7: Return to Diamond Head (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

December 5th 2018 - Woke up early for once. Just snapped awake sometime between 6 and 7. It is Mom's birthday, so I make sure to wish her a Happy Birthday.

It's an old picture, but I wanted to put one of my Mom in for her birthday. :)

I charge my devices back up while waiting on breakfast, and finish going through my photos from the night before. I got some really good sunset pictures last night! While I was sitting in the lounge, a little bird flew in and started eating breadcrumbs. I was able to shoot some great photos, despite sitting at a somewhat awkward angle, and not wanting to move, so as not to disturb the little guy. It was awesome.

After breakfast, I go around the corner to the ABC store, I withdraw some money from the ATM, buy a Gatorade and get ready to take a bus up toward Diamond Head. I thought about buying some sunscreen, but for some odd reason, I didn't. Couldn't see where it was either, even though it was clearly lining the wall right inside the door to the store. Silly Zack. The Google Maps are being weird again, saying there is no transportation route up there. They used to show when buses would get you close, now they only seem to show you if the bus gets you all the way. Most inconvenient.

The bus shows up and I buy a day pass, then I look back into the bus... It is packed full of people! No space left, everyone is standing now. I end up standing by the driver because it is so full. Crazy.

I get off the bus at the exercise park which is at the bottom of the hill leading up to the entrance to Diamond Head Crater. It's at this point, the sun beating down, 80+ degrees, that I realize I messed up not getting any sunscreen. The wind is picking up too, just like last year. I made one video on the way up, played it back later and realized that there was almost no audio.

I made my way into the crater, paid the $1 admission and began climbing the trail. (By the way, Gatorade tastes awful when it warms up.) It was a pretty uneventful climb, much the same as last year. It might have been a little more difficult, though I've been losing weight, I'm not exactly as fit to walk and climb recently, having done nothing but work for the past 3 months.

I did sit down on a bench about 3/4 of the way up, and this beautiful little bird flew up to me. I ended up having a crowd of people gathering to watch the bird, and wonder if it was going to land on me, because it hopped right up to me and looked at me. I got some good pictures. :)

There is a point towards the top, where you can take the easy way, which zig-zags up or the hard way, which is a very steep staircase. I, of course, had to go the hard way. (I thought that's the way I went last time, but by the time I got the top, I wasn't sure if it was.) It was quite steep and about two thirds of the way up I had to pause for a moment. I could hear people debating whether or not to take that way. Several people followed me, and I stepped aside at the top to catch my breath. It made me feel better to see all the people who looked fit having a hard time of it.

Now, this is an old military structure and looks like something out of a horror movie. Someone remarked as much, and I, in typical Zack fashion, made that creepy predator noise I make and disappeared into the tunnel. I heard a grown man ask, "what was that?" in a trembling voice. Children, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Apparently, I forgot to get a photo of the creepy passageway. I am ashamed. I did get a pic of the next set of stairs, which brings me to the next part of this narrative. This is the point that things started to seem unfamiliar and I became uncertain of whether I had come up this way last time. Perhaps, I just charged up so fast without catching my breath that the lack of oxygen prevented the formation of memory? That's happened to me before. It's true what they say, sometimes you gotta stop and breathe. I'll forget given the chance. In this case though, I probably just took the easy way last time, however unlike me as that sounds and merely forgot during the intervening year. 

So, emerging from this old military lookout point, I got that beautiful view of the island that I remember so well. Then, I climbed a little higher, to the highest lookout point. I took a bunch of pictures, trying to improve a little on what I took last time. I thought about doing a video, but there was quite a crowd and the wind was blowing pretty good, so I didn't think you would be able to hear me. I debated about it for a couple minutes, eventually deciding just to do a little 360 video of the view without saying anything and then come back down. 

I went down the easy way, as it has a more scenic view. This whole trip up to Diamond Head, the climb, the descent and back to a bus stop on a route that would take me back to Waikiki only took a couple of hours. I was hungry now (I had chugged a whole Gatorade bottle of water when I got back down to the water fountains), so when I got off the bus in Waikiki, I headed over to Teddy's Bigger Burgers again. This time, I tried the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, with Pepperjack cheese and added bacon with onion rings as the side instead of fries. It was delicious!!!

