Two Pictures are Worth Two Thousand Words

This sign by Kealakekua Bay just screams Hawaii:

A recent photo taken from the space shuttle shows the source of our island's vog. Emissions from both Halemaumau and the lava's ocean entry can be seen in the bottom center portion of the Big Island. Notice how hazy the air is over the Kona area compared to how clear Maui appears. Breathing all that sulphur dioxide is reminiscent of driving through Gary in my home state of Indiana. We're getting tired of the vog but we have found one benefit. With so much pollution the sun's intense summer rays don't feel quite so hot.

Time to pay your taxes, Larry

Chris, Larry and I packed about 50 lbs. each of underwater gear into a pristine fishing spot down south. It's crazy how much gear is required for spearfishing: weight belt, wet suit, gloves, gun, dive knife, booties, fins, mask, snorkel, defog solution. But after having spent 2.5 hours in the water and hiking uphill on the way back in the Noon time sun I was still overjoyed that my pack weighed more on the way out. There were fishies in there!

I shot a kala, umamalea, and a really good sized palani, and Chris shot three uhu, a big nenue and several other fish. Larry also got fish but he, "paid the tax collector." (I learned that expression today) When he climbed out of the water, he discovered the steel cable connecting his kui (stringer) to his float had been severed. He recalled having felt a tug on his line on his way to shore. He assumed the float had caught up on a rock, but in actuality, a shark had stolen his fish and kui in one chomp.

It was a gorgeous day. Clear water, no wind. One highlight for me was watching a free swimming octupus who immediatly turned to perfect camo when he detected me. Chris' best moment was when he took a perfect shot at a 50 lb. fish. The shot was perfect, right into the head, but the shaft didn't go all the way through the thick fish and with a few spinning turns it broke lose. Ohhh! That must have been dissapointing, but we have plenty of fish in the freezer now. When we eat that up we can go back for more.

Toys, toys, toys

Bikes seem to be multiplying right under our roof. Chris has been spending some time in the garage repairing and rebuilding scooters and motorcycles. You should see this guy work, it's amazing! He turned what looked like a box of junk to me into a fully operational scooter that carried both of us up the hill after a swim yesterday. It goes 40 mph! (by the way, it's for sale) He has actually fixed up three scooters and the bike shown in the foreground. A fourth scooter is coming soon.

Diving After Dark

Lorelei, John and I decided not to wait for the three-day weekend to start having our fun. So I drove down to Jack's Diving Locker Thursday night to rent some scuba gear and we did a sunset dive off Old Airport and a night dive behind the King Kam Hotel Thursday night. We slipped into the calm water of Kamakahonu Bay while stars shone over Ahu`ena Heiau, tiki torch from Island Breeze's luau danced across the water and the familiar voice of Pastor Kealoha entertained the luau guests with a rendition of the Hawaiian Wedding Song. We knew it was going to be an incredible evening!

The reef is transformed after dark. Myriads of shrimp eyes illuminated by our lights appeared like city lights throughout the reef. Uhu encase themselves in slime and tuck into hiding alongside other daytime fish. We saw crabs, a slipper lobster, crazy big and weird puffer fish and even a couple creatures we could not identify. It was awesome! Just when I thought I felt familiar with the reef I discovered night time.

More Vacation Photos

I got behind and never finished telling our vacation stories. It wouldn't be right if I didn't mention the retired stunt woman we met who has played in scores of famous western movies. She proudly boasted to us that she is fourth generation Kanab resident and a steak and potato kinda gal. Then there was the trip across 30 miles of washboard road in our compact rental car in quest of the Grand Canyon. The paved road was still closed for the winter. The trek was worth it- we drove right up to the rim and there not one human voice could be heard for miles. The trip was truly fantastic, but it's always good to be home and back to our tropical playground.

Hittin' the Slots

Hawaii residents have a fascination with Las Vegas, so much so that Vegas is often referred to as the "Ninth Island" because so many Hawaii natives vacation there.

