Hawaii, July 4 – August 17

Wednesday, August 17

Packing up day. We were going to golf this morning, but I cancelled it. I just wanted to relax and pack stuff up with no stress. We’ve done this before, so things went pretty smoothly and we had an early ahi tuna dinner one last time. Everything fit.

Our neighbor Pat was gracious enough to take us to the airport and we left about 6:00 pm to allow her time to come home not quite in the dark.

A long and sad day … school starts on Friday, ugh!

Tuesday, August 16

One last trip to 69 Beach on our Anniversary, #31 to be exact. Instead of walking straight down the path, veer to the left, around the restroom area and it takes you to the left side of the beach quicker.

Didn’t take lunch with us, so we left about 1:30 and ate at home. We tried to get into KPC one last time, but ended  at the Manta Ray at the Mauna Kea. My strip steak was actually pretty good. No manta rays last night for viewing. KPC said that is was full until the 8:00 pm seating, strange …

Monday, August 15

Organizing stuff to shut things down here. Sandy and Darrell came over for dinner, Sandy served the 2nd batch of her lasagna. Nice conversation.

Maitai recipe:

• 18 oz POG juice
• 18 oz coconut-pineappple juice (RW Knudsen)
• 3 oz light rum
• 3 oz dark rum
• 3 oz Malibu caribbean rum coconut liqueur

Pour over ice and enjoy! Makes about 6 8-ounce drinks when over ice.

Sunday, August 14

Relaxing day, went to Puako for 10:00 am Mass. A visting priest from Mater Dei in Palm Springs, go figure. A beautiful day, clear and windy. Sandy suggested we go up to Hawi and explore around. We found a couple of beaches to explore, Kapa’a and Mahukona beaches on highway 270. Mahukona is expecially enticing, it is an old sugar can train station and wharf. There is a ladder right down to the water from the wharf, easy entrance and exit.

Lunch at the Lighthouse Delicatessen in Hawi, great sandwiches. We went there to try La Casita, but it was closed on a Sunday. Their hours are variable, but Monday-Saturday for sure. They sometimes combine a Sunday brunch with the Lighthouse. We need to come back. Lighthouse has a nice selection of beers on tap and wines for picking. Very cool place, highly recommended. Sandy had the meatball bowl with fresh bread, highly recommended!

Dinner was the Kirin Restaurant at the Hilton. Nice outside dining on the lanai, but the service was rushed and the food was just OK. We had a price-fixed meal for ＄48/person.

Saturday, August 13

Nothing on the books to do, a lazy day. Went down to Kona to Bite-Me, Costco and returned vis the Belt Road. Explored the beaches down by Hualali and the National Park above the airport. Lots of cool places and bays to try. Wawaloli Beach  and A’opio Beach in Honokohau Bay and Manini’owali/Kua Bay to try next time!

Took Hina Lani road uphill to its intersection with Belt Road. Belt Road is a LONG way back! Dinner was wine and cheese!

Friday, August 12

Cleaned up around the place, my cousin Mark, Mary-Ellen, Matt, Morgan and Mackensie were coming for a BBQ. They stopped in the morning to refrigerate the dessert and returned later in the afternoon after a day of snorkeling at A-Bay. Dinner was flank steak, ahi tuna, corn-on-the-cob, mashed potatoes and flan for dessert. It;s a lot of work getting ready for Friday pupus at the pool AND getting ready to feed 7 people! Sandy made some Costco stuffed wontons for the pupu platter and combined with the Panda orange teriyaki type sauce, were delicious.

Thursday, August 11

We journeyed to Kona to let the installers finish the vertical blinds and ended up at Kona Brewery, maybe for the last time this summer. The spinach salad is really refreshing and the verticals came out very nice, Sandy is happy!

Wednesday, August 10

T-time at the golf couse about 11:00 am. 18 holes is a little tiring. We had new window treatments added to the condo, ordered from Costco, but only the mini-blinds came in. The installers had no clue where the vertical blinds were. We left them to finish, while we played golf and re-arranged tomorrow afternoon to finish the install provided they could FIND them.They did. Sandy made pizza for dinner, it was just like home!

Tuesday, August 9

Light breakfast, finished up the transition to Lion with Office 2011, Acrobat X and PhotoShop Elements 9.

Test fit the car cover on the Subaru and made sure everything fit and ties down. We are going to leave the car in our condo spot and I am going to leave the solar trickle charger on the dashboard. We’ll see.

Dinner was chicken enchiladas again, yummy!

We are running out of time here, I’m feeling sad …

Monday, August 8

Worked on updating my MacBook Pro to OS X Lion. Took my time and went slow. So far, no issues to report. Hit the range while it was installing and had Buzz’s Sandtrap salad bar for dinner. The market tanked today, based on the AA+ rating granted to the US by Standard and Poor’s. Sandy had a rough day due to the 600+ point Dow Jones drop.

Sunday, August 7

Church at 12:45, a nice slow morning. Sandy make lasagna for dinner and we had our neighbors Pat and Gene (from down below) over for dinner. They are fun to talk to!

Saturday, August 6

Eddie Vasquez needed another ham radio operator as support staff for the MS  bike race from A-Bay to Kawi. 6:00 am came early and off we went. The event was a little disorganized with everyone learning on the job, including me! The Yaesu VXGR handheld worked really well. Eddie lent me a mag roof mount and I used the external speaker/microphone to transmit. All 3 frequencies were programmed into the radio and with the 2 band receive monitoring, it was really easy to stay in contact with Net Control and the other SAG vehicles, we were SAG4. Eddie was SAG 3. SAG 2 and SAG 1 never materialized.

Sandy made chicken enchiladas for dinner.

Friday, August 5

Quickie breakfast from Waikoloa Village Market, an egg/ham crossiant. Early lunch at the Royal Kona hotel, burgers and mai-tais at Don’s. We dropped off Anna about 12:15 for her 1:45 flight. She boarded on time at 1:15 and made it home successfully and on time. We saw Cowboys and Aliens and finished the day with dinner at Romano’s Macaroni Grill in the Queen’s Marketplace. The chicken parmesan salad was refreshing.

We missed the Friday happy hour at the pool, oh well.

Thursday, August 4

Breakfast waffles, lunch with Subway at Hapuna Beach. Wind was churning up the water. Final dinner at Canoe Club at the Mauna Lani was good, just a little salty. Great ocean view! I prefer KPC for the atmosphere.

Wednesday, August 3

Egg and bean burritos for breakfast and morning black sand beach trip on the Sea Smoke. They do a nice program, I still highly recommend them. The affternoon was spent relaxing at Hawaii Calls and dinner BBQ at home was Ahi tuna. Consistently, the Waikoloa Village Market has better, fresher fish that the Aloha Market in the Queen’s Marketplace!

Tuesday, August 2

Quick breakfast before surf lessons with Kona Mike. Make sure you pass this guy up, he’s more interested in making money than providing a quality lesson, according to Anna. Dinner was flank steak from Costco!

Monday, August 1

Mauna Kea for snorkeling and beach relaxing. Lunch at the Hau Tree and dinner was bean and chicken burritos.

Sunday, July 31

Lesiure breakfast of waffles and  12:45 p.m. Mass at the Waikoloa Elementary school. 47 people attended and the church is deciding numbers of people attending vs building a church satellite somewhere in the village.

Anna arrived about 7:00 p.m. from LA. Dinner was wine and cheese and stuff.

Saturday, July 30

Brekfast with Eddie Vasquez and his wife Dorothy at the King’s Grille on the golf course. Eddie is a ham operator, active in the local CERT and they both are just nice folks to be around. They are in C-120. A relaxing day, cleaning up the lanai and getting ready for Anna’s visit tomorrow. Dinner was Cashew Chicken on Sandy’s wok on the electric stove. Came out just as yummy as at home!

