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We took a sunset cruise last night, which was a lot of fun, aside from the fact that Nikki didn’t like any of the food (filet mignon and crab legs). She did have a lot of fun cracking open the crab legs for me though. Our hotel has an awesome breakfast buffet, which we are about to go hit again. I just don’t get why everyone puts on weight here… We are walking around so much, and doing so many things we’re dropping pounds.

We also did the international marketplace yesterday, which was a lot of fun, and got some gifts for people back home.

Advice for anyone who comes to O’ahu: grab the “what’s happening on O’ahu” books from the airport kiosk. They’re all free, and you will find out how to get many of the same deals the tour group sells you but for up to 75% off.

Basically getting to the island was an all day affair. We checked in, got a snack, and crashed. I vaguely remember parts of what was on TV. This morning, Our real adventure begins. Since we are hitchhiking on someone else’s internet connection, updates may not be as regular as we would like. The wireless here in the hotel is $12.95/day per computer.

Leaving at 8am, we got to Burbank right on time. Early, in fact. So early that we were bumped to an earlier flight out to SF, so that we would be on a less crowded plane, and have more time in between flights. Except that once on the plane, we waited until 10, when we were told that the plane was leaking hydrolic fluid. It turned out to be nothing, and we were on our way… a mere 5 minutes ahead of our original flight. Until Burbank airport lost all radar. That took a while, to get back and then we were on our way to SF.

Thankfully, the flight home from SF was a tad late getting in, and the only real damage was the $8 sandwich in the airport. Got home safe and sound, then went to Salem to pick up Leo. He was happy to see us. Pictures are coming, I promise.

We all got up at 5:30ish to get to Ontario by 8 to do the decorating. The Wedding was a very short ceremony and then on to the reception. Everything seemed to go smoothly, and I should have some pics of Tim and Ann up when I get around to shrinking them down (8mb each now).

So I can now finally say I have been to Universal Studios. We started at the Museum of Horrors, which freaked Nikki out, big time. She was curled up into a little ball almost crying. To be fair, the wolfman did jump out at her and tap her on the shoulder.
Then we went on the new Simpsons motion simulator ride. It was really cool, and had the best line of any of the rides, mostly because they play all kinds of simpsons clips on the lcd tvs. It really does feel like you are riding a real rollercoaster.

Jurassic Park was cool, but they completely soak you if you are in the front of the boat. I was not expecting to get that wet. Luckily, we dried off in the hour-long line for The Mummy ride. The ride was too short really, but it was fun.

After that, we went on the studio tour, which would have included the King Kong part, had it not burned down earlier this year. They have all kinds of movie sets around the place, including the cabin from The Great Outdoors, the Bates Motel, and a whole bunch of others.
The Shrek 4-D movie was neat, but i could have done with a tad less water in my face when Donkey sneezed. All in all, it was a really fun day. Accepting expensive food and a little sunburn (Even Nikki got some color) as the norm, the only real drawback was the bathroom situation there. Eww.