Here is a video Michael made over the course of our trip…

We woke up early on the train to go have breakfast in the dining car…

Michael and I stepped off the train in Gallup…

Soon after lunch in the dining car, we arrived into Lamy, just about on time…

Now, we just had the drive home. Except for the fact that our car would not start. Yup, here we were in the metropolis of Lamy, New Mexico, where there is NOT EVEN CELL PHONE SERVICE, with a car that would not start.

Turns out, it was the battery and another passenger waiting to get on the next train was very helpful and gave us a jump start. We decided to play it safe and we did not turn the car off again until we got home. We made it.

That is all the trip reports for this year. Thanks for following along. I might have one more post with a video Michael made so stay tuned for that.

Until next time…

Today was pretty simple. Got up, hotel shuttle to the Santa Fe depot in San Diego…

Took a Surfliner train to Los Angeles…

Waited for a couple of hours in LA and then boarded our final train, #4 Southwest Chief…

We just had dinner and are now settling down for the night. This trip is quickly coming to an end.

Well, this was a pretty slow day vacation wise. We started by saying goodbye to our view…

We went to the airport, returned the rental, and boarded our Hawaiian Airlines flight back to the mainland…

Nice parting picture of the island…

And Michael caught be dancing to some techno music on the plane..

Now we are in a hotel in San Diego for the night. We will board our first train to Los Angeles at noon tomorrow.

We did not have a lot planned for today. We started the day going to Manoa Falls.

The hike was about 30 minutes each way and was a completely different environment than we had been in so far. It was jungle and while not hot, it was very humid.

We then drove out for a ride on the Oahu Railroad. It took us all the way out to the West coast of Oahu.

After the train, the family went to spend some time at the beach while I hung out at the condo.

After dinner, we walked around Waikiki and bought a couple of souvenirs.

Now we are preparing ourselves to leave tomorrow. Really looking forward to sitting on a plane for 6 hours (not).

We slept in a little later this morning. Then we stopped by the Kamehameha Statue that they show in Hawaii 5-0 all the time…

Then we headed all the way to the opposite side of Oahu to the town of Laie. We first stopped of at Lanie Point…

After a quick lunch, we drove by the local Morman temple…

The rest of the day was spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center…

Canoe ride…

Michael just had to have a fresh coconut…

Stephen found something he likes to do…

Here is a pic between the luau and the big show at the end of the day…

It was a long day and was an hour long drive back so it is late. Going to bed.

We started the day going to Diamond Head crater. Here is where we started…

Then after some steep trails, some stairs, more trails, more stairs, a tunnel that I am sure did not have enough air in it, some more trails, some more stairs, then more stairs, then more stairs, we reached the top rim…

For some reason, the trip back down went a lot quicker. After returning to our car, we drove to the Punchbowl National Cemetery…

Then we went for a drive around to the north shore. On the way we stopped at a place called the spitting cave.

We stopped for lunch and then drove back on the H3 interstate. It was incredibly beautiful.

Went back the condo. Vicky, Stephen and Michael went to the beach…

Not being a beach person, I went right behind the beach to the Army Museum…

When I came back, found Michael and Stephen on this…

We then went back to the condo for dinner. Then back to the beach for the Hilton fireworks…

Now we are back at the condo settling in for the night. Until tomorrow.

The day started early cause it would take all day to see everything at Pearl Harbor…

We started with a great tour of the USS Missouri…

The spot where the surrender was signed…

We also visited the USS Bowfin submarine…

And the Pacific Aviation Museum…

And the USS Arizona memorial. Here we are on the boat…

Here are four Chinese warships that were docked in Pearl. We were told they were unexpected. We also spoke with a Chinese naval officer on the Missouri…

After a run by the grocery store for dinner, we were back to the condo for dinner. After, we decided to walk around the neighborhood of Waikiki..

And Michael and Vicky partook of a local favorite…

We are now pretty tired so we are turning in to get energy for tomorrow. Until then.

We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel in San Diego…

Then we took the shuttle to the dreaded airport to get an airplane involved in this trip…

Pretty soon we were on board and away we went…

After a long 5 hours, we caught our first glimpse of where we were headed…

After a VERY long wait at the car rental place, we went straight to our condo rental. Nice view…

After running to the store to get some food and supplies, we walked to the beach for a look…

Now, it is to bed early. The time change is really making us tired. Big day tomorrow.

We have just landed on Oahu!