Hawaii 5.0

Alan turns 50 this December 31st and so I told him he could have the adventure of his choice as his present. In the end, he chose Hawaii and we’ve just finished three wonderful nights in Waikiki at the Moana Surfrider and the Royal Hawaiian hotels. Truly cosmopolitan luxury, especially coming from Hanover, New Hampshire.

We started with a great Christmas eve with Henri’s clan in Lexington. On the menu were oysters, shrimp, lobster, and stuffed clams — yum! And who could forget Lisa and Vickie’s Christmas cookies — wafer thin (a good thing)! A few HT’s and games of Jeopardy later and we were ready for Santa to arrive. Which he did for us in the form of a 6am cab Christmas morning. Merry Christmas to us — a ride to Logan. From there, we flew to Minneapolis, where we stupidly bypassed lovely looking ramen noodles, then on to LAX and then finally to Honolulu. 19 hours after starting our journey, we were sipping Mai Tai’s and nibbling poke nachos to the local hotel tunes. A different way to spend Christmas — but with a great ending!

The next day, I got up to explore and walked up and down the beach. The day starts about 6am here, with the hotel employees out to groom the beach and set up the umbrellas and chaise lounges, along with the metal detector crowd searching for lost jewelry and the early surfers. The sun rises over Diamond Head to the west, gradually peeking over to illuminate the water. Back at the hotel, I roused Alan for an 8am breakfast and we headed down to the Moana main restaurant where we got a sweet table right at the front overlooking the sea. YeeHaw! Off to a great start. Alan enjoyed the sumptuous “Queen’s Breakfast Table,” which featured a full American and Japanese breakfast bar (miso soup, fish, pickles, cumgee), in addition to anything you wanted custom made off the main menu. The fresh pineapple and blueberry orange pancakes were the highlights. Oddly enough, the maple syrup says it comes from California……

After breakfast, we found a hair salon and Alan had a haircut straight off while I made an appointment for later in the day. We were both shaggy dogs! An ocean swim was next in order in the bright Honolulu sun. The bottom in Waikiki is a combination of sand and coral and the drop off at high tide is fairly significant. You can imagine it is a great place to learn to surf and even experienced surfers seemed to be enjoying the bay.

We had to switch hotels that afternoon so decided to postpone lunch and check out of the Moana Surfrider and truck our luggage two doors down to the Royal Hawaiian. There, we were too early for check in but Alan gave it a try anyways and totally lucked out. I should say our stays in these luxury hotels were only permitted by Alan “Mr Points” Cattier’s sheer genius at gaming the system. In this case, the master maneuvered us into a beachfront room on the 14th floor with a lanai overlooking the ocean. Sweet!!

Such luck called for lunch at the Mai Tai Club on premise where we continued to enjoy the local seafood through some tuna sashimi and a seafood salad with lobster, scallops, shrimp, and crab. Delish. At this point, I headed off for my hair appointment where I gave the stylist pretty much carte blanche. The result? Much shorter and blonder — a good change.

Dinner Thursday night was probably the biggest disappointment of the trip. Suffice it to say the fish was good but the atmosphere loud. We left by 8pm and headed back to the Royal (as they say around here) and were in bed by 8:40pm. Well, that is 1:40am on the east coast.

Next morning I was up even earlier at 5:30am and took a longer power walk down the whole Waikiki strip, ending down at the former W hotel which is where we’ve stayed in the past. A good walk in the burgeoning light. Lots of exercisers and a surprising number of homeless.

Back at the room, I motivated Alan out of bed for a 7am breakfast where we both had the buffet at the Royal. Highlights were beautiful whole salmon and fresh fruit. Alan also had a lovely shrimp, scallion, and onion omelet. Kona coffee of course!

Since we got an early start, we were able to snag two chaise lounges in the pool area where we spent our morning, alternately reading and hopping into the pool and hot tub. Fun people watching and napping time. But by 1pm, I was hungry so we headed over to the Sheraton next door to the Rum Fire Club where we lunched with stunning views of Diamond Head. Breaking the trend, I had a hamburger which was delicious and Alan had more tuna poke. It’s funny, we had raw tuna multiple times per day and each time it was different. And delicious! So fresh.

