You Hear The What?

She said she could hear….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…..the ocean. Yes, really. In her lightening bug clog shoes while on a train.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then she said listen. He did.
















































Wonder if he heard the ocean too?

Back Home

Aloha! Yes, we are back. We arrived to our cozy nook Sunday evening, a little after midnight. As you may have noticed, my last blog entry was July 8. Unfortunately we did not have internet access while on Kauai. Really? This day and time, what facility does not offer some type of internet access! Wow!

After leaving Kauai on Tuesday evening the 13th, we were welcomed with 108 degree temps in the lovely town of Boulder City, Nevada. Yes, it was around 108 degrees by 9 o’clock-ish. Another WOW! Dry, desert heat. At least it wasn’t muggy (been there, done that in the great states of Florida, Georgia and Tennessee).

While visiting with the Nelsons in Boulder City, I just couldn’t find the time to catch up on any blogging. Actually, I didn’t want to make the time. Pure enjoyment and relaxation! More delicious eating and lovely company. My sweet husband’s daughter, Rebecca, flew out from Virginia to visit with all of us as well. It was just grand! I think I was more sad to leave there than Hawaii. Really. Honestly. Well, except for the heat thing.

We chatted about old trips, looked at old pictures, found new blogs to explore, ate yummy-licious fruit, crispy kale, smoked salmon, hummus, etc. I could go on and on. Saw about 50 big horn sheep. That was pretty awesome! Also went into Las Vegas to see The Beatles LOVE. This was our 3rd visit. We took Reb and Bobby (friend of husband) for their first visit. Just can’t get enough of LOVE!

Another highlight, for me, was having lunch with Miss Amy Arnaz. She studied ballet and owned a ballet school for 27 years. She also lives in Boulder City. We have lurked on each other’s blog for a few months and I was excited to finally meet her. Lunch was fun, but too short. Amy, I look forward to a continued friendship and future lunches!

I know I am not doing a great job at catching up on our Kauai visit with this post. I think I’m a bit overwhelmed by the photos. I took somewhere around 3.500 and kept a little over 2,000. I will document the remaining days soon, because I don’t want to forget, as I so easily do. I also have to move all the photos to my EHD (external hard drive) and then I can edit them a little in lightroom/photoshop (but not all 2,000).

So, that said, I will continue to post and catch up our glorious trip to the islands!

For today, I will leave you with this cute Little Cupcake picture in her new grass skirt! You should see her do the hula! She loves hearing the grass skirt swish!

The Past Few Days and Now

Today we leave Maui and head to Kauai. We have not visited Kauai and are excited about this new adventure.

Now to catch you up on the last few days. If I had one word to sum it up it would be quiet. We had plans, but as you well know, plans can change. Monday afternoon, as we headed into Kahului, my sweet husband began a sneezing fit. I knew this was not a good sign. We arrived at Bounty Music when two (yes, two) ukuleles were purchased. They are beautiful Koa wood and have a sweet sound. The rest of the day was quiet as he tried to rest/recover.

Tuesday he was able to attend some of the conference in the early morning but quickly realized he just needed to get to bed. We had reservations to eat at Mama's Fish House and then journey up to Haleakala to watch the sunset and see the stars, but it was a no-go.

While my sweet husband rested I rode the trolley to Whaler's Village (a local shopping area). Shopping always cheers me up!! As I headed back on the trolley another beautiful rainbow blessed my presence. My other half was feeling a bit better so we listened to a bit of music by the pool then attended the 8:00 Tour of the Stars that is held on the rooftop of the Hyatt. I must say it was pretty good. Not as good as the Star Gazing tour we had a couple of years ago on Mauna Kea with Reb and Josh AND the guide was certainly not as friendly (I think he may have been a little OCD).

Anyway, we were very fortunate to see two amazing sites. They were both very quick but very AWESOME. One was a meteor, which I have never seen before and the second was the Hubble Space Telescope. Our guide found out the exact time it would be traveling across our Maui sky and the exact location and exactly how long it would last. He was a very precise gentleman and he was accurate on all accounts. Below is a video (use the full screen feature for better viewing). Now all that you will see is a dot going across the sky. It will get brighter then fade but I promise, this is the Hubble Spacecraft.

Saturn. Viewed through my camera through the telescope lens.

 On to Wednesday. Not a good day, at least for one of us. I believe that my sweet husband slept about 18 of the 24 hours. You know, it's really difficult to carry on with some of your plans while the one you love is sick in bed in a hotel room. I really wanted to see this goat farm I had read about so I got in our jeep and on the road I went.

