The Flamingos of Nash Dr.

We live on Nash Dr… There are Flamingos here...

Not the living kind... the cheap plastic kind, even better with lights...

A neighbor has had a plastic flamingo on her front yard… She is the second wife… the first wife has accused her of being “trailer trash” (she is not!)… in response she placed a tacky pink flamingo on her front lawn (in reality in a planting bed)

I have decorated said flamingo on several occasions… Red white and blue beads for July 4^th… Mardi gras beads for that holiday… The flamingo’s family has decorated her (him) since…

Several nights ago a cheap plastic flamingo appeared in our front yard…

Cheap plastic flamingos have appeared in many front yards in our neighborhood…There is a rumor that a cheap plastic flamingo might appear atop the porta potty across the street...

I think this may be a sign of a community… a true community… not just living nearby… I like it.

Randy

Headed cross the Colorado

6:15 am, Saturday Morning, SFO... Too damn early

We are boarding in about 5 minutes... But folks are in line... When you check in Southwest gives you a boarding number... Getting in line early does not change the boarding order... But line up as early as you can just in case...

Out side there is a near total lunar eclipse... But no one seems to be paying attention... They are in airport mode... They need to find their next line...

I am off to Tuscon... T's big sister is getting married... T and Stephan are already there... I had to work last night so am a day behind...

Work has been busy... Christmas weekend (3 weeks before the day) followed by a couple of day of Tiny tots... 3 year old's and their parents... Then two days of tours and our Christmas evening event last night... (2 weeks before the day)... We are down to 6 more days of tour over the next ten days, before we can say it over and put away the trees... The too many trees and too much Christmas in a big old historic house... Then Christmas will be over... A week before it occurs...

Dawn breaks as we take off... It is a spectacular hazy soft dawn... Pastel reds and oranges to the east... Soft blues and grays... There are benefits to getting up early... Too soon the sun rises, and the mood changes... The magic fades...

To get to Tucson you must first go somewhere else... A classic case of you can't get there from here... I am headed for San Diego where I have a bit over an hour to find something to eat, and with luck a wifi signal... It wasn't working at SFO this a.m.

About an hour and a half latter, on the ground in San Diego... I have just about an hour before The Tucson flight boards... I was thinking about breakfast, but the options near the Southwest gates were limited to a bar (doing a lively business at 8:20 am) pizza or Qusnos... I ended up with a Starbucks coffee... Mean tine I am fantasizing about Mexican food in Tucson...

It is surprising cold in San Diego, the pilot reported it was in the low 40's as we landed, (not that I have to deal with it inside the hermetically sealed building). It seems to be cold everywhere right now... Brian, in school in Florida had us send down his cold weather gear...

Now headed back to our hotel... for now home... The sister in law is wededd... We have met and welcomed the new in-laws... We have eaten and drunk... Both the required champagne toast and bottles of wine while sitting about talking. Steph, I, and two nephews end up in the hot tub...

The next morning we gathered for breakfast. It was good family time... I hung out with the niece from DC (my eastern headquarters) and a nephew, recently escaped from the Army... Iraq, Germany, and Afghanistan (at Texas too...)

We (T and Steph and I went to the Desert Museum, a cross between a botanical garden and zoo, finding the new in-laws there... We toured and saw animals... We all watched their Harris Hawks as they soared and played and hunted small game. Then lunch and more socializing before heading for the airport and home...

We are flying Southwest again... Home via LAX... Both legs have not really been late, but both were not quite on time... This seems to be a function of SWA's quick turn policy... Great for aircraft utilization, and as a result profits... But creating a sense of urgency, and a feeling of rushing to line up, rushing to board, rushing to put away our too large carry-ons into too small over head bins...

On the way in to LA the cabin crew announced we were preparing for final approach 200 miles out, just past the Colorado River... And locked down the plane... Seat backs in the full upright and locked position... Tray tables up, electronics off.... On this flight they started beverage at 200 miles out...