One of the nice things about our stay was that there were three Starwood properties right next door to each other, so you could move between the three as you liked and still charge to the room. Made for great bathing suit wandering. Each property was unique. The Royal was the quietest but I enjoyed the quiet energy of the Moana and it's dining area had superior views. The Sheraton was much bigger and more bustling but had a great multi-pool swimming area with a water slide.

Late afternoon brought another ocean swim with the sun sinking in the sky. At this time of day, the tide is out and you can walk quite far out into the bay. Folks were taking advantage of the shallow water to play catch and football. Pretty classic.

Back at our ocean view lanai, we enjoyed the “Sunset Package” of Mai Tai’s and the PuPu Platter. Sunset is early here this time of year — about 6pm. But it was beautiful. Lots of sailboats out enjoying the view.

Dinner that night was at Azure, the Royal’s flagship restaurant, which is famous for its fresh seafood. Alan can attest to its excellence (he had fresh opah) but I was forced to go back to the room to power hydrate and rest. Too much sun and fun for Carole.

Last morning in Waikiki, we headed back to the Moana Surfrider for breakfast where we got our same most excellent table!

And, now, onto the next adventure — a remote rental chalet on an organic fruit farm on Maui. The road there is described as “rarely traveled.” More to come... :-)

Week one at Dartmouth

We started work on Thursday. People couldn't have been nicer or more inviting. Lots of challenges to work through but that's what we like. :-)

In our first weekend, we had a lot of fun exploring the area. We went to the Saint-Gaudens national heritage site on Saturday and it was amazing. Neither of us knew much about Saint-Gaudens before but his work is tremendous. We wandered amongst buildings dotted on a hillside looking over at Mt. Ascutney encountering sculptures and exhibits as we went. Lovely way to spend a few hours. They have concerts on Sundays during the summer although we didn't make it back there today.

That's because we journeyed about 5 minutes from our door to the 2013 League of New Hampshire Craftsmen Fair. $10 to enter and we perused the work of 200 craftsmen on the flanks of Mt. Sunapee. Funnily enough, I had been to the event 15 years ago with my mom and brother. I have a stained glass lamp with a ceramic base from it still. Today, I limited myself to a scarf and a leather backpack purse. The cloth purse I've been carrying around containing my life has gotten a bit battered in the last two months.

Continuing to love the farm stands -- lettuce, tomatoes, chard, mozzarella, corn, blueberries, etc. All so tasty.

Camp visits

Our dear friends the Sussmans left today after a week here. They sure got lucky about the week as we've enjoyed sunny 80 degree days with minimal humidity for the most part. As a result, the lake is down four feet from our arrival and has probably warmed up ten degrees. It's truly a pleasure when the sun is out. It was an active week on all fronts. The loons had their chick last Thursday and announced to great fanfare the event. After a couple of days staying close to the cove, last night we all watched them out front feeding with the little one between them. A great experience for children and adults alike. The Coaticook ice cream factory was visited with much enthusiasm, as was the gorge. And a visit to April's Maple, Serge and Donna's new venture, proved to be a valuable source of ice cream cones with special maple add ons. Two dinners at Quimby's -- the lobster bake at the rock and then Sunday prime rib were everything they could be. Tasty, good company and someone else preparing and cleaning up after dinner! Saturday the girls went riding over near Stewartstown and got to ride Lippit Morgans, who were just beautiful. Add in lots of swimming, kayaking, and canoeing and it rounds out a great week.

A week of firsts

It's been a week of firsts -- mostly for Dinah but also for us. Since arriving Friday afternoon, D has had her first swim (did fine), her first kayak ride (ditto), and today her first speedboat ride in the Boston Whaler (mine, too). Also today she jumped off the dock to swim out to us of her own accord! This from lady who didn't want to dip her toes in the water on Friday. Big steps for the little dachshund that could.

