Mexico Cruise July 14-28

 

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This 7-day trip with the Perron’s was a blast, we started in Long Beach CA and visited Puerto Vallerta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.  The boat was the Carnival Pride we had 2 adjoining rooms with balconies that was cool because with the door open between the rooms it always felt like one big room that all the Romo clan hung out in.

First 2 days at sea:

The first two days were very fun , Dylan spend the days swimming and going down the slide, while the rest of us huddled around the food floor where you could anything that your heart desired. the 24 hour Ice cream and Pizza bar got worked over good by our group.

 

Puerto Vallarta

 

We spend an incredible day in PV. My former boss Gary Hodges lives there and owns a ATV and Dune Buggy company. So he offered to set up our entire day there. he picked us up from the boat and took us to the Botanical Garden where everyone could get a bite to eat.

We then went to the Canopy tours where we zip lined thru the trees and across rivers. the longest line was a 1/4 mile long and was elevated at 150’ in the air, speeds of 40MPH were reached. Everyone loved the activity.

Then we went back the the botanical garden where all the ATV’s were waiting, we each go ton the Bikes and traveled thru the jungle of Puerto Vallarta and cross a couple of small rivers and thru allot of unpaved roads.

 

we then rode to the famous Chico’s Paradise restaurant near a river to eat lunch. While we were there Divers jumped off rocks into the river.

After lunch we rode the ATV’s to a tequila factory and learned about how to make tequila. That was fun.

we then rode back to the Botanical garden to drop off the bikes and Gary took us to his house on the beach for a swim in the ocean.

 

as you can see the kids had the time of their lives.

If you ever Make it to Puerto Vallarta please check out Gary and set up one of the many guided tours he has of Puerto Vallarta and the surrounding areas.

www.uniqueatvtours.com

tell Gary Gilbert and Michele sent you

Pittsburgh Steelers Monday Night Football Game Sept 27-30 2008

What started as a cool idea to go to see the Steelers play the Ravens on Monday night in Pittsburgh. Became an even better Idea when Sharyl keep it a secret from Mark and turned it into his birthday present. Mark didn't know that Michele and I were going to meet them in Pittsburgh, he didn't even know he was going to Pittsburgh. Sharyl and the kids made mark get up at 4am (Sharyl had already packed his bag) and get dressed and the only explanation he had was that he was beginning his birthday. They got him in the car and took him to the Ontario


airport. even there he had no idea where he was going or why!!!! Not until he got thru security did he know he was going to Pittsburgh. The best part of Sharyl's plan is that Mark had no idea that she had gotten 4 tickets to the Monday night game. He then made the assumption that they were going to see the Steelers but had no Idea Michele and I would be there as well. We arrived about 20 Min's before them and hid while they came off the plane. Sharyl went to the restroom and Mark waited for her and we were standing 15 ft from him and he had no clue. When Sharyl came out of the restroom, mark went to the men's


room and we said hello to Sharyl and waited for him to come out. When he did and saw us all standing there, his face was priceless. we all hugged and told him Happy birthday!!!! and how dare him try to celebrate his birthday with out us.......

from then on it was party time.
We all were very pleasantly surprised how pretty and clean the city was. we ate at some great restaurants and did tons of shopping and also visited the Pittsburgh sports museum.


My hat is off to Sharyl for putting such a fun mini vacation together. We have done many together but this one was special.












Heinz Field where the Steeler's play is a very nice place, the design is very cool. Because of the weather in Oct, Nov, DEC in Pittsburgh the main concourse is under each side of the stadium grandstands. it allows them to have cover from the elements and also decorate the place really cool. it has AstroTurf on the floor and an mini hall of fame for free. The game was awesome with Pittsburgh coming back and winning the game in overtime.

The best part of this is that Sharyl is the only Steeler fan. Mark is a Rams fan, Michele a Dolphins fan and I like the Cardinals..

Sharyl became a Steeler fan from her father who had passed away in the last few years, but she was able to honor him during this trip by wearing his Steeler jacket to the game. definitely a special trip for her.
Mark and Sharyl getting ready to walk to the game. we stayed at the Hilton which is located directly across the river from the stadium, less than 500 yards to the front gates











Michele and I are not Steeler fans but we are huge Lance Armstrong fans and since the Livestrong colors are black and Yellow, we fit right in.

Tokyo Japan

What can I say. Tokyo is as cool and you would imagine, the number of people there was beyond my wildest dreams. The other thing that shocked me was how clean the city was. There are people who walk in jumpsuits and clean the sidewalk, if there is gum, they are on their hands and knees scraping the sidewalk. The other funny thing was that most people were dress in just a couple of fashions:

1-their perceived American look

2-All black business or semi casual

3-Punk Rock look

To the left is a picture I took with a couple of people just walking by, they all flash the peace sign whenever taking a picture. But they really enjoy Americans, even thought we had no idea what each other were saying, we just smiled, bowed and moved on. It was difficult to get around because English is spoken in some restaurants but almost nowhere else. so to call a taxi is impossible unless you have the address to where you are going written down.

