day 30-God bless America! We are home!!!

(i updated all of the photos from the past week- please see past blogs)

what a day...well a few of them i guess.

we lived monday june 18th twice. the first day was spent on the beach in kwaj and the second was spent traveling for 24 straight hours!

the flight from kwaj to honolulu was ok- we had a stop in majuro and got into hawaii about 2am. it was quiet the experience. the pa boxes came out on the carousel wet and broken open boxes. we were not excited to see that at all. all of the islanders checked about 50 coolers full of fish- and it appeared that some broke open on the flight and wet down missys suitcase and our pa!

we had to load all our stuff up- get through customs and get all of our gear up to the departures area...on small elevators. that was fun. the whole airport was closed so we had to wait around until 5am to get our stuff through the usda xray machine. but you better believe we were first in line. we later found out that continental should have taken all of our bags downstairs after customs because they were checked all the way to omaha. i was not happy to hear this. what a headache that would have saved me. and did i mention i have a horrible cold? not good.

anyways we made it though check in, got some burger king breakfasts and headed back in time to la!

we got to la- took a shuttle to our terminal and said goodbye to missy and josh in la and headed to omaha!

this was by far our favorite flight- maybe because it was our last flight home- but mostly because it was on midwest express. i love love love this airline. anyone that gives you big comfy leather chairs, extra leg room and hot chocolate chip cookies is ok by me.

our flight from la ended up being a 30 minutes late- but we were all so excited to be home.

it was good to see our families again and get our feet on some nebraska ground.

...now for the unpacking and laundry.

now i have to repack for a early thursday flight to baltimore for my cousin julia's wedding in that im taking pictures at in pennsylvania this weekend. im not looking forward to getting on a plane again- but at least this flight will be short and sweet and there will be lots of loved ones to see on the other end of this country waiting for me!

day 28/29-kwajalein day 4- OUR LAST DAY...sort off...

today is a sad day.

our last day of the tour, our last day on the most beautiful place we have ever seen and our last day of fun in the sun...and did i mention we have about 24 hours worth of traveling ahead of us? we are going back in time and will arrive in omaha at 10:30pm on Monday, June 18- even though we leave kwajalein at 6pm on Monday, June 18. freaky...it's not going to be fun getting used to the 15 hour time difference this week!

this morning kyle, joel and i woke up early and got some breakfast and then called frunk, the nice oklahoman, and he met up with us to take us snorkeling. he was super cool and even let us borrow all of his gear...i think it helped that i was born in tulsa, ok- because he didn't care for husker fans...

we went to the north shore, where there is a ton of coral and fishes to see under water. it was beautiful and one of the coolest things i have ever seen in my life.

im still sick- and had some trouble getting used to breathing under water. it didn't help that i have never snorkeled before in my life, and cant even breathe on land because i was sick. the boys went out farther than i did, but i still had a blast...even got some pictures underwater! that was a first!

after that we went back to get packed up and cleaned up because we had to check in all of our bags at 12:45pm...our flight is at 6pm- but they let us leave and come back at 4pm- so that is why i got to sneak over here and use the good old dial up interweb.

checking our bags here was by far the easiest. they just line it all up and let the police dogs sniff it...no xray machines or anything.

so we are just waiting to go back to the one room airport and leave at 6pm. we have one stop on a tiny island of majuro then to honolulu...about a 6 hour flight. then a 5 hour layover in honolulu and an 5 hour flight to la, then an 2 hour layover there and back to omaha on an 3 hour flight- so that puts us home around 10:30pm- for all of you that want to greet us with signs and flowers!!! just kidding- kind off...but we really can't wait to get home and get hugs from our family and friends.

i will be following up to this blog to post all of the photos from guam to today and with some final thoughts on the tour.

thank you for all of your support and prayers...without all of you this tour wouldn't have gone as smoothly as it did! pray all of our bags and gear makes it home in one piece please, that would be the perfect ending!

see you soon!!

love you.

-danelle, the tour manager.












-photos from snorkeling to come after development!-

day 27- kwajalein day 3

happy father's day dad's!!!
we miss you and cant wait to see you soon!

today we slept in a bit to recover from last night, got some lunch at the chow hall and got all sun screened up for the beach.

we hung out there until we had to get out to go get all our gear from the place that the army ball was- because last night we literally snuck off the back of the stage out of a backdoor and left it all there.

so we got it all packed up and drove it a few blocks down to emon beach where our show was going to be tonight.

then we all went to dinner and got ready for the show.

the show started at sunset and was absolutely gorgeous. i wish you all could have been there to see the sunsetting on the beach behind the band playing. it was the perfect last show.

tons of people showed up, and all of the kids from the island i think- there was probably 100 of them...tons! and you better believe they all wanted autographs. and it was pitch dark- when that time rolled around- so i was the official flash light holder...yes a manager wears many hats- and now mine includes lighting specialist

the island loved us and we got invited to a traditional hawaiian luau after the show. the food was too die for. the host was from hawaii and you could tell by the food. there was even an hula dancer...half of the island showed up and we got tons of thanks and praises for a well done show on the beach.

some of the band stayed out and partied to celebrate kwaj style- but kyle, joel and i headed back early because we met a nice oklahoman, frunk, who agreed to take us snorkeling tomorrow morning at 8am.

i wish we were certified divers- because this is supposed to be the best place in the world to dive. there are 6-8 ships that sunk in the lagune right off of the island. he said that there is a german ship that even sticks part of the way out of the water still. and the japanese ships have planes on them still and you can go inside of them. he said that there was one that had like 80 planes down there! next time i will be scuba dive certified when i come here for sure!!

i can't wait...just hope i start to feel better and can knock this cold out!