Then, I walked around a bit, watched the waves and wandered back to my room. I changed clothes and went down for a dip in the ocean (I didn't want to go in the water the last few days as there had been jellyfish warnings when I first got here.) I walked around in the shallow waters, looking at all the fish, there are a lot more than last year for some reason. 

After this, I went back to the hostel, and started washing laundry. I could see the sun was starting to set, but I wanted to finish the laundry. Finally, while the clothes were in the dryer, I ran around the block to the beach and snapped a few pictures, as the sun completely disappeared. This one was the best, IMO: 

After I had finished my laundry, I went up and took a shower. Over the course of the evening, they had been setting up for some live music in the lounge. By the time I was finishing up in my room (I had decided to repack my bags as well) the music was starting. I went back down and enjoyed the live music while I went through my photos. The singer's name is Kiana Luna, she is really good.

Went for a walk up and down the beach again tonight, but I didn't take any pictures this time. 

The Sixth Day (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

December 4th 2018 - I slept in of course, because I had been up so late. I had money now, as the paycheck had been deposited the day before and the $50 deposit from Vegas had been returned.

I just kinda relaxed all day, and went and got a proper meal, a triple cheeseburger from Teddy's Bigger Burgers. (It was awesome!) I went out to the beach several times to get photos at different times of day, it was a very beautiful day.

Then, I decided I would take care of the fact that I had not paid for Thursday night yet. I paid $72, roughly $40 more than the initial booking. Gotta make sure that doesn't happen again.

Went out to watch the sunset, got some great shots, but noticed that there was a spot of some sort inside the lens of my camera. It can't be disassembled and cleaned, so I don't know what to do. It is more prominent when using the zoom.

After dark, I went back for another nighttime walk and took some pictures of the city's beautiful glow.

Hanauma Bay : Day V (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

December 3rd - I woke up sometime between 7 and 8. I don't really remember. Went down and worked on my computer while I waited from breakfast. Breakfast at the Waikiki Beachside Hostel consists of toast, with your choice of topping - peanut butter, strawberry jelly or butter. I think it can be quite filling really.

Whilst waiting on breakfast I struck up conversation with a fellow native to these islands. He encouraged me to see the other islands, because he felt like this island is too much city and doesn't have the same aloha anymore. He seemed particularly fond of Kauai.

After breakfast, I sat and waited on my phone to charge up (I had not charged it the night before, despite dozing off in the lounge next to the electrical outlets.) It took forever, probably because I insisted on listening to music the entire time I was charging it. Typical Zack.

When I finally did head out, I grabbed my boots and announced that I was going to hike the Koko Crater Railway Trail. Never happened. Google Maps showed me a bus route earlier in the day, then later said there were no bus routes, so I decided on Hanauma Bay instead. (Funny enough, I think you can walk to the railway trail from there, but it was too late to do so, by the time I was done at the bay. Barely caught the last bus back.)

Right before I left, I ran down to Burger King and got two sandwiches on their 2 for $9 deal. While I was sitting on a bench eating them, I was approached by a local pot dealer who wanted to know if I was in the market for some top shelf weed. He was from Pennsylvania. (Small world, and why doesn't it surprise me?)

The bus ride out to the bay would it have been uneventful if it hadn't been for the fact that I ended up seated next to a bunch of little girls, gossiping about school and boys. Dear God, this is why the human species has to have an end.

Anyway, my visit to Hanauma Bay was awesome. I had stopped there briefly the year before during a bus tour. I really had wanted to make it back and see the bay in more detail. The year before, I just got off the bus and was able to look down into the bay.

There's a park area by the bus stop and a flock of wild chickens, I had seen them last year as well. This year, I got the brilliant idea to crow at the roosters, which started them all crowing. I'm clearly the alpha male and it's hilarious.

In order to go down to the beach, you have to enter through the visitor center, pay $7.50 and watch a safety video about not harming the environment or getting drowned in the bay's strong currents.

Once we were done with that, people either walked down or took the shuttle provided. I'm on a budget, I walked. Somewhere on the way down or when I reached the bottom, I apparently lost my water canteen and I'm pretty peeved about that.

Anyway, I walked along the beach. Took some pictures. A couple videos too. It was beautiful! I didn't see any more wildlife until I was leaving, and they weren't sea creatures (I was hoping to see turtles), they were some sort of weasel things, just running around in the grass. A colony of feral cats live there too apparently, they were quite fat and didn't seem to mind the weasel things.

