Feeling the Pull of the Islands

I don't know about anyone else that has been to the Islands but for me, it was a fabulous experience and I keep finding myself drawn to all things Hawaiian.

Not one of my pictures but I love this one and it can be found at  Hawaiipictures.com.

Has it become an obsession? I don't know. What I do know is that it will take a lot of pennies for me to save before I can make my next trip over the ocean but in the meantime, I can bring the Islands to me by the way of food, music  and live video feeds. Lol. That's right, I have discovered live video feeds Online from the major hotels on every island so I can watch the sun rise and set and also watch surfers and other fun.It's just a pity that I have take pain pills for my back because those home made Pina Coladas would have new meaning with a little bit O' the hair of the Dog.

 I also discovered live streaming of the Honolulu radio station KINE. Love it!

OK so now that I have essentially set the table for you, here is the recent update of the Mobile Pissants.

About a week ago, I was listening to KINE and discovered a song that I couldn't get enough of. The Haleiwia Hula. by Amy Hanaialii. The song is great and has a 30s or 40s feel to it. Anyway. So I started checking out her Website and listening to samples of more of her music and watching videos on YouTube. I was hooked.

But like everything else, she is based on the Islands so i thought I wouldn't get a chance to actually see her perform.Wrong! Call it Karma or just plain luck, but on her website as I was poking around, I noticed that she was going to be performing at the Thunder Valley Casino in Lincoln, a short ride from my home. The problem? I was scheduled for a ghost hunt that same night.

Don't get me wrong, I love ghost hunting. It';s my Thang ya know? But I really wanted to see Amy perform. As luck turned, I noticed that she was schedule to also perform in Antioch the day after my hunt. Antioch is about and hour and a half away.

So after being up all night on Friday, Sept 20 to Saturday, October 1, I decided to make the trip to Antioch. The only problem...the other half of the Mobile Pissants couldn't attend because she had to work. Autumn really wanted to go but had to be at work at 5 p.m. and the show ran from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. so ma, who had gone on the all night ghost hunt decided to go with me. So at about 11 a.m., two very tired ghost hunters set off for Antioch.

We arrived at 1:45 because on the way we had to get gas and take care of a couple of bills but we made it juts in time for Amy's show. Were we tired? You bet but it was worth the trip.

Lucky for us, Amy's part of the show didn't start until 2 p.m., so we just made it. We walked into the lobby did some personal business and we escorted into a theater auditorium that had a small crowd. Nice, very intimate. Like having a personal performance and she did not disappoint. Even ma liked it. Amy performed some songs from the 40s and also told stories about when she just embarking on her career and Hawaiian customs. But for us, it was al about the music and WOW what a show. she has some incredible pipes.

She perfomed newer songs and older pieces she had written and even had some traditional dancers perform as well. The crowd was very enthusiastic and she was very warm and at times, funny.

When her show ended about two hours later, the crowd went crazy. It was funny because most of those in attendance were from the Islands and I found myself in the minority but that didn't matter because we were all there for the same reason..to see and hear a great singer.

Awesome! And then afterwards she met us in the lobby of the theater to sign autographs and take pictures.

Naturally, I had to get mu picture with her so I entrusted my digital camera to ma to take the shot. With my new CD in hand, I waited in line for my chance to meet her and at the same time, gave ma instruction son how to use the camera. when my turn finally came, Amy signed my CD and then we posed for a picture but not before ma started having trouble with the camera. I could tell the theater manager was getting nervous as theer were other peole in line...some even tried to help ma. I made a joke out of it, telling Amy that "I told Auntie that if she messes up the picture, she's fired." the crowd laughed,  Amy smiled and told me that if the shot didn't come out that I was to come back up and she would take it again with me...very nice.

She was very nice about it and luckily the shot did come out but it was nice thing to offer. Amy seemed really at ease with the fans that met her and it was neat to see. What a cool lady.

So I headed home with my autograph in hand and and pictures and videos to remember

I think I can...I think I can....

On Tuesday, our Southern California Trip found Autumn and I headed for Disneyland.