Friday, July 29

Leisure day with T-time at 11:30 a.m. We played 17 holes, skipping 10 to get in front of a 3 some. It is tiring to play 18 holes. Unwinding at Banjy’s Paradise Bar and Grill with a couple of beers. They now have 12 beers on taps and we ended up with a pizza snack and leftovers to go for dinner. We were tired!

Thursday, July 28

Ernie and Carol left today, a short trip but fun, Hawaiian Air flight to Honolulu and then onto the mainland. Two hours late leaving Honolulu, but they made it home safely. Dinner was at Eddie Aikau Restaurant in the King’s Waikoloa center. We had happy hour, anxious to try the full dinner menu, pricey. Interesting to see how they will do against Roy’s.

Wednesday, July 27

Circle Island tour today! Got up early and headed out on the northern route for the Circle Island tour. Breakfast at Tex for malasadas, the best! We drove down to Hilo for the Farmer’s Market and more shopping, they do have lots of cool stuff there for tourists! Not sure of the rest of the trip, but Ernie and Carol decided to do the circle island tour and so we headed for Volcano and Kilauea.

As usual, Kilauea was spouting off and the show was wonderful, it’s amazing how many weather areas you travel through around the island.

It is a LONG trip around the island and as we drove around Naalehu, a tiny mac nut farm had some coffee and tips for a great burget place for dinner. You really do forget how big the island is on this side. The weather is perfectly suited for coffee growing. Annie’s Burgers was a great stop and the burgers were pretty good too. Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) is served on tap, retro!

Tuesday, July 26

Girl spa day and day for guys to cook. Girls off to the Mauna Lani for their shopping and spa day and the guys headed down to Kona to the Harley shop to check out the new toys. Lunch at BiteMe for the 2.50US fish tacos, can’t beat the price!

Lots of cool Harley bikes to choose from and dinner was flank steak from Costco, it too is a good deal. Nice day to relax!!

Monday, July 25

Beach day to A-Bay via the Marriott hotel. Lunch at the Hawaii Calls and then snorkeling on the beach after that. A little sunburned but everyone survived. Dinner was spaghetti and movie night!

Sunday, July 24

Church in Waimea for 8:00 Mass and breakfast at the Paniolo Inn. A day to relax before the luau at the Marriott Resort!

Saturday, July 23

A run down to Kona, ultimately at the Walmart for Ernie’s blood pressure medications. He left them at home, so we had the prescription moved to the Safeway in Kona, he uses Von’s back home. But, it was out of the meds, so they were nice enough to transfer the prescription to the Walmart next door.

Lunch time had us at the Royal Kona Inn and Don’s MaiTai bar. Yummy as always, good burgers to split. Afternoon shopping on Alii Drive for family stuff back home and dinner was spaghetti at home.

Sunset watching off the 4th tee was fantastic but cool due to the wind!

Friday, July 22

Ernie and Carol arrived safe and sound on the Hawaiin 001 flight to Honolulu and the connecting flight here to Kona. They arrived at 1:30, did a few errands before they arrived. Lunch was crackers and cheese before a fabulous dinner at the Kamuela Provishioning Company (KPC) on the Hilton Hawaiian Village property. They do have a gorgeous view for dinner!

 

Thursday, July 21

A day getting ready for Ernie and Carol’s arrival tomorrow. Clean the place up, sheets on bed, new towels and all that kind of stuff. Dinner was ahi tuna on the BBQ, it is good stuff.

Wednesday, July 20

Traveling back to Kona today. Breakfast at the Tropics restaurant for  one last view. Mokulule flight 1026 was on time and we arrived back at 1:30 p.m. A few errands in Kona getting ready for Ernie and Carol. We tried El Maguey down in Kona for a late lunch/dinner. The tacos were OK, we’ll have to try something else before passing judgement. We did buy a lot of crap in Honolulu. The Hilton Hawaiian Village and Lagoon Tower were just too crowded and did not leave either of us with a great impression.

Tuesday, July 19

We went down to Ko Olina to visit with Linda and Bruce Bott. They are staying at their timeshare at the Marriott Ko Olina, a nice place. Lunch at the LongBoard Beach Restaurant was mahi-mahi burgers and tacos. They were nothing to write home about, we’ve had a lot better.

It was nice to relax in the afternoon and take in the nice scenery. We left about 3:00 pm and headed down with the car one last time to Waikiki and dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. BIG line, but we headed to the bar and got right in. I had a lightly, lemony breaded chicken dish that was really quite good, the smashed potatoes were great too. Sandy had the “chopped” salad, I think my choice was much better!

Dessert at the Lappertt’s ice cream place on the Village property was Kauai Pie, delicious!

Monday, July 18

IHOP just around the corner from the Hilton, down on Kalia road. We saw Harry Potter at the Ward 16 Consolidated Theaters, just west of the Ala Moana shopping center. Relaxed a bit today, tried a mai tai down at the Moana Surfrider and came back to a Jack-in-the-Box private dinner activity down on the lawn below us. It ended with a Samoan fire dancer demonstration/dance about 8:45 p.m. Those guys are crazy!

Sunday, July 17

Shopping at Ala Moana after watching the women’s FIFA world cup final game, USA vs. Japan. Fantastic play, USA dominated but Japan pulled it out and deserved to win. Enough shopping, I’m done! For the guys, the MaiTai Bar on the 4th floor is a nice break from the grind, it is next to the Bubba Gump Shrimp restaurant.

Lunch was leftovers before we left and dinner was at the local Outback Restaurant, right around the corner.

We hopped on the Aloha Bus and took it to downtown Waikiki, a nice little tour.

Saturday, July 16

Today we are heading to the north shore to the Hale’iwa Art Festival to check out some cool stuff. We tried the Tropics for breakfast. It is on the premises of the hotel and was OK.

The festival was fun and lots of cool art work was displayed. We found 2 pieces to display from artist Paul Forney, it is being shipped to us in Waikoloa. After the festival, we headed back to Waikiki but stopped in to the Dole Plantation for a quick break. It is a fun place and the Dole pineapple whip is amazing, I don’t know what it is made of but fabulous.

A quick stop at the local Safeway and we decided on a Round Table since they are on the complex. It wasn’t too bad, and dessert was a Lappert’s Kaui Pie.

Friday, July 15

Shopping day today, ugh. Breakfast walk was eastward toward Diamond Head. We ended up at the Royal Hawaiian (the Pink Palace) for breakfast. Good stuff, oatmeal and eggs benedict, good choice.

Part of the plan coming here was this was part of our VIP Hilton Grand Vacation Club and we needed to hear a pitch. Our timeshare presentation was at 11:15, and surprisingly, we were done by 12:30 pm. We were upfront and said we weren’t interested in anything. Our sales rep was Marc Gosselin.

Off we went to the Aiea shopping center, focusing on the Bed, Bath and Beyond. Mom scored with good stuff at the Macy’s and BBB. We bought a Samsonite rolling carryon duffel bag to store everything and ship it back via checkin. Lunch at the Monterey Bay Cannery in Aiea was just OK.

Dinner was at the Aloha Tower Marketplace, Gordon Biersch. The blackened ahi tuna tacos were probably one of the best that I have had. Sandy had the lobster and shrimp mac and cheese and that too was quite good. This place is a keeper to return to.

Thursday, July 14

Flight day today to Oahu via Mokulele. Our flight was on time at 12:45 and we arrived in Oahu at 1:30. After getting the car, we got lost, ended up at the zoo and finally arrived at the Hilton Grand Vacation Club. We are/were staying at the Lagoon Towers, rooms 622 and 623. We are next to the Rainbow Tower. We were supposed to stay in the Grand Waikikian Tower, but got mixed up. We are in crowding shock, too many folks. The room wasn’t ready until 4:00 pm, so we just hung out.

