Hirose Adventure 2006

Finished the DVD!

2006-08-23T23:15:00.000-10:00

I have compiled all the photos and have created a little DVD for everyone. I just have to burn all the disks and try to get them out this weekend. I like it and I'm glad everyone will have everyone else's photos.

Click Here: Video of Rich and Brad on GMA

2006-06-23T11:46:00.000-10:00

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!

Reply from Hearst regarding Tower Visit

2006-06-23T11:11:00.000-10:00

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)

Click here: Best Photos from Disneyland

2006-06-15T06:52:00.000-10:00

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

Home Sweet Home

2006-06-14T20:59:00.000-10:00

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

Barbie picks us up

2006-06-14T20:30:00.000-10:00

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

All good things must come to an end

2006-06-14T12:07:00.000-10:00

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)

Goin' Home

2006-06-13T19:10:00.000-10:00

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

50th anniversary fireworks

2006-06-13T18:36:00.000-10:00

Fantasmic

2006-06-13T18:06:00.000-10:00

Wow!

Sun Wheel

2006-06-13T12:49:00.000-10:00

Bryan and Bradley overlooking all of Anaheim.

California adventure

2006-06-13T07:44:00.000-10:00

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

Exhausted

2006-06-12T18:03:00.000-10:00

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.....

California Screamin' Roller Coaster

2006-06-12T13:49:00.000-10:00

That was way cool!

Still going at Disneyland

2006-06-12T10:12:00.000-10:00

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

We met up with Cousin Allison

2006-06-12T06:46:00.000-10:00

Disneyland 1st Full Day

2006-06-12T06:36:00.000-10:00

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

Too Tired to Post

2006-06-12T02:56:00.000-10:00

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

California Adventure Park

2006-06-11T14:33:00.000-10:00

Free In-room WiFi!

2006-06-11T11:37:00.000-10:00

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.

Arrived at Sheraton in Anaheim

2006-06-11T11:13:00.000-10:00

Hotel only opened 11 days ago.

Los Angeles

2006-06-11T09:20:00.000-10:00

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

In Atlanta, LAX next

2006-06-11T04:13:00.000-10:00

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

Kids watching DVD

2006-06-10T23:58:00.000-10:00

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

LaGuardia

2006-06-10T22:22:00.000-10:00

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

Goodbye New York

2006-06-10T21:01:00.000-10:00

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!

Click here: Best Photos from New York Day 3

2006-06-10T15:07:00.000-10:00

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

Pack up and Go!

2006-06-10T13:46:00.000-10:00

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.

Dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

2006-06-10T12:46:00.000-10:00

MMmmmmmm...

Seated & Ready

2006-06-10T07:46:00.000-10:00

Broadway Show

2006-06-10T07:28:00.000-10:00

Beauty & the Beast

Hearst Rudeness

2006-06-10T06:10:00.000-10:00

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.

New York Pesto Pizza

2006-06-10T05:26:00.000-10:00

The Hearst Tower

2006-06-10T05:25:00.000-10:00

Empire State Building

2006-06-10T02:39:00.000-10:00

Click here: Best Photos from New York Day 2

2006-06-10T00:43:00.000-10:00

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

No WiFi tonight

2006-06-09T13:57:00.000-10:00

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.)

Richard's Birthday

2006-06-09T13:13:00.000-10:00

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

Radio City Music Hall

2006-06-09T12:05:00.000-10:00

NBC Studios

2006-06-09T12:03:00.000-10:00

Trump Tower

2006-06-09T11:48:00.000-10:00

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

Memorial to the Lost

2006-06-09T10:14:00.000-10:00

At Ground Zero

2006-06-09T10:06:00.000-10:00

Cool Fountain

2006-06-09T09:37:00.000-10:00

Lots of people trying to run through and stay dry.

Liberty's backside

2006-06-09T06:37:00.000-10:00

The Statue of Liberty

2006-06-09T06:10:00.000-10:00

On Ferry to Statue

2006-06-09T05:51:00.000-10:00

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

Boat and Statue

2006-06-09T05:22:00.000-10:00

Seen while standing in line.

The Tour

2006-06-09T04:35:00.000-10:00

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.