The pilot just announced we are beginning our decent, at 100 or so miles out... Apparently it is raining in "SF" (at least he didn't call it "Frisco") Outside the clouds are hiding all... No lights... No land marks.

We will be on the ground in 20 minutes or so... And home in 40 or so... To too many cats.. And work... And for Steph it is finals week... Oh to be young again

Bye for now, Randy

Headed home (a delayed posting…)

It has been several weeks since we got home… We got busy… back to work… back to life… fixing cars (we arrived home to two possibly disabled cars… one a tire, one a failed battery… Neither serious… both quickly fixed… then back to the rush of life…)

But several weeks ago, sitting in an airport on Hawaii I wrote…

We are at the airport in Kona Hawaii... Homeward bound...

We have spent the last 3 days on Hawaii, the "Big Island". Mostly in Volcano Village... A small community at the edge of Volcano National Park... On the side of the volcano, but a bit above the current active crater.

The village is high... 3,500 ' or so... It is rainy... Very rainy... A rain forest… a temorate rainforest in on a tropical island… I spotted redwood trees, California Redwood trees growjng… there are at least 7 by my count… not what is expected in the tropics… but travel is about the unexpected…

The visit to the Big Island was different... we were not just visiting a place, but visiting a friend and his wife... The visit was good... Boone is a friend... a close friend who happens to be distant. He is closely tied to the place he lives... Volcano Village... Having a friend in a place changes how you see the place, and what you do... in wonderful ways...

While we toured, more important were the interactions... the conversations... Railroads, Black powder and the French and Indian war... Frank Loyd Wright windows... Two dogs... How do you encourage Hawaiian dialect when teaching in a modern school... We eat at a couple of local restaurants... one in a building Boone restored...

We visit Volcano National park... together... later with Boone and Tamera, mostly visiting the Art Center... later alone... to the crater at night... the next day down to the ocean and the Petrogglyphs... back that evening without Tina to watch the crater glow... back to walk through the lava tube caves...

Now, the visit with Boone and Tamera is done... We say goodbye.. We drive down to Hilo... around the island... across the island to the airport.

Now at the airport....

They are starting to board, or not... The PA system is terrible... No one knows who at is being said, so most are crowding the gate, worried that their boarding group might have been called... People have lots of carry- ons... Fins, boogie boards, and cases of Mac nuts... Along with lots of wheelie bags... Bins space may be scarce...

They call boarding... Lower number rows via the fronts stairs... Higher via the rear stairs... Yes stairs... No jetway... I like it... It makes it real to walk up to the plane then climb the stairs to board… bin space is a non issue... we find our seats...

The flight is a anti climax… board… takeoff… nap, listen to music, nap… have a sprite… nap… land in San Francisco, recover luggage, find daughter (with dog) and home…

Honolulu

Thursday...

We are siting at departure gate 52... Waiting for our flight to Hawaii to board... Head for Kona... From there to Volcano... The last of the three islands we are visiting...

Oahu has been fun... We arrived two days ago... Drove across to the north shore... Found a shrimp truck... (finding a truck was easy... Deciding which was a challenge). We looked at the ocean. At old buildings... Avoided Pineapple World, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and a ranch, with cowboys and a rodeo... All created tourist sites... Elsewhere they have helicopter rides, catamaran rides, outrigger canoe rides...

Heading back we drove through downtown Honolulu, past the Iolani Palice, and the statue of King Komeamea... We stopped and took a picture of Tina with the statue...

We ended up at our Hotel... On Waikiki Beach... a tourist district of the highest order... Apparently, while on vacation, In a tropical paradise many find it necessary to shop for Coach Bags, Apple products, and Ferraris... We thought we were three for the sun and the beach... Hotels (and there are many hotels on Waikiki Beach) all have tiki torches, which they light ever evening... the effect surreal, particularly when driving...

