So let me tell you about my Super Man. Those of you who know O well know that (due to some unfortunate childhood experiences) he does not like the water. He doesn’t swim, prefers to stay out of the pool, won’t water-ski, etc. But he does like the ocean. Likes to look at it, listen to it, watch whales in it, and ride in boats on it. Just don’t get him wet and he’s fine. I’m not a water-baby either, but I like to snorkel. I’m not a great swimmer so I only snorkel in pretty tame areas.
Several Hawaii trips ago, O decided he would try to share the experience with me instead of just hanging out on the boat while I was in the water alone. He would go out in an inner tube with a viewing box for a little bit while I did my thing, checking in with him every few minutes. Then he graduated to his own mask. He likes seeing the fish, but the tube makes it hard to really get your head in to look around. He decided that the next time he went he would use a flotation belt, like water skiers use. It was scary for him, but we worked out our own buddy system and he did it.
We go out together and hold hands and cruise around the bay, pointing things out to each other. It is always hard for him when he first gets into the water and it takes a minute or two to find his inner calm and get his face into the water. Once he does, we’re set.
Today we went on our traditional snorkel excursion. (check back later for video) I could tell he was more worried than usual, but he came down into the water to be with me. As we moved away from the boat, he had a panic attack and said he just couldn’t do it this time. I told him I thought he would be all right and we hung in there together for a few more minutes and he held both of my hands while I towed him around. Soon, he was ready to go. We linked arms for a while instead of our tradition hand-holding but by the time we headed back to the boat, we were linking index fingers instead.
How many men would put themselves through that for their woman? My man did!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Mr. Monk goes to the beach
We went to the Temple this morning and then after lunch we went to Kaloko-Honokohau, a National Historic Park just outside of Kona, and went for a hike.
The trails go through lava fields, trees, past fish traps and fish ponds and also along a beach and tidal pool area. The lava fields are pretty monotonous but the trees and beach were interesting. On part of this hike we shared our trail with a monk seal. A nice highlight to the hike because I’d never seen one up close before.
Is this my best side?
Or is this?
Looking back along the beach
Sea cucumbers in a small tidal pool. I've never seen so many in one place before.
Driftwood above the beach
One stretch of the trail
The trails go through lava fields, trees, past fish traps and fish ponds and also along a beach and tidal pool area. The lava fields are pretty monotonous but the trees and beach were interesting. On part of this hike we shared our trail with a monk seal. A nice highlight to the hike because I’d never seen one up close before.
Is this my best side?
Or is this?
Looking back along the beach 
Sea cucumbers in a small tidal pool. I've never seen so many in one place before.
Driftwood above the beach
One stretch of the trail
Upcountry (really, really up)!
Monday we went whale watching and had a really nice time. We saw several whales and then our boat stopped in the middle of a large pod of dolphins before we went back in to the harbor. Lots of fun.
In the afternoon we did something new (for us). We went up to the observatories on Mauna Kea to catch the sunset and then do some stargazing. When you get up to 13,600’, away from any lights, clouds, pollution and heat, you have the perfect conditions for stargazing. We actually came back down to about 9000’ for the stargazing (and the oxygen- you can feel a little tipsy while you are up at the top). Wow, there were so many stars! Some parts of the sky were hazy or fuzzy because there were so many stars. We could actually see a swath of the Milky Way across the sky above us. We are far enough south to see some of the southern stars, too. Pretty cool! And freezing cold!
Us overlooking the slopes of Mauna Loa. Clouds cover quite a bit of the coast and inland portion of the island. Hilo is somewhere behind us.
Alien terrain between the upper slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
As the sun drops lower in the sky the shadow of Mauna Kea stretches out over 100 miles across the ocean.
Going...
Going...
Gone.
Some of the observatories; the Subaru telescope on the left, the Keck twins in the center and the NASA infrared telescope on the right; Rising up through the clouds above the observatories you can see Haleakala, on the island of Maui. You can see the top of Kohala, the northernmost volcanic peak on the big island poking up between the observatories and Haleakala.
