Hirose Adventure 2006

Click Here: Video of Rich and Brad on GMA

To view, click the title above. Gotta look for the neon Green hats! You mostly see Brad who is sitting on Dad's shoulders. Once the shot settles we are to the right of Bill's shoulder. It's tough to see, but we are there! Everyone on KITV 4 News This Morning saw it and were looking at it frame by frame to find Rich!

posted by Rich @ 11:46 AM 2 comments

Reply from Hearst regarding Tower Visit

By far, the most questions I received from colleagues that have followed my blog was reagrding my bad experience at the Hearst Tower. I wrote to them regarding my experience and this is the reply they sent:

Richard,

Thank you for contacting us.

We really appreciate your interest in the Tower and are very sorry to
hear that your visit was unpleasant. If you come back to New York, we
hope you will come back to visit the Tower and its public spaces.

The building is accessible to all NY based employees, or other Hearst
employees who have been issued a Tower ID badge. Other staff and
visitors without this ID, need to contact a NY based employee to be
registered in the Visitor system.

However, for security purposes, photos are not allowed in the building.
Any photography and/or videography must be pre-approved through Hearst
Security.

Again, thank you for alerting us to this. We'll definitely make sure to
communicate our concern about your treatment to Security.

I'm glad they wrote back, but it will be a very very long time before I'm ever in New York again.

Aloha,

Rich
(almost done being sick from vacation)

posted by Rich @ 11:11 AM 0 comments

Click here: Best Photos from Disneyland

Finally I was able to upload the photos from Disneyland.....enjoy!!!

posted by Rich @ 6:52 AM 0 comments

Home Sweet Home

We got home safely and all is well at the house. Thanks to all of you who have followed along with us via the blog. Watch for a few more updates of photos and video in the coming days, but after all that travelling, there's no place like home.

Aloha from the Fewell's

posted by Rich @ 8:59 PM 0 comments

Barbie picks us up

Our friend Barbie Manning rescues us from the chaos at the airport.

posted by Rich @ 8:30 PM 0 comments

All good things must come to an end

Going home today. After checkout, Bry and I got to go to HAM Radio Outlet and pick out a Amateur Radio unit for Father's Day. We are both studying for our license. We then met up with Brad and Mom in Disneyland and polished off a few last rides before lunch. We're now on our last Super Shuttle ride to LAX. Our Delta flight (885) leaves L.A. at 5:40pm (LA TIME) and arrives in Honolulu at 8:40pm (Hawaii Time). It will be nice to be home. I hope I can kick this sickness before my friend's wedding this Saturday. I'm in the wedding party!

(sent from my TREO. The hotel WiFi (free) was so intermittent it was nearly unusable. Watch for photos from Disneyland after I return home)

posted by Rich @ 12:07 PM 0 comments

Goin' Home

Don't the kids look cute in their coon-skin caps? Doesn't Em look tired? The fireworks & Fantasmic were amazing!

posted by Rich @ 7:10 PM 0 comments

50th anniversary fireworks

posted by Rich @ 6:36 PM 0 comments

Fantasmic

Wow!

posted by Rich @ 6:06 PM 1 comments

Sun Wheel

Bryan and Bradley overlooking all of Anaheim.

posted by Rich @ 12:49 PM 0 comments

California adventure

Starting in the park today. We all slept about 12 hours last night.

posted by Rich @ 7:44 AM 0 comments

Exhausted

We just made it back to the hotel at 7:00pm and we are bushed. My feet are so sore and I'm fighting off a cold. Saps my energy. We're calling it a night even though Disneyland will be open 5 more hours. Zzzzzzz.....

posted by Rich @ 6:03 PM 0 comments

California Screamin' Roller Coaster

That was way cool!

posted by Rich @ 1:49 PM 0 comments

Still going at Disneyland

We rode The Matterhorn, Astro Blaster, Indiana Jones and Thunder Mountain. The group is reforming up again now after going our own ways.

posted by Rich @ 10:12 AM 0 comments

We met up with Cousin Allison

posted by Rich @ 6:46 AM 0 comments

Disneyland 1st Full Day

We're all here and rested for a full day of fun!