This is when I realized my canteen was missing, so I began looking for it. Couldn't find it anywhere all the way back up. When I realized I wasn't going to find it, and the last bus was pulling up, I ran and managed to make it to the bus. (The doors may or may not have closed on me as I was jumping on board. lol )

I had to take my pictures of the sunset on the bus that evening, so they didn't turn out as well, but it was a beautiful sunset.

Arrived back in Waikiki Beach. It wasn't completely dark yet, so I hung around the beach for a minute. Then I went and got something else to eat at Burger King. What? I was hungry! 30 chicken nuggets sounded like, and indeed, was a good idea.

After that, I went back to the hostel and chilled in the lounge, working on my writing for the blog and for the Detective Fraser Hume mysteries I've been yammering about writing for ages.

Eventually, it came time for people to quiet down, per the city ordinances. The staff comes through and shuts out the lights in the lounge area and asks everyone to quiet down. I'm minding my own business listening to my inordinately loud music in my ear phones, and writing intently. A second staff member comes through and asks me and a couple other people who are being quiet to leave the lounge in hopes that the rest of the crowd will take it seriously and head back to their rooms for the night. He says we can come back later if we want because we are literally not causing any problems at all. I agree and actually decide to take my writing down by the ocean for a minute.

I spoke to that staff member a couple more times that night, and he said that he was really thankful for my help, apparently, the whole crowd took it seriously and dissipated shortly after I left. I did return to the lounge after having sat by the ocean for an hour or so. Was up really late that night, but I got a lot of writing done and caught up on the recent episodes of "Last Man Standing" and "The Gifted."

Day 4: First Day in Hawaii (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

It's clearly early on December 2nd by the time I'm questioning my sanity. Of course, if I'm talking about questioning my sanity, this blog really could be about any ordinary Tuesday. But no, this time I'm referring to Sunday, December the 2nd, 2018. After walking a couple miles from the Honolulu airport, I had already gotten myself lost a couple times and walked in circles. I ended up in an area I remembered from last December. There's a Harley shop and a Wendy's.

Now, if you recall, I was running a little short on cash. So I'm thinking, I couldn't take the bus if I wanted to. But after passing a bus stop, I turn around and realize that if I walk back to the intersection with the Harley shop and the Wendy's, there is actually an ATM right across the street from the Harley shop. Google said the Wendy's is open until 3am.

I get some money from the ATM, then hurry to get something from Wendy's so that I have smaller bills before they close. I figured that it would be drive thru only, but I was still a little disappointed when that turned out to be the case. (That should be listed on the internet and the sign outside.) So, as I said in the previous post, it is hard to turn me away from a plan. I went up to the drive thru window, knocked and ordered a large fruit punch. Mission accomplished. I scurried back to the bus stop.

I catch the bus, pay the $2.75 fare. A gentleman riding the bus informs me that for $5.50 I can get a day pass. I thought I had read that somewhere. I confirm that with the driver, but I don't buy it because I've run out of small bills. :(

So, the man with the plan is now gonna have to walk the rest of the way, and I don't have enough money for my room either. Gonna have to start calling people and see where that paycheck I was expecting over the weekend ended up.

I sit down at the bus stop for a minute, debating whether I should spend more of my cash and take the bus. I look around. Suddenly, I realize that I'm right next to Aliʻiolani Hale (people from the mainland know it as the headquarters from Hawaii 5-0). I am somewhat encouraged as this never seemed far from Waikiki Beach, at least not on a bus. Google Maps was less encouraging. Over 3 and a half miles, not usually a challenge for me, but I'm tired and now I'm carrying two bags.

My memory of all that is a little hazy, but I do remember that I snapped some photos of the Christmas displays downtown and then started walking. I also remember sitting down several times. One time it was because my phone was so full that it wouldn't even allow texts to come through and I missed a phone call from my Dad. I sat down and loaded the photos and videos over onto my laptop instead.

By that point, I was in Waikiki, just a few blocks from the beach. I was sooo tired! Along the way, I had literally started seeing things that weren't there (including the invisible people that the local crazies talk to), I'd stumbled like a drunk man a few times, because frankly, I was falling asleep while walking. I thought for sure the cops were gonna say something to me, one time there was cop right there when I stumbled. They seemed to be ignoring all the homeless people and the random kids getting high, so I must have blended in alright.