In the afternoon we did something new (for us). We went up to the observatories on Mauna Kea to catch the sunset and then do some stargazing. When you get up to 13,600’, away from any lights, clouds, pollution and heat, you have the perfect conditions for stargazing. We actually came back down to about 9000’ for the stargazing (and the oxygen- you can feel a little tipsy while you are up at the top). Wow, there were so many stars! Some parts of the sky were hazy or fuzzy because there were so many stars. We could actually see a swath of the Milky Way across the sky above us. We are far enough south to see some of the southern stars, too. Pretty cool! And freezing cold!
Us overlooking the slopes of Mauna Loa. Clouds cover quite a bit of the coast and inland portion of the island. Hilo is somewhere behind us.
Alien terrain between the upper slopes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa.
As the sun drops lower in the sky the shadow of Mauna Kea stretches out over 100 miles across the ocean.
Going...
Going...
Gone.
Some of the observatories; the Subaru telescope on the left, the Keck twins in the center and the NASA infrared telescope on the right; Rising up through the clouds above the observatories you can see Haleakala, on the island of Maui. You can see the top of Kohala, the northernmost volcanic peak on the big island poking up between the observatories and Haleakala.Friday, January 16, 2009
Aloha again
I guess it is time for an update. We'll just take care of that while we sit here enjoying a pleasant tropical breeze looking out at the ocean and eating the fresh local strawberries that we bought from the farmer's market on our walk this morning.
Because of the storm, yesterday’s whale watch and snorkel were rescheduled. Today, the snorkel people called to cancel the rescheduled trip because the seas are still going to be too rough tomorrow. We called the civil defense hotline to check on lava viewing and the road is closed again today, so we are just having a really laid back day, with reading, blogging, etc.
Here are some pictures from the past couple of days.
This is a little still life, composed by Mother Nature.
Here is a misty view from the Pololu Valley Lookout.
And this is just something that I thought looked cool when we were there enjoying the view.
Now for some ocean views.
These are some of the waves from yesterday morning. And no, the guy in one of the pictures is not O.
Here is a little bird that watched us eat our lunch when we stopped during our drive over to The Park yesterday.
We went up and over the top of the island on our way home, stopping in Hilo to eat at our favorite restaurant, Pesto. I tried the Half-moon Shrimp Nachos with fresh sweet corn relish as an appetizer. Oh so Ono! And O loved his Wok-seared shrimp and scallops in a sweet chili sauce over angel hair pasta.
I love these trees that are across the street from the restaurant.
And, for all you turtle fans, we finally have the video in place in our previous posting. Aloha!
Because of the storm, yesterday’s whale watch and snorkel were rescheduled. Today, the snorkel people called to cancel the rescheduled trip because the seas are still going to be too rough tomorrow. We called the civil defense hotline to check on lava viewing and the road is closed again today, so we are just having a really laid back day, with reading, blogging, etc.
Here are some pictures from the past couple of days.
This is a little still life, composed by Mother Nature.
Here is a misty view from the Pololu Valley Lookout.
And this is just something that I thought looked cool when we were there enjoying the view.
Now for some ocean views.
These are some of the waves from yesterday morning. And no, the guy in one of the pictures is not O.
Here is a little bird that watched us eat our lunch when we stopped during our drive over to The Park yesterday.
We went up and over the top of the island on our way home, stopping in Hilo to eat at our favorite restaurant, Pesto. I tried the Half-moon Shrimp Nachos with fresh sweet corn relish as an appetizer. Oh so Ono! And O loved his Wok-seared shrimp and scallops in a sweet chili sauce over angel hair pasta.
I love these trees that are across the street from the restaurant.
And, for all you turtle fans, we finally have the video in place in our previous posting. Aloha!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
That's Better!
We are all settled in to our condo. Unfortunately, our room does not have the internet access we expected, so we will have to do all our connecting ocean/poolside.
We went to the Kona Temple this morning. It is a really nice little temple and it’s a little different than other temples we have been to.
While O was out there this afternoon I went out to look at turtles and tide pools. Very interesting. There are lots of little critters in the pools. In addition to the little fish in the tide pools, a lot of the stuff that looks like pebbles will start moving around if you stand still and watch for long enough.