And now D is exploring another first -- cleaning off the top of the picnic table from lunch. She has taken to being tied up in the front yard with great enjoyment and runs about chasing balls and exploring. Well on her way to being a country dog. We knew she had it in her. I've also found some dachshund raincoats and parkas from a company called Noodle that look promising to help her acclimate. One thing she doesn't appreciate about the north country are the omnipresent flies who have bitten up her belly. They have focused on my feet but I share her sentiments.

In addition to sleeping nine hours a night, I've had a nap each day and it's beginning to have its effect. The nightmare of the past month is beginning to recede. Alan and Anil went to Chambly on Sunday to have lunch at the Unibroue restaurant (another first), which is almost as far as Montreal, so that was quite a drive. And then yesterday Alan took Anil to the Manchester airport and that was an all day affair as well. As a result, this is his first nap day. The lake is lapping so likely tomorrow will be an inside day; glad we took advantage of today's sun for a swim and a boat ride.

Lake still quite high and they aren't releasing any more water. We need it to go down another two inches to have a beach. More rain will take us the other way. But the lake is warming, definitely. Sometimes you take what mother nature gives you. :-)

Leaving Atlanta

Greetings from rainy Vermont. After a harrowing month of packing, selling, and saying goodbye, we finally hit the road Tuesday, July 2nd. Alan drove the Mountaineer pulling a U-Haul and Anil and I traded shifts in the Subaru. Our final days in Atlanta were so filled with details of things to be accomplished that I didn't even really feel much emotion pulling away from 1245 Briar Hills Dr. Now that we're safely at Camp, it's starting to hit me though...

But I am moving ahead of myself. Last days in Atlanta we cleaned, we packed, we threw out, we conquered. Our going away party was June 14th, the yard sale June 15th, AKF came June 17th, our final house party was June 22nd, the movers came June 24th, the movers delivered in New Hampshire June 25th, the junk guys came June 25th to cart of all of the outside debris, Kudzu antiques came the 26th to take the barrister's bookcase, the card table, the marble topped dresser, and the jigsaw table. We moved to Barb's the 24th-26th and then stayed at Anil's for the duration, leaving a confused LB home to guard the house. Had our final "haven't they moved yet?!" party at the Purple Corkscrew on the 28th, final clean out of the attic and basement on the 29th, spent the 30th attempting to rent a U-Haul which involved electrical work on the car (Chamblee-Tucker....again). Spent the 1st getting all of the last items out of the house and into said U-Haul. Again, we couldn't have done it without our friends.

And finally at about 11am on the 2nd, we pulled out of dodge. Phew. Did I mention we were tired? It was almost a relief to simply have to drive -- no decisions, just drive. Quickly discovered that the electrical work on the car wasn't done right and the trailer had no right turn signal. And it was just about the oldest model of U-Haul that I've ever seen.

{pause} yay, first hummingbird of the year just drank from the feeder I put up this afternoon!{/pause}

Stopped for lunch somewhere in South Carolina and just after lunch, the rain began. And it poured. I mean, really poured. The water was just gushing off the overpasses. The road was full of traffic, including trucks and it was just not pleasant. I had made a reservation in Roanoke, thinking that it wasn't far enough but we barely made it there. Coasted into the parking lot on fumes....Fortunately, it turned out to be a really nice hotel. Clean, spacious rooms and friendly staff. Great dog walk area and on-site restaurant with a bar. Food was ok, too. All in all I would recommend the Holiday Inn Valley Views.

Next day dawned cloudy and misty. We hit the road about 9:30am and drove uneventfully to Mt. Airy, PA, where we stayed at the Poconos Comfort Inn. OK room, although they perfumed the pet rooms most unpleasantly and even in Anil's room, there was a periodic misting that kept him up wondering what it was. I stayed with the guys while Alan and Anil got dinner (Dinah whines when left alone we discovered). All in all, I was proud of them, LB in particular. He stayed quiet in the car and adjusted to the hotel rooms quite nicely.

