View From An Empty Nest

Aloha 2012

2012-01-18T01:31:00.001-07:00

Day Nine

Tuesday

This was our Temple day. It was a nice little session with 11 women and 4 men. Our plan for the rest of the day was to go north to a little town called Hawi and then have dinner at Roy's on our way back to Kona. This town is very remote and not on the highway that circles the island. We never quite made it there because we stopped to run errands and browse at several shops on our way out of town. Finally we decided that we would not have time to get to Hawi and back in time for our dinner reservation, so we just went to Waikoloa, where the restaurant is, and wandered around looking in all the shops until it was time to eat.The food was delicious, the service was excellent and the dessert was so ono. We always get the same thing: the Chocolate soufflé. It may look like just a simple chocolate cake with ice cream, but there's really nothing like it.

Eat your hearts out!!

Aloha 2012

2012-01-18T01:18:00.001-07:00

Day eight

Monday

This was our 'circle the island' day. We made our traditional PBJ lunch and headed south to loop around the bottom of the island, up the east side, across the saddle road between volcanoes and then down the west side to Kona. We check out places where we've been before to see what's new and what's 'just the same as always.' Occasionally we take a little side road to check out one of the many tiny towns off the main road.We stopped in Naalehu (the southernmost town in the US) at their famous little bakery to split a cream eclair and then headed through Punalu'u to check out the campground where we saw our very first mongoose when we camped there in 1989. (We also got VERY wet in this little campground)

Back on the road, we headed for Volcanoes National Park. And then it happened! Finally!

What!? What, you say?

Well, we finally got to see our very first, in the wild Nene. Actually four of them, just hanging out at the side of the road, browsing in the grasses there. The Nene is the State bird of Hawaii, and is an endangered bird.

Somebody's Father wisely asked, "Should I turn around and go back?" and that is why we are able to bring you this picture from our first Nene sighting.

Like all of our endangered Hawaiian wildlife pictures, it's a little fuzzy because of the telephoto and cropping necessary. But even though its fuzzy, it's still our very own Nene picture.
After the Nene excitement, and a chat with the classic over-the-hill, grey pony-tailed biker who was also watching the geese (I decided not to take a picture of him for my wildlife collection), we headed back down the road to Volcanoes National Park for our favorite little 'hike' through the tropical rain forest/lava tube. I love this little 5 minute stroll because there is a lot of lush vegetation and birds singing everywhere. You seldom see a bird, but you sure can hear them. Lots of them and lots of different kinds. One of these years, I'm going to get up early enough to get there before all the chattering people and record the birds.

Back on the road again, we stopped at Akatsuka's Orchid Gardens to admire the orchids and see if we could find a particular variety that I had decided to purchase this year. After much searching, and succumbing to the temptation of a few other varieties, we finally located the one I wanted, arranged to have everything shipped home, and headed to Hilo.

Not one of the ones we bought, but pretty!

In Hilo, we finally accomplished one of our long-time Hilo goals: We identified exactly which road in town would take us directly to the Saddle Road, a road that cuts quite a bit of time off of the drive around the island. This would have been easy if we had simply taken the Saddle Road from Kona to Hilo, but since we were driving the opposite direction, it involved weaving through town until we finally found ourselves on the Saddle Road, and then turning around and driving back in to town until we reached the main highway.With that mystery solved, we headed off along the Saddle Road, passing through the "saddle" between the two largest volcanoes, the military reserves, etc until we arrived in Waimea for a nice dinner at the Red Water Cafe: Kiawe-smoked baby back ribs for me and a Spicy Ahi, avocado, ogo, cucumber and lemon zest roll with a spicy aioli plus a seared Ahi entree for O.Then it was straight back to Kona and into bed.A big day and a big drive around the Big Island.

Aloha 2012

2012-01-18T00:09:00.001-07:00

Day seven

Day seven was Sunday. We went to church, ate in- grilled steaks, salad and fried rice- mediated a little tiff between my blog and my iPhoto, and then went for a walk.

Here is a pretty flower that I noticed by the BBQ grills.

On Sundays there is a big street market and concert on the old section of Ali'i Drive. The police block off the road, and artisans, craftsmen, restaurants, etc. set up stalls in the street. Here and there along the way there are also local musicians and bands playing. It's fun and festive. After we walked along the drive, we came back to the condo for popcorn, hot homemade cookies and a video.

And a nice Kona sunset from our lanai.

Aloha 2012

2012-01-17T11:49:00.001-07:00

What made the tracks?
I was waiting for a few responses before I told you what made the tracks, but I can see that you are all so mystified that you are speechless, except for Grandma Betty, who guessed it right off.And the answer is…..

That's right- a turtle. It had hauled itself up onto the beach not long before we got there.Stay tuned for more wildlife sightings and news of day eight in a later post.

Aloha 2012

2012-01-15T18:56:00.001-07:00

Day Six
Saturday

Today we went to the Kahuku section of Volcanoes National Park. We headed out at about 8:00 a.m. and arrived about 20 minutes after they opened the gate. This section of the park is only open on weekends. Once you pass the ranger buildings inside the gate it's basically undeveloped, except for a porta-potty at one trail head, and trail markers along the trails. The old ranch road is no longer maintained and is very rugged in some places and eroded and uneven every place where it isn't rugged. That's why we rented a Jeep for the day. We went quite a ways up the road last year in a sedan, and knew we (Meredith) didn't want to do that again.

This year, in a Jeep, we went all the way to the furthest trailhead.It was sunny and about 68 degrees with a light breeze. We hiked out to the rim of a sunken pit crater that has a pristine rain forest in it. It's an impressive sight. Then we took a different trail for part of the way back. We didn't see another person the entire time we were hiking. The area is very remote and very quiet. The only sounds we heard were the sounds of our own footsteps as we moved along the grassy trails (sometimes the grass was hip-high) and the sounds of lots of birds.These are some pictures of the trail.

This is a picture looking across the top of the pit crater.

We tried to take pictures of the steep sections of the road, but you can't really tell that the road is rough or steep.

After we returned the Jeep, picked up our car and had a nice shower at the condo we drove down to Keauhou to try out a new restaurant, Sam Choy's, for dinner. The food and service were good and the restaurant is up on a hill so that you can look out over the top of the town to see the ocean, so we got to enjoy a nice sunset while we ate.O's Seared Ahi salad.

Today's sunset taken from our table at Sam Choy's Restaurant.

Aloha 2012

2012-01-14T00:49:00.001-07:00

Day Five

We went for a big walk along the beach in the Koloko-Honokohau National Historical Park. Last year, and the year before, we saw new and interesting things on the beach. This year we added another new sight to our list. I could tell you what we saw, but instead I'm going to show you, and let you tell me how it got there.

I'll put up a picture with the answer in my next post. In the mean time, here's a picture of a little fella I saw on the rocks at low tide. I have no idea what it is, but I think it's kind of cute.

We spent the rest of the day hanging out, writing post cards, etc. Then after dinner we took our car to the parking lot at the airport and picked up a Jeep Wrangler so that we could have a high-clearance 4WD to go up the road in the Kahuku section of the Volcanoes National Park tomorrow (we'll return the Jeep and reclaim our car tomorrow afternoon).

Aloha 2012

2012-01-14T00:08:00.001-07:00

The Pressure of a Hawaiian Vacation

As I am sure you can imagine, there are some downsides to a couple of weeks in Hawaii. Everything isn’t just sun, fun and great food. Occasionally, we have to deal with pressure in a real way. Take yesterday for example. We had just embarked on our annual trip to Kealakekua Bay to enjoy the beautiful ocean, hang with the fishes and to enjoy a great lunch.

Preparation steps included bringing our snorkels, masks, finding towels that could leave the condo and remembering to actually put on a bunch of sunscreen. A couple of years ago we purchased a case for our digital camera that allows us to carry the camera below the water to take those great “backside of water” pictures. This year we actually remembered to bring the case so it could be used for its originally planned purpose. For some reason, last year we left the case in Utah. I am not sure what it did while we were gone, but it didn't fill the measure of its creation.

We had carefully tested the case in Utah to make sure there were no leaks or any other detectable problem with the sealing system. On the boat as we approached the bay M asked if I could get the case open so she could load in the camera. Evidently she had been working on getting the case open for a bit of time, but to no avail. She actually was beginning to doubt her own strength and was worried that old age was suddenly catching up with us.

Being the ever “macho” guy willing to open difficult containers, reach high places and otherwise impress my bride of thirty some odd years I took the case, operated the latch and discovered that I couldn’t open the case either. At first I was sure I was messing up the operation of the latch, but it really isn’t rocket science, depress tab, open container. It doesn’t seem that difficult.

After being a total failure for several minutes we decided to join forces, one holding on to the case and the other pushing the latch while pulling on the lid. We must have made quite a sight pushing and prying while giving each other “valuable” advise. It seemed like the little plastic camera case might defeat two mechanically literate college graduates.

All at once, with our combined efforts we finally heard a pop just like the cork of a long sealed bottle and the case finally succumbed to our will. With the case open and with the telltale “pop” we realized that the case which had been closed in that “rarified” air of 4500+ feet in Utah resisted being opened at the sea level altitude of our boat. The pressure of the air in Hawaii was just enough greater than the pressure of the air in the case that we almost couldn’t overcome the partial vacuum sealed up in Utah before our trip.

So, as you can plainly see, the “Pressure” of a Hawaiian Vacation can take many forms.

Aloha 2012

2012-01-13T00:23:00.000-07:00

Day Four
It's snorkel day!

This was our snorkel day. O started the day with his walk down Ali'i Drive and then we headed off to the Keauhou harbor.It was a great snorkel day. Lots of fish, good weather, good food and not too many people on the boat or in the water.

Look closely at the picture above. There is a large school of silvery fish that blend in with the silvery reflection of the surface of the water above them.
On the way back to the condo, I asked O to pull over so that I could take a picture of this special tree. Pretty cool treehouse!

No walls. Just a ladder, a floor and a little annual trimming! Fun and clever.

We decided to eat in instead of going out tonight. While O made a salad, I fixed rice and skewered the shrimp for the barbie. O's salad had lots of his favorite things:

My compliments to a budding "salad whisperer."

Aloha 2012

2012-01-12T02:24:00.001-07:00

Day One
This year, we arrived at the airport with MoreBacon in time for a little visit to the Sky Club and then we left her behind in the club because we had the earlier flight. It was an uneventful flight with a smooth connection in Honolulu (and a short visit to a cute little Sky Club). On the way to our gate we passed a gate with a lot of people waiting for the non-stop to Atlanta, and thought of DairyAir and her clan.Stopped at Target on the way to the condo so that we would have milk and juice before we went to the Kona Temple the next day.Grabbed a quick dinner at Bubba Gump's and then went for our usual walk along Ali'i to the pier and back to the condo.

Day Two
O went for a walk along Ali'i Drive (2.5 mi) before we went to the temple. We arrived at the temple extra early, but it is such a tiny temple that there really isn't a place to wait until it's almost time for the session to start (no chapel- you just go straight to the room for the session). After a while, our session started with 5 men and 10 women. We are often the youngest people in the session because most people our age are at work at 9:30 a.m. and today was no different. It was a nice session.After the temple, we changed our clothes and did some running around town and shopping- Costco, Kimura's (old fashioned fabric store), our favorite macadamia nut factory (not the famous one everyone thinks of) and KTA (grocery chain store).We ate at Huggo's, where O had a series of three different salads instead of an entree and I had a nice seared hawaiian sea bass with purple sweet potato puree and a haupia/lemongrass sauce. Then we walked it off with another stroll to the pier and back (about 2 miles from condo to pier and back).

Day Three

We had a lazy morning. O walked down Ali'i again, we had a buttermilk pancake breakfast in the condo and then went to the farmer's market for fresh fruit and salad fixins. After that we headed off to the other side of the island to pick up some premium vanilla beans. Jer has found us a Utah source for vanilla, and we'll use those beans for some vanilla adventures this summer, but for our Christmas Creme Brûlée we like the Hawaiian vanilla bean.After the vanilla bean plantation we went up through Honomu to visit an old friend:They've done a little work in the parking lot, clearing away a few trees, etc. For the first time that we can recall, we could see the top of the falls from the there. An interesting viewAfter a snack at Pesto in Hilo, we drove back to Kona and spent the evening hanging out, eating popcorn and home made cookies.All in all, a yummy day.

