Thanksgiving again?

Chris and Larry went hunting up Mauna Kea this weekend and Chris brought home two turkeys. He shot one young turkey earlier in the season and we ate it up in one meal. These recent turkeys were more like the 14-pound birds you'd find in the store. We cooked one last night and it will last for several meals. It has pretty good flavor but the meat is lean and dry so gravy is recommended.
Nice white meat:

Country Caving

We usually cave at low elevations in lava fields. But recently Chris' former co-worker, Jeff, arranged for us to check out a cave on a private ranch mauka of Kainaliu at about 2,500 feet elevation. The cool air, grassy fields and mountain views were exciting enough for me, so I wasn't too dissapointed when the cave turned out to be a dud. It only went about 100 yards. On our way back to the car, a woman spotted us and told us about another cave on the property. That one was a winner! It branched off in several places and Chris started marking the turns with dollar bills so we could keep track of where we had come from. Part of it was stand-up, but there was also duck walking and crawling. Roots stretched from the ceiling to the floor, which is something our lower elevation caves do not have. This cave also had the unique feature of a cow skeleton, which was different from the goat skulls we're used to kicking around in. We spent about an hour in the cave exploring every avenue. A good time was had by all in this lava tube we nicknamed, "two dollar cave."

A lava drip ceiling hides the top half of Chris:

Hau`oli la Hanau

Happy Birthday Andi's blog, who turned three yesterday. We celebrated with one of my favorite desserts- yellow cake with chocolate frosting. Mahalo to everyone who logs on to enjoy this silly little website. I hope it brings joy for years to come.

White Mountain

Chris and I visited the 13,796 foot summit of Mauna Kea today for a frolick in the snow. I got four runs on my snowboard, Chris driving our trusty Jeep was my ski lift back to the top. The snow was the mountain's best I've ever ridden in, but it was practically white-out conditions. The summit area was socked in with clouds and it was snowing. I couldn't see lumps in the snow and I couldn't see more than maybe 15 feet in front of me. It was a bit creepy but still pretty fun.

We also played with a saucer sled, threw snowballs and people watched. We saw all sorts of people- local folks riding boogie boards and anything else that would slide and some pretty creative winter clothing. Our favorite was a long teri cloth bath robe, which is very likely the warmest garment that person owns. The other type of person on the mountian is the transplant to Hawaii who is well versed in winter weather-snowboarders with all the gear and even some skilled telemark skiiers. It amazes me how much winter gear resides on the island for such an opportuinty as this.

Hau`oli Makahiki Hou, Hawaiian style

We welcomed 2009 with plenty of smoke and fireworks. Duane and Michelle had their annual New Year's party. Since Duane is a fisherman, the food never dissapoints. Last night's meal included Duane's ahi and mahimahi as well as sheep sausage (locally hunted) kalua pig (also locally hunted) and buffalo- obviously NOT shot locally!

Chris and Duane prepare a string of firecrackers for Midnight:

Rich Man shows displays his tae kwan do skills with this makeshif bow staff:

Happy Couple

Chris' dad draws a picture every year for the family Christmas card. This year he created a card with an image of our wedding day. Pretty neat, huh?

More Hunting


Chris and I hunted game birds at Puhakuloa Training Area last weekend. The hunting was pretty slow, but Chris did manage to bag a Japanese Quail. The highlights were the view and finding strange Army debris on the ground. I am a bit surprised they open an Army base when they're not using it so civilians can wander around with guns and shoot at animals. We had an amazing view of snow covered Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, as well as the bright blue ocean, Hualalai and Haleakala on Maui. That alone was worth the price of admission (or the waking at 4:30 a.m. on a Saturday)

Taking a break and taking in the view, here's me with snow covered Mauna Kea behind.

Tags Should Come On Gifts, Not on Trees

We put up our Christmas tree Sunday evening. Assembling the brand new tree in our new house preparing for our first Christmas together was a pretty jolly time. Except for one ridiculous inconvenience. The tags! Eight huge tags just on one electrical cord alone. Do not drive over cord, do not immerse in water, do not use for more then 90 consecutive days, and the list continued. In case we didn't get the warnings in English, Spanish tags were also attached. Each light string on the tree also had several smaller tags attached. What kind of sue happy society do we live in?

