Flight cancellations have been surging around the country due to weather and the omicron variant hitting so fast. We suffered a flight cancelation, too, but it was due to maintenance issues. Because so many people have faced cancelations and been rerouted, it's taking days to be rescheduled... It started on Saturday. We had to check out of Volcano House at noon. Our flight wasn't until 10:45pm. So, for about 10 hours, we had no place to go and needed to figure out something for restrooms, shade, etc. I looked into whether our old resort had day passes and couldn't find anything. We decided to head back there because it's fairly close to the airport, and they had the great waterslide and poolside food. We rented a fancy cabana, hoping that would work like a day pass, ... read more

This morning, we got up early to make the drive to Waipio Valley, on the north side of the island. We were going on a horseback tour through the valley at 9:30. It's about a 1.5 hour drive from Kona, and we didn't want to risk being late, so we left at 7am. The plan was to stop at the Hot Malasadas Truck on the way to the valley. We arrived at the location at 8am, but the truck wasn't there yet. So, we continued on our route. About 5 minutes later, we passed it on the road! It appeared to be heading to the location for the day. We thought about doubling back, but we worried the extra drive time and waiting for them to set up would be too much. So, sadly, we skipped ... read more

Our first day in Hawaii was a resort day. I had worried a bit about how the kids would do with jet lag and figured a day to relax and nap wouldn't be a bad thing. Honestly, the laid-back day at our Outrigger Kona resort worked out great! Yesterday, we arrived at the airport at 7:15am Central time (3:15am Hawaii time). At our layover in Denver, we learned that United stopped doing the Hawaii pre-clear in the airport (that's where they check your vaccination documents and give you a bracelet so that you don't have to stand in the long clear line in Hawaii). So, when we landed in Hawaii at 4:15pm (8:15pm Central), we had to wait to be cleared. After that, we caught our shuttle to the car rental place and waited for our ... read more

The kids are with their grandparents in Durango, and Andrew and I are staying in Ridgway for his best friend's wedding. The wedding party and some of the guests are camping at the wedding site all weekend. Andrew and I enjoy camping, but we worried there would be a lot of drinking and such going on all weekend. Andrew's sober, so we decided to stay at a hotel instead. It will allow us to have some couple time, which is a rare thing these days, while also avoiding the party scene. Many wedding guests are staying at VRBOs in the area or staying at the Ouray KOA. When we talked to Drew last year about the wedding, he mentioned one hotel in the area. It's a solar spa called Chipeta, and I booked a room. It's ... read more

After breakfast this morning, we decided to go see Grand Prismatic. This is Colleen's favorite sight to see at Yellowstone, and I think it's a must-see as well. For me personally, the most memorable things I've seen in Yellowstone during past trips were Artist Point, Grand Prismatic, Old Faithful, and the limestone walls in Mammoth. So, I wanted our kids to have the chance to see most of these things as well. It doesn't look like we'll get up to Mammoth during this trip, but I'm sure we'll be back to Yellowstone again in the future. Zach and his family were still in bed, so they told us to go on without them. The rest of us headed to see Grand Prismatic. Every other time I've seen Grand Prismatic, it has been from the boardwalk. This ... read more