Travels

Hawaii-October 2005

My destination? Paradise. Ten of CCRI’s clients and staff were meeting at the airport to set out on a trip of a lifetime. Honolulu, Hawaii, ready or not here we come! This trip was the culmination of over 2 years of planning and saving. We were gone a total of 10 days, and packed each and every day full of fabulous sights and experiences.
Day 1 was mostly travel. We flew from Fargo to Chicago to Honolulu. Our flight to Honolulu took about 7 hours. This does not include our 5-hour time change. On the flight over, Tyler Kloster won a gift pack of macadamia nuts for figuring out, almost to the precise second, when we would be exactly half-way to our destination. Way to go, Tyler! Fast-forward to 2:45pm on a beautiful, sunny Tuesday afternoon where we were met at the gate in Honolulu with flower leis and kisses! We made it!
We got to the hotel and walked to Planet Hollywood for supper. We ate outside and basked in the glory of Hawaii and the reality of finally being in Paradise! When we got back to the hotel, some of us swam for a bit and then we all crashed hard.
Day 2 we began by exploring our surroundings. We were whisked away by a limo to the Hard Rock Café for lunch! We arrived like rock stars (but behaved much better). We ate outside on the patio and enjoyed the fantastic weather. When we arrived back at the hotel, we all went to the beach. It sure doesn’t get any better than this! Our crew loved the ocean and spent much time splashing around in the surf.
Day 3 in Paradise we toured Pearl Harbor and the city of Honolulu. The afternoon was again spent in the ocean and on the beach.
Day 4 we went wandering around the area, shopping at the International Market and the famed Hilo Hattie’s gift store. We again hit the beach that afternoon, and the pool after supper. Oh, what a joy.
Day 5 we spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We were outside in the beautiful tropical areas immersed in eight different Polynesian cultures. We saw the many kinds of native buildings that different cultures lived in, the different dances they performed and even got to participate in some of them. We all got (temporary) tattoos, too! The evening was capped off with an authentic luau, complete with the Kailua pig roasted in the pit dug in the ground, and a fantastic dance performance with all of the native dances represented.
Day 6 was another day of shopping and beach time. Paradise is wonderful! We also had a sunset dinner cruise set up for the evening. We were on the biggest catamaran on the ocean. They served us dinner, then put on a hula dance show. We all had an opportunity to get up and dance at this party!
Day 7 was Halloween. Everyone got a mask, and we went around to each of our rooms trick-or-treating as wake-up calls. We took a Circle Island tour and drove around the whole island. We stopped at a pineapple plantation. We saw the famous “Pipeline” where there was a surfing contest occurring, sampled nuts at a macadamia nut farm, saw a blowhole in the rocks along a beach, and saw Diamond Head, Haunauma Bay, and lots of other scenery. We ate supper at a restaurant where we all got to grill our own supper and all the restaurant employees were dressed up for Halloween. And, of course, we found our way to the pool again.
Day 8 and all good things must come to an end. We took our last swim in the ocean and finished packing our stuff. We got a hula lesson while waiting for our ride to the airport. Our flight left at 5:15 pm and we landed in Chicago on Day 9 bright and early at 6 am. We landed back home “in the land of the tundra” at 12:30pm, tan, tired and well traveled. Paradise was now just a memory, but one we would never forget…

Las Vegas, NV—November, 2004

Our adventure to Las Vegas, was definitely a winner! We took a fun filled vacation trip (a five-day stay) with four clients and two staff members.
We stayed at the Stratosphere Hotel, which is located right on the famous “Las Vegas Strip”. There were plenty of sights to see! Listed below are some of the most interesting highlights of our trip:

• We went to The Amazing Jonathan, a comedian; we all laughed so hard.
• A pirate show, complete with water, lots of fire and excitement that made any land lover consider staying off the mighty seas at the Treasure Island Hotel.
• We saw America’s Superstars at the Stratosphere. This is an impersonator show. We saw people impersonate Elvis, Christina Agulara, Brittany Spears, Michael Jackson, and Charlie Daniels. There were also several showgirls performing with each of the superstars. It was quite a show! We all felt like we had just see the real deals!
• A history lesson, of sorts, watching knights fight and joust while we ate supper with only our hands…a true “medieval” experience. This was at the Excalibur Hotel.
• And, of course, we had to try the slot machines whenever possible and we even managed to shop a little in between!
• Sigfried and Roy have a Secret Garden with lots of vegetation, their white tigers and lions, elephants, leopards and dolphins. We spent time wandering in this beautiful secret garden in the middle of the strip. It was amazing.

We did a lot of walking every day going up and down the strip and took the bus back to the hotel when we were tired. The trip was accessible to all individuals, even the bus and trolley.

Everyone had such a great time. Some of the clients had never been on a trip like this before in their lives. We definitely made memories that will last a lifetime!

How much does a trip like this cost? It was around $900 per person, plus spending money.

Orlando, FL—December, 2002

Within a month of returning from Las Vegas, we were headed to Orlando, Florida, for a seven-day vacation. We barely had time to unpack and repack before staring another adventure. This trip consisted of four clients and two staff members.

We went to four different theme parks and were able to spend the day at each one.
We went to:

• Disney’s Magic Kingdom
• Disney/MGM Studios
• Sea World
• Busch Gardens

While we were at the theme parks we met many, many of our favorite Disney characters and took our pictures with them and got lots of hugs. We rode on several of the rides and saw some great shows. We got a lot of exercise every day because there is a lot of walking built into this trip.

We also saw a Cirque du Soli acrobatic performance, La Noubia. We also went to a dinner show on a pirate ship where we all became honorary pirates.

Even with all the sightseeing and our busy schedule, we managed to get some shopping in too. Everyone agreed that their favorite part of the trip was spent at the Disney theme parks. This trip is mostly accessible, except for some of the rides.

The cost of this trip was around $1300 per person, plus spending money.

We hope to plan another trip to Orlando within the next year.