We're Back!

2012-01-12T00:51:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone,

Apologies to all. We've been absent for about 51 weeks with no good excuse except being busy with things that always seemed more urgent than the blog. And sometimes, we just didn't have blogging on our minds. Maybe we'll bring you up to speed on some of our adventures and misadventures from last year- celebrated a birthday in Wisconsin, took a road trip in New York, got laid off, went to girls camp, got a new job, enjoyed season 50 at the Shakespeare Festival, saw David graduate from Basic Training, bought a rental house, etc. Anyway, we're back. And back where we left off last year.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-27T15:02:00.000-07:00

Day twelve-

Last moonset of the trip. Awesome waves again this morning.

Today we have to be out of our condo by 11:00 a.m. but not at the airport until after 8:00 p.m. So we plan to spend afternoon driving around and killing time while we keep an eye on our car and luggage.

We went for our walk before sunrise this morning and spent the rest of our time doing laundry and packing and listening to the ocean while we work. We've managed to fit everything back into our bags! We've tossed all our restaurant left-overs loaded the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. We didn't finish all of our eggs, veggies and juice and we left those in the fridge. We'd like to think the condo cleaners will take it home and use it, but it will probably just get tossed.

Ready or not (mostly not), land of winter- here we come.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-27T14:35:00.001-07:00

Day eleven-

We started today by watching some nice waves. Then we went on our usual morning walk along Ali'i Drive and the ocean.

This is the seawall that we walk by at the far end of our walk. The barricades are always there to warn people that waves might pop over the wall and get them. The sidewalk there is almost always a little wet, and sometimes a lot wet. We walk to the far end of the seawall, cross the street and walk back along the road past shops and restaurants. The walk from the condo to the far end of the seawall and back to the condo is about 2 1/4 miles.

After that we spent today just hanging out, thinking about packing but not doing much about it, blogging, emailing and reading. We went for another walk in the early evening before we made a stir-fry dinner with the broccoli and some leftovers in our fridge.

There were several of these little birds by the condo when we left for our walk

This is another stretch of Ali'i drive, closer to the condo. Nice waves this evening.

Enjoyed another pretty sunset. Then we watched whales breaching just outside the bay as dusk settled in. Nice end to the day!

Last sunset of the trip

Aloha 2011

2011-01-27T13:57:00.000-07:00

Day ten- Today is another farmer’s market day. We also found a new shave ice shop. SF’s favorite shop went out of business a few days ago and this one will take it’s place for now. Not the best location so I suspect it will be out of business next time we come. Too bad. They have a clever idea for their little shop. In addition to shave ice and smoothies, they sell frozen yogurt by the ounce. You get your yogurt cup and fill it with whatever yogurt and toppings you want in whatever amounts you want. Then they weigh it and tell you how much to pay. They even have a soft-serve sorbet. Hope they make it until we come back.

We connected with an acquaintance from Etna, CA who now lives in Kona and made plans to have dinner with her at Huggo’s tonight. Then we got a call from an organic vegetable farmer (thanks for your help on that DD) who said that this afternoon would be a good time to come check out his farm. So off we went to Waimea. Again.

The farm was interesting and we had a good visit there. He grows several kinds of lettuce, cabbage and broccoli. His is not one of the farms that serve the restaurant community. He sells to Whole Foods and a couple of other big buyers.

We talked about his challenges, his organic strategies, his propagation techniques, his family, politics, etc, etc. Then he sent us off with some of his lettuce and broccoli. Yum!

Here is a picture of one of his lettuce fields, with a crew doing some weeding

We got back to town just in time to change our clothes and meet our friend for dinner. We had a really nice visit, plus good food and service. And we had a nice table by the water where we watched another great sunset.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-27T13:30:00.002-07:00

Day nine

Tuesday in Kona is always a temple day for us and that’s what we did today. Here is a picture of the orchids near the entrance to the temple.

We came back to the condo, changed our clothes and hit the road to go to Hawi, a tiny town on the northern end of the island. There are a lot of artists up there and we enjoy browsing the shops.

As we turned at a highway junction, I noticed a sign advertising a woodworking competition/exhibition about a mile away. Lucky us! The show was right next to one of our favorite restaurants and we had a little bite for lunch before we checked out the woodwork.

When we walked into the little gallery, there was the cabinet that SF had admired in Hilo. It was a traditional Japanese Tea Cabinet. It was amazing. Every surface, inside and out, was smooth as glass and the woodworker had done it all with a traditional Japanese wood plane and not one bit of sandpaper. So, so beautiful! So, so expensive! But when we went back to admire it later, it was gone; purchased by someone with an extra $6900 and space for an exquisite piece of woodcraft.

There was lots of other beautiful woodwork to enjoy, and then we headed for Hawi. We browsed our favorite shops for a while and then headed back for Kona.

We stopped in Waikoloa and decided to eat at Roy’s. So tasty. We usually eat at the Roy's in Waikiki on our way home, but this year we aren't going to O'ahu, so we're glad there is a Roy's on the Big Island. It's definitely worth your time if you ever find yourself near a Roy's.

Somebody's Father figured out how to take some shows from our TiVo and hook his laptop to the TV, so we enjoyed a little TV before bedtime while we listened to the surf.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-21T00:59:00.000-07:00

Day eight- We snorkeled again today. Had another ‘best ever’ time. Then we came back to the condo and showered and just hung out until dinner. Tried the Restaurant Kai. Not terrible, but didn’t live up to our expectations.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

And here's a little something that we thought a certain smoked meat fan would enjoy. Right in downtown Hilo. Who would have thought?

Aloha 2011

2011-01-21T00:48:00.001-07:00

Day seven- We caught the 9:00 block of meetings at the local chapel and then spent the day lazing around. We grilled steaks (that stayed frozen all the way from home) and ate them with more farmer’s market salad and brown rice that we also brought from home.

We brought our stove-top popcorn popper with us this year and we popped some corn and spent the rest of the day watching videos. A fun, relaxing day that ended with a beautiful sunset that we watched from our lanai.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-21T00:35:00.001-07:00

Day six- This is our new adventure day. We hit the road early and headed down to the southernmost part of the island. Hawaii Volcanoes National Park increased in size by 50% in 2003 when the park service partnered with Nature Conservancy to purchase a large ranch by the park. The Kahuku unit of the park is mostly undeveloped, but now open to the public for a few hours a day on weekends. We reached the Kahuku entrance just as it was opening for the day and spent several hours hiking across lava fields, hills and pasture land, and driving up some rugged stretches of road. It is beautiful there. We went along a primitive airstrip for a little while. The surface sparkled, and when we looked closer, we could see that it was covered with olivine, a green, glass like sand. So cool. We also went past the remains of some support buildings for a secret military radar station, a cinder quarry and out to a sunken, forested crater.

Someone had a little extra fun building this cairn

View from the top of a hill

Flowers on the hill. Too bad they're invasive species.

Some hitch hikers from the invasive clover. I had to change my socks before we went into an uninfested area of Kahuku

Looking across the sunken pit crater

After we left Kahuku, we ate our PBJs, tangerines, chips and fresh-baked cookies while we drove into the other section of the park to take our tradition stroll through the Thurston Lava Tube. I love this little walk because there are so many birds singing in the rainforest here. It’s especially nice early in the day when there aren’t so many people around.

We also made our traditional stop at Akatsuka Orchid greenhouse. So many pretty flowers. Somebody’s Father (SF) likes the tiny Oncidium orchids.

I love the spicy cloves and cinnamon fragrance of the Cattleya hybridMaui Plum ‘Volcano Queen.’

We hadn’t been to Lava Trees State Park for a few years so we took a side trip to see how the park renovations turned out. It’s a beautiful little park.

The ground in Hawaii can be uneven and I’m frequently looking down to watch my step. Sometimes it pays to look up! I almost missed this cool silhouette.

When we passed through Hilo we stopped to look for a cabinet that SF had admired. The cabinet was gone, but we noticed a little restaurant supply store where we did some fun browsing.

We stopped in Waimea to eat dinner at the Red Water Café again. We had eaten there on our first trip around the island on day 3. It used to be Fujimama’s and I’ll miss the wonderful food of the old restaurant, but Red Water Café has nice food and they won SF’s loyalty with their excellent sushi rolls. On day 3 he had a delicious roll of tempura Ono- cucumber roll wrapped in soy paper with crab on top. Even I thought it was tasty, and I’m not a fan of rolls. I don’t care for nori- a seaweek wrapper, but I liked the soy paper wrap. Tonight I had a nice Thai Caesar salad with calamari, shaved root veggies and lemongrass-Caesar dressing. Yum!

Aloha 2011

2011-01-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

Day five- We started today by sleeping in. Tough work, but somebody's gotta do it. Then we went for a long walk through the National Historical Park by the boat harbor and out across a long stretch of beach. We saw one smallish turtle from a short distance.

Don't know what crawled out of this hole, but I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as a beach gopher. My vote is some kind of crab.

After a shower we went out running errands, visiting favorite shops to see what was new and restocking our supply of macadamia nuts. We also did a lot of just driving around the back roads. We stopped for lunch at a new burger shop called ‘Ultimate Burger.’ They use local, organic ingredients whenever they can- beef, mushrooms, tomatoes, fruits and greens. It was tasty, but pricy for a burger. I’ll be interested to see if they are still there when we come back next year. We also stopped at a local quilt/needlework store and I got stuff to make a little wall hanging.

The colors and fabrics won't be quite the same, but it's going to be something like this. Just not as professional and perfect.

Neither one of us was very hungry this evening, so we ate in for dinner, snacking on left-overs and fruit.

And btw- there are lots of nice things about staying at a nicer, well-maintained condo complex. This morning when I looked out by the pool and BBQ cabana, there was someone out there scrubbing all the BBQs. Someone does that every day. Nice!

Aloha 2011

2011-01-20T16:30:00.002-07:00

Day four-

Today was snorkel day. Since Somebody’s Father doesn’t swim, and Somebody’s mother only swims well enough to say she sort of swims, we don’t go off snorkeling on our own. We have a snorkel cruise we really like and always use. So bright and early we headed out to Keauhou, just down the road a few miles, to catch the Fair Winds II morning snorkel/BBQ. Sun lovers head for the upper deck of the catamaran and we head for the shade in the airy main-deck cabin. Conveniently, this is also where the fresh fruits, eggs, muffins and bagels are located. The boat was only half full this time. Nice. We had a great time seeing all the fish and coral, and then enjoyed our grilled burger lunch. Tasty.
Somebody’s Father had such a good time he decided to do it again next week.

Napping after snorkeling and lunch

After lunch swimmers and sliders.

We got back to the condo with plans to have a lazy afternoon and evening. We’d been treated to the ‘fragrance’ of the durian the night before, wafting into the condo on a tropical breeze until we’d closed the lanai doors to go to bed. No doubt every passerby also got to 'enjoy' it while we were gone snorkeling. And there it was, calling to us as we opened the lanai doors when we got back.

I decided we didn’t need to wait one more day to test out the creamy, custardy flavor. It was time to take back the patio! We’d been relieved to find that our car smelled just fine once we unloaded the durian the night before, but I didn’t want to bring it into the condo, so I took a knife out onto the lanai and did the deed there.

We each took a tiny taste and agreed there was some potential there, but we couldn’t get past the smell and it’s affect on our sense of taste. I wrapped up that culinary adventure, tied it in a plastic bag and Somebody’s Father marched it straight out to the dumpster.

We went turtle watching on the beach by our lanai for a while. They are always fun to see and watch.

We ate in for dinner, grilling shrimp from Costco and enjoying it with a salad made with things from the farmer’s market and ciabatta with balsamic and evoo brought from home. Dessert was cookies made with homemade frozen dough that we had brought from home, too. Tasty.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-20T00:12:00.002-07:00

Day three- Today we drove around the island, visiting three farmers markets and checking out a few favorite shops along the way. In Hilo, we picked up a durian, a fruit that we had never seen or heard of before. Then we had lunch with an acquaintance from the Utah Dept of Ag, who recently moved to the Big Island to work with local beekeepers. We went to her office to see the work she is also doing with invasive pests. Next we stopped at the local extension office to see how it’s done in the islands. We took the saddle road between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea to get back to Kona and enjoyed a really nice sunset.