Dinner was just down the street by the marina at the Chart House. I thought it was part of the chain, but it isn’t. I had the Ahi Tuna lite dinner, and mine wan’t too bad. It was a teriyaki flavored piece of fish, just right. Sandy had the opa (moonfish) and it was just OK, not fantastic. We’ll pass on this place next time.

Wednesday, July 13

Paperwork day. I realized that I better get started with schedules for Algebra 1a and Algebra for the next school year. After thinking about different approaches, I decided to stick with last year’s approach and use Schooolfusion to maintain my websites. I had to un-archive the Algebra 1 page and build the new calendars for 2011-2012. Apple’s iCal application really sucks at moving items from one calendar to another in another year. You can’t display 2 copies of iCal to click and drag, it has to be done in the one iCal window. But, it got done!

Dinner was taco salad. Not too many of these work days hopefully!

Tuesday, July 12

Car day in Kona. The green hornet has its 2nd appointment at Automotive Engineering Kona for spark plug wires, valve cover gaskets, and brake pads and oil change. All got done, except for the oil change and the car is working as it should. I had to wait for the car, since Sandy was working today. I spent the time wondering around downtown Kona and Alii drive. Lots of things to do and shop. Island Lava Java down in Alii drive (free Wi-Fi) is a nice place for beakfast. The car was done by noon, as promised, and the brakes NO LONGER squeak. You could hear us a mile away coming with those noisy brake pads. AEK turned the rotors as well so all is good.

Kona Kwik Lube (74-5590 Alapa Street # E, Kailua Kona, HI 96740) took care of the oil change quickly and efficiently, they are on Alapa street in the industrial area too.

The afternoon was spent doing errands at K-Mark, Walmart, Costco. Got back home about 4:15 pm. A long shopping day for me!

The condo was nice and toasty by the afternoon and Sandy didn’t put the air conditioner on. Too hot to cook, so we went to the Marriott for dinner at Hawaii Calls. It was 2-for-1 pricing and the Mai-tais were great. Sunset was fantastic down on A-Bay but it was interesting to see the effect of the tsunami on the bay, there is no longer one continuous beach, the sea wall was wiped out just about in the middle.

Monday, July 11
Golf day, Sandy had stuff to do workwise so I putted around cleaning things, like windows, around the place.

Golf time at 2:00, 18 holes, except one, to space ourselves out. Done by 5:15 or so. Both of us were tired, I forgot how much effort this stuff can be.

Dinner was tacos from a kit. Again, fresh ingredients really make a difference.

Sunday, July 10
Today is church day. We went to 8:00 mass in Waimea. It was good to be back with Fr. Bob. After church, we went toSolimene’s for breakfast.they have expanded next door and on Sundays they have an informal brunch. Prices were reasonable and the food was great.

Came back to the condo and went out to the range. A little rusty, but not too bad. Made a t-time for tomorrow at 2:00, a little anxious.

Dinner was albacore tuna from the village market ＄9.99 per pound and it was delicious. Just cook at 2 minutes per side, not 3!

Saturday, July 9

A nice day exploring Waimea’s 2 farmer’s markets. Both have fresh produce and good eats. The one behind the Parker school, Waimea Town Market is from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm and the other on the eastern outskirts of town, Waimea Hawaiian Homestead Farmer’s Market is from 7:00 – 12:00 noon. Fresh, handmade tamales at the Waimea Town Market! El Maguey (Kona) and Mi Ranchita (Hawi) are 2 restaurants run by sisters with a husband from Mexico, must tries!

Cleaning day, putting things away as well. Dinner was spaghetti and lemon meringue pie (from Pat, our neighbor below) was delicious!

Friday, July 8

Leisurely morning, Sandy did some work and I went out for my first walk. It was the 3.5 mile loop down to the bridge. Today it was windy! Talked to the Universal Radio folks and the Beeman’s Pharmacy folks about billing screwups, supposed to be all fixed now.

Headed to Kona to do some errands, pick up the Subaru and return the rental car. Car needs a tuneup, instead of tranny work but needs to go back on Tuesday for wiring harness, argh… parts coming from Honolulu.

Did our first Friday happy hour by the pool and brought Pat 2 cherry tomato plants from Costco, picked up another orchid too to see if we can actually make them work! Dinner was flank steak from Costco, yummy!

We find things that are missing are really missing from the condo. Pens, highlighters, wine opener, “Hawaii, The Big Island Revealed book”, WTF!

Thursday, July 7

Sandy had her first meetings today, so we did a quick run to the market for breakfast and a few supplies. She worked in the morning while I puttted around getting the car and condo ready. About 1:30, after a quick Subway sandwich lunch, we headed to Kona and the car places.

Problem 1: Safety check place was out of stickers, so … she suggested another place by the Target store. It charged less, but the Subaru didn’t pass the safety check because the windshield washer fluid isn’t working! Argh … Back to the tranny place. Next door to Transmission Technology is Automotive Engineering Kona, where they re-charged the freon for me and replaced the windshield waster pump. Between the 2 outfits, we will find out what is wrong with the stumbling of the Subaru, hopefully for tomorrow’s rental car return period is up.

Transmission Technology – 75-5546 Kaiwi St., Unit E, Kailua-Kona, HI 96740, phone 808 331-8310

Automotive Engineering Kona – 75-5546 Kaiwi St., 808 327-9878

By this time it was past the 3:00 show for Transformers 3 so we did a few errands at Target. Early dinner was at the KBC, pizza and salad combo. The movie was at 6:30 and was just OK, not great. Home by 10:30 or so …

Wednesday, July 6
Time to travel back to Kona! After a great breakfast with Anna at Longhi’s in Lahaina, again, fantastic food, banana and mac-nut pancakes and eggs benedict, we had our return flight to Kona leaving at 1:00 p.m. After some quick shopping on the main drag, we drove back to the airport and our 1:00 p.m. Mokulele flight left at 12:45 because all 9 passengers were checked in and ready. That was kind of nice!

Back in Kona, we stopped by Transmission Technology to get the Subaru tranny looked at, something is wrong and needs to be fixed. These guys have good reviews. They are on Kaiwi street in the industrial section of town. Across the lot is also a safety check outfit that can do a safety check. So, … we keep the rental car until Friday, come down tomorrow and drop off the Subaru, pick it up Friday and return the rental after that.

Returning to the condo, I unwrapped the Subaru and started it up, so far so good! We took it for a spin to charge it up and ended up at Buzz’s Sand Trap down by the Hilton for a salad bar dinner, still a great deal!

Rearranged and uploaded pictures so far of this summer and Bart’s service.

Tuesday, July 5
Today is Bart’s ocean scattering on Maui. We had a Mokulele flight, from the commuter terminal to Maui. It left at 10:53, really 11:25, and we arrived to pick up Curtis and our rental car.

Lunch at Panda Express and we arrived at the Maui Ocean Club, room 2308. Bart’s service on the America II was at 4:00 from Lahaina Harbor. It was a very nice service and Anna did a great job. I did a GPX track of the sail. Dinner was at the Lahaina Grill, a fantastic meal.

Monday, July 4
We are packed up and ready for Kona. Our bags are both right at about 48 pounds, wow. Delta flight 1299 is on time for a 1:55 departure from LAX. We left about 9:00, stopped at Long’s drugs and passed on visiting dad, I was worried about time and traffic and security.

It was the 4th, and there was no traffic and we arrived at Avis by 11:00, took the shuttle and sky capped the luggage. Security was a breeze. By noon we were at the Delta sky lounge relaxing!

The flight was boarded early and we left on TIME.

By 4:00 pm we were in Kona, car and luggage with us. We headed to Outback, and the Safeway for a few things. We got to the condo by 7:30 pm and were home.