posted by Rich @ 6:36 AM 0 comments

Too Tired to Post

Wow, yesterday we pushed our endurance. We left our NY hotel at 3:30am and endured a harrowingly fast ride to LaGuardia International Airport. Because of the way the flights worked out we only had one meal, and that was after we settled into our California hotel rooms (3:30pm LA time...6:30pm NY time!). We had to do some laundry afterwards, but we discovered that the laundry center that we thought we had access to was still under construction (as well as the fitness center). My kids were bouncing off the walls at this point, so I took them to Disneyland while Em took the essential dirty clothes next door to wash there (2 blocks away!) Emily definately got the raw end of the deal there!

The kids and I stayed away from the big name rides we've been waiting for. We wanted to save those for when we were all together. We did do Tower of Terror which actually freaked Bradley out a bit. None of us really knew what we were in for so were were all quite surprised. We did "Honey I Shrunk the Audience", "STAR TOURS" and "Astro Blaster". By then Em called so we went to the shuttle stop to meet her. When she stepped off the trolly, it was like we were really starting our time at Disneyland.

As a family we did the Mattahorn (sp?) and Splash Mountain twice (no line!) the rode the train back to the front. When our train was at the back of Disneyland, the fireworks were going off right above us and they were so LOUD! Felt like a mortar attack! Exhausted we collapsed into bed at 1:30am New York time.

I realized I took almost no photos and did pick up an annoying tickle in my throat. I survived the night without a full blown 'sickness' attack, but I have to keep an eye on it.

I got up at 5:30am (LA time) this morning and have taken the time to check my email and get the blog up to date. The family will wake up in about 20 minutes and we'll see how everyone feels.

Thanks for everyone's comments and encouraging emails. We do enjoy getting them. I am having a little trouble sending regular emails via my server at home, so sorry if I haven't thanked you personally. In fact there may be a burst of old emails going out once I hook up to my home network, if I don't figure out how to defuse that situation.

Best Wishes from Mickey!

Rich and Family

posted by Rich @ 2:56 AM 0 comments

California Adventure Park

posted by Rich @ 2:33 PM 0 comments

Free In-room WiFi!

AWESOME! The room has free Wifi for posting my updates, BUT, Disneyland is open until midnight every night so I am going to be bushed! It may just be photo summaries at the end of the day. I like posting them because if something should happen to my computer, the majority of the photos are available online. Today when i was setting up my computer for a DVD for the kids, the computer kept failing to boot. Fortunately I brought my system disk with me and was able to repair the damage that the security check caused (I assume). None of us have eaten for a while so it is off to lunch before we go to Disneyland.

posted by Rich @ 11:37 AM 0 comments

Arrived at Sheraton in Anaheim

Hotel only opened 11 days ago.

posted by Rich @ 11:13 AM 0 comments

Los Angeles

We've just landed in Los Angeles. The kids and I watched most of King Kong on the flight.

posted by Rich @ 9:20 AM 0 comments

In Atlanta, LAX next

Full flight to L.A.. 5 hour flight.

posted by Rich @ 4:13 AM 0 comments

Kids watching DVD

"The Incredibles" keeps the kids entertained at the airport.

posted by Rich @ 11:58 PM 0 comments

LaGuardia

We made it to the airport in record time. We don't need to ride a roller coaster now!

posted by Rich @ 10:22 PM 0 comments

Goodbye New York

We actually did get up at 2:45am and we are almost ready to go. This will be my last blog entry from the hotel. Goodbye New York, hello Disneyland!

posted by Rich @ 9:01 PM 0 comments

Click here: Best Photos from New York Day 3

Click above for photos of the Empire State Building and views from there.

posted by Rich @ 3:07 PM 0 comments

Pack up and Go!

