I think things will finally be returning back to normal since the holidays are over.  Brian and I went on a vacation to Kauai and had a really nice time.  We did some hiking, kayaking, and sailing and had quite a bit of fun.  It did rain quite a bit and because of it I was unable to go SCUBA diving but we did get to see a number of whales and dolphins while sailing.  We tried to go hiking on the Napali coast but it was raining, windy, cold, and muddy so we were unable to do the swamp and ridge hike.   We did, however, get to see the Napali coast from the SCUBA boat and it was stunning. Unfortunately, rough seas and a storm turned us around before we were able to see the whole thing.  We have also decided that Kauai should be renamed to the Chicken and Mud Isle instead of the Garden Isle…

The holidays were uneventful for me as I don’t really do anything for them.  Brian went to California and will be back in a week.  I have been using my spare time lately to do oil pastels and I am having a lot of fun with it.  I’ve been doing a lot of sketches and have decided to do a Viking mural of some kind on a large canvas that I bought.  It will definitely be a long-term project…

I also finally got around to watching the latest documentary by Michael Moore - Sicko.  It was really rather interesting.  We have certainly had our share of health care related issues living in Hawaii.  Interestingly enough, we have had a good experience with Kaiser Hawaii (although I have heard bad things about Kaiser on the mainland).  Anyone else see his film?  Any thoughts about universal health care?

Anyone do anything fun or interesting for the holidays?  What do you think of the assassination of Bhutto?

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I apologize for not posting over the last couple of weeks. I was in Honolulu for a few days visiting with my parents and going to Pearl Harbor. I was able to take a tour of the USS Missouri and that was really very interesting. It is not often that civilians can take a tour of a battleship that was recently decommissioned. I was also able to see a nuclear submarine that was in Pearl Harbor along with an array of other ships. I also spent some time shopping for new clothes in Honolulu - fun, fun. After that excursion, my parents flew back to Hilo with me. It was not a fun visit - we did absolutely nothing. My father literally would not leave our living room because he was watching TV on his laptop the entire time. They complained about it being too hot all the time (it was actually cold) and complained about the people - well everything. My father also cornered Brian and talked to him for about three hours and told him we need to move to Florida because it is so great (so great that my parents moved from there). Brian was in a horrible mood the whole time, my parents spent the entire time planning where to sit on the plane ride back and complaining about how long it takes to get here (yes, it does when you don’t take the direct flight you should have taken and instead get stuck with 6 hour layovers so you can save $5).

After all of that, I had to get ready for a “trunk show” for all of my handbags, Swarovski flip-flops, pareos, and jewelry. I had a terrible first day but the last two days were fabulous. Several people actually had me autograph the items! It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to my next show and I was also invited to take part in a show that is by invitation only - so I am thrilled. My jewelry was also a hit and the cruise ship tourists loved it. A number of people told me I should open my own store on the bayfront and everyone was very complimentary of my products. The hours were extremely long - I arrived at 7 am and left after 8 pm and had to get up early and go to bed late to get things ready. It is a lot harder to work 13 hour days when you have to interact with people constantly compared to working 13 hours at home! I think I caught some kind of virus from the show - probably a result of being around all those people, handling money, being in recycled and air conditioned air, and keeping long hours. I have also been having gall bladder attacks again (I had a severe one in Honolulu) so I am currently taking care of that. Fun.

I am in the process of setting up my kitchen laptop since Brian just got a new laptop and he is having a great time getting it ready to use.  I finally decided on some  kitchen software - The Living Cookbook - it seems to be the most robust program in its category and it does exactly what I want it to do. I should be able to synch it with my new cell phone when I go get a new one.

Our trip to Kauai is coming up next week after Brian gives his final.  Hooray!  After that, Brian will be heading to California to visit his family for Xmas.

More later…

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We are home!

We just had a great tour of California. We visited Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Methuselah Tree Grove at 11,000 feet, Bodie (the ghost town), the 49er highway (gold rush cities), Manzanar (Japanese internment camp), saw a great deal of snow at high elevation, and we also hiked a lot.

At Yosemite we stayed a couple of nights in tent cabins that got very cold at night. We needed six blankets to keep us warm. We saw some of the Giant Sequoias and hiked and climbed our way to Vernal Falls. Below are the pictures of our hike. Vernal Falls was at high elevation and relatively crowded but it was absolutely beautiful. The walk up was on wet and treacherous stairs that were 18″ high (stairs meaning chunks of rock made to simulate stairs) and we were constantly hit with mist but it was great. Click here to read more about Yosemite.

The 49er highway was very interesting. It is a modern highway that follows (generally) the path of the old wagon roads along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range where the old boom towns were during the Gold Rush. Our favorite town was Columbia.

I really liked Lake Tahoe. We did not spend very long there but we were there long enough for me to decide that I thought the 20-30 miles before you get to South Lake Tahoe was some of the most absolutely beautiful wilderness I have ever seen. We drove along side the American River and it was great. The trees were large and majestic and the river was strong and full of whitewater. Great for rafting! …maybe we’ll do that someday soon. We are even thinking of spending part of the year near Tahoe. Click here to read more about Lake Tahoe.

Mono Lake was beautiful and strange. It is at about 6000 feet. We really enjoyed walking around there and seeing the strange tufas that protruded from the water and from where the water previously was. Due to the stupidity of the Los Angeles water department, Mono Lake has lost a great deal of water. Fortunately, they are required to fill it back up to its previous level. Below are pictures of Mono Lake and tufas. Click here to read more about Mono Lake.

When we arrived in Mammoth Lakes it was very beautiful but chilly. We stayed in a quaint little place called the Swiss Chalet Lodge–it had a gorgeous view of the eastern side of the Sierras, including Mammoth Mountain. Someday, we may return there and do some skiing or more hiking. To learn more about Mammoth Lakes click here.