We unpacked a bit, got the wireless up, changed the bed sheets and hit the sack. Tomorrow is a big day.

 

Friday, June 17

Today we packed up leisurely after the last day of school. We met Douglas, Rosie and Tommy driving down from Oakland at the Proud Bird for dinner before taking off on Air France. Dinner was OK, nothing to write home about, steaks were just OK and for a Friday night, there was no crowd. That should have been a signal.

At the airport in plenty of time, everything was checked in very smoothly and we were past security, sitting in the ramp area by 8:00 p.m. or so. Our flight on Air France 647 was scheduled for a 10:30 p.m. flight. AT 10:30 as we were beginning early boarding, a mass horde of people started away from the boarding area. The flight had just been cancelled due mechanical difficulties. argh … We joined the hoard to the ticketing counter to find out that a new flight tomorrow, Sunday, would be put on, time TBD and AF would put us up for the night in LA somewhere. We finally reached the front of the line and they gave us the same story. We would get out tomorrow, not exactly sure what time. I told them that we would drive home and return tomorrow evening, that seemed to open the magic door and the gate agent offered us 5 immediate seats on Air Tahiti Nut Flight TN101 if we wanted. We all agreed BUT we had to go to the Bradley terminal and walk like crazy. The Air Tahiti Nui folks directed us, gave us new boarding passes and after another 1/2 mile walk, we arrived at gate 46. We boarded a shuttle bus, that drove around the airport to the waiting Air Tahiti Nui jetway. The name of our airplane, an Airbus 340-200 was Rangiroa.

The plane was being held due to other delays with Delta and New York bound passengers. Long story short, we were boarded and seated by about midnight and on our way! The luggage would not be with us, but would show up eventually at the Club Bali Hai they assured us.

Saturday, June 19

After an 8.5 hour flight, we arrived at Faa airport about 6:00 a.m. Tahiti is 3 hours behind Los Angeles time zone-wise. No luggage, a long line for customs and immigration, but we had the first Aremiti V ferry leaving at 7:00 a.m. We worked our way through the luggage claim area and they assured us that our luggage would arrive tomorrow, Sunday at the hotel, I was dubious.

We took a taxi, about 1500CF to the marketplace and shopped around a bit. No luggage, toothbrushes, underwear … so we found what we could. It was sort of a blessing to walk around without the luggage.

The marketplace and Vaimea shopping center had what we needed and we boarded the ferry for the 12:20 trip. The fare is 1320CF per person. A quick 1/2 hour ride and we arrived at the dock. We found a taxi for 2700CF and found ourselves at the Club Bali Hai by 1:00 p.m. or so.

We were assured that our luggage would follow us by Temea, the front clerk.

We hung out, a little warm, but found a few things at the local markets, Hinano being most important. A 0.5 liter bottle is about 240-220CF. Lunch was at the Blue Pineapple, a delicious tuna burger for Douglas and I. We are running a tab at the BP for meals, separate from the Bali Hai, this is convenient.

Dinner was at Alo Pizza, down the road to the left, it was delicious. Douglas made the trek down.

We were all tired, so comfortably in #36 and #37 we were soon asleep after a few games of Farkle.

Sunday, June 19

We all woke up a little early and stumbled down to the BP for breakfast. Food is a little expensive here, but the short stack was only 650CF. Ham here is our SPAM, something Rosie (acutally all of us)  is NOT too crazy about.

During breakfast, we found (actually her found us) Jay, one of the officers of the timeshare. With his knowledge, we are booked for:

• Tuesday – motu picnic
• Wednesday – dinner BBQ
• Thursday – deep sea fishing with Chris, the same guy Douglas and I used in 2004, this time, we will have 3 of us. For 3 people, we have 55,000CF or 650 American.

We forgot that on Sunday, the grocery stores close early, like open from 7:00 – 9:00 a.m. and that’s it! We were too late and missed the french baguettes for 53CF. Oh well … it is nice to relax on Father’s Day!

Today, we relaxed at the pool and just hung out. Dinner was at Rudy’s, a steakhouse down at Maharepa. Free shuttle service at 6:15 for a 6:30 p.m. dinner reservation. For being a steakhouse, the Rib-eye was just OK. Douglas had a parrotfish stuffed with crab, it was excellent. The desserts were better than the meals, but the hype was just that. It is an OK place, remember, steaks are NOT the focus on a pacific island in the middle of the ocean.

Monday, June 20

Today we rented a car from Albert, across from the Bali Hai. For the same rate as Avis here on the premises, we were able to keep it for 24 hours for the rate of 8,000CF.

The Albert lady said to refill the car, a Hundai Gris would require 1,000 CF. We figured out at the Bank Socredo that 1 dollar is 80CF. We started continuing down the road and ended up at the Hotel InterContinental for a potty stop. Friday, we are taking the Tea Nui  for a 1/2 boat trip out. The InterContinental is a nice place, it was very quiet and looked empty.

Further up the road, we ended up at  Les Tipaniers beach restaurant for lunch. The swordfish fish burgers were amazing! We should check this place out for dinner. Not the restaurant on the street, but the one on the beach. The motu picnic takes place right across the bay from this restaurant!

Continuing around the island, we ended up at the Champion supermarket at the Vaire dock and city. This market DOES NOT close from 12:00 – 3:00 p.m. like the other markets do. It is the LARGEST on the island and has everything you need. Hinano is 205CF per 50cL, in the markets around Bali Hai, the cheapest is 220 at the Chinese one and 240 at most others.

We doubled back to the Rotui fruit and distillery for sampling of local juices and liquors. The Tahiti Drink is made with distilled pineapple juice and is quite tasty.

For dinner, we snagged a rotisserie chicken at the Champion market, together with our beans and tortillas that Mom brought on the trip! The chicken roach coach up in Marapeha had chickens that weren’t quite done yet, we’ll get one next time.

Tuesday, June 21

The crack in the bathroom, right where your feet plant below the sink got worse yesterday. This morning I mentioned it again to the front staff. Nothing was done, even after us being gone all day at the picnic, and tomorrow, there will be holy hell.

Today was the motu picnic and shark and ray tour. It picked us up at the dock at 9:30 and off we went on our 6 hour adventure tour. We learned about the history of the bay on the way to the motu by the Les Tipaniers. We stopped at the sand bar where the rays were fed first. Rosie had no desire to enter with the rays. Next, we did the sharks, black tipped reef sharks. The deck hand and tour guide Siki, fed the sharks and the whole thing was videotaped for posterity. This shark feeding was much better than the last time, where we had to hang behind a rope spread out between 2 boats. The sharks were literally swimming in and around us as the feeding continued, these are amazing creatures. Rosie did enter the water, on TOP of Tommy’s shoulders, that’s as far as she got!

The motu picnic was amazing as we had fresh ceviche from tuna and marlin prepared in front of us. Marlin, tuna, coconut juice, water, line and fresh cucumbers, onions and tomatoes were all the ingredients, it was amazing.

Snorkeling was not fantastic here, too many people. But the trip was great. People from the InterContinental, Hilton and Pearl Hotels are dropped off before were return to the Club Bali Hai.  A highly recommended trip!

I now know the conversion to dollars: 80 CF to 1 dollar. Divide the CF by 80 to approximate the dollar cost.

One of the deck hands runs his own boat. He saw us talking this morning to Chris, the guy we went out with in 2004 and offered us a deal for 3 people at 450,000CF, 100,000CF less than Chris, a quandary.

Dinner was spaghetti!

Things to bring on future trips:

• Reef walkers
• snorkel gear
• Jack cheese
• Jalapeno
• Italian herbs
• BBQ
• taco seasonings
• Cooler to ship stuff in and smaller cooler to carry cold/frozen stuff from the markets

Wednesday, June 22

Today was kickback day with nothing scheduled except for the Tahtian Show and Dinner at the Bali Hai. We just hung around the pool and just chill-axed.