Chris and I flew to Vegas recently, and boy did we hit it big! We didn't put one coin into a slot machine, but we spent plenty of time in the slots. The main goal of our trip was to hike slot canyons, and we found a few doozies. Our favorite was Round Valley, which we came across by accident in a remote area of the Grand Staircase. We could often touch both sides of the canyon at once, and the rock walls towered at least 200 feet overhead. There was just enough climbing, crawling and chimneying to keep it exciting, and we had no idea what was ahead, so there was a feeling of discovery and a constant element of surprise. We also attempted Bull Gorge, but we didn't get far without repelling equipment. Willis Creek and a slot leading to Paria Canyon (near the famous Wave) also proved to be a lot of fun.

Photos above: Chris enjoys Willis Creek, Andrea stands grinning above the start of Round Valley- our favorite slot of the week, Andrea peers into Bull Valley Gorge which proved to be too challenging for us.

A National Treasure

Chris and I returned from a 9-day vacation to Southern Utah. I'll posting a few pictures from the trip over the next several days.

We camped near the coral pink sand dunes the first night, then spent the day in Zion National Park. We weren't excited about the crowds but the scenery is incredible. There are many unbelievably beautiful hikes that are well marked and accessible from the shuttle bus that carries visitors through the canyon, and there are a lot of backcountry options as well. I definitely recommend this park.

Above: Chris hugs the cliff while hiking on a ledge that leads to Hidden Canyon. Below: taking a break on a nice slab of rock.

Aloha

I've had some pictures and post ideas, just no time to write them up! This is a quick update to say we're heading on vacation tonight. We're going to Utah to do some backpacking, and we'll spend some our last night on the ninth island- Las Vegas.

We're looking forward to the break. We'll be home soon so stay tuned for trip photos.

Saturday Afternoon Ride

I am always amazed at the variety of landscapes this island offers. Saturday Chris and I took our dirt bikes to the 6,000 foot level of Mauna Kea to ride Mana Road. We zoomed down a path lined with stately Koa trees and cinder cones, and saw plenty pheasants, quail and pueo (native Hawaiian owl) Not far past Hakalau Wildlife Preserve we pulled off the road to take a hike. But the soft, tall grass beckoned us to take a nap instead. When we awoke, clouds had engulfed the mountian, so we decided to cut our trip short. Most of the way back we fought to see through the fog. Then it instantly lifted. We stood amazed at the edge of the clouds watching the wind blow and swirl them. It was as if God said, "right here and no further!"

He is Risen Indeed

Kona's community Easter sunrise service never dissapoints. Each year Hawaiian chanting calls the crowd to worship, a band joyfully belts out peppy praise songs, a hula halau celebrates with dance and, of course, a preacher preaches. The thrill for me is seeing such a large group of believers from more than 20 area churches come together to celebrate a risen Savior. This annual event serves as a refreshing reminder that the church is alive and thriving. This diverse mix of people and cultures bringing their worship to the throne of Christ is just a glimmer of what's to come.

Sunset from our campsite Friday.

Secret Revealed

The first 15 minutes of each work week is piddled away by workers who spend the time asking each other, "What happened to the weekend?" "How do I make the weekend last longer?"

I don't have a complete solution, but we have discovered the weekend feels longer when we get a jump start on the fun. Chris picked my up from work Friday and we had a picnic dinner on the beach, then we hiked about a mile to our favorite secluded campsite. The excursion was less than 24 hours long but it feels like we've really gone somewhere and done something and now it's only Saturday.

Sunrise over Mauna Kea this morning. And there's still half a weekend left!

Bikes swayed in the wind after today's Lavaman Triathlon. It must have been a tough race!

Welcome to Waikoblowa

Chris spotted a possible Queen's Bath near A Bay on an aerial photo so we headed up there to scope it out. It was a gorgeous day but we were constantly sand blasted by wind that was out of control even for Waikoloa standards. It makes me wonder how anyone completed today's Lavaman Triathlon. Journey is slated to play the new outdoor Waikoloa Bowl tonight, I sure hope it doesn't get cancelled due to high wind like the recent Mercy Me concert.

Part of this complete breakfast: Cocoa Wheats, toast, spam and West Hawaii Today

I'm Coo-coo for Cocoa Wheats

I've eaten Cocoa Wheats since childhood. Growing up, I never knew how good I had it. As it turns out, this "creamy hot cereal with the cocoa treat," is a regional specialty. I wish I could share this remarkable meal with everybody. Since marrying me, Chris has become a fan, and I know others in the world are missing out.