Bodie was a large ghost town at 9,000 feet in a high altitude desert where it was -20F in the winter and 70F in the summer. They had 10,000 people and 65 saloons, plenty of whores, and only 2 churches after the population reached 8,000. It was known as a rough and tumble kind of town with few women and children and many bad guys. Gun fights were daily and people were killed all the time. One quote from the diary of a young girl said, “Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie.” I think that pretty much sums it up. Click here to read more about Bodie.

We also stayed at the base of Mt. Whitney (tallest mountain in the contiguous United States 14,491 ft.) in Lone Pine.

Manzanar was very interesting. Brian’s father actually pointed it out on the road and stopped in so we could see this place. I really had no idea it was out there and I knew little of the Japanese internment camps during World War 2. It was disturbing, sad, and interesting all at the same time. We did not take pictures here as there was little of Manzanar to be seen. However, they have a great museum/memorial to the people who were imprisoned at Manzanar and other facilities. To learn more about Manzanar click here.

The Sierras are not at all humid like it is in the South. It has been very dry and cool most everywhere that we have been. Also, many of these places have been very dusty!

We also just arrived home from a long trip in Hawaii. We had a really great time there and we also gathered a great deal of real estate information and saw a number of properties. We have found a subdivision and we plan to buy three acres of land there when we move in December. We finally have firm plans about moving, yay!

While we were on the Big Island we managed to visit a number of beautiful black, white, green, and salt and pepper beaches. We hiked across pahoehoe and a’a lava and we visited the southernmost tip of the U.S. and also hiked to the summit of Mauna Kea. We visited a ton of waterfalls, boiling pots, and other weird water related things. We also went to Waipio Valley and did some hiking around the Big Island.

Click here to see our trip pictures!

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We are home!

We just had a great tour of California. We visited Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Mono Lake, Mammoth Lakes, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Methuselah Tree Grove at 11,000 feet, Bodie (the ghost town), the 49er highway (gold rush cities), Manzanar (Japanese internment camp), saw a great deal of snow at high elevation, and we also hiked a lot.

At Yosemite we stayed a couple of nights in tent cabins that got very cold at night. We needed six blankets to keep us warm. We saw some of the Giant Sequoias and hiked and climbed our way to Vernal Falls. Below are the pictures of our hike. Vernal Falls was at high elevation and relatively crowded but it was absolutely beautiful. The walk up was on wet and treacherous stairs that were 18″ high (stairs meaning chunks of rock made to simulate stairs) and we were constantly hit with mist but it was great. Click here to read more about Yosemite.

The 49er highway was very interesting. It is a modern highway that follows (generally) the path of the old wagon roads along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada range where the old boom towns were during the Gold Rush. Our favorite town was Columbia.

I really liked Lake Tahoe. We did not spend very long there but we were there long enough for me to decide that I thought the 20-30 miles before you get to South Lake Tahoe was some of the most absolutely beautiful wilderness I have ever seen. We drove along side the American River and it was great. The trees were large and majestic and the river was strong and full of whitewater. Great for rafting! …maybe we’ll do that someday soon. We are even thinking of spending part of the year near Tahoe. Click here to read more about Lake Tahoe.

Mono Lake was beautiful and strange. It is at about 6000 feet. We really enjoyed walking around there and seeing the strange tufas that protruded from the water and from where the water previously was. Due to the stupidity of the Los Angeles water department, Mono Lake has lost a great deal of water. Fortunately, they are required to fill it back up to its previous level. Below are pictures of Mono Lake and tufas. Click here to read more about Mono Lake.

When we arrived in Mammoth Lakes it was very beautiful but chilly. We stayed in a quaint little place called the Swiss Chalet Lodge–it had a gorgeous view of the eastern side of the Sierras, including Mammoth Mountain. Someday, we may return there and do some skiing or more hiking. To learn more about Mammoth Lakes click here.

Bodie was a large ghost town at 9,000 feet in a high altitude desert where it was -20F in the winter and 70F in the summer. They had 10,000 people and 65 saloons, plenty of whores, and only 2 churches after the population reached 8,000. It was known as a rough and tumble kind of town with few women and children and many bad guys. Gun fights were daily and people were killed all the time. One quote from the diary of a young girl said, “Goodbye God, I’m going to Bodie.” I think that pretty much sums it up. Click here to read more about Bodie.

We also stayed at the base of Mt. Whitney (tallest mountain in the contiguous United States 14,491 ft.) in Lone Pine.

Manzanar was very interesting. Brian’s father actually pointed it out on the road and stopped in so we could see this place. I really had no idea it was out there and I knew little of the Japanese internment camps during World War 2. It was disturbing, sad, and interesting all at the same time. We did not take pictures here as there was little of Manzanar to be seen. However, they have a great museum/memorial to the people who were imprisoned at Manzanar and other facilities. To learn more about Manzanar click here.

The Sierras are not at all humid like it is in the South. It has been very dry and cool most everywhere that we have been. Also, many of these places have been very dusty!

We also just arrived home from a long trip in Hawaii. We had a really great time there and we also gathered a great deal of real estate information and saw a number of properties. We have found a subdivision and we plan to buy three acres of land there when we move in December. We finally have firm plans about moving, yay!

While we were on the Big Island we managed to visit a number of beautiful black, white, green, and salt and pepper beaches. We hiked across pahoehoe and a’a lava and we visited the southernmost tip of the U.S. and also hiked to the summit of Mauna Kea. We visited a ton of waterfalls, boiling pots, and other weird water related things. We also went to Waipio Valley and did some hiking around the Big Island.

Click here to see our trip pictures!

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