The dinner show started at 6:00 p.m. and I was surprised at the number of people that attended. There were probably as many performers as their observers. The troupe was great, entertaining and bringing in the kids to dance. The after show meal was terrible. The cook really does do a great job in doing both breakfast and lunch. I think the advertised “mahi-mahi” was NOT, probably the dorado/wahoo that was brought in during the day. It was not a good cut of fish, oh well. It is evident that the economy is really taking a bite out of Tahiti as well.

Thursday, June 23
Fishing day with Capt. Chris and the Tea Nui, tied up at the Hotel Intercontinental. We were picked up at 7:15 for a 1/2 day fishing charter for 55,000CF or 650US. We chose the 55,000CF. The trip started off quick with 3 quick hits on the small rods as we were leaving the harbor, one skipjack tuna and 2 mackerel. After that, though, we put the small stuff away and continued with the heavy duty trolling gear out to the southwest side of the island. From where we were, you could see the island of Tahiti off in the distance. After riding out to the buoy where the local fisherman were fishing for mahi-mahi, we returned back with no luck. Getting close to the entrance to the reef, we struck another 2 fish for a total of 5. Great weather but bummer luck. Oh well, that’s why it’s called fishing and not catching!

The cook at Annana’s Blue prepared our filet fish for lunch for the 3 fishermen. It was a little hard to tell which was the mackerel and which was the skipjack. Neither did anything for me. They were prepared with a little herb-garlic-butter sauce, a very nice presentation.

The girls in the morning got the massage/spa work in across the street at Dorina’s. It was reported to be wonderful!

The afternoon was a nice lazy time.

For dinner, Tommy took us to the Keveka restaurant down the road  as a ‘thank you’. They have an interesting and somewhat economical dinner with Chinese, pizza, steaks, Italian varieties. I had pizza, Rosie and Mom had Chinese (lemon chicken, chow-mein and fried rice), Tommy had a steak and Douglas had fish. The food was plentiful and prices were reasonable.

Friday, June 24

The kids were hooked up with Albert Jet Ski rentals to do the 2 hour shark, ray, motu and bay tours. Tommy and Rosie were on one and Doug on the other. The price was 220,000CF per ski. The trip was great and Rosie even got in the water with the rays.

The afternoon was a lazy day laying by the pool and and snorkeling in the bay. We adopted our sting ray “Ray” and our octopus “Ocho”.

We found taco seasoning at the supermarket marche in Pao Pao and had bean and meat burritos, lettuce and edam cheese. Yummy!

Saturday, June 25

The kids were headed in the afternoon, on the ferry back to Papeete for a Sunday morning Air France flight (673) back to Los Angeles. We spent the morning packing them up and left about 11:00 a.m. for a 2:40 p.m. ferry, which was really a 3:25 p.m. ferry because Sandy mis-read the schedule. We went back to the Rotui fruit factory where Douglas picked up some liquid gifts for friends and we stopped at a coupe of shops that Sandy and Rosie had seen some trinkets. Well, on Saturday, the shops in Maharapea must close early because shortly before noon, everything was close for the rest of the day.

We went to the Pearl Resort for lunch to celebrate their last day and meals. Interesting, the fish burgers were marlin, they were saving the tuna for the poisson cru, so … we had burgers! Nice photo ops on the property.

Our boat captain and Siki, the motu picnic guide, told us that marlin makes great ceviche, but when cooked, it is a little tough.

We drove around and ended up at the Sofitel for a late lunch dessert break. At the beach bar, they have an ice cream dessert menu that has some killer ice cream dishes. Tommy had a coffee creation and Doug and Rosie split a mango sorbet dish. I had a margarita, which they don’t know how to make in Tahiti.

Back to the Champion market in Viare for some new flip-flops and french champagne and other things.

We went exploring after the kids left to the Hilton Hotel for dinner, but Saturday night is their buffet and Tahitian dance show, so the restaurant was closed. It is a beautiful place too. We backtracked and ended up at the Aito Restaurant on Cook’s Bay. It is a small parking lot place that opens to the bay with great views.

The mahi-mahi polynesian style (in coconut milk, with bananas and pineapples) was THE BEST meal Sandy and I have had here so far. We made plans to come back on Thursday for our last meal on Moorea.

Sunday, June 26

We have not heard from the kids, they were staying at the Tahiti Airport Hotel, next to the airport. The AF673 flight left at 7:30 (actually 7:48) a.m. so we are assuming that they are on the flight and should call us tonight about 6:00 p.m. (9:00 p.m.) our time while they are on the road to the Hilton hotel in Valencia. Rather than making them drive after their 6:45 p.m. arrival in LAX, we gave them a head start for about a 5 hour Monday drive back to Oakland and Petaluma.

After tracking the kids on flighttracker.com, we found out that the flight left about 18 minutes late, at 7:48 a.m. but made up the late start by arriving at 6:36 pm. They made it to the hotel with about 2300CF, had a wake up call and made it to the airport, by walking downhill with plenty of time. After getting the car from WallyPark, they made a bee-line for an El Torito to fill up on Mexican food that they were deprived of for a WHOLE week.

After the kids left, we played some games of Farkle, but it wasn’t the same.

Monday, June 27

A nice lazy day, passing time on the water and just relaxing. The Paul Gauguin cruise ship came in today and will be here from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. tomorrow. The ship dispatches its life boats as shuttles to the dock by the Kevaka hotel. The street vendors set up their booths there, so its a good concentration of shopping. Sandy found a beautiful 2 black-pearl pendant, champagne and purple for 32,500CF (about 406.25US). She also found black pearl anklets for Rosie and Carol.

Lunch was fish burgers at Annas Blue, this time mahi-mahi instead of tuna. The tuna burgers are better. Dinner was at Alo Pizza, we ordered the Hawaiian Pizza with Pepperoni. They have NO beer and wine served and the one-size pizza is 1700CF.

Tuesday, June 28

Another lazy day. Breakfast was ham and egg burritos, we are running out of tortillas, oh no! Just for costing purposes:

(Item in Pacific Francs, CF)/80 = U.S. Dollars

Milk (1 liter): 320CF (4.00US per liter, 16.00US gallon, ouch)
Gasoline (sans plom, unleaded, per liter): 160CF (2.00US liter or 8.00US gallon)
Diesel: 147CF (1.84US liter or 7.35US)
Bread (baguette): 53CF (0.66US)
Beer (Hinano): 205-240CF per 0.5 liter (2.56 – 3.00US per 0.5 liter, 5.12 – 6.00US per liter)
Butter: 303CF (3.79US)
Salad dressing, Wishbone: 270CF (3.35US)
Condensed milk, carnation: 193CF (2.41US)

We had a car rental this afternoon, leaving about 3:00 p.m. and went shopping around the island, mainly in Maharepa. Mom found some gifts to take back for folks. We timed the car to keep it overnight and head to the Snack Mahana for lunch up by the InterContinental tomorrow.

Dinner today was at Les Tipaniers, both were excellent. Mom had the shrimp and magi in coconut milk and I had the parrotfish prepared in coconut milk as well. They were both amazing, best meal yet! Without a car, they said free pickup would be no problem, but you have to wait for all pickup patrons to be done, before you return to your hotel.

Wednesday, June 29

Nice lazy morning driving to the “Le Chat (the cat)” jewelry store to see what else Nathalie had in her shop. Les Chat is just west of the InterContinental hotel, on the upside, with a big tiiki statue out front. It is hard to miss it. She unfortunately, was closed but her work is displayed in the InterContinental.