There is plenty of snow on Mauna Kea right now but the telescopes kind of blend in in this picture.

And by the way- DD was disturbed to hear about our durain and the fact that we had it in our car. “No problem,” I said. “We have it in the trunk.” Not good enough, according to DD. There are evidently two groups of people when it comes to the durian: those who have a deep appreciation for the fragrance, and those who find it overpowering and disgusting. It's politely referred to as distinctive, strong and penetrating. We can attest to that. It was penetrating, in a rotting flesh sort of way. Somebody’s Father considered ditching the thing beside the road somewhere, but curiosity about it's reputation for amazing flavor won out and we ended up driving all the way back to Kona with it (for three aromatic hours),rolling down the windows frequently and then putting in on the lania to ripen. As far from the door as possible. Here is an exterior view of the durian. And yes, it is as fearsome and spiky as it looks. The market vendor had to wrap it in a thick layer of newspaper so that we could carry it.

Stay tuned for more on our adventures with the durian later.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-19T00:39:00.000-07:00

Day two- This is our temple day. After a session at the temple, we did our grocery shopping, stopping at Costco, Safeway and a local grocery store. We spent most of the afternoon doing that. Dinner was at Huggo’s, one of our favorites- nice food, good service and pretty sunsets.

Aloha 2011

2011-01-18T23:37:00.002-07:00

I know, I know! We've been here for 8 days and not one post.

We'll have to do something about that. And eventually, you'll be all caught up. I make no promises on how far off 'eventually' is.

Day one- Our trip started with a little pre-flight excursion in the Sky Club. We had arrived at the airport early to put MoreBacon on her flight and had a few hours to kill. Then we figured if we were going to pay for internet so that Somebody's Father could exchange vacation hours for work hours and save the vacation hours for later, we should put the internet fees toward a Sky Club membership- internet, food and comfy chairs included. And that is how we ended up computing and eating muffins, bagels, Greek yogurt and juice while we waited for our flight to board.

The flight to LA was full, but on the LA-Kona flight we were next to an empty seat and enjoyed spreading out. We landed in rainy weather, got into our condo and unloaded all our stuff (frozen food still frozen, btw. One of the perks of flying in the winter). Then we wandered along the waterfront looking for a place to grab a little dinner.

Strike one!

2010-11-08T19:26:00.000-07:00

So yesterday I went to the nursery with M and spent the entire time there. At first, we just sat by ourselves on one side of the cultural hall and M eventually found a car to play with, but still off by himself. When they got out the play dough, I helped him make his way over to the activity table and he stayed pretty involved after that. By now you are probably wondering why his isn't on the Grand Nana blog. The reason is that it's really all about me!

You see, for the last 15 or 20 minutes of nursery, they were doing bubbles and I was helping. At one point, I decided to make a wide arc of bubbles for the kids to chase. So I swung the wand in a big, wide swoop just as one of the nursery leaders walked past me from behind.

I plastered her, hard, right in the face with my gloppy, goopy hand- clenched into a fist around the drippy bubble wand. Sure hope I don't see her sporting a shiner next week.

I can't remember what appalling thing I did in October, but I'm sure I must have done something. What with this, and the full-on mooning of that unsuspecting woman at the Grand Canyon in September, it's been a really stellar autumn for me. Look out New York, here I come!

How high are the mountains, how wide is the sky, how narrow are the lanes?

2010-10-13T21:46:00.000-06:00

from Somebody's Father

Living in the west is usually a great experience. When people come to visit our office they are totally blown away by the mountains right out our door. To be really honest it is stunning to see the mountains rise up right against the city. While we are at about 4500 feet a 12,000 foot mountain still means 8,000 feet of what appears to be almost straight up. I guess anyone from a place without mountains would be impressed. Even if you come from a place with mountains like California, these are so close to the city they seem bigger.

    Also in the west is the low humidity. Of course that means less rain, more irrigation and very few of the days where sweating provides no relief from the heat. Low humidity also brings one other amazing thing. The last few days we have had almost perfect blue skies from east to west, north to south. My office window is perfectly positioned to see the highest mountain in the area with 180 degrees of beautiful blue skies.

    Another western thing is our love is our cars and given a lower population density we glory in our roomy freeways. But, not so much right now in our town. They are rebuilding 25 miles of freeway and by my calculation my exit is right in the middle of the project.

    But you have to give them credit, they have tried very hard to minimize the pain and suffering during the 3 year construction project. The project is 14% complete and every day is a new adventure as they continue to move the traffic from one side of the road to the other.

    They seem to have settled the traffic on the West side for about 5 miles of my commute and on the East side for the other 3 miles. Now you have to understand they have made the road a bit wider (10 feet or so) but they now have 6 lanes of traffic (three in each direction) where three lanes were just a few months ago.

    Bottom line: the lanes are not large size or even medium size. I drive a little Prius but sometimes it seems like the lane is 6” smaller than my little hybrid car. Needless to say I always stay in a side lane so I can’t get caught between two trucks. This nightmare scenario has played out for me in the past when I occupied a center seat from Boston to Salt Lake sitting between 2 people who could only very kindly be described as “generous”. I didn’t like it on the plane and am pretty sure I wouldn’t like it on the freeway.

    So, every day I enjoy the beautiful mountains and the vast blue sky outside my office window, with bookends of terror on each end as I commute 9 miles through the ever changing landscape of construction.

Walking- It isn’t just for fun any more

2010-10-10T18:05:00.000-06:00

    I don’t remember when I started to walk. I am pretty sure I was there but no remarkable memories are recalled. There is some anecdotal evidence that I must have been very enthusiastic about the effort since some family members referred to me by the nickname “horsepower.”

    However it happened, I did get to the point where walking has become one of the joys in my life. As far back as I remember, walking is something I can do well. I can remember being 3 or 4, slipping out of my bed at home, sneaking out of the house and walking the 50 or so yards over to my Grandma’s house. I knew she would be up, even if my mother wasn’t. At that early age walking gave me independence at least equal to, if not greater than, the independence I later felt when the first driver’s license was in my pocket.

    Growing up on a farm gave wonderful opportunities to walk. Everything is so open on the farm. From the house to the “bottom” of the home place was a half mile of wide open fields. When I was little, sometimes I would be sent to get the dairy cows and bring them to the barn to be milked. This would mean walking to the field where they were, finding the one farthest away and encouraging them to head up the lane to the dairy barn. It easily was a half mile round trip on a good day. I didn’t appreciate the joy of walking (in fact I may have been known to complain from time to time)

    As I got older moving sprinkler hand line was one of my big tasks. I was good at it. After all, it is just walking, picking up a pipe, walking, putting the pipe down and walking. No great mental effort required (except to keep the line straight) and lots of walking. A great combination for me.

    Now, when I look at my Dad having trouble walking, worries come into my mind. I remember my Great-grandmother in a wheelchair and my Grandmother in a wheelchair when we went to visit her as I was older. I have to face the possibility that I may have problems walking as the years continue to pile up. Some days my legs hurt, sometimes they even wake me up. So, I worry.

    There is a very positive side to this “hyper sensitivity” to everything leg related. I have discovered that if I get out and exercise every day, my legs hurt less. So, I push myself to get out, even on those days I would rather stay in bed for just a little longer.

    I don’t know how many years I will continue to have the joy of waking with my sweetie up the shady canyon trail, along a beach in Hawaii, or down into, across and up out of the Grand Canyon, but I am not taking one day for granted.
--Somebody's Father

And now...a few words from Somebody's Parents (AKA somebody's father)

2010-10-02T22:21:00.000-06:00

Blogging and NPR Pledges
This is pledge week at our local public radio station. It appears that the preferred technique to solicit funds is a very technical process called “guilt”. Today’s afternoon drive time guilt message solicitation was from the “This American Life” host Ira Glass. Ira’s piece pointed out the fact that 9 out of 10 NPR listeners do not pledge to the station they enjoy.

    He has decided that NPR was going about it all the wrong way. He said his new plan was to just be happy with the current one supporter in 10 by reducing expenses to 1/10 their current levels. To illustrate he called the newspaper in his home town of Chicago and ordered 10 papers offering to pay for one. Obviously that didn’t fly, so he concludes that more people need to pledge to NPR. He conveniently gave the phone number to call and pledge your financial support at the end of his piece.

    Someone close to us has requested an increase in the rate of blogging. They even threatened to withhold their witty, imaginative and entertaining blogs as “hostage” until others delivered new blog entries. Obviously, they could develop a career as a NPR pledge shill if they weren’t totally invested on the path to become an attorney. (similar but slightly different career paths)

    But as I do with NPR near the end of the pledge drive when I cave and pay up, I have buckled under the social stress and pressure. Here is a blog entry. There actually may be others tucked away in my keyboard if I can just find them.

    So for the rest of you, get with it and BLOG. While you are at it, you better pledge to your local NPR station as well. Sophisticated entertainment like “Wait, wait, don’t tell me” doesn’t come cheaply you know. (Well maybe it is cheap, but there is an unwritten obligation)

    I only wish the my actions were motivated by my altruistic desire to blog and not the intense guilt heaped upon me by some unnamed “bacon” blogger.

Closing in on the end

2010-09-22T16:10:00.001-06:00

Hello readers!

Lots has happened since my last post. I've been to New York and back, discovered two inches of water in my basement when I returned, tended to all the details of getting rid of the water and getting things back to the way they were before, spent three days at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival and hiked across the Grand Canyon from rim to rim. And I might tell you about all of those things, but not today.

Today, after four weeks of having six beds, two dressers, a desk, assorted household goods, eight doors, several extra dining chairs, a large, old TV and miscellaneous food storage items crammed into our family room, we finally got the replacement carpet installed so that we can start putting some of the stuff back where it belongs.

We have to leave space around the edges of the rooms so that they can install the coving ('baseboard' made out of carpet). They are cutting and binding the coving today and tomorrow they will come and install the coving in two of the bedrooms. Then it's, "Hello family room and goodbye clutter." Whew!

I am determined to get rid of some of the stuff instead of putting it back (Anyone interested in some used kids paperback books?).

Wish me luck!

About that bruise on my leg

2010-08-14T20:31:00.000-06:00

So I have been sporting a pretty impressive bruise on one leg, just below and to the side of one knee. The kind where I have to wear capris or long pants or a dress that is at least mid-calf length so that I don’t have to constantly explain “what on earth happened” to cause that big bruise. It was really a bizarre case of one little thing leading to another. And a certain future lawyer finds the explanation of the “incident” so entertaining that I have been instructed to post it here for all to enjoy.

So last week, I went to Girls’ Camp. As the cook. Cooking meals for 150 people. For 5 days. But that isn’t where I got the bruise.

You see, Girls’ Camp cooking requires lots of advanced planning, shopping, preparation, cooking, freezing, etc. And I spent lots of time doing all that planning, shopping, preparation, cooking, freezing, etc. But that isn’t how I got the bruise.

You see, because I was so busy doing all that stuff for Girls’ Camp, a lot of other things went undone around the house and yard. A lot. And most of it is still undone. But one thing did get done, early in the morning on the day before Girls’ Camp.

You see, there is this shrub bed in the back yard, up against the house. And in this bed there is a nice drip irrigation system. And two days before Girls’ Camp, I could here a noise in the shrub bed, early in the morning. The sound of water spraying out under high pressure. I went out to check it and saw that a distribution head for several drippers had cracked and water was blasting away the soil near the base of a little tree that I planted last year. Clearly, something needed to be done. But that isn’t how I got the bruise.

You see, I didn’t have time to fix it right then, so I hurried into the garage to the control box to turn off the drip system. The garage was full of piles and boxes and coolers of Girls’ Camp stuff that I had to navigate my way through to reach the controller. But that isn’t how I got the bruise.

You see, I had to hand-water the potted plants that would have been watered by drippers before I went to church and turn the controller back on after church to water the rest of the yard. And I knew that no one would want to do that little watering job while I was gone. And I knew that my new poinsettia plant, and my big old poinsettia tree, and my one little rosemary plant and my two very large rosemary shrubs would not survive Girls’ Camp unless I did something about the problem. But that isn’t when I got the bruise, because I didn’t take care of it then.