The other funny thing about Tokyo is that you will find many older American star's selling almost everything on big billboards. here is an example.

If you have ever seen the Bill Murray movie "lost in translation" it is filmed in Tokyo at the Hyatt and also in a neighborhood called "roppongi" which is full of restaurants and bars and shopping.

Tokyo is very spread out, I went to the top of the Hyatt to take some pictures that I you will see here. At night the scenery is incredibly beautiful the lights go on for as far as you can see. and Like NY they have a times square, but the difference is that there are 10-15 of them. This picture shows typical advertising which is everywhere, and also the Tokyo version of central park.

also I rode the subway, and just like the YouTube videos, you really are packed in there like a sardine, people actually sleep standing up on the way to work on the subway because the people are so close they are held up by everyone standing next to them. I laughed because for the first time in my life i was able to ride public transportation and I was one of the tallest people on the train!!!! I also went to see the busiest intersection in the world. over 1.5 million people go thru it each day

Here is the intersection when cars are passing. I will add a video i took of it when people are moving thru. I took this video at about 2pm on a Friday afternoon when everyone was at work but still busy. I was surprised at the amount of American restaurants you find in Tokyo, any name brand you want is probably there, the obvious of McDonald's and burger king, but also Friday's and olive garden.

I recommend everyone make it to Tokyo one time in your life, it is something to see, and the food is good as well, I am a sushi fan so I had no reservations about eating there, I just didn't understand that you eat the same food no matter what time it is........takes some getting used to.

Seoul October 8th thru the 12th 2008

This was by far my favorite during my trip to Asia. The city was very cool filled with lots of history and tradition and the People were very friendly. During my visit we stayed on the Youngsan military base at a hotel called the dragon hill lodge in Seoul. It was very nice, it is there for Military vacations in Seoul. This is a picture of the Dragon Hill Lodge

Getting to Seoul was another story. Our flight left from Guam at 3AM and landed in Seoul at 7:30AM. We flew business class because that was all they had.......It was quite the experience, we flew Korean Air and it was the best customer service I have ever seen. there must have been 6 people waiting on business class alone and there were only 30 people in business class. the seats were like big leather recliners that virtually laid flat. they gave you the nicest Airline blankets i have ever seen. ( I will show it to you if you come to my house..LOL). The food on the flight was fantastic, and if you didn't like the Korean food just tell them and they will find something to make for you. Here is a picture of my friend Steve on the flight.

We all tried to sleep some on the flight. when we arrived I got my first taste of what I came to find out as normal when waiting in a line in Asia........ The lines are just there as recommendations, you could be waiting in a line for 5 minutes and someone will walk right up and cut in...... once we figured that out we were the crazy Americans because we never waited in a line the rest of the trip. Although we received some dirty looks, it really saved us time in crowded places. We had a Top US Military IT person take care of us while we were in Korea. his name is Roy Hoshino and he seemed to be everywhere for us. we never had to be worried about how to get anywhere because he not only would take us but also deliver all of our belongings before he even took us to the destinations. There were 12 of us traveling together, so we had over 30 bags ( see picture) that was a feat in itself to get all of our bags from country to country. I am now ready to be a roadie for a band!!!!!

We had a free evening the first day and we had a group dinner. It was really cool to go to a traditional Korean BBQ restaurant. You sit on the ground and cook the food in Woks that were heated by placing Nuts and Bolts that were placed in a big fire and then placed under the BBQ grill. The food was really good. we were all also introduced to Korean Liquor the firsts were Soju a wine made from wheat, sugar cane and sweet potatoes...it is clear like sake and takes like sake. the second was Shochu which is made from the same ingredients but tastes 10 times stronger.....don't mess with this one. The last was Makkoli which we ended up naming Macaroni.....it is a traditional Rice wine, like sake. It looks and tastes like unfiltered Sake, creamy and sweet. they serve it to you in a big wooden bowl and wooden cups. this one is dangerous because the hosts keep this one flowing never letting a cup empty......

Ok enough about that,,,, the food was fantastic, it was Beef, pork, marinated in spices and lots of tofu vegetables. if you like pure spicy food Korean food is the ticket.

So a funny story from that night is that we all decided to go to Etawon which is a city where all the US military people go to blow off steam, so it is full of shopping, bars and the other places you hear about in Asia. Since there are so many people looking for American restaurants there is a hard rock cafe, macaroni grill, McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts. We all decided we wanted to get donuts for our 20 min walk from Etawon back to Youngson base. We actually got asked to be quiet inside the Dunkin donuts.....when we didn't they kicked us out!!!!! we had only been in Korea for less than a day and we got kicked out of a Dunkin donuts. we laughed about that for days......