Here is a picture of the view from the lanai of the temporary condo. Nice!
This is the view from the lanai of the condo we are in now. Not quite as nice, but still pleasant.
Here is a little bit of what we can see from poolside. There are worse places to do your email and blogging!
And now, a little turtle time for you to enjoy. The ocean was so loud, we left out the original audio. My apologies to the turtle. Once he saw me, he and I both decided we were too close to each other. I promise I'll be more considerate from now on.
We ate at Huggo’s tonight and watched the sunset from our table. Then we enjoyed the lights along the bay while we finished our dinner.
Tomorrow we plan to go north for part of the day, unless there is good lava viewing, which will mean a trip south instead.
We went to the Kona Temple this morning. It is a really nice little temple and it’s a little different than other temples we have been to.
While O was out there this afternoon I went out to look at turtles and tide pools. Very interesting. There are lots of little critters in the pools. In addition to the little fish in the tide pools, a lot of the stuff that looks like pebbles will start moving around if you stand still and watch for long enough.
Here is a picture of the view from the lanai of the temporary condo. Nice!
This is the view from the lanai of the condo we are in now. Not quite as nice, but still pleasant.
Here is a little bit of what we can see from poolside. There are worse places to do your email and blogging!
And now, a little turtle time for you to enjoy. The ocean was so loud, we left out the original audio. My apologies to the turtle. Once he saw me, he and I both decided we were too close to each other. I promise I'll be more considerate from now on.
We ate at Huggo’s tonight and watched the sunset from our table. Then we enjoyed the lights along the bay while we finished our dinner.
Tomorrow we plan to go north for part of the day, unless there is good lava viewing, which will mean a trip south instead.
Can we get there? Yes we can!
For those of you who have been anxiously waiting to hear how things turned out-
Our flight was delayed an additional 45 minutes after the 30 minute delay in my last post. When it came time for out flight to be called, they instead called the flight that had been delayed until after ours. You know the one I mean- the one that were originally scheduled to be on and transferred from to get on the earlier flight. The one that they had to pull our checked bag off of so that it could go with us. And this new and supposedly improved flight was delayed for as long as it would take for the plane to go to Kona and come back for us. There were a few seats left on the flight and all of us poor unlucky souls rushed to the counter to try to get them. I was fourth in line. By the time they took care of all the people who leaned over the barrier at the front of the line to talk to the agents (who should have been taking care of us), the seats were gone.
We are assuming that this is when our bag was probably pulled off of the plane to wait for the next flight. You know- the bag that had been pulled from another plane to be put on this one. And so, resigned to another delay, we went back to our seats.
After all of the lucky passengers had left the gate area, they called out three more names, including the “Saver” party. Hmm ... should I check it out.? I went over to the counter, where there was still a crowd. I leaned over the barricade and after about 60 anxious seconds of trying to get the agent’s attention, I asked if he meant “Seaver.”
Yes, Yes Yes! He did mean Seaver! I sprinted over to O with the good news. We grabbed our bags and ran to the gate and across the tarmac and onto the plane. Oh, the joy. After five hours of waiting (without food, because we were warned to stay near the gate, meaning we couldn’t go look for food elsewhere) we were on the plane. And there were still 7 seats left. Lo and behold, after a few minutes all of our power strip’s new friends got on the plane. We waited while our bag was moved one more time and away we went.
We got our car without incident and headed to the condo.
At the condo, we phoned the after hours helper to get the code to the lock box and headed to our unit. We entered the code and, you guessed it, it didn’t work. We tried again- no luck. O went back to the office phone to call for assistance while I waited at the door. He phoned me with a new code number. No luck! They had us try the same numbers several times (don’t ask me why, I don’t know what they thought might change). Then they gave us a new code and sent us to a different unit for the night. We went to the new unit, where there was no lock box to use the code on! So it was back to the office to call again. New code for yet another unit. Finally, success.
Needless to say, it was a long day, and I think our bag actually got to travel a lot more than we did.