Finally, I reached the beach. I took some pictures of the sunrise. Talked to one of my brothers, who was kind enough to loan me the $30 I was short and then I took a nap right there by the beach, listening to the waves. Check in at the hostel wasn't until 3:30, so I was going to try and sleep as long as possible. I woke up a couple hours later and went to McDonald's and got some french fries and fruit punch.

Eventually all my electronics died and since I kept falling asleep on benches and stuff, I wasn't sure of the time anymore, so I decided to go to the hostel and see what time it was/if I could check in. It was too early to check in still, my room wasn't ready yet, but they let me check my extra bag into their storage area so I didn't have to carry it around with me and then I got to sit in the lounge and charge my cell phone. I fell asleep there until about 3:30 and then I went and checked in.

The room key deposit was more than I remembered ($20, which makes sense when you realize that it is a waterproof wristband that unlocks a door), so they let me pay for the first 4 nights and I'll have to come back and pay for the 5th night when I get the money. Took my stuff up to my room. Got a shower and felt a lot better!

After all that, I made it back out to the beach to watch the sun go down. Got myself some chicken nuggets from Burger King as well. 20 nuggets were only $3-something. Back home, $3.01 only gets me ten nuggets at Wendy's. Though, I do like Wendy's nuggets better, I will admit.

Got some sunset pics, walked around a little bit on the beach after dark. It was great! Eventually, I went back and worked on my computer for awhile. Ended up dozing off and woke up in the middle of the night and went up to bed.

Day 3 (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

December 1st, 2018 - Waking up in that comfy bed at the Mandalay Bay, I finally felt rested.

On the flight out, I had tried cramming everything in my backpack like I usually do, but it is a new one and slightly smaller than the one I've had in the past; so, I ended wearing several layers of clothing. Being out here in warmer weather, I didn't want to have to wear the clothes and there was no way to stuff all of that in the backpack... So I began thinking of ways to make it easier for the next flight. I check the airline policy and realized I could take my backpack AND an additional carry on. So, I decided to buy an additional duffel bag or suitcase. The day before I had noticed a shop advertising the "cheapest luggage in town" just across the street.

I decided that I would wait until after I checked out to take care of that. In the meanwhile, I wanted to  call Mom, then shoot some videos in the fancy hotel room (I have a list of videos I want to get made for my YouTube/website.) I called Mom and we talked for awhile. Unfortunately, I only made one video and then it was time to get packed up and ready to go. (It was a video with my toy trains.)

After I checked out, I made some more videos of the exterior of the building and then crossed the street and purchased a duffle bag at that store. I noticed some other things I might like to get as souvenirs. Then, I transferred the stuff I was holding and all the extra stuff I had crammed into the backpack over into the duffel. After that, I went and got something to eat at the McDonald's a few doors down. When I was done eating, I went back and purchased some souvenirs.

Then, I went to the bus stop and began my trip back to the airport. I had to take two buses, and fortunately, I still had a valid bus pass from the night before. There was a really cool bus station halfway between the Strip and the Airport. I snapped a couple pictures.

When I got to the airport, I checked out the little aviation museum they have just inside the doors and up the escalators. It was pretty neat. It's amazing the artifacts and history stored and displayed in different places.  They were playing Dean Martin songs in the airport too, which was neat because he was from my corner of Ohio. It really is a small world.

I spent some time catching up on some stuff on my computer for the couple hours until my flight was ready. Got some neat photos and videos of the sunset as we flew from Vegas down to LA. It was only about a 45 minute flight.

Then I had to wait for my connecting flight to Honolulu, I was listening to music pretty loudly in my earbuds, because I can think better that way, lol, so I didn't hear the airline staff asking for volunteers to take a later flight. They were offering a $1,000 voucher for any volunteers that would take the 11:30am flight instead. When I heard, I volunteered, but they had a line of volunteers before me, so they ended up not needing me. I could have went on a few trips with that money!

Anyway, so I got on the flight as originally planned. I had a middle seat, but thankfully they use slightly larger planes for crossing those distances. I settled in and watched a few movies on those nifty little TVs in the backs of the seats. "Searching," "Sicario: Day of the Soldado" and "Die Hard" all got checked off the watch list on that six hour flight. Yes, I just admitted that I'd never watched Die Hard before the night of December 1st, 2018. Judge me.

