Spring Break!!!!!

There is nothing significant about the Middle East in this post, but it's about what I did on my spring break.....I flew and flew and flew. I had scheduled two coaching certification classes one in Las Vegas and one in NYC (Brooklyn to be exact) for consecutive weekends leaving me about 4 days in between to find something to do with myself or someone else.

So I departed Abu Dhabi at 10:30am on March 17th, flew 8 time zones (7000 miles, 14.5 hours) west to JFK in NYC, two hour layover and then grabbed my flight to Las Vegas which was another 3 time zones and about 5 hours. Landed in Vegas about 11:00pm on Thursday night. Who's plan was this anyway?

While in Vegas I attended class all weekend and got to see my youngest brother Keith who lives there.

Finished in Vegas on Sunday evening and headed to the airport at 5:00am Monday for my flight to Honolulu which was another 3 time zones west and about 3000 miles. Courtney (daughter #2) was spending spring break at my friend's home on Oahu so I had a place to go. Got to Honolulu and my friend Elizabeth picked me up at the airport and we simply waited another 90 minutes until Courtney landed and we headed to the Schowalter's for the next 3 days.

Court and I headed out on Tuesday and were able to spend some quality time together driving around Oahu, stopping for photo op's...

climbing Diamond Head, oh look a photo of us at the top of the extinct crater:

Diamond Head requires a pretty long walk up paved paths, dirt and rock trails, 99 steps, a dark tunnel, a circular staircase and finally a climb out through a somewhat narrow opening in an old concrete bunker.

After the climb we headed west to show her where I lived when I was stationed at Schofield Barrack's back in the mid 80's. A quick stop to point out a non-descript condo in a non-descript development in Makakilo then it was heading further west to Makaha Beach, a favorite Saturday afternoon relaxation location for me back in the 80's. Here's a shot of us out there.

There appears to be a lot of glare of my head.

Day two, Wednesday, found us heading west and north to check out the waves on the north shore and some of the most famous surfing beaches in the world. We also got pretty close to Chinaman's Hat, which is actually visible from the Schowalter's home, but we drove by so thought we'd get a photo too.

After Chinaman's Hat it was a quick stop at Sunset Beach for a photo, with the waves crashing in behind her. She is probably wearing the only Dead 2 Red Relay shirt in the United States.

From there it was past Waimea Bay and on to Haleiwa for lunch and walks through some art galleries. Courtney is an artist and we got a chance to look at some great work by local artists after a great Chicken Teriyaki sandwich at the Kua Aina Sandwich Shop, a place I frequented as did many of my guests back in the 80's. Finally it was back to the Schowalter's for a third dinner with them and a chance for me to pack since I was off early Thursday morning on an 8:00am flight.

Back to Vegas for a one night layover where I got to take my brother out to dinner again and early the next morning (Friday for those keeping track) hopped on a plane at 8:00 am heading back to JFK. Grabbed a cab to my class in Brooklyn which went from 5:30pm - 10:00pm on Friday, 8:00am - 9:00pm on Saturday and 8:00am - 4:00pm on Sunday. Finished class and headed to the airport to catch the 10:50pm flight out of JFK back home to Abu Dhabi, where I arrived 13 hours later.

12 days, 28 time zones (14 out and 14 back), 26,000 miles and when I got back I had no jet lag. I went to bed on Monday night at midnight and woke up at 7:00am Tuesday. I got to see friends, my baby brother and Courtney, the Courtmeister, The Best daughter as she is known in the family as opposed to her sister's who are The Smartest and the Favorite.

It was a whirlwind trip, but well worth it. When you can mix business with pleasure you're lucky.

QOB: "The most interesting thing about being a parent is being witness and supporting what they already are. It's standing there in awe. You get to be the one on the sidelines clapping."

This comes from the talented actress Jodie Foster and my time with Courtney reminded of how I feel about all three of my daughters. They already have me clapping and I'll get to do it for the rest of my life. Thanks girls.