July 4th dawned sunny, hot, and humid. The first part of the drive through PA was lovely and easy -- little traffic and gorgeous rolling hills. But some fast, fast drivers -- easily doing 100 mph. That continued throughout the day which we thought was weird since we were expecting a heavy police presence on the holiday. I will have to say that only in VA did we see many cops. Connecticut was hard driving. Heavy traffic and older roads. It was a relief to get on I-91 and head north into MA. Stopped for a bite in Deerfield and then continued on. At the I-91-89 split, Alan and Anil headed to Wilder to the storage unit to unload the trailer and I went up to Lyme, NH where LB was scheduled to stay for the summer at Tiger Tail Lodge, a special boarding operation for cats only. TTL lived up to its reputation and he was soon ensconced into his own cat cubicle with four levels and a view down the mountain. It was hard to leave him but I think it will be much less stressful than moving four times in two months. And I almost immediately felt the relief of only having one animal to care for.

Miss Dinah D and I then checked into our last hotel, the Chieftain Motor Inn. The boys successfully returned the U-Haul and then picked up rotisserie chicken at the Coop and we spent the 4th watching fireworks over the Connecticut River. Very civilized. Up the next morning, we scooted up I-91, stopping only in West Glover for a Parker Pie lunch. Two hours later we were pulling up to Papelousu just in time for Suzy's birthday dinner. The lake is *high* -- no beach whatsoever.

Tried using Picasa to upload a picture set but it didn't seem to have a bulk upload. So, Flickr to the rescue. Really like what they are doing there.

Carole and Alan's Big Adventure

For Our Emory Family:

When Carole and Alan's Adventures started six year's ago, we wanted to create a blog for our family. You see, the two of us are in Atlanta and most of our family are in New York or Boston or Key West, so they have a hard time keeping track of us. Carole and Alan's Adventures was meant to share the journey, elaborate on the trip, have fun along the way, all the time keeping in touch with the people who are so important in our lives.

So today, we have news of an adventure--Carole and Alan's Big Adventure--and we are sharing it with you because we want to recognize you as our family and friends for over twenty years now, and that's a long time. Today we let Brett and Rich and Robin know that we are leaving Emory, our wonderful home for these many years, and planning to return North to be closer to our brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews. Starting August 1st, Alan will assume the role of Associate CIO for Teaching and Research at Dartmouth College while Carole will be lead architect for designing Dartmouth's Institutional Repository. Carole will have her last day at Emory some time in May while Alan will work through mid-June.

There has been no harder decision making process for the two of us than the last few days as we tried to decide what to do. Atlanta has been a great home to us and those of you at Emory the finest friends that the two of us could possibly want to have. All of us have seen each other through some incredible times, and as professionals, we have worked on behalf of/with the incredible faculty and students of Emory to create something special. All of us know it as a team achievement.

Leaving Emory is leaving our home. It is also leave taking of the most incredible group of people that anyone would want to work with. Why would we consider it? Simply, we have nine nieces and nephews between the age of two and ten who we want to make a closer part of our life and we can't do that here. In New Hampshire, we'll no doubt ask them to go pick berries this summer, and this fall, maybe pick apples. As the holidays approach, it'll be time to wander into the woods to cut our own Christmas trees. We won't even start talking about the fishing.

We share this message with you here, and thank you for making us feel like family these many years. Beers at Melton's, Trolley Barn Escapades, Singing at the Carter Center (and being charged for water), Christmas Tunes from Lamb-y, way too many Thrashers tickets, how many Wings, Trivia with Tony--the memories are too numerous to even conjure. Yet the spirit is true--playful, imaginative, hardworking, inspired--true to the family you are.

You all have great things ahead of you. We know it. And it is hard knowing we won't be part of the team that will help the campus learn about the Collaboration tools, what can happen with analytics, the adventure of Echo 360, or the movement of content online to venues like Coursera. It will happen without us, and it will happen because of you, and it will be amazing.

Meanwhile, we'll be a thousand miles away, though we hope the distance won't keep those of you who want from keeping in touch. And we'll have our own Adventures, and I hope great things are ahead of us as well. We'll sign off here, where we began, saying that Carole and Alan's Adventures was about keeping in touch with family. And you all definitely belong here. Thanks for helping make the great adventure we have shared these past years. It has been the ride of our life.

Carole and Alan