Anyway, I when I got to Honolulu I realized that the airport was pretty desolate, it being so early in the morning. Not much was going on and the cleaning crews were out and about. I felt I'd be really conspicuous if I just curled up on the floor and went to sleep, like I had originally planned. Not to mention, this is flipping Hawaii. I want beaches, beautiful sunrises and sunsets. So, I decided I would walk from the airport to Waikiki Beach.

Now, I want to impart how insane this is. I had been awake for a ridiculous amount of time already. It's like 1:00am Hawaii time. That's 3:00am in Vegas. I'd been awake since like 7 or 8am Vegas time. See where I'm going with this? The distance between the airport and Waikiki is like 8.5, 9, maybe even 10 miles. I'm not easily dissuaded once I get a crazy notion in my head.

A couple miles in, I started wondering about my sanity.

The Second Day! (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

November 30th 2018 - The last day of November is always such an exciting day, usually because November is full of challenges and fun things to do before the year is completely through. (Yes, I realize there is a rhyme in that sentence. I'm fun like that. A Dr. Suess sort of whimsy.)

I woke up on the floor of the Las Vegas airport, and while this may sound like the beginning of a colorful comedy, this was actually the beginning of my day. I keep things interesting.

From there, I got to see the sunrise over the Nevada desert. Always a beautiful sight.

Sunrise over McCarran International Airport

In the daylight, I realized that I could actually see Mandalay Bay Resort from the airport. It was going to be a quite few hours before I could check in, so I sat in the airport for a few hours working on writing and stuff. Got up and walked around a few times, because I cannot sit still for too long.

Eventually, I couldn't take sitting around in the airport anymore, and I headed outside to find the best route into town. I thought I would be able to walk, having looked at Google maps and seeing that my hotel was only 3 miles away. I stopped and called my parents before leaving the airport parking garage, just because I wanted to talk.

Unfortunately, I couldn't see any legitimate sidewalks or pedestrian paths leaving the airport, so after having wandered the parking lots, undoubtedly drawing some suspicion from passersby, I headed back to the bus stop. The 24 hour bus pass was $5. See how painless that was, Zack?

Anyway, first I took the wrong bus in the wrong direction. A little tradition of mine. (More on that another time.) I hopped on the correct bus a few stops down and headed back. Then there was a transfer and I did a little video on how beautiful the desert is, while awaiting my next bus.

Finally, I arrived. It still wasn't time to check in yet, so I went across the street and got something to eat at McDonald's. Literally, one side of the street was high dollar resorts and stuff, the other side was McDonald's, liquor stores and discount souvenirs. I was completely famished, so I got the double Smokehouse Bacon burger meal. Probably should have stuck with just french fries for budget reasons, but YOLO.

I take pictures of almost everything.

It was about time to check in, so I headed over to Mandalay Bay and found that it was very busy. A ridiculous line of people checking in. I've never stayed in a place so huge (or fancy for that matter.) It was beautiful, but not exactly something I would do all the time.

I had overlooked the fact that I'd only paid $123 down out of the $165 total (the other $42 was the resort fee, a tax that makes me avoid hotels in places like Hawaii) and they charge a $100 deposit. Unfortunately, I was 1 cent short of all that in my bank account (more money coming soon, just running a little short these first few days.) The gentleman at the desk was very helpful and had it changed to a $50 deposit.

I went up to my room, on the 30th floor. I had a moment of confusion on the elevator, it was really clear cut though... You have to hold the room key to a sensor while pressing the button for your floor. Neat security feature, but my sleep-deprived work-stress-racked brain wasn't having any of that. I probably stood there for half a minute wondering why the elevator wouldn't work. lol

One of the pics from my room.

When I got up to my room I ended up deciding to take a nap before anything else. So, I set an alarm and flopped down on the bed and passed out. I woke shortly before the alarm (spidey sense lol) and got ready to go out and see some sights. It was about 7pm by the time I left, so my options were limited. I wanted to see the Mob Museum, Shark Reef Aquarium, Madame Tussaud's and one of the towers that gives you a good view of the city.