You see, I waited until the day before Girls’ Camp to fix it. I dug out the parts that I needed and went out to the shrub bed, early in the morning, and unhooked everything from the distribution head. And I took the cracked distribution head off of the riser. And worked and worked to get the connectors all plugged into the head so that I could screw the head onto the riser and hook on the drip lines. And I leaned over the edge of the porch to screw the new distribution head onto the riser. And that is when that particular circuit turned on. And a large, tidy column of water rose into the air. And I backed up a little to get out of the way. And I was out of the way of the tidy column of water. But I wasn’t out of the way of all the very untidy water that hit the underside of the eave of the house and came splashing and splattering and pouring back down on me. And so I got out of the way of all that water. Quickly. Actually, so quickly that I kind of lost my footing as I stood up and started to lose my balance at the top of the porch steps (only two steps high). And as I staggered down the steps with water showering down around me, trying to keep my balance and avoid the water, my leg hit the corner of one of my big pots of rosemary. And after two or three seconds of something that must have seemed like a clip from a slap-stick movie, the action came to a stop with me, still on my own two feet, my 4’ potted rosemary plant completely off the porch and on its side at the bottom of the steps and water still showering down around me at 6:00 in the morning.

And that's how I got that bruise on my leg.

Dear fellow traveler

2010-03-20T09:26:00.002-06:00

To the person who reached her destination yesterday only to discover that she was mysteriously missing a nearly-new looking athletic shoe:

It's under the drinking fountain by the women's restroom near the end of concourse D in Salt Lake City.

A classy Lady!

2010-02-12T19:10:00.001-07:00

Today we got to use our Thursday tickets for the Statue of Liberty for the ferry and a tour of the base/monument and displays. Tickets to climb up into the crown are sold out weeks in advance, so we couldn’t reschedule that part. We spent so much time in the monument looking at things that we ran out of time to go to Ellis Island. Maybe we’ll have a chance again someday.

Looking back at Manhattan from Liberty Island

Replica of one of Lady Liberty's feet

The original torch

Looking up from the monument base into the inside of the statue

Liberty's shadow in the harbor

Headed back to Battery Park

After we took the ferry back to Battery Park, we walked over to the World Trade Center site and then over to Times Square to check it out and also have a “real New York dining experience” at a place called Junior’s. Good food, interesting people and classic New York cheesecake for dessert.

Then it was back on the subway to catch the LIRR back to Babylon.

Babylon, oh Babylon!

2010-02-11T20:46:00.000-07:00

Here we are in New York. We were among the lucky few who were able to fly from SLC to JFK on Wednesday. Our flight was the only flight the entire day that wasn’t cancelled due to the big Northeastern Seaboard storm the shut down much of Washington, D.C., New York and points in between. Our flight was delayed for an hour, so we actually flew out just before 1:00 a.m. on Thursday, but we weren’t complaining. By the time we reached JFK, one runway was open and roads were being plowed. So things mostly worked out for us.

We arrived at our New York family's home (actually North Babylon, on Long Island) just in time to help finish up with shoveling the driveway. School was delayed for two hours, and the kids headed off to school when we were done.

After some visiting, and phoning to confirm our suspicions that the Statue of Liberty- our big event for the day- was among the many things closed due to the storm, we adjusted our plans and took the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) into the city to take a look at Brooklyn Law School and just get a feel for the transit system. We also took a peek at a little corner of Central Park, stopped in at the iconic Apple Store on Fifth Avenue and headed back to catch the LIRR for the Babylon station.

Hats off and lots of appreciation to Emily, Lily and Jacob. The girls gave up their bedrooms for us and Jacob slept on the floor and let his sisters use the beds in his room. So after over 40 hours on the go, we finally headed to bed for a cozy and welcome night’s sleep

iPhone tip

2010-02-11T08:19:00.002-07:00

In a pinch, when it's cold and you don't want to take your glove off, you can work your iphone with your nose. But it's a lot easier if you can use someone else's nose.

Chicago, Chicago!

2010-02-07T15:04:00.005-07:00

Here are a few interesting pictures from Chicago:

That's right- our very own photo-op with Carl Kasell! (Eat your hearts out, "Wait, wait..." fans) Great fun. Gotta do that one again some time.

Part of the downtown skyline reflected on a massive scuplture in a park along Lake Michigan. That's me in the middle of the reflection.

Below are some pictures from a snow sculpture contest in another park further down the street. We were there before the sculptors were finished, but it was still pretty cool to see everything they were doing.

There was a dog sled demonstration next to the sculpture contest. The dogs were all so excited and eager to run and pull.

This guy and his dog are Chicago's only Iditerod finishers

It was a fun trip. I liked the part of Chicago where we stayed and I loved, loved, loved the public transit.

Here's a tip

2010-02-07T15:00:00.002-07:00

Here's a little tip:

If you're having trouble sleeping, don't turn to a spell-binding mystery novel to help solve your problem.

You'll regret it the next day. Trust me.

Chicago

2010-01-28T22:41:00.001-07:00

8 degrees. Feels like -4.

Friday, day twelve- Aloha 'oe

2010-01-23T20:42:00.004-07:00

We stayed at the Waikiki Parc. Slept in. Walked down Waikiki beach. Repacked our luggage because we picked up a new carry-on suitcase. Then we checked out and drove out to the Dole Pineapple Plantation, a classic tourist trap with demonstration gardens, a huge maze that we’ve never gone in and a very large gift and snack shop with all things Dole and Pineapple. If you can think of it, Dole has found a way to put their name or pineapple logo on it.

We split a Dole Whip and then headed back to town for dinner at Roy’s. As we got closer to the Parc, where we had left our bags checked at the bell/valet desk, traffic was terrible and the tiny streets around our hotel were jammed with cars. A line of buses, bumper to bumper, nearly blocked our access to the hotel. A broken water main a few miles away had diverted traffic right down the street by the hotel.

We finally got down the little road and the valets said we could leave our car there while we went across the street to dinner. By the time we were done with our delicious dinner and Roy’s famous chocolate soufflé, traffic was a little better and we were able to make our way to the airport.

The beautiful fresh flowers in the ladies room at Roy’s. Typical of the entire restaurant.

By the way, the staff at Roy’s and at the Parc are great. Everyone at the Parc was professional and attentive, every time we needed something. And every employee at Roy’s says hello if you pass by them on your way to your table, and thanks you for coming if you pass by them as you are leaving. And the service was great between the coming and leaving, too. So impressive at both places.

Miles, the best valet/bell staffer in Honolulu

The plane took off in 75 degree weather at 10:15 p.m. Hawaii time and we arrived in chilly Salt Lake City at 6:50 a.m. Saturday morning.

Thursday, day eleven

2010-01-23T20:36:00.003-07:00

We flew to Honolulu today. The handle on one suitcase broke when we got it from the luggage return.

There are lots of things to do on the island of Oahu- beach stuff, Pearl Harbor, Polynesian Cultural Center, snorkeling, hiking, gardens, watercraft thrill sports, museums, etc. There are also lots and lots of people. And lots of restaurants, bars, clubs and nearly limitless opportunities for shopping- from cheap to appallingly expensive.

We prefer the other islands, but the overnight visit is totally worth it because we get to visit with the H family, admire three amazing and darling kids and catch up on what’s new in their busy lives. It’s a tradition that’s probably coming to an end. Papa H is graduating from medical school this spring - hurray and congratulations!- and they’re just waiting now to find out where he’ll do his residency. We’re rooting for any place where we can still come for a visit now and then.

These pictures give you an idea of why we prefer the Big Island

Beach next to our condo in Kona

Waikiki beach in Honolulu

Wednesday, day ten

2010-01-23T18:50:00.008-07:00

This is basically our last day of real vacation. We fly to Honolulu on Thursday morning to see friends and fly home on Friday night. Any day that you have to get yourself and all your stuff to and from an airport isn't really a vacation day.

Novell needed O for the morning so we swapped our early morning beach hike for an afternoon one. I took a few pictures and did some packing while O worked. One of the cruise ships was offshore today.

Our cell phones don't work in the condo, but the internet is great. When he is working and talking to Boston at the same time, O sits on the lanai with his phone resting at the far edge of the table where it can pick up the signal. There's no electricity out there, so we've stretched the power cord from a living room outlet, through the door and over to the computer on the little table that we've scooted to the side to put a little slack in the cord. One perk- the best office view around!

This is the little beach beside the condos. Perfect for kids and families.
You can see our condo building in the last picture.

The Kaloko-Honokohau National Historical Park is just north of the boat harbor. There are the ruins of ancient villages, areas with petroglyphs and a coastal trail that goes out along the beach from a fish trap to a fishpond and then inland across some lava fields. We parked our car at the trail head side of the parking lot and headed out.

We started here

And walked along here

And through here

And looked at petroglyphs here

To get here

and here

and here (another perfect little beach for little kids)

Then walked to the far end of this beach

Passing birds like this

And this turtle

Before we looked at sea urchins in tidal pools

And then we turned back and retraced out steps. Before we left the park, we talked to a ranger who told us that the turtle is a repeat visitor to the beach. She is exceptionally large. Her shell alone is 38” long.

We went to Huggo’s again for dinner. I had a nice little Caesar salad with local baby romaine lettuce, just like last time. O always has the heirloom tomato and sweet onion salad. Huggo’s has lots of nice fish dishes and they are famous for their teriyaki steak, too. Last time I had fish served with a yummy Hamakua goat cheese polenta. This time I went for the teriyaki steak and asked our server, Francisco (from Santiago), if he could get it for me with the kabocha squash risotto instead of the steamed rice. He did and it was nice.

There was a vog haze that made the sunset very colorful.

Tuesday, day nine

2010-01-23T18:38:00.002-07:00

Today is another Temple day. Last Tuesday there were only a few people, but this time there are lots of people. We recognize some of the people we met at church and they recognize us. Traditional handshakes/kisses to the cheek are exchanged.

After the Temple, O spends a few hours at Novell, and then we decide to give the shop in Hawi one more try.

Novell West. . . Way, way west

We call the owner on her cell phone. Yes, she is feeling much better and is at her shop today. So we hit the road again. Just like our previous two trips to the area, there is an intermittent light and misty rainfall as we get closer. But since it is late in the day, the sun is low in the sky and shining through most of the time and we get to enjoy a spectacular series of rainbows as we approach the little town. As with most beautiful things, a camera can’t do it justice, but I have O pull over and give it a try anyway.

At times, the rainbow approaches an intensity somewhere between iridescence and neon brilliance, and for a few minutes forms a complete half-circle, touching the ground on both ends, and far too wide and close for my little camera.

We’ve pretty much decided against the Koa bench before we get to the shop, but get the Koa and driftwood floral stands that we admired and head over to Waimea for dinner on our way back to the condo. As we drive over the rolling pastures and ranchland between the two towns, we see our first double rainbow with the bows so close they touch and look like one big rainbow with a repeating series of colors. The camera can never catch what we see, and with no safe place to stop and take a picture in the winding road, we just admire it and make it a memory.

Monday, day eight- A whale of a tail

2010-01-22T02:57:00.002-07:00

We spent the morning whale watching with Captain Dan. We’ve gone whale watching with him many times and always had a good time. This was another good excursion. From past experience, we knew how to snag our favorite seats above deck at the front of the boat.

All whale watches follow pretty much the same routine. Motor around looking and listening for signs of whales, and then stop and watch when you find one. Most times you’re lucky, and a few times your not. We were reasonably lucky this time. We saw several whales and spent time at each sighting to wait for them to come up again before moving on. At one point, Captain Dan cut the engines and put a hydrophone into the water, warning us that there probably wouldn’t be anything to hear. But we could hear one whale, quite a ways away. Not as spectacular as the recordings we’ve heard, but still a pretty cool real-life experience.