I had a lot of reservations about going because of my back problems. I have problems standing for long periods of time and although I could use a mobile scooter, I don’t want to because there is always someone who needs the use of one more.

We got up at about 6:30 a.m. and hit the freeway for our hour ride into Anaheim. With the Tom Tom guiding us, we left at about 8 a.m. and made our way through the freeways of LA.

We arrived at Disneyland at about 9:30 a.m. because of traffic and proceeded to the handicapped parking garage. Fine and dandy but to get the trams, there was quite a walk but since it was the morning and all my back felt pretty good so we got up to the loading area easily.

Crowds wait patiently for thier tram to arrive.

Trams that take guests to Disneyland and California Adventure.

Autumn is happy to finally be on the tram.

After going through security and entering the park gates, we went to guest services and obtained a handicapped pass that would allow us to enter most of the rides from the exit platform. Great, except we were warned that some rides would still require us to wait before boarding.

Disneyland's Main Street Station.

 To cut down on the walking, we opted to ride the Disneyland Railroad to the different areas of the park. Again this was great. So we rode to Fantasyland or the It’s A Small World building and walked to the main part of Fantasyland. First it was Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, the Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, a walk through of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle and then it was back on the train to New Orleans Square.

Mini Pirate Ships awaiting riders for Peter Pan's Flight

 .By now my back was starting to be a pain, so we made frequent stops so I could sit down but we did make it to the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.

A ghostly woman in the Haunted Mansion.

Pirates party hard.

After eating at the Stage Door Café where the chicken nuggets cost more than $9 and water cost $3. Oh well, you pay for the ambience when at Disney parks.

We then discussed where we would go next and set our sights on Splash Mountain.

At the other rides we had averaged a wait time of about 15 minutes, Splash Mountain saw a wait of an hour. The pain was excruciating but I wanted to ride…I even volunteered for the front of the boat.

Arriving at the big drop.

The big splash.

Charlotte is so soaked that her shoes squish when she walks.

Soaked and cold, we moved on to Big Thunder Mountain, again stopping frequently so I could rest my legs and back.

On the Thunder Mountain Railroad.

 Then it was over to Adventureland for the Jungle Cruise and Autumn climbed Tarzan’s Tree House while I waited. When she came out, she said that although she liked it, she missed the Swiss Family Robinson version that she had climbed as a kid.

A Hippo tries to eat park guests as they take the Jungle Cruise.

 Remember when we went to Hawaii and we bought some pineapple ice cream at the Dole Plantation? Wouldn’t you know it, Disney had the exact same thing at the Enchanted Tiki Room and we waited in line for nearly two hours to get it. The issue? One little booth and two overworked employees. It didn’t help that the ice cream machines kept overheating. But the wait was worth it.

So we sat and enjoyed our ice cream and then finally went into the Enchanted Tiki Room and sang with the birdies.

The Enchanted Tiki Room.

Next on the list was  Indiana Jones ride and followed up with something calm-Wiinnie the Pooh and a riverboat cruise. LOL.

Indiana Jones Ride makes for a wild roller coaster.

The Mark Twain

Dinner found us at the Hungry Bear Cafe.

Then we were off to It’s A Small World and then watched Tinkerbell fly from the Matterhorn to Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. The cool thing that I had never seen before is the woman who does the flying, actually does some acrobatic work while in the air. Dumbo also makes the flight as well. The fireworks were good as always.

It's A Small World.

But we were not done. We decided to ride the Mad Teacups and then took the train to New Orleans Square for Fantasmic.

Now let’s remember that I had been walking for 11 hours and was really in no mood to walk anymore but I figured by arriving to the show early, I could find a place to sit down…not. About two minutes before the show started, we managed to find an empty chair at a restaurant and watched the show. Then it was one more ride on the train to Main Street before making the slow and painful trek to the trams and finally back to the car for the ride back to the hotel.

Due to traffic, we finally arrived back to the motel at 12:30 a.m. Climbing the stairs, the backs of my legs hurt and I was so glad to lay on the bed and fall to sleep.

Tomorrow is another day.