In Search of the American Dream... Headed West

So I'm done with the 3 CPA sections that I can take for now. And tomorrow at 6 am, I embark on a three and a half week road trip across the US.

Starting from NC it's off to Atlanta, then Orlando for 2 days in Disney, then New Orleans, San Antonio, Grand Canyon, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacrament, Portland, Seattle, Yellowstone, The Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Chicago, Louisville, and finally back home in September.

If there happens to be free internet access along the way I may feel inclined to update with pictures. But being that nothing in America is free, don't count on it.

Wish me luck, it should be a journey of a lifetime. See you on the road. Cheers!

Long Awaited Maui Post

Ok, here it is. The (not really) long awaited Maui post. Two years ago when Dad and moved out here to Stokesdale we basically set out to create new lives for ourselves. Up until then we had been defined by the rantings of 5170 Wildberry and it was high time to hit the road and get to living. Once we got into the house, I proposed that we take a trip to Hawaii to celebrate. At first it started off as kind of a joke but as that summer progressed I told Dad that for sure I was going to take him on a trip to Maui for a week and a half the summer after I finished grad school. It was my way of giving back to him for all the time he spent helping me and raising me over the years. So last winter, with the help of Paradis' travel ticketing skills, I used up some frequent flyer and hotel points and hooked us up a free first class, 4 star trip to Maui for 10 days. We left on June 2 and got settled into Maui just in time for happy hour... and that pretty much became the theme for the week. Did we see any of the other islands? Fuck no, who wants to see 'em when you can relax by the gorgeous beaches in Maui? Oh don't get huffy. We did do a good bit of touring. Went up to Lahiana, took a helicopter tour, did the trek to Hana and ate lunch on the black sand beach, oh and I got a wild hair and rain a couple miles down the road to the super $25+ million dollar celebrity mansions (i.e. Clint Eastwood) just past Wailea. The rest of the time we basically just ate great food and drank. Boy did we drink. Between the wonderful blended Hawaiian drinks and the two fifths of Crown Royal we polished off, the bar bill was quite considerably higher than our food or hotel services bills combined. The good news, I earned back 25,000 of the Marriott points we used on the trip. BAM. Favorite Drink: Pele's Lava Flow Favorite Food: Kung Pow Chicken at Fire Dragon Favorite Place: Pointe under the tree next to the Grand Wailea Favorite Shirt: Aloha Aloha all the way