The other highlight of the cruise was seeing three flukes at once. We saw three whales together and they all started to dive at about the same time. Just as the first fluke slipped beneath the water the other two whales had their tails up, too. Sorry folks, no picture of that. If you’ve ever been whale watching, you know that most of your pictures turn out to be vast expanses of water with a tiny, shiny black spot somewhere if you’re lucky. I had decided not to try to catch everything with my camera, since it is mostly wasted effort. Even with a really nice camera, by the time you see the whale, and then find it in your viewfinder, the whale is frequently back under the water. My camera is a little pocket-sized cybershot. And at the time, I was peering between two people who had scurried to the front of the boat to stand in front of me with their cameras.

Typical whale shot- look carefully, there really is a whale there!

This is what another shot like that looks like after it's been cropped- a lot.

At one point, we were cruising past the opening to the harbor and noticed that there was a lot of dolphin activity so we paused there to watch the spinner dolphins for a while. They are so interesting to watch and were very close all around the boat so that we could hear them surface, breath and splash. Fun!

After the whales, we spent a little time with Novell and then headed up to Hawi (1-1½ hrs.) to look at a piece of furniture. Aargh! The shop we had browsed in on Thursday was closed. The shopkeeper next door said the owner was sick. We killed time by slowly, slowly browsing every other little shop in the tiny, tiny town of Hawi, and then headed to Waimea for dinner at Daniel Thiebaut’s. Nice food but not the greatest service. We also decided that this was the place where one of our credit cards went missing when we couldn’t locate it later in the week. Couldn’t convince the restaurant to check the places we thought they should check. Decided to let the cc company deal with it for us.

Sunday, day seven

2010-01-22T02:39:00.002-07:00

We started the day with buttermilk pancakes at the condo and went to church 9:00 (We usually just have fruit from the farmer’s market for breakfast, and generally skip lunch, because we like to have dinner early while we watch the sunset, but we splurged with the pancakes today). Then O spent some time “at the office.” We ate the leftovers of different restaurant meals for a mid-afternoon lunch. In the late afternoon, we walked into town. They have a sort of street fair every third Sunday and close a section of the main drag, Ali’i Drive, through the old part of town. We saw several bands along the street and this one made me think of a certain lady I know who’s looking to make a career change. She used to be quite the drummer, so I thought I’d offer her this little bit of inspiration.

Great climate, casual dress code and you can set your own hours!

Watched the sunset from start to finish while O communed with Novell.

Saturday, day six- Hellooo, Mama!

2010-01-22T02:13:00.003-07:00

After our morning walk and some Novell time for O, we drove around to the Hilo side of the island. That’s right- again! But this time we went south around the bottom of the island to get there. Here is a picture of a turtle that we saw by our condo when we started our walk.

Our first stop was at Kimura’s, and old-fashioned, old-time fabric store in the little town of Kealakekua. It’s a fun shop, crammed with literally thousands of bolts of fabric filling every nook and cranny. The walls are lined with built-in wooden shelves with all sorts of notions and odds-and-ends (ranging from cookware to cosmetics), ancient and modern, familiar and mystifying, that are organized in a way understood only by the proprietors. No electronic or automatic anything (except the register and card-swiper). Everything is measured on a single little table by hand. If you want to see what fabric stores used to be like, before they became design superstores and craft centers, check out the H. Kimura Store- a genuine blast from the past. We got another piece of Hawaiian-print fleece (yes, there really is such a thing) and some tablecloth material. Then we headed on down the road. After another 30 minutes or so, we were back into the long stretches of bleak, barren lava that cover so much of the western and southern part of the island.

Shortly before reaching Naalehu, we could see South Point, southernmost point in the United States, through the vog (volcanic smog), and just faintly make out part of the wind farm there. Then we pulled in to town and stopped at the Naalehu Bakery, southernmost bakery in the United States. We had a little local ice cream and hit the road again, driving past the southernmost Post Office, the southernmost church, the southernmost...well, you get the picture.

We stopped in Volcano National Park for a quick walk through the Thurston (Nahuku) Lava Tube. It’s always a nice little hike because of the rainforest birds that are always singing. Their songs echo and fill the secluded little pocket of trees and ferns (We tried recording their songs with our iPhones. Check back later to see if it worked). It only takes about 15-20 minutes to hike down, through and back up again. It’s hard to believe that the wet little rainforest tucked into the low area of the lava tube is just a few hundred yards from areas that are a lot drier and almost barren. It’s one of my favorite spots on the island.

After leaving the Park, we pretty much cruised right up through Hilo and along the Hamakua coast and over to Waimea again. This time we stopped in Waimea to have dinner at (insert the strains of the Heavenly Choir here....) Fujimamas. That’s right, they’re back! (Yes, this is another food posting. Part of our fun when traveling is eating at favorite restaurants. It’s amazing we don’t have to hire someone to strap us to furniture dollies and roll us around town while we’re here) Anyway, back to Fujimamas. They’re an Asian fusion and sushi restaurant. We were disappointed to see that they were no longer open in Kona last year. Then we heard from our hiking guide that there was a nice restaurant in Waimea called Fujimamas. Our ears perked right up! Apparently the owners were tired of commuting from Waimea to Kona for work every day, so they closed the restaurant in Kona, spent a few months looking for a location closer to home and then reopened in Waimea. They had actually been in Tokyo before Kona and Waimea.

We split some wok-seared asparagus and a shrimp/ avocado roll. Then O had a tasty ahi entrée and I had an amazing seafood chowder- shrimp and scallops in a velvety sweet corn, coconut and lemongrass “bisque.” Absolutely, amazingly onolicious! I actually toyed with idea of getting some as takeout a couple of days later, when we were in town again, but restrained myself.

After dinner, it was another drive through the dark, with more “Wait, Wait...”

Friday, day five

2010-01-22T01:17:00.007-07:00

Today we had planned to go to the Vanilla Farm on the Hamakua Coast (northeast) for the “Vanilla Experience Lunch and Tour” and then we were going to drive down south of Hilo for a boat ride out to see the lava from the ocean side before we came back to Hilo to eat at one of our very favorite restaurants, Café Pesto, in the S. Hata building right in town on the bay. We decided to cancel the boat tour because the lava had stopped flowing into the ocean after a small earthquake a couple of weeks ago and hadn't resumed yet. Maybe next year. But that did take off the pressure for dashing from the farm to the boat.

Our day started with a little Novell time for O, and then we headed up through Waimea and around and down the Hamakua coast.

We enjoyed our time at the Vanilla plantation. Lunch was delicious- vanilla everything. We enjoyed “orange-vanilla marinated chicken breast and caramelized onions atop herbed focaccia bread with Vanilla-Mango Chutney aioli, Way South West roasted red potatoes, farm fresh organic greens with Vanilla-Raspberry Vinaigrette, crumbled feta and Vanilla-Honey-Peppered Pecans, Vanilla Lemonade and Hawaiian vanilla bean ice cream." The grower talked to us about his farm while we ate. Then we went down to one of the shade houses to see how they grow their vanilla. Tasty and interesting visit.

We didn’t go into the shade houses that had blooming or fruiting vines, but here are pics from a house with vines that are about a year from production. Vanilla orchids are an understory plant, climbing on trees where they are partially shaded. The pvc stands take the place of the trees and give the vines a place to climb.

On our way down to Hilo, we made a stop at Akaka Falls State Park for our traditional hike to the falls. To get there, you take a road through the little, tiny town of Honomu and out across the abandoned cane fields where there are now a few houses and small farms. You would never guess there is this fabulous little park because it is actually a ravine out in the middle of the old sugar cane fields and you can’t even tell there is something there when you reach the parking area. Once you leave your car and start down the trail, though, it is a completely different world with lush tropical vegetation covering the walls of the ravine, and smalls streams, gentle cascades and mini-falls all along the trails. Every step of the way, you can hear the gurgling, trickling and burbling of the water that is draining into the ravine. There is another nice waterfall along the trail called Kahuna Falls, but we didn’t take any pictures of it this year. Here are a few pictures of Akaka Falls from our hike this year.

For the past couple of years, the falls trail has been partially closed while they renovated the trail. Finally this year, we were able to walk the entire loop trail again.

We had time to kill when we got to Hilo so we drove on through and out to Akatsuka’s Orchid house (on the road to Volcano National Park) to look around before dinner. There are always interesting things to see there and you can look around for free (sorry, orchid junkies, but we didn’t take any pictures there this year). Then it was off to Hilo and Café Pesto.

Enjoyed and early dinner at Café Pesto. They have absolutely the best calamari appetizer ever- thick, meaty pieces of coconut-crusted calamari on an arugula/won bok and pickled ginger slaw with a honey-mustard dipping sauce. O has been anticipating this for months. The portion is generous and as usual, he had the calimari appetizer and one of their excellent, local-fresh salads to make a meal of it. I had my favorite, the half-moon shrimp nachos with a local sweet corn relish in a mild chili dressing.

The nachos are actually flat, crispy wonton wrappers topped with smoked mozzarella, shrimp and cilantro sour cream. Spoon a little corn relish on each nacho and Mmmmm! It’s just amazing. Pesto’s is also known for their fabulous pizzas and they have assorted pastas, salads and a few meaty dishes as well. A little upscale, but worth it! We left with a piece of their coconut tart with vanilla cream sauce to enjoy later. A very foodie day.

We made the drive back around and through Waimea, at the bottom of the northern part of the island and down into Kona in the dark, listening to “Wait, Wait....Don’t Tell Me!” podcasts, laughing and enjoying the lights of the different small towns and resorts along the highway.

Thursday, day four

2010-01-17T23:09:00.010-07:00

Today was our big hike day. We met our guide at 6:45 in the morning, drove for an hour and a half up the Kohala coast to Hawi and then transferred to a 6-wheel-drive Pinzgauer to off-road through abandoned sugar cane fields, streambeds and gullies to get to our trailhead.

We hiked around past several pretty waterfalls. It was overcast and cool for most of the time but we never got rained on. Here are some pictures from our hike.

The Pinzgauer

One of the streams we crossed

We came to a very muddy stretch and had to get out of the Pinzgauer while our guide took it through a spot where he thought it might slide off the trail. Once he got it up the slope, we all climbed back in and we were on our way again.

A pretty overlook near the trailhead

This is what a lot of the trail was like

There is an old irrigation flume running through the mountains and hills in the part of the island where we were hiking. Some stretches were carved out of the cliff faces and other parts were tunneled through the mountain. We floated through a section of the flume a few years ago before part of it collapsed during an earthquake. The flume is slowly being repaired now and maybe some day we will be able to "flume da ditch" again.

A couple of times the trail passed sections of the flume

Here are a few of the waterfalls we hiked to

The view from our picnic spot at the end of our hike

It was a nice hike. We browsed through some shops and galleries in the little town of Hawi while our guide moved all our stuff from the Pinzgauer to the van. We got back to Kona in the late afternoon, got cleaned up and walked about a mile up the road to try a new restaurant. All in all, a day well spent.

Wednesday, day three

2010-01-17T20:13:00.008-07:00

Today we did our traditional snorkel trip on the Fair Winds II. Still great service and the best burgers on the sea.

It was the “maiden voyage” for the waterproof housing that we got for our new little camera this Christmas. I still have some learning to do with the new camera and housing, but it's going to work out nicely, I think. There was lots of interesting stuff to see, even though the water was a little stirred up by heavy swells outside the bay. Here are a few pictures from Kealakekua Bay.

A few pretty fish

Some nice coral and sea urchins

The under side of water

For dinner, we went to a luau a little way up the coast. The after-dinner show was like most luau shows, but the food was above average with plenty to choose from.

Sunset silhouette at the luau

Dinner’s almost ready

Tuesday, Day two

2010-01-17T19:31:00.005-07:00

We started our day by going to the temple. It is a nice little temple. Here is a picture of the flowerbed near the door.

Then we went shopping at some of the exotic local shops- Safeway, Target, Costco (home of the 4-lb. can of tuna), did a little hanging-out, and ended the day at Huggo’s, our favorite Kona restaurant.

Here are some pics of the view from our table at dinner.

Aloha 2010- Day one

2010-01-17T19:16:00.004-07:00

Hello everyone! Most of you know that we arrived in Paradise on Monday evening. You’re probably thinking, “Blog, already!” So here is a quick update.

Monday, day one.