Made by Little Crow Foods in Warsaw, Ind. since 1903, most people outside of the midwest have never heard of this breakfast sensation. Although, a friend of mine "hit it big in Vegas" once when he found and purchased Cocoa Wheats for me there.

This is a long story to say cousin Jeanne totally rocks because she just sent us eight boxes of Cocoa Wheats purchased at WalMart in Indiana. YES!

Two peat?

Last year I won the office bracket contest organized by our sports editor. Yep, even beat the sports editor. Naturally, I coughed up ten bucks and threw my hat in the ring again this year. The sad fact is, I really don't follow sports closely. I put about ten whole minutes into research on Yahoo.com before making this year's picks. But my performance last year is evidence that a bracket contest is really anybody's game.

The Swallow Tail

Pretty Music

It rained most of the weekend, but it let up just for Chamber Orchestra of Kona's Saturday afternoon concert. We played an assortment of pieces like an arrangement of Dvjork's New World Symphony, Hornpipe from Handel's Water Music and Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man. We're a community orcehstra that meets once a week for the love of making music, I really enjoy it!

Puu Waa Waa Hike

Chris and I hiked to the top of Puu Waa Waa cinder cone last weekend. It was a great hike- I recommend it. It's three miles each way with an elevation gain of about 1,800 feet. Not too steep, but definately a decent workout. And the view was worth the effort.

On our way down, we followed a cow with her calves for about a mile. She thought we were chasing her and she was getting pretty frustrated, but she wasn't bright enough to step off the trail. So when we got to a long road that was sloped just right Chris rolled a giant tire down and that really got those cows running.

We climbed a tree at the top of the pu`u and Chris took this picture:

Green pastures:

Remembeing Forest Gump

I'm behind on the blog again, I am finding I just don't have the spare time I used to have. Don't worry, we're doing well and we've been doing lots of good things as usual. Tonight is a Mercy Me concert. Last night was steak and ale night and light flammable spray cans on fire night.

We've also been eating lots of good things. Sheep burgers, sheep burritos, sheep steaks, chopped up sheep hearts with cream of mushroom soup over rice, curry sheep pot roast, sheep chili, sheep kabobs... For every shrimp recipe Bubba in Forest Gump has, we have two sheep recipes.

Freediving for fish

Sarah and I entered a spearfishing tournament a couple weekends ago. I'm pretty new to the sport and don't feel very competitive about the whole thing, but we had a great time. Heading to the beach just after dawn we spotted a pod of Hawaiian Spinner Dolphins and two Humpback Whales right outside the surf break. We were in the water for about ten minutes when I landed two Palani with one shot. I knew it'd be a great day! A new friend, Carlos, decided to join us. All three of us shot fish and had a great time.

Checking in was a bit humbling, however. People had stringers full of heavy fish that put mine to shame. In fact, out of people who landed fish I came in dead last for number of points. But there were several divers who came back with no fish at all. Check out the biggest fish caught in the tournament that day- a 70 lb. Ulua. If I saw a fish that big in the water I think I'd run away, not shoot it!

My cute little stringer:

Biggest catch- a 70 lb. Ulua shot with a spear gun. Crazy!


Preparing for competition: Chris rigged up this tennis racket target so we do some target practice. We tested my gun Saturday near Lyman's surf spot in 25 feet of water.

Salvaging Sheep

The state is conducting periodic helicopter sheep shoots on Mauna Kea to control the population. These feral animals are destroying the native Palila bird's habitat. Some see the hunt as a sad and savage event, my husband sees it as an opportunity. Our freezer is now full.

The sheep salvage sounds like an experience I wish I wouldn't have missed. A helicopter herds the animals into one area then someone in the chopper shoots them all. The bodies are then loaded into a sling and flown to a field where trucks of salvagers like my husband eagerly wait. A massive ball or legs, horns and filthy fur is placed in the grass and a free-for-all ensues as the meat lovers charge towards the pile of carcusus.

Meat Grinder

Chris managed to bag two sheep this way. We ended up with about 40 pounds of meat that we divided equally into roasts, steaks and ground sheep. A highlight of the project was using Chris' homemade meat grinder. Yes, homemade. He was at a farm auction years ago in Oregon where he purchased for five bucks some meat grinder attacments. An American made motor salvaged from a broken down GE dryer, a board and some wiring and wa-la! I am told this meat grinder has served him for years and has even processed a bear.

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