Tomorrow we meet in the lobby at 3:30am! Gotta get organized now and be ready to just get up and go tomorrow morning. Once we arrive in LA, it is straight to Disneyland for a half day of fun. We'll be spending most of our time in California at Disneyland.

posted by Rich @ 1:46 PM 0 comments

Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

MMmmmmmm...

posted by Rich @ 12:46 PM 0 comments

Seated & Ready

posted by Rich @ 7:46 AM 0 comments

Broadway Show

Beauty & the Beast

posted by Rich @ 7:28 AM 0 comments

Hearst Rudeness

My son and I have never been so rudely treated or looked on with such suspicion as when we walked into the lobby of the Hearst Tower. I could not even take a photo of the escalator or the sign. The staff was rude and condescending and said I should have stayed in Hawaii instead of coming to New York. These are the only people I encountered where my fear of New Yorker's hostility was true. I'm ashamed to be associated with them.

posted by Rich @ 6:10 AM 0 comments

New York Pesto Pizza

posted by Rich @ 5:26 AM 0 comments

The Hearst Tower

posted by Rich @ 5:25 AM 0 comments

Empire State Building

posted by Rich @ 2:39 AM 0 comments

Click here: Best Photos from New York Day 2

Great photos of Good Morning America, Statue of Liberty and Ground Zero. Too many photos to publish.

posted by Rich @ 12:43 AM 0 comments

No WiFi tonight

I'm gonna hold off buying another day of WiFi access until tomorrow. Since it is sold in 24 hour blocks, it'll make more sense. I'll upload all my New York photos tomorrow morning.

(This message was sent from Rich's Treo 650.)

posted by Rich @ 1:57 PM 0 comments

Richard's Birthday

An in room birthday party for Richard Ridao. We're all so tired we stayed in.

posted by Rich @ 1:13 PM 0 comments

Radio City Music Hall

posted by Rich @ 12:05 PM 0 comments

NBC Studios

posted by Rich @ 12:03 PM 0 comments

Trump Tower

We just did a drive by of the Booklyn Bridge, United Nations and Trump Tower.

posted by Rich @ 11:48 AM 0 comments

Memorial to the Lost

posted by Rich @ 10:14 AM 0 comments

At Ground Zero

posted by Rich @ 10:06 AM 0 comments

Cool Fountain

Lots of people trying to run through and stay dry.

posted by Rich @ 9:37 AM 0 comments

Liberty's backside

posted by Rich @ 6:37 AM 0 comments

The Statue of Liberty

posted by Rich @ 6:10 AM 0 comments

On Ferry to Statue

After the most extensive security search to date (even more than the capitol!) we are on our way to see Miss Liberty.

posted by Rich @ 5:51 AM 0 comments

Boat and Statue

Seen while standing in line.

posted by Rich @ 5:22 AM 0 comments

The Tour

The tour was cool, pointing out all the history and architecture of New York. I would never want to drive in this city. We are waiting in line for the Ferry to The Statue of Liberty. Could be here for over an hour. Lots of squirrels in the park.

posted by Rich @ 4:35 AM 0 comments

The Sphere

Sculpture that was between the twin towers, now in Battery Park.

posted by Rich @ 4:28 AM 0 comments

On our bus tour

posted by Rich @ 3:06 AM 1 comments

Waiting for our tour bus

Don't we just blend in!

posted by Rich @ 2:52 AM 0 comments

We were on GMA behind Robin Roberts at 8:01 am NY time. We are wearing neon green caps and Bradley is on my shoulders. I passed on a handshake to their morning crew from our Hawaii morning crew. Cool.

posted by Rich @ 2:30 AM 0 comments

Good Morning America

We're here at 7:45am.

posted by Rich @ 1:51 AM 0 comments

Good Morning New York

We had a good night's rest despite all the honking and sirens. If we can get up, we are going to try to see the Good Morning America program being shot down at times square, about 8 blocks away. Look fo the flourescent green hats!

posted by Rich @ 12:43 AM 0 comments

Click here: Best Photos from New York Day 1

Not many pictures. Just a little atmosphere from around the hotel. It is a busy busy city and feels very bustling. Tomorrow we see south Manhattan.

posted by Rich @ 3:32 PM 0 comments

Chocolate Central

Larger than life hershey's products.

posted by Rich @ 1:04 PM 0 comments

Imagine Living Here

posted by Rich @ 12:45 PM 0 comments

Video ad

posted by Rich @ 8:49 AM 0 comments

A Room with a View

The view from our window with the Hearst tower peeking out in the upper left. They're watching....

