other dogs. He has a few friends there. We’re hoping for good weather but even if it’s cloudy, it’s still Hawaii. Time to get moving, have a great weekend and God Bless.

Hard to believe we leave tomorrow. We have so much to do. Ty has his last day of school before break today and then he is off, with his brother, until a week from Monday. I’m fighting off a cold which I think I finally picked up from Lori. Ty has a make up math test this morning before school and then it’s Ski Friday so we need to get moving. Time to run so have a good day and weekend. When we’re in Hawaii, we’ll be a few hours behind the Mainland so the blog won’t be up until around 9 or 10 each morning. That’s it, oh, Lori did get a spray tan yesterday and when she came out, Ty told her she looked like a tangerine! Too funny as she was a little orange. As soon as she washed her face though, she looked fine. Have to run, GB.

Houston was a great success. I have a real gift, well not really, let’s just say I understand that to sell things, you need to understand what your customer wants. Anyhow, it was a good trip where I sold about $500K worth of wine.

I landed in Denver and made it up the hill by 5 just in time to pick up Ty from school. 90 minutes later Lori was home. Today it’s back down the hill to Denver but I should be back up here a little after noon. Then we’ll be laying out clothes and getting ready to pack tomorrow so we can leave Saturday morning.

It’s warm up here and all the snow is gone from our driveway. It must have been really warm the last two days as we had a lot of snow. Time to run so I can get Ty up and moving as it’s 7am. The National news is calling a snow storm on the east coast, Snowemergency”. I guess they don’t want to use Snowmageddon again. Funny how a foot of snow back east is a National Emergency and out here it’s called fresh powder. I shouldn’t be surprised as the news always tries to sensationalize everything. That’s it folks, have a good day and GB.

While it was snowing back home, I was in 83 degree weather sitting outside at a great Sardinian restaurant eating fresh crab, oysters, tuna and pasta handmade by a couple of women from Sardinia Italy. My meeting went great and my friend Joe is really helping us figure out how to do a lot more business. Most large accounts have their own way of doing things and this was no different, but you have to know how they operate to get things done. I now understand a lot better what to do to increase sales, plus my buddy Joe, really wants to help, which is the key. We’ll also both go hunting again this Fall.

Meanwhile Lori and Ty went for sushi last night and had a great day. Lots to do when I get home which should be a little before 1 this afternoon and then I’ll drive right up. Hope all’s well, Houston is really nice this time of year, not too hot and no rain! GB