Yummy Meat and Festive Farewells

Saturday was a full day. We left the house at 4AM for Mauna Kea and we were in place at 10,000 feet elevation before dawn- waiting for legal hunting hours. The air was dry and fresh and the frost-covered leaves crunched beneath our feet. It really felt like fall. The sun cleared the mountain revealing an amazing view of Mauna Loa, Hualalai and Haleakala on Maui. It was a slow day for hunting, we only saw two game birds all day. I never even had a shot at one, but Chris managed to bag an Urkel's Franklin. We grilled it later in the week along with a quail and a chucker he shot last time.

We took a nap in the dirt, then headed into Waimea town to get cleaned up and ready for the big party. Some of Chris' co-workers took us out to dinner and to hear the Olliephonic Horns at the Blue Dragon. The occasion: Chris' graduation from government service. After a successful 18-year career with the Department of Agriculture, Chris has resigned. It was his first step down a new career path. I am excited to see what he comes up with next, but I hope he takes some time off before jumping into something new. For one thing, I am enjoying eating all sorts of different kinds of meat lately. If he starts working again he'll be too busy to hunt and we'll have to go back to eating food that comes in plastic packages at the store.

The Olliephonic Horns rock the Blue Dragon in Kawaihae:

Tako Tangle

Chris went spearfishing last week and he brought home a huge octupus and a cooler full of fish. He first shot the tako with a spear but it got loose, so Chris dove down and grabbed unto it and tried to pull it to the surface. I wish he was telling this story instead of me. I also wish I could have been there to see the spectacle. The octupus attached itself to Chris and covered most of his body. Chris fought the creature all the way to the surface while tentacles crept down his snorkel, across his neck and back and around his arms. Chris couldn't even stab the animal with the knife he keeps strapped to his arm because the octupus had hold of it. Finally, Chris won the battle and we now have five baggies of frozen octupus in the freezer.

Hunting for a hole

Chris and I have spent two afternoons hunting around a lava field for a hole in the ground. We found it Saturday.

We had heard about a lava tube filled with fresh water from a spring and that sounded like something we'd like to check out. Boards cover the hole and a homemade ladder extends down inside. Without the ladder, there would be no way out. You'd be treading water until someone brought you a rope- and I have a feeling you'd be waiting a while for that to happen.

The water is cold and clear, and very little light enters the cave from the tiny entrance. The darkness inside the swimming hole seemed to swallow up the beams from our flashlights. We checked out all of the walls in the cave to see if it continued on and it did not. It was just one big, cold, dark, wet, fun room.


We poked around for a while before we found this hole in the woods.

Here's me, climbing up the ladder, out of the darkness and into the light.

Chris enjoys the refreshing water inside the cave.

A Fond Farewell

WHT employees and ex-staffers came out to the Kona Brew Pub in droves Friday night to celebrate Baron's "graduation" from West Hawaii Today and North Hawaii News. He faithfully served the company for 18 years and he will surely be missed. I sure am glad he'll be sticking around the island so I can see him in real life, and I'll continue to follow his blog as well. In fact, I started this blog with encouragement from Baron back in 2005. Thanks for the great idea, Baron.

Baron has an almost identical photo posted on his blog, but I am posting this anyway because I like it a lot.

We counted over 30 in attendance:

Resort Retreat

Chris and I spent the night at a fancy resort on the Kohala Coast. Our room had an amazing view and we enjoyed our own private beach. But we didn't actually pay to stay at the hotel. Instead, we backpacked from Spencer Beach into the Mauna Kea Beach Resort and camped at this beautiful spot. The moon was directly overhead and we watched it set over the ocean and then thousands of stars emerged. The evening was calm, but the wind picked up late at night and blew sand and dirt all over us. That's what you get for being too lazy to set up the tent. It sounds stupid to camp at a resort, but it felt somewhat remote. We only saw one other person. That may change now that the resort has reopened. (It has been closed due to 2006 earthquake damage and it just opened this week)

The next morning we had a hot breakfast on the beach and we tried a little fishing. Later on, we frolicked on Maumae beach. Chris took a strap from my backpack and the shoe laces from his combat boots and made a rope so he could pull me in the water while I layed on my camping mat. Cheap entertainment. There was one other family on that beach and I am pretty sure we scared them away.

A view from our breakfast spot:

So close to the resort, yet this beach was all ours:

Oh, yeah!

