(category: before & after)

V_NN_ W_ITE _K_




answer: VANNA WHITE SKY


Wheel of Fortune is in town, taping 20 episodes of the well-known game show at the Hilton Waikoloa Village over the next four days. Chris and I had no interest in watching the taping- we don't even have TV for crying out loud. Sticking to our usual outdoor itinerary, we went camping near Waikoloa where lights from Wheel of Fortune light up the sky better than the nearly full moon. Other than the artificial lighting, our camp spot felt remote. We didn't see another person during our stay. The highlight of the evening was poking around in tide pools- we saw several shrimp, mempachi, cowreys, brittle stars and a giant seven-eleven crab. I never realized how different tide pools are at night.

Bring Your Wife to Work Day

I recently volunteered with the US Department of Agriculture's soil survey team to help map the soil composition of Hakalau, a National Wildlife Refuge. That's the fancy way of saying Chris took me to work with him last week.

We hiked all day through thick, muddy jungle searching for the place where the soil type changes. Don't ask me to explain because I really don't know what we were looking for. We almost turned around just before the magic spot was discovered. But in a desperate attempt to save the day's mission, Patrick ran ahead of the group and found what we were looking for. Joy, celebration, and digging followed. It was pretty interesting to see what my husband does- he knows lots of big words and I can see he takes his job seriously. I can't remember the last time I saw three grown men, one with a Ph.D. in wet soils, dig in the dirt and get so excited about it. I was stoked to be there for the hike, it was a day well spent.

Three soil scientists in the field:

Mauna Kea light by the rising sun:

How to Spend an Economic Stimulus Check

I got my first speargun last week so, of course, we tried it out this weekend. Sunday we took it to Lymans and used a tennis racket as target practice to get a feel for how the gun shoots. Today we went to the harbor and did some fishing. It shoots accurately and the two bands I have to pull back to cock the weapon are not too hard of a tug for me. I'm pretty happy with the new piece of gear and hope to have hours of fishing pleasure.

Weke: the first fish I speared with my new gun.

Proudly posing with my teak Riffe competitor 2X and a driveway full of fish. Please note, only two of these fish are mine. Chris claims the rest.

Caving Adventures Continued


I felt like Indiana Jones in my new hiking hat. Chris and I went on another cave hunt, this time on an older lava flow than our previous trips. We found plenty of leads that didn't go very far. Other lava tube skylights dropped down too deep and we could not climb into them. We came across a honey bee hive in one entrance, and woke up two owls sleeping in other holes. Crawling over goat bones and through spider webs made the day feel a bit like Halloween. Finally, we found a winner. The cave had unusually steep sides and we imagined lava flowing through it like a luge. The cave gradually narrowed, and one doorway we climbed through felt like an Alive in Wonderland set where the characters shrink as they step through the door. When we neared the cave's end we discovered two human skeletons. It was not uncommon for ancient Hawaiians to bury the deceased in caves. Their culture is very respectful of iwi (bones) so we did not disturb the scene and headed out.

A Great Start

The three-day weekend got off to a great start. Lorelei, Ken and I went diving at the Harbor Saturday morning. We saw schools of fish, a giant eel that was free swimming, dolphins and the highlight, a giant sea turtle that I am convinced I've seen before on a nearby beach. We left thoroughly satisfied, with 2.5 days of the weekend left to enjoy.

Lorelei poses near the most massive green sea turtle I've ever seen.

A school of Helen's Baracuda.

Weke