So, with my limited time that evening, I decided on Madame Tussaud's. Which, I discovered, was the first one opened in North America. I've already had the pleasure of visiting the Hollywood and NYC locations. I walked past the one in London, want to go back and see it someday, and the one in Sydney is definitely on the agenda.

Anyways, I took the bus up the strip and ordered a ticket online along the way. (You save money that way.)  Madame Tussaud's is housed in a rather impressive building, very Vegas in its design. A certain portion of the first floor of the exhibits was roped off for a private event, but I got to see the rest of everything. As always, it was a lot of fun!

After that, I went and walked around a little bit, trying to get some photos of the buildings and lights on the Strip at night. Then, I caught a bus back down to Mandalay Bay. I was planning on getting some more photos and videos of the outside, but all the lights were off when I got back.

So, I did some videos of the lobby and then went up and finally got some real sleep.

New Day! New Adventure! (Epic End of 2018 Trip)

November 29th, 2018 - One year since I climbed Camelback Mountain in Arizona, on my way to Hawaii. I decided on that date for that very reason, so I could start another grand adventure one year after a very memorable one! (If you want a taste of my experience climbing Camelback last year, watch this video.)

One of my favorite photos from last year's Hawaii trip.

I've been working my butt off for months getting ready for this next adventure... 21 days long, with 2 days in Las Vegas, followed by 6 days in Honolulu, then 6 days in Sydney, 2 more days in Honolulu and finally 3 days in Los Angeles!

My plans for Vegas are to see the Mob Museum, the Shark Reef Aquariums at the Mandalay Bay Resort (which is where I'm staying), Madame Tussaud's (I'm a big fan of Hollywood and NYC) and to visit one of the observation decks with a good view of the city.

As for Honolulu, I hope to climb Diamond Head again, as well as Koko Crater Railway Trail (which was on my list last time as well, but I forgot...). I would like to explore the area some more and other parts of the island, notably the North Shore, as last time I stayed pretty close to Waikiki Beach.

When I get a little closer to Sydney, I'll have a more definitive plan. My cousin is going to show me some of the sights outside the city and I'm going to explore the city, see the opera house and all of that!

When I stop in Los Angles on the way back, I am hoping to see a taping of Tim Allen's show Last Man Standing, and if I can, The Voice.

Once I get home, I'll be focusing all my attention on my trip to New York City for the New Year!

Here I go again on my own, going down the only road I've ever known.

Today was the first day of my "Epic End of the 2018 Trip" as I have decided to call it.

First, I had to put in applications for a new job, as I've quit my fast food job.

Then, after taking a bath, I had to take my clothes to the laundromat. This also involved a stop at the bank, and I talked to my other employers at the gas station adjoined to the laundromat.

After this, I hurriedly packed my bag and we headed to the airport, (Pittsburgh Airport, by the way, one of my favorite airports overall). My sense of time is all mixed up when it gets dark this early! It must have been around 6pm when I arrived at the airport.

I was packing stuff on the drive over, because I was having a hard time getting things to fit in my backpack. I decided to leave a book and wear several layers of clothes, instead of trying to stuff them in the bag.

I had been trying to check-in for my flight for the past 24 hours, but the airline site wasn't working properly. After saying goodbye to Mom and Dad, I went to the airline's desk and one of their friendly employees showed me how to check in using one of their airport kiosks. (I have always checked in online).

The airport wasn't as busy as it had been the other times I traveled this year. I would have gotten through security a lot faster if it wasn't for the extra layers of clothing, so they had to pat me down. (Next time, I'll just throw the extras in a bin).

Then, I made it to my gate, and after a short wait, we boarded and were in the air. I kept dozing off on the flight, while listening to all the music I had on my phone. (All the music I have on my phone is music I pledged money to support or received a free download of to review. Some pretty good stuff. I was really vibing I Am the Storm's "These Lines" tonight.

Once we landed in Vegas, I needed to charge my phone. I also realized I'd forgotten to eat and drink, pretty much all day. Good job Medley. Thankfully, there is a Port of Subs (one of my favorite restaurants, only found out west) right by the gate we entered through.

Unfortunately, I spent $19.02 on a sandwich and a Gatorade. Not how I planned on spending my money.

Anyway, spending the night in the airport. I check in to my room at 3:00 tomorrow afternoon. (Hey, I go when and where the deals are.)