The Sphere

2006-06-09T04:28:00.000-10:00

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

On our bus tour

2006-06-09T03:06:00.000-10:00

Waiting for our tour bus

2006-06-09T02:52:00.000-10:00

Don't we just blend in!

2006-06-09T02:30:00.000-10:00

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.

Good Morning America

2006-06-09T01:51:00.000-10:00

We're here at 7:45am.

Good Morning New York

2006-06-09T00:43:00.000-10:00

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!

Click here: Best Photos from New York Day 1

2006-06-08T15:32:00.000-10:00

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.

Chocolate Central

2006-06-08T13:04:00.000-10:00

Larger than life hershey's products.

Imagine Living Here

2006-06-08T12:45:00.000-10:00

Video ad

2006-06-08T08:49:00.000-10:00

A Room with a View

2006-06-08T08:34:00.000-10:00

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

The Hearst Tower

2006-06-08T07:34:00.000-10:00

The home of all things Hearst, including KITV!

First Look at Skyline

2006-06-08T07:04:00.000-10:00

First glimpse of Manhattan.

Wet New York

2006-06-08T06:55:00.000-10:00

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

Cool Dry Philly morning

2006-06-08T02:20:00.000-10:00

Going for breakfast before our long drive to NY.

Click Here: Rich's Photos from Philadelphia Day 2

2006-06-07T16:25:00.000-10:00

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

Click Here: Em's Photos from Philadelphia Day 2

2006-06-07T16:24:00.000-10:00

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

Rich hits Philly solo

2006-06-07T15:38:00.000-10:00

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

Em and Bry return

2006-06-07T08:38:00.000-10:00

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

Click Here: Bonus Video-Flight Sim

2006-06-07T04:20:00.000-10:00

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!

Bradley's Hungry

2006-06-07T03:09:00.000-10:00

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.

Philadelphia Tour Day

2006-06-07T01:17:00.000-10:00

Well Bradley is still sick and doesn't want to go anywhere at all so he and I are going to stay home today. Bryan and Mommy are going to see Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell and stuff like that. She's taking the camera and will come back with lots of pictures. Because of that I doubt I'll be posting any photos until my noon time at the earliest. I hear that Grandma and Rachael are staying in their rooms as well. Let's hope everyone gets better today and we have 100% health from here on out.

Click Here: Best Photos from Philadelphia Day 1

2006-06-06T16:13:00.000-10:00

Click the title above to see the best pictures from our arrival in Philadelphia. (Not many).

Click here: Video-Bry's first Lobster

2006-06-06T15:58:00.000-10:00

Click above for Bryan's First Lobster!

Brys First Lobster!

2006-06-06T15:42:00.000-10:00

Bryan got to pick, deliver to the kitchen, and eat his first lobster ever! Video to come! Stay tuned.

Lobster dinner for Bry!

2006-06-06T12:00:00.000-10:00

WiFi Access FOUND!

2006-06-06T10:12:00.000-10:00

Well, it's not free but for $20 I'll have in-room wireless highspeed for the duration of our stay here. Fair enough.

So many of us are sick! Grandma's the worst, but Bradley has had a bad relapse and is feeling terrible. Rachael is sick too, and others are fighting it. We are trying to recover a little now before dinner.

Not much touring today. There won't be many photos to speak of. We have been enjoying everyone's comments and hope you are enjoying our blog. Best wishes from the east coast.

Aloha,

Rich

Our room in Philly

2006-06-06T10:08:00.000-10:00

We are waiting for housekeeping to come up and replace all the 'down' pillows and the sheets. I am very allergic to goose feathers.

Arrival in Philadelphia

2006-06-06T09:05:00.000-10:00

We are checking into the Sheraton Society Hill.

Enroute to Philadelphia

2006-06-06T06:32:00.000-10:00

We are at a diner on the way to Philadelphia. No one (but me) wanted to trust the GPS system, so I'm just following Richard now. Everyone is getting sick.

More Sickness

2006-06-06T02:30:00.000-10:00

Bradley has gotten really sick again over night, and now the reports are that Grandma has gotten really sick. We are thinking of putting all the sick families in one car.