Lunch was fantastic at Snack Mahana. This little restaurant is only open for lunch, the cook cooks from her home and you eat in the backyard. On recommendation from the waitress, we both had the mahi-mahi, lightly breaded in coconut juice. I had it with rice and Sandy with fries. The price, per meal was about 1800CFP.  A nice leisure meal that was THE best I had so far on the island.

Dinner was spaghetti, the last of it Tonight was the dinner show and we just  hung out listening to the music. Sandy said the show was the same as the week before.

Thursday, June 30

Breakfast was our remaining yogurt and local chocolate croissant and coffee. We are using up most of our staples now. We settled up our bill at Anna’s Bleu, it for 2 weeks was 53,000CF or about 550US. That included the dinner show last weekend.

Laundry day in the morning. Lunch was a sandwich with the cold-cuts we still had left over. We had to finish the remaining beers too, so .. we worked hard and DID.

Last dinner on Moorea was at Aito Restaurant. I had the red tuna in ginger sauce and Sandy had the Lobster au gratin. Both were excellent and we, for dessert, spilt the coconut-banana pie with vanilla-rum ice cream. It too was delicious. Aito is getting a little old for still running a restaurant. The trip back to the hotel was an interesting one.

Friday, July 1

Time to pack up and head to Papeete. We settled up our bills, yesterday for Ananas Blue and today for the club. The weekly rate for taxes and fees for 3 weeks and the motu picnic (7,000CF per person) fee of 35,000 CF was 51,087CF or about 638.58US.

35, 000 motu
3,000 laundry (3 times 1,000)
140 per local call (2 calls)
1,819CF per week resort fee (4% of yearly maintenance fee)
150CF per person per day city tax

General info:
Hinano (0.5L) beer deposit = 60CF per bottle
bacon is a little weird
Use Skype to call US
Club Bali Hai WiFi password = cbhmoorea2011
HOTSPOT-WDG is the other paid wireless network on Moorea. You pay for it as you need it. They have pay as you go plans too and are located throughout Moorea and Tahiti.
1 hour = 500CF
5 hours = 2,000CF
10 hours (1 extra free, 11 hours total) = 4,000CF

http://radius.webdatagest.com/cgi-bin/hotspotlogin.cgi?res=notyet&uamip=192.168.170.1&uamport=3990&challenge=d542ffeb22f895002a8b9b8a2d38f5ab&userurl=http%3a%2f%2fdaveesquer.com%2fwebcam.htm&nasid=HOTSPOT&mac=10-93-E9-0E-D3-9E

Arrived via Aremeti V ferry on the 1:45 p.m. slot. The Albert shuttle price was 700CF per person, 4 of us headed to the airport. We went directly to the Tahiti Airport Motel to find a pleasant surprise and the shuttle fee was only 1700CF. We scoped out the airport walk, literally only 5 minutes, all do-able in the morning. From the airport, we took a taxi downtown for some last minute shopping, this fare was 1500CF.

To top it off, we then took a trip to the InterContinental for a view of Moorea and sunset, it was spectacular! Lots of people and lots of noise but an amazing sunset.

Tomorrow, Saturday comes early.

Saturday, July 2

The Air France flight from LAX to Tahiti is late, instead of a 10:30 p.m. departure, it left at 12:15 a.m. this morning. It arrived at 5:40 a.m. and I am wondering if it can turned around in time for its 7:30 a.m. departure.

We were lucky and a taxi was awaiting us at the lobby, actually for another couple so we took it saving us the 5 minute walk. Checked in baggage and were ready for the flight. It was only delayed from 7:30 for 15 minutes so we were fine. Just for future reference, there IS a coffee/snack shop INSIDE past the security checkpoint.

Air France flight 673 arrived in LAX on time, 6:30 local time, went through immigration and customs with no problems. Air France is THE WAY TO GO. Free booze on the plane, champagne, wine and even digestives after lunch! Food not too bad either and service was fantastic!

Stopped by the El Torito in Marina del Ray and were home by about 11:15 p.m.

Sunday, July 3

Packing and unpacking for tomorrow’s flight to Hawaii!

Friday, May 27
Arrived via Alaska Air to Seattle in the afternoon, left on 10:40 a.m. flight. Took taxi to the hotel,  about ＄45 from SEATAC to the Hampton Inn on 5th and Roy. Room was OK, free wifi and art show and craft fair going on across in the Space Needle park.

Headed to the Space Needle for a gorgeous view and free emailing of your photo to anyone. ＄14.00 admission to the top and a nice restaurant/bar.

Went down, via monorail to the center of town and the short walk to the Pike Place pier area. Lots of cool shops to browse through. Dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, not a good choice, but we were tired of the walking around.

Sunny weather.

Saturday, May 28
We headed to breakfast, via Yelp recommendation, to the Portage Bay Cafe down on Terry Ave, just a 0.8 mile walk from the hotel. Great food for breakfast.

After breakfast, we did the 10:00 a.m. Seattle duck boat tour located by the Space Needle. A fun little ride, about 90 minutes in length and a cost of about ＄28/each.

We agreed to meet up with Bruce and Linda and cousins Brent and Janice Davenport for dinner. Dinner was at Buca de Beppo down the road (701 9th Avenue North) walking from the hotel. Good stuff.

Cloudy weather, but not too cold.

Sunday, May 29
Quick continental breakfast at the hotel followed by an 11:30 shuttle ride to the embarkation pier for Holland America . We were met with an efficient staff and were onboard in stateroom SA7070 (Rotterdam deck) by 12:15 p.m.

Lunch in the Vista lounge and the afternoon to get the lay of the ship. We were all located next to each other in rooms 7068, 7070 (ours) and 7072. We were able to open the verandas among all 3 rooms so that we could have an great 270 degree view on the deck!

Dinner seating in the Vista Dining Room was fixed for us at 5:30 p.m. and tonight’s feature was prime rib. The end cuts were a little too done, but my “medium” was quite good.

Cloudy weather, a little colder.

Monday, May 30
Day at Sea to get to the Glacier Bay. The boat travels about 20 knots and the seas in the morning prior to entering the fjords was a little rough. In the morning, we went to the Culinary Center in the Queen’s lounge to watch the head chef share secrets of creme brulee and lobster salad. Today’s afternoon activity was wine tasting at 2:00 p.m. Linda. Bruce and Sandy and I had a good time with our wine steward. The ＄15 price for 4 tastings was a great deal!

Tonight was the 1st formal meal, sport jacket required in the Pinnacle Grill. Sandy had the lobster and I had the New York strip with peppercorn sauce. Dessert was the creme brulee sampler of chocolate, coffee and creme.

Formal night requires either a jacket or tie, but not necessarily both. I had a hawaiian shirt and jacket, a little weird, but oh well.

Cold and windy, seas a little rough.

Tuesday, May 31
Today, we motored to Glacier Bay, picking up the ranger/naturalist on the way in Icy Straits. Very cool glaciers, like Reid and Marjorie and Grand Pacific.

Dinner was in the Vista dining room.

Sunny and warm, incredible weather day.

Wednesday, June 1
We motored after Glacier Bay to Juneau all night. We arrived about 7:00 a.m. and our tour guide from Gastineau Guides was Dave for our photo whales and trails adventure. The whales were a little uncooperative, the seas a little cool and the trail hike a little lame.

Probably a float or helicopter adventure would have been a better deal to see the Mendenhall glacier. Beer and relaxing at the Hanger on the Wharf by the seaplane base was cool. We tried for a helicopter flyover but the price was ＄200/each, a little steep. Later that afternoon, the float planes with de Havilland Otters would have been a blast but they were sold out. Oh well, lesson learned!

I couldn’t face another Vista dining room meal, so Sandy and I headed to the Lido for a salad bar dinner. It was OK, but the rest of our party reported that the Vista meal was actually pretty good.

Sunny and warm too!