Life - July 29th, 2018

So... I'm desperately trying to make posting on a blog a more consistent part of my daily routine.

I'm pretty busy these days, working nearly 40 hours a week at Wendy's, any part time work I can get, babysitting, trying to go for walks and take photos and working on getting my own business started.

Last weekend, the 20th through the 22nd, I was up at Atwood Lake Park for the weekend for the Alive Festival. It was my second year, and though I was not prepared to camp this time and had to drive back and forth every day, I still had a fantastic time.

I was particularly pleased to see for King & Country for the first time, as well as all the other new and returning artists this year. Also got to see Aaron Cole, who was the only artist I missed last year.


Alive Festival will get its own posts ASAP.

After Alive, I went back to work and stayed pretty busy all week. Managed to squeeze in a little haircut. I didn't do a terribly good job with my limited time, but honestly my head is a lot cooler and I don't look like Bozo the clown with hair sticking out on either side of my head anymore!

I had requested Saturday off, because that was the day we'd scheduled our family reunion for. Unfortunately, I realized the day of that I had never sent out the invites. Only the people who had heard via word of mouth showed up.

I'm prepared to send next year's invites out as soon as we have the date confirmed with the park.


We had a great time at the reunion.

I ate way too much cake and cookies, and a few too many cheeseburgers as well.

(Grandma always makes cookies with a mini Reese cup pressed into the middle and I'm always sure to eat about half of them. lol )

I've also taken to playing this cool game on my phone, Jurassic World Alive, which is really cool as it is an augmented reality game, I have to move about in the real world to find dinosaurs.

After the reunion, we cleaned up the barn and headed up to the Summit County Fair, an annual trip for us over the past few years.

In 2014, my family went and represented the Eastern Ohio Poultry Association, but I stayed home and took care of our animals. 2015, I went and helped with directing parking, a difficult task that year. 2016, I went up just as a visitor, but for some reason failed to bring enough money to get in (working midnights confused me). 2017, we went and walked about a bit.

On our way there this year, we spotted a whole host of hot air balloons flying over Canton, which was quite beautiful. I snapped a few pics.

As we arrived in Tallmadge, the roads were so bad that they blew out our rear tire on the car!

We had to get out for a few minutes while Dad jacked the car up and changed the tire.

I managed to catch a couple of dinosaurs in the parking lot, while Aaron and Brennon (our cousin, who was going with us to the fair) ran around.

The sun was starting to set by the time  we got going again.

We made it to the fairgrounds shortly and spent around two hours watching Aaron and Brennon try out the different rides.

We also tried out some of the fair food, specifically the french fries and an elephant ear. I also had a can of root beer pop, which was really weird because I don't drink pop and I haven't had any of the root beer flavored stuff since I was a little kid. Brought back a lot of memories.

Anyway, dropped Brennon off at his house on the way home and then spent Sunday working on sorting some stuff and doing a little writing.

Epic Medley Roadtrip 2, Day 1 & 2 /// A Traveling Zack

June 6th (Day 1)

The first day of our trip was really interesting, because I wasn't ready at all... I had a list of stuff to pack, but absolutely nothing was ready - as I had been working a lot leading up to the trip. Just a couple days before we left, I had worked a 12 hour shift at Wendy's (might not sound like much, but in fast food, that's a long shift). I managed to find everything and pack pretty quickly though. Then I made sure all of the animals were taken care of, helped Mom and Aaron load their stuff into our rental car (which we had picked up the day before) and dropped off the house keys with my brother Mitchell, who was taking care of things while we were gone.

Our first selfie of the trip!

Then, we picked Dad up from work, (he wanted to have as much money as possible on our trip). He works at an Aluminum Rolling Mill, which is really interesting in and of itself, but he's not allowed to take pictures or divulge processes as they're basically trade secrets.

We started our adventure by taking a group selfie in our matching "Fire on the Highway" t-shirts in front of Dad's workplace. (You can see the blue rental car in the background, you'll see more of it later on!)

Chicago, Illinois. 

After a quick stop at Wendy's in Uhrichsville, we were on the road. We drove across Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. We drove through Chicago, which I thought was cool, because I'd never been there before.

There were a ridiculous amount of toll roads during this part of our journey. We spent somewhere between $30 and $40 driving across these states, as I recall Ohio and Indiana were the worst for this. They have some nice rest stops on those toll roads though!

