LAX to RAR

We made it!!!


Kia Orana!! (This is the traditional Maori Greeting)

Breakfast by the pool....our usual spot! : )



After a rather loooong drive to LA....thanks to the mass Exodus of Californians heading back to the LA "rat-race" after their weekend partying like rock stars in Vegas!!! We did get caught in a few traffic jams and even came to a complete stand still at the Fruit InspectionStation on the California Border. Other than that we had a nice drive through the Mojave Desert, with PLENTY of time to spare before our flight.

I was expecting a lot more from LAX, it was no nicer than the Saskatoon terminal though. We did have one Celebrity Sighting. (with assistance from our Celebrity Correspondant Melissa Rizzuto!!) We saw Neal Mcdonaugh....who is that you ask....he was in Tropic Thunder, Desperate Housewives for a bit and will also be in the upcoming Captain America. A nice fellow from what we overheard. It was one of those moments when you think it's someone you know....but you just can't place them. In this case...we didn't know him...we had just seen him on TV! haha

Our flight was very comfortable, we had a great meal and best part....Free Booze!! Even better than that...they had on-demand Dixie Chicks!!! Whooo!

Our landing was smoothe and we were finally free to get off the plane. Then it hit us....the heat and HUMIDITY! Woah it was major! Even hard to breathe at first! We were met at the airport by the driver from the resort, Margaret and off we went. It was about a 15 minute drive from the airport to our resort. Rarotonga is actually indescribable. There are more trees flowering the most beautiful flowers than anywhere I have ever seen!!! It's so lush and dense! It will take a while to get over the natural beauty here.

Our accomadtions are great. We have our own stand alone bungalow....#8 for now. From our kitchen window we can see straight into the Lagoon....Very Beautiful. We have been spending our time getting settled and comfortable. We have arranged for a scooter rental for the duration of our stay....it was delivered to the resort the other day for us. Very cute. We both went to the Police station in town where we were issued our very own official Cook Islands Drivers License. Picture card and all! I even got designated to drive the scooter without having to take the special test! An, advantage to having the card printer break down and coming in the next day with big line-ups!! We also have been to the supermarket and local "get-whatever-you-need-here" store and have stocked up on all the pool floaties we will need. Although, here floaties are only for kids, if you're an adult on one it's called a "lie-low". Makes sense! haha

We are slowly picking up on the Aussie/New Zealand venacular. Like ordering a flat white coffee rather than a double double! We have also adopted another cat. Apparently Trevor likes all cats except for mine!!!! Sampson is his name, (given to him by the resort, not us) and he likes $12 hot dogs that Trevor has decided Sampson will like more than me!! Ha Ha Luckily I don't mind! : )

Sampson, the best fed cat on the island!

So far so good, the weather has been good and the food even better! We have a daily routine of floating around the pool and then off to town, back to the pool and then dinner. So far enjoying every minute!

On deck for tomorrow, we are going to one of the biggest events of the YEAR!!!! We're going to the boat races!!!!! Teams are here from all over the world for the event, so stay tuned!!!!!

XOXOXOX

C and T

Trev...chillin for once!!!

Bungalow # 8 our home sweet home!!!



sideways view down to the lagoon from our breakfast table.



National Finals Rodeo....or sometin' like it!!!

So...tonight we went out for dinner with our good friend and realtor David Fuller and his wife Monica! They have a place that you would not believe unless you were in it, and they have become more like family than anything else here in Nevada!!



After dinner, we (surprise surprise!!) hit the Roulette and Blackjack tables for a bit of entertaiment. We had read that it was the National Finals Rodeo, although that didn't seem normal since we had thought that was a few weeks later. Upon closer inspection of the name of the rodeo, we saw that it was the 'INDIAN National Finals Rodeo'....and all of a sudden it made sense, since we saw FAR more Alberta Plates than Nevada Plates on the cars in the parking lot!! Plus made us understand why we felt like we were sittingin the Stony Plain Casino rather than the Las Vegas one! Here is a pic of a very friendly Blackfoot indian we made friends with  from Calgary!!

All in all it was a great time and a good ending to our trip to Las Vegas since we will be heading to the Cook Islands right away. We will let you know when anything else happens!!

xoxox

~C~

Next Stop : Rarotonga...

Cook Islands Flag

Everyone seems to be pretty curious about our next 'hunzo-venture'. To clear the air.....we are headed to The Cook Islands!!! The main island of Rarotonga to be exact. We leave on Sunday from LAX and won't be returning back to Vegas until Feb 26th. We are REALLY looking forward to this trip. Trevor has been once before, so we were lucky enough to already have a good idea of what to expect. He had checked out a few of the resorts when he was there and we will be staying at the Muri Beach Resort. Click the link if you want to check it out. Also, you can get the Coles notes on the cook islands by checking out the Cook Islands Wikipedia site, a one stop shop for all vital info on the Islands in 90 seconds!



Muri Beach is on the bottom right where the 3 smaller islands are!



Viva Las Vegas!!

....Ok I suck, I admit it...my commitment to this blog lasted for 2 posts!! ARGH!!!

Please forgive me and continue to read. I've re-commited to updating this especially since on our next journey there will be what is being described to me as "limited internet access"!! I don't know how I'll cope with that!!

Ok...so here it goes...Post # 3!!

Las Vegas Part Deux....


Hunzos...Home sweet Home in Las Vegas 2010

 We finally made it back to Vegas under the wonderful driving skills of  Trevor Baker! We left on a cloudy day from Fort Saskatchewan (Thanks for the free rent Mom and Don!!!) We decided to be very aggressive in our trek and made it all the way to.....Calgary Alberta! Opting to visit with some good friends instead of continuing on to the border...thanks for the bed Kathleen and Chad! Although their "street cred" (questionable as it is) may not be as high as it was before they were seen out in public with Trevor Baker in Crocs!! We had a great time with them and look forward to many more nights like that!

A late start the next day, we drove until we could drive no longer, down to Helena Montana.....but alas, the town would not have us. There was a Montana teachers convention in town and not a Vacant room to be had....just Trevors Luck : ( so on we went to Butte Montana for a lovely stay at another Classy Motel 6!

We must have been eager to make it to Vegas because we only slept till around 4AM and were pounding the pavement by 5......a long 12 hours later we were pulling into Las Vegas.....Home sweet home!


One of Trevor colleagues, (the one and only Terry Jantz from Edmonton) came to visit us over the Halloween Weekend. We had the place ready for all kinds of Trick or Treaters....too many apparently because we still have bags of candy left! Not that anyone is complaining about that! I also carved some pumpkins for the first time in YEARS! It took quite a while, but the final outcome was pretty good I think!




My Punpkin Creations!!



The Sculptor hard at work...



It was nice to have some company, we got to re familiarize ourselves with this great city.  We got in all the good touristy things that one needs to see on a trip to Vegas.....Some Outlet shopping in Primm, the Beatles Love show at the Mirage,  people watching on the Balcony at Mon Ami Gabi, a trip to the brand new Clark County Shooting Park,  a drive to the Red Rock Canyon, our favorite...Bowling....and a picture taking extravaganza down Las Vegas Boulevard. It was a jam packed 3 days, but a lot of fun had along the way!



Christie and Terry @ Red Rock Canyon



Clark County Shooting Park



.....Stay Tuned for more fun!!