Thursday, June 2
Thursday was Sitka, again arriving in the morning, but this time by water taxi. There is no dock big enough for the ship, so life boats are used to shuttle people off the boat. Sitka is a great little town. We did St. Michael’s Cathedral, and the Totem Bight tour. It was a bust, the town is so small, you can just walk and see everything yourself. There is a free shuttle from the boat dock to the center of town. Next time, skip the tours. We had a hot dog lunch from a local street vendor. You probably get the gist that the meals on board are NOT the hit of the parade.

We couldn’t face another trip to the Vista Lounge … so the ladies cooked up a room service dinner from the Vista dining menu. You can order from the Neptune lounge concierge any menu from any restaurant, a good thing to remember. That Neptune lounge perk for being in a Deluxe Veranda suite on the 7th floor is awesome. We get free concierge service, the Neptune lounge itself with fresh ground coffee and snacks, free laundry, pressing and dry cleaning and ability for first disembarkation at ports. The Pinnacle Grill, only open for lunch and dinner via reservations is also open to 7th floor guests for breakfast. Worth the upgrade? For us it was.

We had to re-board Sitka about 4:30 p.m. After the tour, we did some last minute shopping and walked around looking at all the bald eagles in town. That was my highlight of the trip, they are ALL over in the wild!

Sunny and warm 3!

Friday, June 3

Ketchikan room service and cereal for breakfast. Got off the ship and did the Saxman Village tour and Lumberjack show . We arrived at 7:00 a.m. and had to reboard by 12:30 p.m.

We skipped out on the lumberjack show, just couldn’t do that and the shopping. Cool picture with Sasquatch.

Lunch was at the Holy Halibut restaurant on Creek Street, we had the halibut fish and chips, they were quite good. Ketchikan is a cool little town, we wish we had more time!

The afternoon premier wine tasting at 2:00 p.m. was OK, the first tasting on Monday was much better. The premier was ＄35/each and the initial tasting was ＄15/each.

The afternoon was spent relaxing and playing Farkle with the Bott’s and Davenport’s.

Dinner was at the Vista Grill, Friday night being Surf and Turf. The turf was all of 3 ounces but the lobster was about 6 ounces and prepared quite nicely.

Early morning clouds that burned off to clear weather in the afternoon.

Saturday, June 4

Today we spend our last day on board cruIsing back to Victoria and tomorrow, Seattle. Breakfast was at the Pinnacle Grill with pancakes and yogurt parfait.

We checked out the last minute photos for purchase, lunch at the Lido restaurant (by now, its pretty gross) and our last dinner in the Vista Dining Room. We ordered  the 5-bottle wine package before boarding and ended up not quite drinking theme all. We had the last one for dinner and by then I wasn’t feeling too well. Something at lunch did not agree with me, I think the panini sandwich.

We cruised to Victoria arriving about 7:00 p.m.. We had no schedule or tour to follow. The ship left at 11:30 p.m. for our early morning arrival in Seattle at 5:00 a.m.

Sunny and clear with whale sightings on the way to Victoria from the ship.

Sunday, June 5

Got up early, ready to go with luggage placed outside last night by 1:00 a.m. We have expedited luggage disembarkation and a direct trip to the airport. Arrived at 8:45 a.m. and we just had to sit and wait. The luggage was transported directly to the airport, we did not have to deal with taking it off the ship and transporting it to the shuttle, it got magically checked in all the way to ONT, a great deal for ＄20 per bag!

Flight was on time to Ontario, leaving at 2:15 p.m. or so. Luggage followed us and all was well.

A great trip!

Tuesday, August 17: Our last day, bummer. We spent the day packing and closing things down. It takes a while, but this second time was a little smoother. Car by the pool and we used the guest closet to store more stuff like our golf clubs. Everything fit and we made it to the airport on time. It is really much nicer flying out of here rather than LAX. Hopefully, we can come back at Christmas, but with Doug graduating, it doesn’t look promising.

Sunset was beautiful traveling to the airport. We used Adventurous Limousine Service to get there. ＄90.00 for 5 people with luggage.

Leaving at 8:40 at night and arriving at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow should be exciting! People were boarded early and we took off on time. We actually arrived at 4:30, early and it was very smooth with our baggage claim. We dropped Julia off at her Mom’s place before heading home.

Breakfast was at Kay’s in Highland, the kids remembered the apple butter for their toast. It’s amazing what they remember.

Monday, August 16: Sandy and I played 18 holes of golf for our anniversary. We started at 7:30 and were done by 11:40. I had a blast.

Julia and Doug did the night Manta Ray dive with Kona Honu Divers and Sandy, Rosie and I went to the KPC in the Hilton for our anniversary dinner. Great view but they can’t cook a steak. Well done this time and with Pat!

We had a small family meltdown, it is a good idea to plan things ahead, especially when it is a big milestone like our 30th!

I think we worked past it, plan and pay attention to the time.

Sunday, August 15: We went to church in Waimeas and had deacon Larry as our lector. Fr. Bob was there but it was Larry’s turn this week. I thoug the church was more crowded than usual, but that could have been due to the Feast of the Assumption.

I will miss again, this church.

We went to breakfast as Pukini Grill in the KTA shopping center and the food portions were huge. It was a good ideas that Sandy and I split our meal.

After breakfast, we decided to hit the beach while Sandy and Rosie shopped at the King and Queen’s marketplace. Thet dropped us off at the beach above the Fairmont Orchid and we ended up at their beachfront area. It is very pretty and tranquil. A nice way to spend some quiet time.

Dinner today was the luau at the Marriot.

Saturday, August 14: Mai-tai day! After a lazy morning, the kids went out to A-Beach and returned about 3:00 p.m. We all left for Kona and the festival not sure what to expect. We arrived at the Royal Kona Resort with crowds and the judging beginning about 5:00 p.m. It was hot and crowded and we saw round 1 of 8 with 3 contestants per round. It was interesting but nothing to write home about.

We wandered around Kona and had dinner at Humpy’s on Alii Drive. It has been open for 2 weeks, the service was slow, 36 beers on tap and the fook ok, not great. Our server was pathetically slow and did not deserve a tip, according to Rosie!

The Mai-tai sampling occurs after the judging, I think, and we decided not to wait for 7 more rounds. Bryan from Spikes/Banjy’s was in round 7 and we wished him well in the contestant warm up room.

Friday, August 13: Golf and Spa day! Or so we thought! The girls headed to the spa at the Mauna Lani and Douglas and I headed to the golf range.

I think he is a natural, Doug picked up the golf swing pretty quick. Off we went for our 9:18 t time and we were on hole 4 when Doug said he needed some nuprin. The same situation happened about 3 weeks ago in San Diego with Julia. At that time, he took a trip to the emergency room. By the look on his face, he was in pain and we had NO car.

I dropped off Doug at the condo, returned the cart and came home. He was laying down with 800 mg of nuprin. I called Sandy but their phones were in their spa lockers. Douglas was not getting any better and I asked our neighbor Pat if she would take us to North Hawaii emergency room, Douglas didn’t argue. While not the fastest driver, she did get us there and I did page Sandy from the spa, they were just wrapping (literally) up and I told here how to get to the hospital.

After 2 bags of saline and blood work, the nice Doctor told us that Doug was severly dehydrated. He was topped off and in about 2 hours was set free to relax the rest of the day and drink plenty of WATER.

The night before, Doug had an upset stomach and his lack of water consumption caused the dehydration. The beer and a half we had as we started the golf game DID NOT help. But, I must say, my game was going well, bummer for me!

We all learned a lesson. Doug woke up not feeling well, he should have told someone, and we all need to drink lots of water!

Needless to say, we chilled out the rest of the day but Sandy and I did manage one last pupu party that evening.