Finally, we arrived in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was late when we arrived at our hotel. We found out when we got there that they charged a $50 deposit, and Dad spent some time on the phone getting the deposit waived, as he was not informed of it when he had booked the room, and he did not have enough to afford a $50 deposit every night. This became a determining factor for each of our stops after this, as well as a topic of discussion... Why the heck do hotels charge $50 to $100 deposits, not in cash either, but on cards; which take 3 to 10 days to refund. A major inconvenience when you're on the road. 

The hotel we stayed in!

Anyway, once we were past that hurdle, we got to our room. The hotel turned out to be under construction and the halls were bare and empty, with the occasional random pile of construction supplies lying about.

The room was pretty nice and we settled in for the night. I took a shower before going to bed, which later turned out to be a very good decision.  

June 7th (Day 2)

Seconds after our alarms rang in the morning, we heard a terrible sound in the next room over... and soon discovered that the water was shut off and we could not shower (and by we, I mean everyone that hadn't showered the night before haha) or flush the toilet.

Turns out, the construction crews were already getting started on all the other vacant rooms on the floor, including using a jackhammer in the next room!

We went down to get breakfast, but there wasn't any left.

So, Dad went and complained to management. They gave us half off on the price of our room and cooked up some fresh breakfast. The hotel staff were fantastic! Whoever the higher up was, making the decision to tear the whole place apart and still rent rooms made a grave error and I hope this doesn't hurt the reputation of the hotel too badly, as it looks like it will be a very nice one when it is finished!

Dad spent a few minutes talking to a fellow traveler as we ate the freshly cooked breakfast. Seemed like a nice fella.

We made a pit stop or two for necessities and then we reached our first destination: the Harley-Davidson Visitor Center just outside of Milwaukee.

The steel-toe factory tour was unavailable due to some sort of expansion/refurbishment work being done on the factory itself, but there was still an awesome shorter tour available.

Obviously, another facility where no cameras are allowed. So, no pictures, but suffice it to say, it was fascinating to see all the work that goes in to each and every piece of a Harley-Davidson Motorcycle. We took another group selfie in our Fire on the Highway tees in front of the Visitor Center.

After this, we drove back into Milwaukee to visit the Harley-Davidson Museum. But first, where to grab a bite to eat?

Conveniently, part of the Museum complex actually hosts a Harley-Davidson-themed restaurant called "Motor." We decided to try it out, and it was FANTASTIC.

I got the bacon cheeseburger, naturally, as I explained to my family this is a tradition of mine while traveling. I really enjoy trying cheeseburgers in various restaurants all over, I've discovered some really good ones out there - the one at Motor was one of the very best. Top 5 material for sure! Reminded me a bit of another delicious burger, on Fort Myers Beach, but that's another story! ;)

After we ate, we checked out the gift shop and Dad bought a few souvenirs.

Somewhere in all of that, we decided that we wouldn't be able to spend any significant time in the museum AND make it to our next destination on time. (Everyone was eager to get to bed earlier, and a shower too, due to the lack of water in the morning.) So, we decided to forgo visiting the museum. We took a few photos outside though, since we were already there!

I decided not to get the t-shirts out for a second time, but we still took this selfie in front of the statue outside of the museum.

I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of my travel mascot yet, so I decided I would go ahead and get all my trains out of the car and make a video and

take some pictures to commemorate Milwaukee as the first stop on our trip. In hindsight, it was really funny. I grabbed my backpack out of the car, with the trains and track in it, walked through the crowd of bikers that was congregating for a bike show and proceeded to set up for the video. I probably got a few strange looks, but I wasn't paying attention because I was very excited to being filming my first video in what I hope will be a unique and fun toy train series for YouTube. It is only 24 seconds long, but it is the only one I've had a chance to edit yet and it is available to view now. (Click Here!)

After leaving Milwaukee, we drove across Wisconsin and into Minnesota. I remember as the sun was setting we crossed into Minnesota and the river on the border and the surrounding scenery was so beautiful! I was unable to take any photos because of the low lighting.

We drove until we got to a hotel called "Highland Court Motel." We got a quaint little room, quite lovely, and we all got to sleep pretty quickly!

So, that's the story of the first day on the road...

...and, of course, that was only the beginning. We had a long way to go! :)