I'm pretty stoked with the election results. All of my candidates won. I'm not expecting any miracles, but I know we'll benefit from new leadership for the country and for Hawaii County.

77 days to go

Here's a patriotic photo just for election day. Tracey dressed these dogs up for Halloween.

Has this election season been the longest ever? I'm excited and relieved the big day has finally arrived. There's only one countdown left as far as I'm concerned, that's to inauguration day, January 20, 2009. It's been a long time coming!

Pumpkin Palooza IV

Chris and I had the pleasure of attending Joe and Carolyn's annual Pumpkin Palooza Halloween party. Pupus and pizzas were eaten. The pool was splashed in. Dogs and kids chased ping pong balls. And when it was time to carve pumpkins, the powertools came out and everyone got messy.

Some of the night's art:

Chris and I show off our work:

Carolyn and Joe, the funest hosts you ever want to meet:

Warning: Construction Zone. God at Work.

I've been itching to get down to volcano since March when a huge steam vent opened in Halemaumau Crater. I finally drove down there last Saturday to see the spectacular steam pouring out of the vent. I also drove to Kalapana to watch lava flow into the sea. It's pretty incredible, heat from the lava hitting the cool water causes explosions that was throwing lava at least 50 feet into the air. Occasionally, the heat would create a small waterspout that would twirl over the ocean for a minute or so before dispersing. Lava travels from Pu`u O`o vent through a lava tube down to the ocean, but some surface lava was visible up on the pali (cliff) after dark.

Earlier that day, I visited the Imiloa Astronomy Center in Hilo and watched a movie in the planetarium about black holes. I learned about a huge vacuum in the center of a galaxy that something like 15 billion suns could fit in. (I may be off a bit on that- the point is, it's big) I stood back, watching God build the island I call home and I was amazed at his power. He can simply pull a solar system out of his pocket and toss it out into the sky, yet he cares for each one of us.

Lava from Pu`u `O`o enters the ocean. Notice the red glow in the cloud.

Steam started pouring from Halemaumau Crater in March. We've had few blue sky days in Kona since.

Score!

Chris and I have friends in high places, literally. Cal and Stacey own Paradise Helicopters. When the phone rang one Friday night with the news of a last minute cancellation on their delux tour, you can bet we were ready to make ourselves available for an early morning tour of the island.

We left from Kona and flew between the largest mountains in the world (in volume from sea floor to summit) Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, then over to Kilauea where lava is flowing. We saw steampouring out of Halema`uma`u and Pu`u `o`o vents that's creating Kona's vog. We could also see lava breakouts on the surface. One of these flows destroyed one of the last remaining Hawaiian Gardens homes the next day.

We also flew over Hilo and into the amazing valleys along the Hamakua Coast, and landed in the incredible Honokane Nui Valley. I've always wanted to hike into all of these valleys, but the 2004 earthquake has destroyed the trail into many of them. I've now been in four of the seven valleys and I think Chris has a kayak trip in mind that will get us into the others.

Next, we checked out the crystal blue waters of the Kohala Coast with its resorts and white sand beaches. We also flew over triathletes competing in the Ironman.

What a day! I am reminded that we're blessed to live in such a beautiful place and to have many amazing friends. God is surely blessing us.

The incredible and remote Honokane Nui Valley:

Steam pouring from Pu`u `o`o Vent. So that's where all this vog is coming from!

The best helicopter tour company ever. Paradise Helicopters


Hamakua:

Funky Fruit

Karen gave us a sugar apple to try. The inside is really sweet, you suck the mushy stuff out of the fruit and spit out the seeds. The outside is lumpy and gritty and not good to eat. The flavor was a little like a lychee but overall, the fruit was unlike anything I've had before. And it was yummy. Also on the plate is a starfruit from my folk's tree.

The next day, Karen gave us a Naranjia. It reminded me of a bitter kiwi.

You go, girl!

Chrissie Wellington, the female winner of Ironman, leads the race as she passes our subdivision on Alii Drive. She completed the 2.1 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26 mile run in 9 hours and 6 minutes. She also set a record for the run course in Kona.

Preparing for Ironman

It was the day before Ironman and the excitement sucked us in. Chris made a last minute decision to throw his hat in the ring and started training in the pool pictured below. He was all set to for the 2.1 mile swim, but when he found out he couldn't use his dirtbike for 112 mile bike portion of the race he changed his mind.