The flight over here was pretty uneventful. Strong headwinds that made us just late enough to miss our connecting flight to Kona, but we already knew that might happen and were prepared to wait another hour for the next flight. We took our chances and went “stand-by” instead of paying extra for confirmed seats. Turned out to be a good choice since there were plenty of empty seats on the flight.

We didn’t have any trouble checking in this year and had plenty of time to walk up Ali’i Drive for a quick dinner at Bubba Gump’s.

Here is an early-morning view from our condo lanai

We sat at a table by the ocean and watched the surf.

Birthday boy

2009-12-06T17:01:00.005-07:00

Yesterday was a certain boy’s birthday. He started the day with waffles before he went to a holiday show with jugglers, acrobats and trained pigs. After lunch we had birthday singing, presents, cake and ice cream.

Moo had the first taste of the Lightening McQueen cake

After cake and ice cream we went to the village market for a free horse-and-carriage ride and then back home for resting time.

We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse, where he had his favorite, a hamburger. Then we all gave him a big birthday ‘yee-haw.’

Catching up

2009-12-05T18:08:00.004-07:00

OK. So it has been a while since I've posted. Just to bring you up to speed, here's a little sample of the latest, such as it is.

We got our Christmas lights up before the weather got miserably cold. We even managed to wrap lights on a couple of trees. This was the learning year for that and boy did we learn a lot. But they look OK and all the lights work. If I get a picture of the yard, I will post it later.

Our garden had a pretty good year, but we were ready to end the season. We picked the last of our snap peas about a week before Thanksgiving. There is still lettuce under a row cover, but I haven't checked it lately to see if it is still alive.

Our youngest chickadee has returned to the nest for a while.

Correction

2009-10-29T20:03:00.003-06:00

OK. I made a little error in the previous post and now I have corrected it. So if it didn't make sense to you before, read it again. If you hadn't read it before, just take it as it is now.

Thank You

2009-10-29T13:34:00.004-06:00

I listened to an interesting presentation about actual vs. perceived value today. Here are two thoughts gleaned from the video.

“We have plenty of opportunities for impulsive spending, but none for impulsive saving.”

“We need more appreciation for the things we already have.”

click here for 16 minutes of fascinating, thought-provoking and very funny observations. (You can always click “pause” if your free time doesn’t come in 16 minute chunks.)

Handy (wo)man

2009-08-25T21:30:00.003-06:00

In the interest of providing a post for all you blog-deprived readers, I submit this trivial episode from today.

This morning, at about 10:30, when I went to the curb to bring in our green waste can, I noticed that quite a bit of water was running along the gutter and into the storm drain by our house. Being a bit of a don't-waste-water stickler, I looked up and down the street to see what was going on. Several houses up the street the sprinklers were running.

Later (at noon), that neighbor happened to come by my house and commented that her sprinklers had been running since six in the morning and she couldn't get them to shut off. She had phoned her husband, who told her to "push the red button twice," but that hadn't solved the problem. I suggested she push the red button and wait several seconds before pushing it again. When she got back to my house, the sprinklers were still running.

After we finished what we were doing (nearly 2:00 p.m.), I went over to her house with her and looked at her timer/controller. The display said "OFF." And, amazingly, I knew what was wrong! Most of you would know what was wrong, too, but I usually depend on my own personal sprinkler man to solve any technical problems with our irrigation. Somehow, I must have overheard enough manly sprinkler talk to deduce that if the controller was off but some sprinklers were running, there must be a valve stuck open. Mumbling random phrases about solenoids, grit, cracks and debris, we went in search of the valve box.

After searching the entire yard without finding the valve box, we gave up and called for help- "Honey, where is the valve box?" And then my little Scottish friend and I, with some dashing through the sprinklers and climbing behind bushes, uncovered a valve box (buried under a layer of mulch), pried it open with an assortment of screwdrivers (it didn't want to open because chunks of mulch were jammed around the lid), found the right valve submerged in several inches of murky water (yuck! I told myself that all the spiders that were in there had probably drowned) and turned it off.

Of course, I have no idea whether I broke the valve, or made things worse, or what. But at least my neighbor's soggy, boggy lawn is drying out.

The valve will have to be a job for her own personal sprinkler man.

Tally-ho!

2009-07-21T22:02:00.003-06:00

Today I went to a lesson with one of the boys. (I was going to refer to him as 'J', but we have three Js. I guess we could call them Big J, Middle J and Little J. Big J was the pupil today.)

Big J is taking riding lessons and he is quite the horseman. He had missed about 6 weeks of lessons because of his trip to Japan, but he still remembered everything he was supposed to do.

With a saddle

Uncinching the saddle (look closely, those are his legs by the front legs of the horse)

Bareback

The final dismount

The little rat that could

2009-07-20T13:15:00.003-06:00

As mentioned before, we have a little house guest- NoDoze the rat. She doesn’t live in the best of circumstances because the only place we can keep her is in a small cage at the far end of the kitchen counter.

Since her cage is small, we have to give her other opportunities to get some exercise. One way she gets exercise is by spending time rolling around the house in a large plastic exercise ball. Sometimes she'll explore and other times she will follow us around. She loves company and attention. Twice now, she has surprised us during exercise time.

The first time was a few weeks ago when she had been rolling around for a while and it was time to put her away. I went looking for her and this is what I found:

Exercise ball open, no rat in sight!

Fortunately, as I turned around to look for her, she poked her nose around a corner and waited for me to pick her up.

Saturday, she was having exercise time again while O and I were working in the garage. She has a hard time getting the ball to go over ridges and bumps so we don’t worry about her getting over the thresholds and out the doors. We had the door to the garage open because we were going in and out a lot. Suddenly we heard a clatter at the bottom of the garage steps. Somehow she got her exercise ball over the (rather tall) threshold and must have overshot the steps because she landed at the bottom of the steps without rolling down them. She didn’t seem worse for the wear. All we can figure is that she must have had the smarts to know she needed a running start. Too smart for her own good, I guess.

A fun visit

2009-07-20T12:55:00.001-06:00

We had extra company on the Fourth of July: relatives from my side of the family.
What fun!

Goodbye, old friend

2009-07-20T12:43:00.004-06:00

I mentioned the tragedy that struck our willow tree in April. It’s been a great tree, providing welcome afternoon shade on our driveway. We been trying to find time to remove the tree, and finally the weather and many peoples schedules came together.

Going . .
Going . . .

But not really gone.

Is that Jesus?

2009-07-19T22:28:00.003-06:00

The little guy spent the day with grandma a few times this spring. Once, we went to Uncle D and Aunt K’s garden to take care of a few things. The fence between the garden and the yard next door is a short chain link fence, so you can see the other yard really well. Uncle D’s neighbor was on his back porch, off and on, sitting in a chair or standing and smoking. His thin brown hair was pulled back and tied behind his neck and I think he may have had a slight beard. He was thin and seemed weak. He was wearing a simple, thin, mid-calf length robe and slippers. A couple of times he walked to a shed at the back of the property, and Little J watched him with interest each time the man was outside. Then, while the man was walking to the back of his yard again, little J turned to me and asked, “Is that Jesus?”

Cute, humorous and thought provoking. Here are a few of my thoughts.

First, J is two, but he has a mental image of what Jesus looks like. And he thinks it’s no big deal to see Jesus walking around in the yard next door. Second, why do so many artists portray the Savior as emaciated or feeble? Third, why is my first reaction to chuckle to myself when J asked the question? I mean, aside from the cigarette, why couldn’t it be Jesus? That’s probably the attitude that caused problems for people during Christ’s ministry.

Maybe, when I’m irritated with someone, or feeling superior or judgmental or whatever, I should ask myself, “Is that Jesus?”

Junior Gardener

2009-07-19T22:23:00.003-06:00

JJ is learning to be a great little garden helper. He developed a passion for picking strawberries last year, and still loves to check the berry each time he comes over.

One day in early June, he helped me pick sugar snap peas and strawberries.

The annual barbecue

2009-07-19T22:18:00.003-06:00

We hosted our annual Memorial Day barbecue and had a nice time. Good food, good weather and good company.

Three days with the boys

2009-07-19T22:06:00.003-06:00

There was a special day in late May. In the morning, we attended a special presentation of music and readers’ theater. In the afternoon we went to the graduation ceremony for a special group of pre-schoolers.

We also got to enjoy two days of soccer with our biggest boys before they went to Japan. Talk about tough on the field.

Give us this day our daily salad

2009-07-19T22:00:00.003-06:00

Before we started our road trip I told my neighbors that they could come over to our garden and help themselves to our lettuce. I figured the weather would warm up and the lettuce would get too mature and bitter while we were gone. So I figured someone should use it up while it was still good.

When we got home, it didn’t look like anyone had taken any lettuce (it turned out they had once, but you couldn’t tell). And the weather never got warm while we were gone so the lettuce grew and grew, but didn’t get bitter.

So we ate our way through it, one tasty salad at a time.

What a difference 19 days make

2009-07-19T21:49:00.003-06:00

When we left on our trip across the country, there wasn’t much happening in our yard. Some of the trees were leafing out, the grass was starting to green up, some of our shrubs and other plants were getting buds.

I went out into the yard the morning after we got home and look what I found!

In case you missed it

2009-05-10T10:02:00.005-06:00

Some of you have heard about the destructive snowstorm we had on April 15th. Trees that were in bloom or already leafing-out held on to so much snow that they were damaged. Lots of broken limbs, split trees and tipped trees. I didn’t have time to write anything about it then, but if you weren’t here to see what happened, here are a few pictures.

Looking east from our front porch

Looking northwest from our porch

The willow that shaded our driveway. It was too badly damaged to leave in place. We will have to remove it and plant a new tree.

Loading up what broke away. It is early evening and most of the snow has melted.

A few other trees in our neighborhood

Road trip- day nineteen

2009-05-10T10:01:00.001-06:00

We slept in today. After breakfast we went to the Sierra Trading Post outlet store and browsed for a while. We each got a few things and then we got back on I-80 and headed for home. Once again, we saw lots of antelope and lots of grazing land, but almost no farming land because Wyoming is dry and hilly and rugged. We arrived home safe and sound in the early evening.

Two people, 3413.1 miles and 11 pounds. Overall, a very good road trip.

Road trip- day eighteen

2009-05-10T09:54:00.003-06:00

Today we went to the Winter Quarter’s temple in the morning. It is one of the small temples but it is built into a hillside so there are two stories. This temple has beautiful stained-glass windows.

After the temple, we changed our clothes as the Winter Quarter’s visitor’s Center and hit the road again.

Nebraska has some of the flattest landscape that I have ever seen! The only thing that blocked our view of the horizon was the trees that grew along the rivers and streams.

It was very, very windy for most of our drive through Nebraska and into Wyoming. The car would bounce around in the wind sometimes and our average MPG dropped from 27 to about 20 because of the wind. Every time we passed a big truck we could feel the car speed up a little while we were in its ‘wind shadow’ and then slow back down again once we finished passing the truck. The wind wasn’t so bad by the time we got to Cheyenne and we stopped there for the night.

Road trip- day seventeen

2009-05-10T09:27:00.006-06:00

We started home today. On our way out of town, we drove through Sheboygan Falls to look at the upper and lower falls on the Sheboygan River. Pretty, but not tall falls like we have in the west. They are more like rally big riffles and short drop-offs. After a quick look at the falls we took the back roads through farm country until we reached the freeway.

Once again we saw lots of planting going on. In the fall there will be lots of corn to harvest. Another thing that the farmers in Wisconsin and Nebraska harvest is the wind.

There were lots of farms with windmills on them. Sometimes you would see a factory or warehouse with its own windmill.

When we stopped for the night in Omaha, we went to the pioneer cemetery by the temple to take pictures of a sculpture. The sculpture is a couple standing over the open grave of their child. Behind them the roots of grief reach up for them.

The sculpture sits over the graves of an unidentified child and several other pioneers.

Wherever there was a marked grave, the paving around the sculpture was placed around it.

Road trip- day sixteen

2009-05-06T20:39:00.003-06:00

We all got a lot done today- planting, pruning, cleaning, shopping. Fortunately, we got all of our jobs done before it got cold and windy. Then we had some heavy rain a couple of times this evening and also a hailstorm.

Today's project: a handrail for the deck steps- little boy height.