First up, I headed northwest to the West Maui Airport. It is a small facility located up on a hill. I was told I would be able to get some great photos of west Maui, Molokai, Lanai and part of the east side of Maui. Maui, for those of you who don't know, is shaped like a figure 8 lying on its side. The view was awesome.

I continued up the west side for a bit and stopped at Honolua Bay. Again, awesome views!

Then is was off to the Surfing Goat Dairy. Now that was an interesting ride! Through the city of Kahului and down a semi-paved road into what appeared to be the boonies of Maui. I had to drive by the landfill. These pictures tell it all.

All these plastic bags in the fence and tree branches. UGH!

Finally, I found it. Great little dairy and I do mean little. The owners bought the land several years ago, cleared it, built a barn then researched about raising goats. Two years ago they were able to purchase goats from the Big Island and so started the dairy. They have about 200 goats that produce the best milk for making goat cheese. I think they are the only goat dairy in Hawaii and they have won several awards! I had several samples and it was the BEST GOAT CHEESE I HAVE EVER TASTED! I am so glad they ship!

Baby goat section. These babies have been recently weened.

Farm cat. Didn't want his picture taken.

This baby goat want his picture taken and some loving.

Goat herding dog.

Dog who thinks he is a goat-herding dog, but isn't.

These youngsters are around 1.

Beautiful face!

Another farm cat.

One view of the dairy.

I then stopped at the Maui Ocean Center. This is a local aquarium and was pretty good. I guess when you live in a city with an award-winning aquarium, there is really no comparison. For folks who have not visited an aquarium or don't live close to one, then it is really pretty decent.

Short drive on Front Street in Lahaina then back to the Hyatt. Read some while the other half as still snoozing, then I woke him up to watch the sunset with me on the beach. It was good for him to get up and out for a bit and the sunset was beautiful. There were some clouds around the sun but it was still amazing.

Kids I didn't know posed for me! They liked the picture!

Little critter watching me!

Resting in the hammock.

Today, the sick one was able to go to his conference. He is feeling much better, but still no appetite and a little wobbly. We have a hour flight over to Kauai at 4:20 p.m. Hopefully we will be sitting out on our new balcony by 7:30ish.

There are lots more pictures from yesterday, so JUST CLICK HERE. And there are some pictures from Tuesday IF YOU CLICK HERE.

More posting later! Aloha!

Birdies, Fruit and Drive by Shooting

Bet that title got your attention, huh?!

First up, The Birdies.

Yesterday I woke at 4:30 a.m. and could not go back to sleep. Love Maui time! So, I sat on the balcony and precisely at 5:00 a.m. the birdies began their sweet medley (they also preformed this ritual precisely at 5 a.m. on Sunday, as well as today, which is Tuesday). The sun rises between 5:30 and 6:00 a.m., but the sky is certainly light way before.

As the birdies and I were communing, I decided to lure them into my "picture trap." My oh my, did it ever work! They even took a sneak peak this morning to see if I would perform the same show. Not today my birdie friends. You ate all the potato chips!

Sunrise. Looking at the island of Lanai across from Maui.

Hello birdie friend.

More please.

My, what big eyes you have!

This friend had to pick up the chips sort of sideways.

Breakfast view on the lanai of the hotel. Island of Lanai is in the background.

Fresh fruit....yum!

Still have striped feet!

Breakfast friend beside me.

Breakfast friend on the other side of me.

The moon is at its high.

So, that takes care of birdies and fruit. Now, you may ask, what about this "Drive By Shooting?" Well, one of my all time favorite things to do with my camera is to just shoot. No aiming, no focus, just shoot. Especially out the car window. Of course this is when I am the passenger, but I have been known to stick my point & shoot out the window while driving (yes, I keep my eyes on the road). It is somewhat amazing what kind of pictures you will get!

Now there are a bit too many pictures to put on the 'ole blog so HERE (JUST CLICK ON THIS) is a link to take you to the web album with my Drive By Shooting pictures. Hey, I wonder if you google, Drive by Shooting, my blog might appear somewhere in the list? Probably on page 37! But if I keep say Drive By Shooting it might boost me from page 37 to 26.

And finally, these two pictures are for Mady. She just loves her some mannequins (especially the ones at Old Navy). As soon as I saw these in one of the shops at the hotel....well I just had to post them for her. We miss you little cupcake girl.