Our flight was delayed an additional 45 minutes after the 30 minute delay in my last post. When it came time for out flight to be called, they instead called the flight that had been delayed until after ours. You know the one I mean- the one that were originally scheduled to be on and transferred from to get on the earlier flight. The one that they had to pull our checked bag off of so that it could go with us. And this new and supposedly improved flight was delayed for as long as it would take for the plane to go to Kona and come back for us. There were a few seats left on the flight and all of us poor unlucky souls rushed to the counter to try to get them. I was fourth in line. By the time they took care of all the people who leaned over the barrier at the front of the line to talk to the agents (who should have been taking care of us), the seats were gone.
We are assuming that this is when our bag was probably pulled off of the plane to wait for the next flight. You know- the bag that had been pulled from another plane to be put on this one. And so, resigned to another delay, we went back to our seats.
After all of the lucky passengers had left the gate area, they called out three more names, including the “Saver” party. Hmm ... should I check it out.? I went over to the counter, where there was still a crowd. I leaned over the barricade and after about 60 anxious seconds of trying to get the agent’s attention, I asked if he meant “Seaver.”
Yes, Yes Yes! He did mean Seaver! I sprinted over to O with the good news. We grabbed our bags and ran to the gate and across the tarmac and onto the plane. Oh, the joy. After five hours of waiting (without food, because we were warned to stay near the gate, meaning we couldn’t go look for food elsewhere) we were on the plane. And there were still 7 seats left. Lo and behold, after a few minutes all of our power strip’s new friends got on the plane. We waited while our bag was moved one more time and away we went.
We got our car without incident and headed to the condo.
At the condo, we phoned the after hours helper to get the code to the lock box and headed to our unit. We entered the code and, you guessed it, it didn’t work. We tried again- no luck. O went back to the office phone to call for assistance while I waited at the door. He phoned me with a new code number. No luck! They had us try the same numbers several times (don’t ask me why, I don’t know what they thought might change). Then they gave us a new code and sent us to a different unit for the night. We went to the new unit, where there was no lock box to use the code on! So it was back to the office to call again. New code for yet another unit. Finally, success.
Needless to say, it was a long day, and I think our bag actually got to travel a lot more than we did.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Where'd my karma go?
They just announced that our flight is delayed another 30 minutes. On a brighter note, a group of passengers just cheered because they just announced boarding for their flight (finally).
Hopefully the rest of us will cheer in 30 minutes.
Hopefully the rest of us will cheer in 30 minutes.
go! didn't
Well here we are in Hawaii. Actually in the waiting area for our flight to Kona on go! airline. This area has really lived up to its name today. Lots of people just like us are waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And playing cards and video games, texting, computing, playing tag with their kids and anything else that will pass the time and keep everyone sane. Flights have been cancelled and delayed because of an equipment failure. When you only have a few planes and one of them breaks, it really messes things up.
After we wrestled our way through security and settled in, we found out that our 5:30 flight was delayed to 7:55, then 8:30. About an hour after we settled in I found out that there is another Kona flight delayed until 7:30 and asked if there was room on it. There was, and they rebooked us and said they are moving our one checked bag, so we have our fingers crossed.
When we got here, there was one little refrigerated snack stand with lots of drinks, one sandwich and one salad. We grabbed the sandwich and a tiny bag of chips ($11+). It’s been two hours and the salad, not surprisingly, is still there.
O’s mini power strip, plugged in to one of the only visible outlets in the gate area, has managed to make lots of new friends. And as you can see, we have coughed up the money for an internet connection.
After we wrestled our way through security and settled in, we found out that our 5:30 flight was delayed to 7:55, then 8:30. About an hour after we settled in I found out that there is another Kona flight delayed until 7:30 and asked if there was room on it. There was, and they rebooked us and said they are moving our one checked bag, so we have our fingers crossed.
When we got here, there was one little refrigerated snack stand with lots of drinks, one sandwich and one salad. We grabbed the sandwich and a tiny bag of chips ($11+). It’s been two hours and the salad, not surprisingly, is still there.
O’s mini power strip, plugged in to one of the only visible outlets in the gate area, has managed to make lots of new friends. And as you can see, we have coughed up the money for an internet connection.
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