Underway

Support crew

Finished project

Tomorrow, we hit the road.

Road trip-day fifteen

2009-05-05T19:12:00.002-06:00

Yes, I know I skipped day fourteen.

Yesterday we ran lots of errands and got some things ready for gardening. then we went out for dinner at Horse and Plow, a local eatery.

Today, we ran some errands, fixed three flat tires on a stroller, started working on a nadrail for the steps on the deck, had a waffle-fest and a video chat with Tita.

Big news of the day- During our waffle-fest dinner, we saw a fox in the backyard! Pretty cool.

According to Bean

2009-05-03T16:42:00.002-06:00

This is a picture of where we are sleeping while we visit with LL and family. It's a hide-a-bed sofa. We do not call it "our bed" because Bean corrected us once and told us it was Tita's bed.

On Thursday, Bean got into bed with us to snuggle for a minute. Then he started scooting our pillows to each side and explained, "This side is grandpa's, this side is Nana's and here," he said as he pointed to the middle, "is where Tita will sleep."

And that's the way it is.

Road trip-day thirteen

2009-05-03T14:21:00.004-06:00

Today is Sunday and this Sunday is a special day for the Bean. He gave his very first talk in Primary today. Mama wrote a nice little talk for him and he practiced a lot before we went to church.

Bean marched right up to the front to sit by the podium. He gave a nice talk about baptism.

Moo is looking forward to giving a talk someday, too.

After church, LL made a yummy shredded pork burrito bar. Everyone loved it.

Bug has been wowing everyone by letting go of whatever he's holding on to and practicing his standing. He's almost ready to believe he can do it!

It's been a nice Sunday.

Road trip-day twelve

2009-05-02T14:37:00.004-06:00

A nice, laid-back kind of day. Mostly sitting around, watching the tots be tots. In the early afternoon we went for a walk. Bean showed us how he will walk to school and showed us where the door to his classroom is. He is excited to start his little summer K-4 class next month.

Here is Javier by door number 9 where he can go in to his classroom

Moo found a tennis ball at the playground

We spent a few minutes on the play equipment at the school and then we walked over to the village market for a donut.

Road trip-day eleven

2009-05-02T11:35:00.002-06:00

Today was yard sale day. In one of the nearby towns, a group had organized a multi-home yard sale. Lots of other people in town had also done yard sales. We drove to a few homes that were out of town and then went in to town and parked in front of one garage sale and then walk to eight others that were nearby.

Bean and Moo each had a dollar to use for a treat and they decided to shop instead. Bean got a Ty snake and Moo got a softball and a red basket. While the boys and Nana walked to the farthest yard sale, Mama went and got the car to park it nearby. Next to this yard sale was a great park with lots of fun play equipment. Nana and the boys walked over to the park while Mama made a surprise purchase for the boys. Then we went to a sandwich shop, played at the park again and drove back home.

Road trip-day ten

2009-05-02T11:31:00.001-06:00

Today we went on the Kohler plant tour and then hung out with the boys until late afternoon. The tour was interesting. When Papat came home, we all went to an indoor water park to check it out for an hour. Bean and Moo were unsure at first, but once they discovered the kid’s slides, they were hooked. Papat stood at the top to help them onto the slides and Grandpa stood at the bottom to catch them. Mama, Nana and the little guy were at the bottom to cheer. By the time we left (two hours later) Bean and Moo were tubing down the big slides with anyone who would take them and Bean even went down the tubeless, single-rider slide twice.

Needless to say, everyone got to bed late, but the boys had one of their best nights ever! I think they will be taking Mama and Papat there again.

Road trip- day nine

2009-05-02T11:30:00.000-06:00

This was the last day of the conference- a half day. Today’s sessions:
Collaborative Planning for a Healthy Community” and “Planning’s Impact on Neighborhood Crime.”

After the last session, I skipped the closing speaker and we headed out for Wisconsin. We arrived in time to play with the boys before bedtime and they were big helpers while we unloaded the car.

Road trip- day eight

2009-05-02T11:27:00.002-06:00

This was the last full day of sessions. Today’s sessions:
“Agricultural Conservation Easements,” “Zoning for Healthy Foods,” “Cleaner Water Through Improved Farming Practices” and “Public Markets and Street Vendors.”

It was a nice, sunny day and we went for a walk downtown and along a greenway to a neighborhood around a little lake (really a large pond), then back up into the downtown area until we found a place where we wanted to stop for dinner. It was a nice evening.

Here is a picture from the park at the little lake

Road trip- day seven

2009-05-02T11:05:00.002-06:00

Today’s sessions:
“Sustainable City Planning,” “Small Wind Energy System Ordinances,” “Closing the Gap In Diverse Communities,” “A Planners Guide to Community and Regional Food Planning” and “Latino Communities Across the Americas.” Plenty of variety.

After the sessions we joined another Orem Commissioner and walked over to the riverfront district. We crossed the Mississippi on an old stone bridge, walked up the opposite side along a parkway and came back across on a different bridge. Then we walked up Nicollet Mall, a street that has been turned into a pedestrian area with extra–wide sidewalks, buses and a narrow area where cars are limited to about 10 mph.

This is a picture of us near the start of some small falls

The old stone bridge

A very tame deer that must live along the river parkway

The Mary Tyler Moore statue on the spot where her character, Mary Richards, tossed her tam into the air at the end of the opening credits to the show

Road trip- day six

2009-05-02T11:04:00.001-06:00

This was the first full day of conference sessions. There are a little over 4000 people attending the conference. After the keynote speaker I went to sessions on ‘The Job of the Planning Commissioner,” “Site Plan Review for Officials,” “Planning for Urban Agriculture” and finished up with “Religion, Zoning and the Courts.” There was something interesting in each one.

There was a big opening reception in the evening. My ticket was free, but a ticket for O would be $70! So we dashed down the street to a little bistro to get him some dinner. Then I went to the reception (can you say LOUD and crowded?) and ate a little roast beef, prosciutto-wrapped shrimp in apricot glaze, lemon chicken and bacon-wrapped scallops. There weren’t really many fruits or veggies, so I guess it was a good thing I had eaten a salad while O ate his dinner. I didn’t get $70 worth of value out of the event, probably because I didn’t take advantage of the open bar or cold beer on tap.

Road trip-day five

2009-05-02T10:22:00.007-06:00

After our walk at The Mall today we loaded up our stuff and headed into downtown Minneapolis. We parked at the Hilton Minneapolis and walked the Skyway system over to the Convention Center to pick up my conference packet. Then I went to a session for people who had never been to the conference before while O hung out in the hotel lobby until check-in time. The Hilton is a nice hotel- very close to the convention center and connected to the Skyway system. It is in the heart of the most walkable part of downtown Minneapolis.

Here are some pictures of parts of the Skyway system. It is really convenient if you need to get around downtown. The Skyway hallways connect many different buildings on the second floor level. You can walk for miles from building to building without going out onto the streets. In the buildings that have Skyway connections, there are usually small shops, restaurants, and open plaza-like areas that look like you are outdoors (even though you aren’t) all the way along the hallways, except where the skyways go over the streets between buildings. These businesses, courtyards and plazas all open onto the hallways. Most of the restaurants in the connected buildings open onto the skyway on one side and onto the street on another side. One of the skyways that I used every day went along a parking structure. Instead of just opening into the structure, the hallway was still a carpeted 'concourse' with windows on one side and doors into the parking area.

This is a picture of the part of the Skyway system that we could see from our room on the 14th floor. I put lines on it to show the path that I used to go to the conference each day. The Convention Center is the red building at the top.

Road trip-day four

2009-04-24T20:10:00.004-06:00

Today was a casual day. We tried to sleep in, but renovation workers on the property nipped that in the bud. Then O had an 8:00 a.m. phone call. After that, we grabbed a little breakfast downstairs and headed over to "The Mall" (The Mall of America) for our morning walk. We had a good walk, did a little browsing and shopping and then came back to the motel for a quick shower before we went to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple. It is a cute little temple, a lot like the Kona temple but without some of the local detail (such as the wood carved trim and tropical motif in the sculpted carpet) that we enjoyed when we were on the Island.

Yesterday when we arrived in Minneapolis it was 88° and sunny with a soft, steady breeze. It was pleasantly warm this morning when we went for our walk. When we got back to the motel after the temple, it was considerably cooler and windier with some clouds. By the time we walked back to the motel again after dinner it was cold and very windy with a dark, overcast sky. It looks like the cold, wet weather, that is supposed to be here during the conference, has arrived.

I forgot to mention our six little traveling companions. They have traveled the 1200 miles or so without complaint, tucked in along the right-side cargo window where they would be on the sunny south side of the car for our eastbound trip. They’ve gone from little sprouted cotyledons to cilantro seedlings with true leaves during their cross-country adventure. Today they spent their time on a sunny windowsill in our room.

We hope they will all “hang in there” with us for 5 more days until they arrive at their new home in Kohler, Wisconsin.

Road trip-day three

2009-04-23T21:19:00.004-06:00

Well, here we are in Minneapolis. It was a mostly uneventful drive from Murdo, South Dakota. We had stayed up late the night before, so we slept in, went for a walk and then hit the road.

We crossed over the Missouri River on the Lewis and Clark Memorial Bridge.

Here is a not-so-great picture of the river and the bridge. I took the picture from a park at a rest stop/visitors' center after we crossed the river. I wanted to go out past the edge of the park and into some low underbrush to get a better picture that showed the whole bridge, but a nearby sign changed my mind.

We left the rollings hills and by the time we reached Minnesota we were out onto the broad, flat plains. It was windy today, and on the plains, the wind can really get going. We had to be careful when we opened the car doors at gas stations and rest stops because the wind would try to whip the doors open. It isn't as windy or as flat in Minneapolis as it was out on the open plains.

It's planting season here in Minnesota. We saw lots of huge corn planters- 24 rows wide- pulled by big tractors. I remember driving the cab tractor for O and Uncle Charlie, pulling the roller to get a field ready to plant. We thought it was a nice, good-sized tractor, but these were bigger. The fields in Scott Valley were smaller. There are thousands of acres in the valley, but they are all divided into fields that were 40, 80 or maybe 100 acres in size. Here the fields went on, unbroken and undivided, for farther than you could see sometimes.

As we were driving along through corn country (acually still in South Dakota), I saw something strange in the distance that seemed to rise up out of a corn field. Whatever it was, it was big. Finally we were close enough to see that is was a massive steel sculpture. I grabbed my camera, held it out the window (at 75 mph) and snapped a shot as we went past. It was pretty cool. I don't know whether a sculptor made a deal with a farmer or a farmer earns a living growing corn and feeds his soul sculpting/welding steel during the winter, but there is was. You can get an idea of how big it is if you compare the sculpture to the size of the fences nearby. I didn't notice the giant hammer until after we were past. It was the bull's head that got my attention from several miles away. There were several other smaller sculptures around the big ones, but you can't really see them in this picture. Pretty cool!

Tomorrow we will go for our morning walk at the Mall of America and then go to the St. Paul temple. Then it will be time to get ready for my conference.

Road trip-day two

2009-04-22T22:24:00.006-06:00

Two National Monuments and a National Park in one day. Plus lots of miles through the Black Hills and out across the Plains.

We went to Devil’s Tower and walked around the base of the tower. It is a short, pretty little trail. If we are ever there again, we may have to try one of the other trails. We didn’t see any climbers while we were there, but it is a popular climbing destination.

Then we headed out for South Dakota and the Black Hills. There we went to see Mount Rushmore.

After Rushmore we hit the road and headed east again and out onto the plains. As we neared Murdo, where we had decided to stay for the night, we noticed some strange geologic formations a few miles from the freeway. Then we saw a sign for the exit to Badlands National Park. Off we went to see the Badlands. If you are old enough to have seen the old western movies on Saturdays, then you know the Badlands is where those low-down varmints go to hide out after they rob the bank, or whatever else it is that low-down varmints do. And now we know why it was such a great place for outlaws to disappear.

One thing about the Plains that we don’t get to see in the Rocky Mountains: the horizon- way off in the distance. We really don’t get to see very far off tucked into the mountains the way we are. I forgot just how far you can see when there aren’t mountains in the way. It seems like you can see forever once you get out of town and into the open. If you look at the second Badlands picture, you can see a little of the horizon there. At sunset, with a few clouds, it is really something.

