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On the contrary; my husband and I are just plain ol working folks. Our financial state is definitely not that of higher class at the moment. This is why we choose Hawaii. It's a cheap non-stop flight from Portland to Hawaii and condos are reasonably priced. I know if we had a bit more money to spend on travel ,we would love to go the Caribbean, but until the economy picks up and our concrete business recovers (hopefully) we will be lucky to make it to Maui .
I appreciate your ideas and suggestions. All the places you mentioned sound wonderful.
Kelly
It's the opposite over here on the Gulf Coast. It's like an average of 1200 to Honolulu and only 300 to Jamaica, for instance. I'll have to move to Portland to get my next Hawai fix!
Hello, I have been to Maui 4 times. I want to temporarily trade houses with Maui locals, and have an experience to stay affordably . My home is a charming older red brick house, 1600 sq.ft. plus 2 car garage, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, two living dining rooms, large flat screet HD tvs, dishnet tv, central heat and air, but use wood stove in winter. is in the country, only 1 hr. from Dallas FortWorth Texas. I have a brick house on an acre of land, with a hot tub, 1 mile from good fishing and boating lake. Directly overlooking Oklahoma and the red river, near the famous Winstar World Casino. Actually can be seen from front porch . We really are in the country just great hill top view. Enjoy the 6 person hottub off the back porch as you listen to cyotes howl, and enjoy star gazing or cooking on the grill. I am in love with Maui and would live there if I didn't have grandchildren I need to see often. So the next best thing....try to find a place near wailea. i feel at home on Maui, and don't want another vacation until Maui no longer calls to me.
We took a trip down to Cabo for a week... When we drove from the airport to Cabo, appox 1hr(?) I was in shock. I didn't realize how dirty it was going to be. And I'm not a clean freak, I live in the muddy Northwest! But, I was envisioning similar to countryside Hawaii, Wailua, Hauula, Haleiwa, etc. Boy was I wrong.. For the price we paid to literally stay in the hotel, drinks and food, I would have much rather given my $ to da aina!! At least in Hawaii I know where to go, where to eat, where to stay, and where to have FUN! Cabo is a great place to get drunk, play golf, or pay plenty to go fishing. I drank plenty there cause it was sooo hot! No breezes wit da warm plumeria smells...
Oh, and we got suckered into a timeshare presentation, which sucked half of our day...
I, however, would love to try the little village mentioned previously, near Cancun, or Manzanilla.
But, for serious vacation time- Hawaii No Ka Oi!!!
ALOHA
Hello, I have been to Maui 4 times. I want to temporarily trade houses with Maui locals, and have an experience to stay affordably . My home is a charming older red brick house, 1600 sq.ft. plus 2 car garage, 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom, two living dining rooms, large flat screet HD tvs, dishnet tv, central heat and air, but use wood stove in winter. is in the country, only 1 hr. from Dallas FortWorth Texas. I have a brick house on an acre of land, with a hot tub, 1 mile from good fishing and boating lake. Directly overlooking Oklahoma and the red river, near the famous Winstar World Casino. Actually can be seen from front porch . We really are in the country just great hill top view. Enjoy the 6 person hottub off the back porch as you listen to cyotes howl, and enjoy star gazing or cooking on the grill. I am in love with Maui and would live there if I didn't have grandchildren I need to see often. So the next best thing....try to find a place near wailea. i feel at home on Maui, and don't want another vacation until Maui no longer calls to me.
I would think between $50 - $85 depending on size and demand. In 2009 the smaller trees commanded higher prices and the larger ones had to be cut smaller. 2010 is was the opposite with the large trees selling at premiums and the smaller ones going for less. 2011 and beyond is going to be the year to see because WalMart announced a alliance to ship in and sell low cost quality trees starting next year. They even plan to use air shipments once they determine the type and size. It takes weeks for a regular x-mas tree seller to arrange a shipment or change types and sizes, walmart will be able to do it in a day. Target is also forming their own alliance with vendors so those vendors will be getting trees through Targets distribution at a substantial lower cost. Overall it will be good for customers who may see a 20% drop in prices but that actual may mean a 40% drop in revenue for the vendors. Since some are alrready walking fine lines due to the unknown customer demand of type and size, this may spell trouble for some, but customers will reap the rewards although it may force them to be buying from the same corporate alliance programs and not supportingt he true local vendors.
But you don;t know what's up until it happens. 2010 was a great year for the xmas tree sellers because there were no large alliance programs and they were blessed with the greatest news possible, impounding of shipments that created a sudden shortage. Customers cringed as they had to scramble for trees and some were selling at premums, but that's probably now a thing of the past with the two major distribution networks forming alliances with vendors. I wouldn't worry too much for 2011 xmas and there may actually be a glut of trees.
Great information. Do you know if Wal-mart or Target sell fresh Oregon wreaths,Swags,Garland and scented Pinecones? Your info and help is much appreciated.
I grew up in Oahu and now live in Seattle. I need to go back to a warm climate at least once a year to keep my sanity. We always ended up going back to Hawaii year after year. We decided to hit Aruba last year instead of HI, and I liked it, but not as much as HI.
Aruba is desert. Hotter. Very flat. The water had lighter shades of blue, that was gorgeous. The water was calm. No waves, not even small ones. So there was no boogie boarding, or anything. The sand was powder white. But the beaches has a lot of trash. Bottle caps, cigarette butts, galore. Along with the locals always trying to sell you stuff, while you were just trying to relax. I would have to say that I prefer HI. But I do want to check out other Carribean islands.
I grew up in Oahu and now live in Seattle. I need to go back to a warm climate at least once a year to keep my sanity. We always ended up going back to Hawaii year after year. We decided to hit Aruba last year instead of HI, and I liked it, but not as much as HI.
Aruba is desert. Hotter. Very flat. The water had lighter shades of blue, that was gorgeous. The water was calm. No waves, not even small ones. So there was no boogie boarding, or anything. The sand was powder white. But the beaches has a lot of trash. Bottle caps, cigarette butts, galore. Along with the locals always trying to sell you stuff, while you were just trying to relax. I would have to say that I prefer HI. But I do want to check out other Carribean islands.
This is exactly why we keep going back to Hawaii . Best of luck to you getting back to the islands. Hopefull my husband and I will get back there soon.
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. Best of luck to you getting back to the islands. Hopefull my husband and I will get back there soon. 