Goodbye to Washington

2006-06-06T00:52:00.000-10:00

This morning we will be leaving our home for the last few days and will be hitting the road to Philadelphia. Our drive should be a few hours long and I'm looking forward to using a GPS navigation system that Gary Lau let me borrow for the trip. The hotel's internet connection has been wonderful (and free!) and after we leave I don't know what our connection options will be. At the very least you can expect the single photo and short comment version that I can always do on the road.

Bradley is acting well but still has a nagging cough if he doesn't take his medicine. Emily is doing much better but is still sick. She was able to tour with us but needed to sit down from time to time. We depart today at 9am. Aloha!

Click Here: Best Photos from 4th Day

2006-06-05T12:16:00.000-10:00

Click to see all our best photos from today. -Rich

Wright Flyer

2006-06-05T09:19:00.000-10:00

Air & Space Museum

2006-06-05T07:41:00.000-10:00

U.S. Capitol

2006-06-05T05:44:00.000-10:00

We had a great tour of the capitol but no cellphones allowed, so wait for photos tonight.

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National Archives

2006-06-05T05:43:00.000-10:00

Home of the U.S. Constitution.

Rep. Case Office Visit

2006-06-05T02:59:00.000-10:00

Click here: Best Photos from 3rd Day

2006-06-04T14:46:00.000-10:00

Click above for the latest photos of Mount Vernon and the Museum of Natural History.

Long day...

2006-06-04T14:27:00.000-10:00

This was a tough day, especially at the beginning.

Em got real sick last night, and in the morning she looked as bad as Brad. Brad kept protesting that he didn't want to go and Emily knew exactly how he felt. They got ready anyway while I went to get us breakfast. McDonalds was closed until 15 minutes before we departed on our Mount Vernon tour. When I did go back to order, I realized that the lady 2 places ahead of me had just ordered for all 45 kids in her class and the food was going to be a while. With 3 minutes left to spare I tried to cancel my order and get my money back and was grumpily handed most of my order which I just left with because I didn't have time to argue or to eat. When I got back, Em and Brad decided they couldn't go and that turned out to be a good decision for them. Brad slept until 1pm and Emily felt really bad after 10:00! She was able to feel like she was with us because she monitored this blog until she fell asleep. You may have noticed I posted a little more than usual.

When the bus did come, it wasn't big enough for all of us, so they had to send for another one! That took half an hour more! We did eventually go on the Mount Vernon tour and it was interesting. My favorite part was seeing Washington's Tomb. Mount Vernon was swarming with students in school tours and they would overwhelm all the places they went to see. The line to see inside the mansion was too long for most of us, and I wanted to get something for Emily and Bradley in the gift shop.

Gotta say that the pace we are keeping is too much. We're getting weary. Unfortunately the things we would have cut, we've already gone to. We moved our visit to the air and space museum to tomorrow, and went to the Museum of Natural History instead today. We're also visiting the capitol and the national archives tomorrow.

Got to get to sleep now. It's 8:38 and just now getting dark. Weird.

Aloha,

Rich

IMAX Theater

2006-06-04T12:35:00.000-10:00

About to watch Aliens of the Deep IMAX film in 3D.

Museum of Natural History

2006-06-04T09:43:00.000-10:00

Any resemblance?

2006-06-04T05:14:00.000-10:00

A past and future president?

Washington's Tomb

2006-06-04T04:39:00.000-10:00

The final resting place of George Washington.

Water boy!

2006-06-04T04:21:00.000-10:00

This is how Bryan would have gotten us water 200 years ago.

Bryan making wool thread

2006-06-04T04:15:00.000-10:00

Washington Mansion

2006-06-04T04:08:00.000-10:00

Smallest House

2006-06-04T03:28:00.000-10:00

This blue house in Alexandria Virginia is the smallest house in Virginia,...only 8 feet wide!

Supreme Court

2006-06-04T02:51:00.000-10:00

Mount Vernon

2006-06-04T02:44:00.000-10:00

The bus was so full we couldn't sit together. Our party was late because our shuttle couldn't fit all of us.

2006-06-04T02:32:00.000-10:00

Emily and especially Bradley have decided they are just too sick to enjoy the tour. Bradley looked terrible. Bry and I are on our own til noon.

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