Trackside, VIP, hospitality tent tickets and bracelets for the NHRA nationals. Now, im not a big fan of the races really, but my pops loves cars overall, and with these tickets we're within 15-20 yards of the track. When those dragsters go by you from that far away you FEEL it, its kinda cool. Also, between races theres a tent set up right next to where they work on the car so you can drink free budweiser and watch them work. You could literally touch the car and engine etc, and ask the dudes questions as they work (as long as youre not too annoying). Mainly though, this has turned into the main father-son bonding thing we do every year. We generally just pull up a chair by the track and take turns getting fresh beers all day long. So i know youre excited to see this pic Pops (i know youre reading). See you Sunday.



Also in the mail today i got my free protective sleeve for my Xikar cigar cutter. They send it to you when you register online for your lifetime warranty. Its not the best leather ive ever seen, but its free so im not complaining.




Now THIS, is very cool. Can you guess what it is?























Its a custom branding iron with my name. Its a thank you gift from my dude Spanky's dad for officiating Spank's wedding last year. Its freakin awesome, i cant wait to brand a steak with this thing. And you already know this is gonna go with me on every camping trip for the rest of my life. Ill be branding anything in sight. Hell, if i get drunk enough, my buddies better hope theyre not wearing shorts...




Now THAT is some awesome hand-made shit. Big thanks to Jay for this. Get over that flu bud. (like hes reading this, what the hell am i doing?)

So i arrived home from vacation to my new hat, which im already in love with. You cant beat a Navy hat with a green underbill.



Then i realized ive accrued quite a nice little collection of green underbrims, so i took a pic.


Also had a smoke and a Gin & Tonic on the balcony. Used one of my new pounder glasses from Maui Brewing.




And finally, i pulled out this back of black sand and rocks i stole from the beach at Hana. I just dont really know what to do with it. I was thinking maybe put it in the bottom of an ashtray. Anyone else got any suggestions? Im all ears...

... so im back home, safe and sound, from 12 days in Maui. We got in at about 11pm last night. Needless to say, going back to work today sucked a fat one. But hey, tomorrow is Friday.

So i took a ton of pics, but im not gonna bore the faithful TWC readers with the usual boring tourist crap, and ill just post some of the better pics. (which are probably still boring tourist crap photos to anyone that wasnt actually there with me, which is all of you, but too bad, im posting em anyway.)


So this is the view from our 7th story condo balcony. Just cropped out of the bottom of the pic is the pool. It was nice being a 6 second elevator ride away from the pool, and a 10 second walk from the beach.


Also from the balcony. (subsequently, i lost those sunglasses, which were my favorite, on the first or second day when a damn dirty hawaii wave knocked me on my ass from behind when i wasnt paying attention. It took me under for a second, stole my sunglasses and replaced my beer with a green bottle full of saltwater. Yes, i held onto the beer, and lost the glasses off my face, wtf?)


This dude was like 15 feet from me one morning trimming the trees...


...thats him too.


We did a whole lot of this...walking the beach with a drink and taking in the beauty.




The only touristy "activity" we did was drive to Hana (the famous black sand beach). Ill let the pics do the talking... (but i will say the beach is MUCH smaller than i thought. I could have thrown a football the entire width of the black sand portion)

















So after we spent some time at Hana, we were ready to embark on the 2.5 hour drive back to the condo...but the state of Hawaii Dept of Transportation (or agriculture maybe, who knows) decided it was a good time to trim the vines and shrubbery and all that other nonsense that hangs off the cliffs above the tiny windy road. SO...they shut down the entire road, the only one we could take, for an hour and a half.

Cars got pretty far backed up, causing a few cranky tourists, but most people were pretty laid back about it. My lady and myself made the best of it, ate a picnic lunch she had made that we didnt have at the beach, and laid down in the middle of the highway to take in some sun. (i never would have thought id ever sunbathe in the middle of a highway, go figure)




If youre gonna be stuck somewhere for an hour and a half though, THIS is the kind of view id like to enjoy every time...


So the last night we were there we got all fancied up (she did, i dont really do it very well) and went to a nice dinner.


This was the view we had for dinner, from the open air restaurant.


Then we headed back to the condo for a couple more drinks and a nightcap smoke. (for me)


Me, enjoying my good friend Sailor Jerry.






So that was about it, i summerized the hell out of it, but really all we did was lay on the beach, have happy hour every day, and eat good dinners. Life is rough.

A few things i thought id share though, just in general, about the trip:

1. A beat to hell 2002 Nissan Sentra is a hell of a lot of fun to drive around hawaii as a rental car. especially when the dude who rents it to you tells you "i know its pretty dinged up, just dont drive it off a cliff or anything."

2. Costco is a must for visiting hawaii. A HALF GALLON of Captain Morgans is $20. Not a FIFTH, but a half gallon.

3. I learned that in 12 days i have no problem putting away a case of Heineken, a half gallon of Captain's, and a fifth of Sailor Jerry on my own. Not sure how i feel about that.

4. If you ask me "No Smoking on the Lanai (balcony) is really just a suggestion, in my personal opinion.

5. Dont buy TOO much food at Costco, you always end up eating out more than you think you will.

6. Think about gettin a room\condo with cable tv. Unless you WANT to watch 24-7 coverage of Michael Jacksons death, as if he was the president of the world or something.

7. Even if you think you wont need it, bring your laptop.

8. Dont bring socks. They only take up space in your luggage. You wont wear them.

9. Always hunt down a local brewery\brew pub. Maui Brewing is great, we went twice.

10. Do whatever your lady wants to do. (this is not to suggest that we had issues, cause my usual plan for vacations is to do whatever she wants anyway. It works well for us)

...Im sure ill think of more, but this is already a long ass blog post for me.

So i went for a helicopter ride today, courtesy of my boss. Pretty damn awesome, i gotta say.





AND NOW, im off to hawaii first thing in the morning. Ill be back in 12 days (July 8th).

See you bastards later.

I just ordered this.

Im a sucker for navy hats with green underbills.