And one more thing about the Great Plains. You can’t really see them when you are out just walking around, or even in town, but there are lots of insects along the highways and byways. LOTS of them.

That isn’t a meteor shower over the parking lot. That is what our windshield looked like from where we were sitting. And we had already cleaned the windshield once today! Imagine our delight when we way this little amenity as we pulled in to the parking lot of our motel in Murdo.

Road trip-day one

2009-04-22T22:11:00.002-06:00

We spent the day crossing the vast range lands of Wyoming. Sightings: buffalo- none were home. Antelope- too many to count; none were playing. Deer- finally saw a lot of them once we left the range lands and headed up into the hills for Hulett, Wyoming; they weren’t playing either. Wild turkeys- lots of those, too; I guess you could say some of them were playing. We saw several males with their tails spread wide, doing the “Hey, baby!” for a group of hens.

We got to our motel in Hulett at 7:40. The desk clerk mentioned that the only restaurant in town closed at 8:00. We hustled over there for a quick dinner. It was a tiny little place with seven tables and lots of the wall art that you see in small, out-of-the-way places; you know- Indian artifacts, old photos of settlers, wild life paintings, etc. I’m sure you can imagine what kind of place I mean. Our server was a guy in worn-out docker style pants and a T-shirt. Interesting conversation we overheard between him and the cook (the only other people in the little café besides us):

“I wonder if we can get some. Do you think Sysco can get some for us?”
“Which ones?”
“You know, the ones stuffed with asiago.”
“Oh, right. Well, the asiago is what really makes them so great.”
“Absolutely.”

Not the kind of conversation you expect to hear in a 7-table diner with about eight choices on the menu. Maybe a conversation about some processed cheese sauce substitute, but not one about something stuffed with asiago cheese.

Can you say 'Overdue?'

2009-03-23T19:17:00.002-06:00

It's been a while since I've been to our local public library. But today I needed something they had and so I went. Since it had been so long, I didn't know where my library card was. Before I could get what I needed, I would have to get a new card.

The card process all went smoothly; my old card, where ever it is, was still active. All the information was still the same. There was just one little detail to take care of- the $11.50 overdue fine. It had been there, waiting to be paid, since May of 2005!

Could someone else be using my account? What were the books? How overdue were they?

Bonsai books? A stack of books about bonsai? I didn't check out any bonsai books! I've never turned in any books 28 days late. Who else could have used my....Hmm...

So, whoever you are, you bonsai-loving, overdue-book-returning rascal, your fine has finally been paid. And you are sooo lucky they didn't charge interest!

Rats!

2009-03-16T17:03:00.004-06:00

We’ve had a little visitor for the past month or so. Steven’s pet rat, No-Doze (a little less than 8 ounces of energy and curiosity), has come to stay with us while he looks for a new home for either her or for the both of them. (Don't get yourselves all worked into a dither- I know some of you are repulsed by little critters.) She’s been pretty polite, quiet and really not much trouble at all.

I don’t have room for the kind of cage she really needs, so she stays in a little cage at the end of the kitchen counter by our back door. Unfortunately for her, this is only a couple of feet from where I plug in my blender or flour mill. She’s had a few frights with all the noise from the blender.

Today I needed to grind some wheat. The flour mill is a lot noisier than the blender, so I decided that I would put her in a bathroom, close the door and let her run around for a while until I finished with my flour. Not wanting her to make a mess, or chew on anything, I put the wastebasket, the plunger and the bowl brush up on the back of the toilet where she wouldn’t get into them.

Between batches of flour, I heard a noise in the bathroom and went to check on things. She had climbed up the bathmat that was hanging over the edge of the tub and had knocked a small bottle of shampoo into the tub. No big deal- I went back to my flour mill.

After I finished the last batch of flour, I hear another, louder, noise from the bathroom. Since it was now safe to put her back in her cage, I went to get her. There she was, on top of the toilet tank. Somehow, she had gotten herself up the smooth sides of the toilet and then up onto the tank, where she had shoved the plunger onto the floor and nearly knocked the bowl brush off as well.

I suppose if I went and looked carefully and really thought about it I could figure out how something that small could get itself all the way up those slick surfaces, but what I really don’t get is how she managed to undo the bolt at the base of the toilet!

Consumer Woman rides again!

2009-03-16T16:36:00.002-06:00

I decided I needed to step up my game, wardrobe-wise, for a business conference I’m going to, instead of wearing levi’s. I didn't want to wear a dress, either, so I went to the mall to look for a pair of Docker-style pants. One pair is all I needed because I already have a nice pair of pants that are part of a suit. After trying on many pairs of khaki pants, I selected a pair and also splurged on two pairs of warm knee-high socks. I had a coupon for $10 off. After I paid, I walked down to the other end of the mall to check out a sale I had heard about while waiting in line to pay for my pants. What did I find on a 70% off rack at the sale? That’s right, a pair of pants that looked a lot like the one’s I had just bought. They were marked down to $9, almost $20 less than the first pair. I bought the $9 pants, of course, which turned out to be $5.40 because that brand had an additional 40% off the clearance price (talk about icing on the cake!) Then I went back to the other store to return the $28 pants.

I asked the clerk if she would re-calculate the sale to apply the $10 coupon to my two pairs of socks (the $10 discount had been spread out over all three items instead of being taken off the total purchase at the end). She said she couldn’t do it, because the coupon was a single use coupon and I had already used it once. “Is there a supervisor you could call to take care of this?” I asked. “No,” she said, “they are way stricter than we are.” In a fit of pique (don’t worry, it was a very polite fit) I told her that I would just return the socks, too.

When I got home, I decided to call the store and just let them know that their loyalty coupon hadn’t inspired much loyalty on my part. After all, my coupon was right there in the cash drawer. The evidence of the coupon was right there on my receipt. I wasn't tring to make a completely different purchase. Why couldn’t they just do it? I called the store, asked for a manager, and told her my story. After apologizing for my dissatisfaction (not for their lame policy, just for the fact that I was unhappy), she offered to give me my $10 discount if I wanted to come back to the store. (At first, I wasn’t sure I wanted to drive all the way back. Then I decided that if I am going to complain, I should go back and give them the chance to make it right.) After five minutes of listening to another clerk explain all the reasons that there was no way someone could honor my request, the manager arrived and sold me my two pairs of $8 socks for $2.15 ($10 off plus a multiple item discount).

And that is why my nickname is Consumer Woman.

Goodbye, old friend

2009-03-16T14:44:00.005-06:00

Last Wednesday was the end of an era. We said farewell to the piano that we have had for about 34 or 35 years. I don’t really play the piano, just pick out tunes and try out ideas for songs and arrangements once in a while. Back in the day, though, our old friend was a real workhorse. Everyone practiced their piano lessons on this piano. It displayed a multitude of Christmas decorations, gingerbread houses and family pictures and provided a place to hide from brothers or sisters or parents. occasionally it was the final resting place of toys and trinkets that were small enough to fit through a small gap below the keyboard.

It’s really showing its age, what with all the scratches, hammer marks (inflicted by a brand new hammer on Christmas day many, many years ago), pencil and crayon marks, scuffs and the scars of wood carving experiments. The piano bench doesn’t match because the original bench wore out ages ago and one of the keys makes a funny noise; I suspect a stray penny is the culprit.

Still, despite its age and cosmetic challenges, it is a fine piano that should be played more often. It didn’t make much sense to keep it around when it almost never gets used by me. I had told all the kids a few years ago that the first person that had room for it could take it to their house. M&T recently bought a piano of their own, and LL found a free piano locally.

Luckily for our piano, Jenn plays the piano and doesn’t care what it looks like if she can have a piano in the house now. So our old friend is going to stay with them for a while. Some day, if it’s reasonable and Jenn has found a better, nicer piano, the old piano will go and visit E if she wants it. In any case, it will stay in the family for as long as we have people to pass it along to.

So now, my living room has a big empty space. I won’t be looking for anything to replace it until after we pay for our trip in April/May. We’ll rearrange the stuff that is there and figure out what to do later.

Any suggestions?

Lucky you!

2009-02-19T22:28:00.002-07:00

(OK- here we go. Some of the ladies in my family are playing this game. I m such a procrastinator that I was reluctant to join in. Then I decided that surely, I could manage to make and deliver five simple items over the course of 12 months.)

The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.It may be a story. It may be poetry, shoes, bags, or a little invention of my own! I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!
Sounds like fun, right?

So, let's play!

I confess, I am responding to offers from two people but only making this offer once. And keep an open mind when you get your item from me ;)

Where did the time go?

2009-02-17T22:24:00.001-07:00

This evening we went to Grandma's House to visit with Shari and her family. There must have been at least a million people (give or take several hundred thousand) in their condo. But it all went well and it was nice to get to see everyone. People brought salads and deserts and someone sent me out to pick up 7 pizzas. So everyone seemed to be well fed and visited.

I grew up in a home with 6 children. Of course everyone is grown up now with children and in many cases grand children. Where does your life go? One minute you are the little guy in short pants, the next you are old, bald and your grandchildren are the little guys. Where does the time go? Do I want to go back - not really, this time in my life seems to be the most satisfying.

The pictures you've all been waiting for

2009-02-02T14:12:00.004-07:00

We’re almost done. We’ll wait on the micro-kitchen for a while, but the rest is pretty much done. So here are some pictures. (Just add décor-eventually)

Oak trim down the stairs and around all the doors

This is how we cut back the stairs

Stained oak frames the windows

The ceiling and most of the walls are soft blue

This is where the micro-kitchen will be at some point

You missed one (or more)

2009-02-02T14:07:00.002-07:00

When we went to Hawaii we had to change planes in Honolulu to get to the Big Island. Go! Airline charges for every checked bag so we decided to save $27 and check only one bag and carry-on the other two. We quickly felt around in our baggage to make sure there weren’t any unauthorized liquids lurking. Then we checked our biggest bag and sent the rest through the security screening. Sure enough, the screener felt something was amiss. He was sure there was a container of liquids- in my computer bag (which had already been through a screening in Salt Lake). The screener had the bag searched by another TSA agent. Was it my cheese stick? No, said the screener. Was it my solid-stick lotion? Again, no. Back through the machine went my computer bag. He insisted there were liquids. The other agent insisted the bag was clean. Finally my bag and I were reunited and we were on the way.

The whole point of this story? Once we got to our room that night, what did I find in the other, previously checked suitcase that became a carry-on? A carry-on that had sailed through the screening just ahead of my computer bag? What was right on top in an outside pocket of that bag? My quart-sized plastic bag crammed full of containers of liquids. A plastic bag that I should have been pulled from the suitcase for screening. A plastic bag that should have been caught by the screener and his machine.

Does this make sense?

2009-02-02T14:02:00.001-07:00

Every time we leave Hawaii to come home, we go through a process that mystifies me. When you get to the airport, your checked baggage has to go through an inspection by the USDA. This is done by running the bags through a big machine. The goal is to prevent you from taking anything to the mainland that might be harmful to agriculture. I totally agree with this goal. We don’t want any more exotic fruit flies or fungal diseases getting loose. The part that I just don’t get about the process is that only checked baggage is inspected, not carry-on bags. If you want to keep all those little bad guys from getting out of Hawaii (and yes, we really should), shouldn’t you inspect EVERY bag? I had plenty of room in my carry-on bag for a few pieces of disease-ridden plants and fruit fly-infested bananas. I’m pretty sure lots of forbidden stuff leaves the islands in “small personal items.” It just mystifies me.

Greater love hath no man

2009-01-21T23:31:00.002-07:00

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!

Mr. Monk goes to the beach

2009-01-21T23:06:00.005-07:00

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

Upcountry (really, really up)!

2009-01-21T20:16:00.006-07:00

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.

Aloha again

2009-01-16T15:43:00.010-07:00

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!

That's Better!

2009-01-13T22:17:00.010-07:00

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.

Can we get there? Yes we can!

2009-01-13T16:46:00.002-07:00

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.

Where'd my karma go?

2009-01-12T22:30:00.002-07:00

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.

go! didn't

2009-01-12T21:52:00.002-07:00

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.