Thursday, August 12: A nice mellow day for all to relax recuperating from the bug-bite fest. At 5:00 p.m., we went to see Fr. Bob and renewed our wedding vows after 30 years. The kids didn’t know what was going on and that was part of the fun.

Dinner for ahi tuna BBQ and lilikoi cake for dessert. Yum and good times.

Tonight was the Perseid meteor shower and there were a few to be viewed. By the time 11:30 p.m. rolled around, the clouds had rolled in and the sprinkles blocked the view just a bit. Oh well, I figured out how to do time exposures on the Canon T1i, it is one capable camera!

Wednesday, August 11: Today is the Circle Island tour to Hilo and Volcano! We started off at Tex in Honoka’a for the malasadas and then down to Hilo for the marketplace and jewelery shopping. After a quick deluge, we shopped in the heat until our stomachs got the better of us and we headed to Reuben’s Mexican Food on the boulevard. It was OK, not spectacular. It did us well and fortified us for more shopping.

We headed to Kurtistown, on the way to Volcano for a Bonsai and Cultural Center tour and, unexpectadly, class on Chineses bonsai with Sensei David Fukumoto. Rosie was very excited and completed her bonsai. It wll be packed and shipped for school by the time that she arrives. The mosquitos were out in FULL force and there were lots of bites to go around.

Rather than continue around the island, we decided to backtrack over Saddle Road to home. It was a quick hour or so and we were back by about 6:15 p.m.

Dinner was cocktails and bread (different vodka martinis), cheese and crackers! The gin rummy game began in earnest out on the lanai.

Tuesday, August 10: Today we did the Kona Boat Rentals thing. I wasn’t sure about this idea, but cancelled the Alala. It turned out to be an excellent choice. We had the boat for the entire day and we finally left at about 10:30 returning at 5:30. We went to Honaunau (City of Refuge), Captain Cook and Mano moorings for snorkeling. While we never did find a mooring ball, hidden under the water, we did have a great time in the clear water. By far, the best was at 2-step (or the City of Refuge).

On the way back, while trolling, we were entertained by several pods of spinner dolphins playing with the boat. A definite summer highlight! Remember though to have a good set of charts (maybe we should purchase and label the hotels as landmarks) and a good GPS. The Garmin one supplied worked just great but a moving map, like an iPad, would be even better. The iPhone 4, because it was in cell coverage, really did a good job on the moving map part.

Diinner was at Bite-Me with＄ 2.50 fish tacos. The Marlin tacos were disappointing, stick with the Ahi upgrade next time. A very long but FUN day!

Monday, August 9: After a few tense hours as the kids were in security, they DID make the 1:55 p.m. Delta flight! When Douglas called at 9:15 (12:15), and said they weren’t going to make the flight, we had our blood pressure rise.We had time to go down to Kona, do a few errands while the house was being cleaned and check out this new artist, Alex Gupton, that we really like. His pen and ink works are fantastic.

They arrived on time, thank goodness and we had a nice diiner at KBC with Elyssa’s family before they leave tomorrow for the mainland.

Sunday, August 8: We had a golf t-time this morning at 8:54. To our surprise, it was a little crowded and we ended up as a 4-some with an older couple. It made us both a little nervous but we got through 9 holes. It was not our best efforts.

We tried lunch at Banjy’s and the fish tacos were quite good with the new owner/chef/menu.

Sandy spent the afternoon putting lasagne together and we had invited guests Pat and Gene and Sandi and Darrell over for dinner. We had garlic bread from Sandi and lemon meringue pie from Pat as additions. While she was doing that, I found a recipe online to “defog” the Subaru headlights from the frost over they have. 3 parts toothpaste and 1 part baking soda applied and buffed worked great. Saves from purchasing new lenses! The left front turn signal lamp was replaced as well and I got the ideas to replace the headlight bulbs as well.

Saturday, August 7: Today Anna returns home and we begin preparation for the kids coming. Cutting it a little close, we met up with Anna at the airport for their departure. They were happy they came and sad to leave, next time they are headed Maui for Bart.

We did a few errands in Kona and we went to Church in Waimea at 5:00 p.m. to free up our golf time tomorrow morning.

Friday, August 6: Today we had the Alala scheduled for a morning snorkel cruise. Instead of leaving from the Marriott and A-Beach, Ocean Sports called and said they were changing the boat and the pickup location due to Sea Smoke problems. We left out of Kawaihae harbor, meeting at 8:30 or so at the little blue shack right at the interesection in town. As with last year, Ocean Sports does do a nice program and the holo-holo card discount was ＄93.00. The boat cruised around the bay and headed for 69 beach to snorkel. The water was perfectly clear and we had very little wind, yesterday it was blowing.

The Fuji FinePix XP10 worked amazingly well underwater. For the price it is really worth not having to deal with the worrying about my Canon camera and seawater. I should have picked up one a long time ago. Costco again, to the items you need at the price you can afford (＄159.00).

After the onboard lunch, the bar opens up and the sailing begins. Its interesting that the sail is just really a short distance back to the harbor but they are PR masters of stretching things out!

The afternoon was a lazy beach day at the Mauna Kea and dinner at Roy’s in the King’s Marketplace. My Chili Pepper Ahi was delicious as was Anna’s butterfish. Sandy’s Ono was a little off tonight. But … the chocolate souffle dessert was awesome.

Strolling around King’s after dinner, Anna and Katie took us to an art gallery where we saw work from the artist Alex Gupton, he has amazing pen and ink drawings, click here.

I soaked the Fuji in water for about 10 minutes, I am anxious to see the photos and videos!

Thursday, August 5: Sandy worked in the morning and I got on the phone to book ourselves on Anna’s tomorrow snorkel cruise. The local price started at about ＄108 per person and ended up with the holo-holo card at ＄93.00. I’m not sure why they don’t just give the locals the rate to begin with. I know that it is business but …

Sitting here booking the cruise, I got the brilliant idea (Sandy had been after me all summer) to find a waterproof digital camera for underwater filming. I talked to the local Costco and they carried the Fuji FinePix XP10. Googling opinions, I determined that it was worth the purchase and trip to Costco. Off I went and Anna and Katie came over to do laundry, again. They spent the morning snorkeling in the bay.

Dinner was flank steak from Costco, it is quite good. The Mauna Kea night sky telescope observation was the night’s activity. When we tried to book the Mauna Kea visitor’s center afternoon trip, the only time they has was on Friday, so this was the second choice. While interesting, the presenter was tired and the activity was pretty boring. Nix this activity for future reference.

We are anxious for tomorrow’s snorkel cruise. They did call me and, due to boat problems, rebook us on the Alala leaving Kawaihae harbor instead of the Sea Smoke for A-Bay. Oh well, no worries.

Wednesday, August 4: The days are now flying by. Anna and Katie sceduled themselves on the morning Dolphin Cruise from the Mauna Kea and had a blast. They jumped in the water with the dolphins as soon as they were spotted. Sounds like a lot of fun!

This morning I worked on the patio table. I used the power sander and the polishing compound doing 10 minutes per quarter. I followed that up with a Turtle Wax coat and that is as good as it is going to get, at least for me.

Golf at 2:30 wtih Pat and Gene. They are both, for their age, quite good. Gene is very fluid and Pat is pretty accurate. The thing that I notice is that they are both very relaxed about their strokes. In their day, they both were pretty good. I think we all had a good time. We were out from about 2:30 to 5:30 or so.

Wine tasting at 6:00 at the Mauna Kea with Anna and Katie before dinner there at their Manta Restaurant. The wine tasting was entertaining and fun and the dinner was quite good, an excellent outdoor restaurant for future reference. It was interesting pulling up at the guard shack in the Subaru, it was like “what do these local want” type attitude. As soon as I said we had reservations, the attitude changed 180° hmm…. Just a funny observation!