We did have fun at the Ironman village where they let us try their Endless Pools and even gave us a few pointers on our stroke and they gave us a an underwater video of us swimming. We were sold on the pool, but it's hard to justify spending $10,000 on a "treadmill for swimmers" when you live a block from the ocean.

I love Ironman time. Big Islanders complain about the traffic and rude triathlets, but it brings business to the island and it's exciting. Thousands flock from all around the world for the annual event and I'm proud to live on the island that hosts it.


Setting up for the big day. The swim starts from the bay pictured here, and the 26 mile ends at the finish line to the right.

Chris gets some tips on his stroke while testing an Endless Pool.

Night Light Delight


Four of us went snorkeling with the manta rays last week. The Sheraton in Keauhou shines lights on the water to attract plankton which draw the filter-feeding mantas. These seemingly alien creatures hoover in the water like space crafts, gracefully gliding through the dark ocean and playfully performing backwards somersaults in effort to scoop as much food as they can into their giant mouths. Some mantas have a wing span of over 15 feet, but the largest we saw of the five mantas was about 6 feet across. The mantas are harmless but I have heard their skin can be abrasive. I'm glad I was wearing a wetsuit. As you can see from these videos, mantas aren't shy.

E Komo Mai - Welcome to Any Town, USA

Petco Kailua-Kona opened yesterday and residents flocked to get a taste of this mainland chain store. Coming soon are Office Max, Sports Authority, Circuit City and Target. When I moved to the island eight years ago we didn't even have a hardware store. (Kailua Ace had just burned down, which made moving into a new house pretty frustrating- you couldn't buy ANYTHING)

Kona is changing and I can't decide whether I should celebrate or mourn. I admit I'll make full use of Sports Authority. As it is now, there is nowhere to purchase sporting goods, outdoor clothing or camping equipment, and the only place on the island that stocks fuel for my camp stove is an Army surplus store 90 miles away. Many of these new stores will provide products and services not yet offered here.

I do worry about small businesses such as Kona Coast Office Supply and Stockley's, my beloved fish supply store down the street. Bill has been serving Kona for than 25 years (I think) and he and his staff have been delighted to help the customers they have come to know on a first name basis. I sure hope they continue to thrive with Petco down the street. But the situation is too familiar to me, my mom owned a video store in a small town in Indiana. Despite her better service, larger selection of titles and cheaper and less confusing pricing, residents chose to drive across town to visit the polo shirt clad employees at Blockbuster.

Here's what else I hate about chain stores. Standing outside our new strip mall today felt like I could be anywhere in America. There is no personality and nothing unique about these box stores. They are not a part of the community and they don't strive to meet their customers' needs. Circuit City on Oahu had a whole rack of lock de-icers last year. WalMart discounts their patio furniture each fall because summer has ended. They don't know much about Hawaii's seasons, do they?

On the other hand, I have noticed customer service is ridiculously poor in Kona and many shops charge exuberant prices. When Lowe's and Home Depot came in, HPM shaped up. Before competition arrived they often discriminated against my dad's white skin, and they once tried to sell him a garden hose to hook up a refrigerator. I used to refer to the store as Haoles Pay More. Maybe this town could use some healthy competition. I just hate to see the little guys get clobbered. And I hate to see the town I love slowly morphing into Anytown, USA.

(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

A Great Gift

Duane took us fishing Friday night- he said it was our wedding present. We were stoked! We left Keauhou at 5:30 p.m. and trolled until dark. We choose a spot near 'C' buoy about 4 miles offshore and put down lures baited with opelu and squid. Duane wanted ahi and he worked hard all night chumming and re-baiting the hooks. We didn't get any tuna but we did land two ulua and well over one hunderd squid. It's calamari time! These creatures are fascinating. They change color and light up when you squeeze them and their tentacles are creepy when they grab unto your skin. They can swim super fast, and when you throw them in the cooler you have to shut the lid before they start spraying ink all over.

The only mishap was a rain shower that lasted over two hours. My raingear is old and didn't cut it, and Duane had water pouring into his jacket, too. He tried wearing the package the rain suite came in over his head until he realized the jacked had a hood. Chris hunkered down in the cabin, but it leaked, too.

A cooler of squid floating in their ink:

Fun in the rain:

Nice hat!

Bath Time

Chris and I went on a hike and found these refreshing Queen's baths. We hope to backpack to the spot soon so we can spend the night.