8 days to go...

God bless free wifi service. They don't have that in Hawaii. I asked my coworkers where I could find wifi service and they were like, "Um, anywhere... Starbucks?" And I said, "But Starbucks makes you pay $10 for 24 hours of use." And to quote my friend Clouse: "Sweetie, you're not in Hawaii anymore."

Indeed I am not. I'm currently in Englewood, Colorado (just outside of Denver) and Chris and I leave for Rio in eight days. So I'm trying to practice on this fancy Blogger, Gmail, Picassa, Google Web Page Creator business before we leave. I also have no idea how to delete a post, as I am constantly met with error messages, so just deal with it for now.

Chris flies into Denver from Honolulu on Monday morning and I'm trying to get everything organized. So I have my backpack, I have my meds, I have clothes, shoes, hiking shoes on the way via Cabela's, lotions, potions, hats, etc. I will make a separate post of all of that shortly. In the midst of the packing, I'm also dealing with my body that seems to be revolting against me.

I went to Nebraska via the train over the weekend and was dealt with a brutal case of food poisoning. Like seriously, brutal... Screaming into the toilet while simultaneously crying, dry heaving, snotting, and emitting little bits of bile and blood. No bueno. I stayed with Liz and she had to deal with all of that. But I did learn something, mainly, to NEVER order Thai food from Lincoln, Nebraska. Although at the lunch, I did get to meet my friend Sarie's baby Graham who looks like a cross between a little old man and a Muppet and no one can hate on that. Here's Graham:

And he didn't even cry. And I don't even like kids that much!

In addition to the food poisoning, I had another mole removed from my back. It was not a melanoma like last year, but it was atypical so I have to go in for a mini surgery tomorrow. I just hope that if it involves stitches, they can come out before we leave. All of this is getting way to close to our departure date and that's the main stress. Well, that and not getting another stupid melanoma.

So that's me. And since this is supposed to be about travel; if you ever find yourself in Omaha, Nebraska, do yourself a favor and go to the Homy Inn. This was pre-food poisoning and they were not the culprit so don't worry. But they have champagne... on tap!!!! Pitchers of champagne! And peanuts served in plastic dog dishes. To be honest, the peanut thing grossed me out, but champagne, on tap! How cool is that? If you need to find it, click here.