Here is what Etawon looks like

Also while in Etawon I visited the New York Tailors a famous place to buy clothing. I had a suit and shirt made for me from scratch, i picked the material and all style and it was ready in 2 days. for 250.00 US. The suit was fantastic.

Another are we visited was the electronics mart. This area blew my mind, I saw more phones, computers, DVD's and Gaming systems than I ever imagined even exsisted let alone under one roof. I went into a mall that was 12 stories high and every floor looked like a huge electronic Flea market. Here are a couple of pictures of what I saw.

We spent the nest 2 days in seminars. after the seminar one of the nights we took Roy to dinner at the Hyatt which is at the top of a hill overlooking some of the city. It is where president Bush stayed when he visited Korea, many of the US movie stars stay there as well.

on Saturday we had another free day, our largest customer in Korea asked if we were interested in taking a hike. only 6 of us said yes and so we decided to meet outside the Miltary Gate at 3PM. this gave us time to visit the Seoul tower. it looks like the seattle needle but much taller. from up on the tower you can see how big korea really is. Here is a description of it:

Viewable from almost anywhere in Seoul, Seoul Tower serves as an excellent landmark. Built on a 262 meter peak in Namsan Park, the tower reaches to 480 meters above sea level. When the weather and pollution levels cooperate, visiting the observation tower (370 meters above sea level) allows you to view the entire city and surrounding areas. Because of the vistas, many people enjoy climbing up here for early morning exercise or for a romantic stroll after dark.

we then met DK back at the Base and his staff picked us up we went to the top of a mountain and saw the some gates that were patrolled by the Korean army, I tried to take some pictures but they didnt like that very much so I cant share any with you, But the trail that we went on had milage markers and excersize equipment ever half mile or so.

DK put a great hike together because we walked all downhill. when we got to the bottom we ended up near a monument to a Korean war hero and then entered the area containing the equvilant of the Korean White House, It was beautiful. as you will see in the pictures. we then went into a traditional shopping market part of downtown to go to one of his favorite restaurants. we ate really great food.

Dylans Field Trip to the Halle Heart Center in Tempe

Yesterday I went with Dylan on his school field trip to the heart center. It was something I think we should all take the kids to, they teach about proper diet and how to buy and order food as well as great tips on why you should exercise and the damage smoking does on your body.

There are 8-10 different stations that the kids went to each lasting about 10-12 mins. Here are a few pictures. If anyone is interested in putting a group together to go visit the center let me know.

Here is the website that gives all the information about the center:

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4855

Also I have added a picture of dill at the end of this. He loves to wear suits, once a week he wears a suit and tie to school. his teachers and principal love it. I do too, it gives him great confidence and he looks good doing it!!!!!

Guam

My trip to Asia was a business trip, we were giving seminars to all armed forces branches in Asia on communication and security technology. I was there to help our sales team with logistics and customer support.

My trip to Asia started in Guam. The flight there went from Phoenix at 7am to San Francisco a 2 hour flight with a 2 hour layover. Then on to Tokyo a 10 hour flight, and a 6 hour layover in the Narita Airport to catch a 3.5 hour flight to Guam that got into Guam at 1AM local time. which is 8am Phoenix time the Next day......So it took me over 1 day of travel just to get there. When I arrived in Guam I wasn't tired because my body was telling me it was time to get up. I layed down for about 4 hours and then woke up to eat breakfast with the the rest of the group I was traveling with.

The Tokyo airport is really big and really modern, there are machines everywhere where you can buy everything from a small television to a local beer. All the shops sell Candy. here is a picture of a display in one of the candy shops.

Since Guam is a US territory, you really looks like what I imagine Hawaii would have looked many years ago. The local areas are underdeveloped but the main road thru town has most of the normal shopping that many come to expect at any vacation destination. Such as Hard Rock Cafe, Gucci, Prada Etc..

We stayed at the Grand Hyatt in Guam for the 4 days we were there and it was very nice. The shoreline is beautiful and the water is really clear. The only problem is that the Water is ALWAYS over 80 degrees .... So it may look like it going to be refreshing but it is as warm as a bathtub....That was very surprising to me, but I love the ocean so I got in anyway.........

Here was the view from my room:

The people in Guam are very nice. But the service there was not very good. This has become a vacation destination for the Koreans and the Japanese because of the beauty and the low cost to travel and stay on Guam.

Hope you like the pics. Next I will post Seoul South Korea. It was my favorite city visited on this trip.

Introduction

Hello,

Thank you for visiting my site, I wanted to create a site where I can share the things I like and the places I visit for my friends and family to see.

I have been blessed in my life to have traveled the world and have a successful life. I love my friends and family and this site is for all of you to share.

I will post the trips that I have taken and some important events. feel free to post your comments and Ask for some pictures that you would like to see. I have 1000's and will post as many as I can .

I look forward to reading all of your comments and sharing all of my memories.

Thanks

GR