Adios & Aloha!

Well, one week ago today, I celebrated my retirement w/a cake reception at work w/Tom by my side. The Hawaiian theme Lori and Sally came up with and the beach scene on the cake was perfect. So, even though I wanted to leave at 10:05, I actually walked out of my "home away from home" of 37 years at 10:45. TH and FR were pretty emotional but, once we hooked the camper up and headed down to Ramsey Lake State Park that afternoon, things were much better. But, then, once again, there were more tears when we told the Williams, Selvaggio's and Osborne's good-bye since, for the most part, we won't see them again until next April. I'm so grateful that all of this "adios" stuff was through "happy tears" as Tom and I started our "Excellent Adventure".

Now it's "aloha" as the fun begins in Hawaii! We arrived in Honolulu at 3:05 p.m. (5 hours behind IL time) but didn't get to our Waikiki Resort until around 5:15 due to one passenger not getting her luggage for over an hour.

But, we finally got checked in, enjoyed the beautiful view of the Pacific from our 11th floor room, had some good food, then walked along the beach. We got to see a band playing some very nice comforting Hawaiian music w/a guy and gal hula dancing. This old body knew it was time to shut down around 8:30 HI time since it was 1:30 a.m. IL time.

We're getting ready to go on a tour of Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona, etc., so we'll keep you posted throughout the week as we truly begin our "Excellent Adventure".

1 DOWN, 1 TO GO

Yep, I retired as of yesterday now we just wait until the 15th for Cheryl to retire. And the EXCELLENT ADVENTURE will really begin.