posted by Rich @ 8:34 AM 0 comments

The Hearst Tower

The home of all things Hearst, including KITV!

posted by Rich @ 7:34 AM 0 comments

First Look at Skyline

First glimpse of Manhattan.

posted by Rich @ 7:04 AM 0 comments

Wet New York

We made it to New York and it is raining! Some frustrations switching from car to shuttle bus but we're on our way.

posted by Rich @ 6:55 AM 0 comments

Cool Dry Philly morning

Going for breakfast before our long drive to NY.

posted by Rich @ 2:20 AM 0 comments

Click Here: Rich's Photos from Philadelphia Day 2

Click above to see Rich's photos of his time in Philadelphia.

posted by Rich @ 4:25 PM 1 comments

Click Here: Em's Photos from Philadelphia Day 2

Click above to see the best photos of Emily's time in Philadelphia.

posted by Rich @ 4:24 PM 1 comments

Rich hits Philly solo

After Em and Bry returned, we had lunch then I decided to see the town on my own. It was raining pretty steadily so I raised the hood on my blue jacket and stepped out into the rain. Philly rain is cold! I walked up to Independence Hall, then over to the Liberty Bell building. I was able to see the Liberty Bell from the outside. I then walked through town to Christ Church and visited the graves of 3 of the signers of the Constitution. I didn't see Benjamin Franklin's grave however, because it is located somewhere else. By this point I was getting a little cold, so I found a little coffee shop and ordered a wonderful cup of hot chocolate.

I had met my goal for the trip with one exception, I wanted to find a geocache in the area. The nice thing about holding a cup of hot chocolate, is that I could put the GPS unit on my coffee lid and not draw too much attention. Previously it looked like I was scanning the landscape with my tricorder! There were 13 geocaches within a half mile of the hotel. I decided just to go to the closest one, which was along the shoreline, about 2 blocks away.

By now the rain had mostly calmed down and I had a good steam up from the walking so I was pretty comfortable. I found that I was walking by a huge building which turned out to be a maritime museum. I love the sea, and all things sailing, and I enjoyed just walking to the end of the building and saying hi to the Atlantic. I really wanted to touch the Atlantic, but there really was no place to get close enough to the water. The pier was always at least 10' above the surface of the ocean. As I rounded the museum (it was closed) I saw some ships moored together from many different shipping eras. A WWI Battle ship, a WWII sub, a tall ship, and on the other side of the bay I was the USS New Jersey, sistership to the Battleship Missouri, in Pearl Harbor. I kept following the GPS and it led me to a great big monument to Christopher Columbus. The cache was a micro cache, wedged into a crack in the foundation. I found it and would have signed the log, but I had no pen and it was still raining a little. I slyly replaced it and finished my walk. That's one of the things I love about geocaching, is that it takes you places that you wouldn't ordinarily go.

I started to head back and came across two war memorials,...one to Vietnam, and one (under construction) to Korea. After I got back to my room and warmed up a little, we ordered 2 authentic Philadelphia Cheesesteaks to our room and popped the movie "National Treasure" into the laptop and had our own personal movie night, giggling as they visited all the places we visited recently.

All in all, it was a great day. Tomorrow, another 88 mile drive to Newark, then a shuttle ride to our hotel in New York!

Aloha from Philadelphia,

Rich

posted by Rich @ 3:38 PM 1 comments

Em and Bry return

They saw Independence Hall, Liberty Bell, Christ Church & the US Mint.

posted by Rich @ 8:38 AM 0 comments

Click Here: Bonus Video-Flight Sim

Since I have a little extra time this morning, thought I'd upload a somewhat dark video I made of the outside of the flight simulator while Bryan and Bradley pilot it on the inside. Watch for the 3 barrel rolls!

posted by Rich @ 4:20 AM 0 comments

Bradley's Hungry

This is a good sign. At 9:00 Bradley woke up and is feeling hungry. Some of Daddy's omelette and toast with jelly hit the spot.

posted by Rich @ 3:09 AM 0 comments