The streets are abuzz with activity...People in beach wear... Others on the most stylish of resort wear... And Japanese tourist in the most bizarre cutting edge fashions... I believe the place is all about the beach, but a surprising number of visitors are here for something other than sand and surf... It is corporate organized (maybe also disorganized) Dizneyfied, Las Vegas style tourism...

Our hotel (The Outrigger) was home to Duke's, a local restaurant... we ate dinner on the deck... Overlooking the beach and the sunset... All was good.

Wednesday morning we visited the Hawaiian railroad Society museum at Ewa... There are trains there... I am writing a preservation report about two of their cars... I stopped by to check on things... Tina checked out the museum cats...

Back to Waikiki that afternoon... Tina read on the beach... I first swam, then rented a stand up paddle board... When signing the release form, the asked my age... I noted that I was the oldest listed by nearly 20 years... I climbed aboard (laying down initially) and paddled out... I stood up on the board... I wouldn't use the term "steady" but I stood up, took a few strokes with the paddle, and fell in... Regained the board, stood up again... This time remaining upright for a reasonable amount of time... Eventually, I found that I could stand up... Paddle about calm water, negotiate waves when heading out... But surfing in was beyond my skill set... Eventually I tried surfing in on my knees... With limited success...

All in all the stand up paddle board was a blast... I would try it again... Without a doubt I would fall down again... But it would be fun... And just maybe I would learn how to surf in... More likely I would find new, more spectacular ways to fall down. Later... A short nap. (it's vacation...) followed by dinner at sunset, outside... A mob descended to take pictures... We had a wonderful dinner... Later that evening, well after dark, I walked on the beach... one couple was sitting on the sand side by side, one with a laptop, the other with an Ipad... 200 feet away, a Hawaiian dancer, part of a hotel luau was dancing at the surf line... Further down street people were camping for the night... locals were playing chess at covered picnic tables...

This morning we took our time getting up, checked out and headed towards the airport for our flight to Hawaii... Our third and for now final island...

Aloha Kauai

Aloha Kauai

It’s our third evening on the garden island… the end of our third day…

We are finally beginning to relax… starting to wind down to vacation mode…

Not all vacations are relaxing… sometimes the goal is to travel and see. This vacation is about escape… seeing, but not seeing to the exclusion of relaxing… There is a tendency when on vacation to need to do all that the destination offers… This can be exhausting… I am guilty of this in some cases… but not this time.

We arrived well before noon Saturday… the time changes working in our favor… The flight arrived at the very small Lihue airport about 10:00… We had our luggage and rental car well before 11:00…

Our first stop was Hamura Saimin… a well known local noodle house… I had found it on a previous trip… with the help of a friend of a friend… That time I was the only Haole in the joint… but welcomed by the locals… this time T and I were the first of the folks to make it over from the airport… Some of the other had been here before, others drawn by reviews on Trip Advisor and various printed guide books… Some expected more than a local noodle house… Based on on line reviews, those who expect a local noodle house are very happy… those who don’t understand that it is a noodle house catering to the local population are less pleased…

We had a wonderful quick lunch…

Then off to the north shore… We had all day, so we took our time… Along the way we found the Kauai version of “Occupy Wall Street”… we found and successfully ignored tee-shirt stores and such… we bought a couple of bottles of wine… And eventually we found our B&B well before check in time, (across the double silver bridge, find the 7 mile marker after a short hill, then two 10ths of a mile, turn left, it’s the 2^nd house on the left… it was much easier to find than the directions suggested) so continued to the end of the road at Haena Beach Park and its wet and dry caves…

Having seen the caves, we retreated back down the road to our B&B, the Hale Ho’o Maha Bread & Breakfast… a building high on stilts, tree house like, with 4 rooms (plus the owner’s (Toby and Kirby) suite… Downstairs we found 4 cats and a beautiful parrot with a bad reputation… There were also chickens… and rosters… and baby chickens… In truth, some of the cats get to come inside, to share the owner’s suite… they are just not allowed to mingle with the guests…The chickens stay out side…

Kauai is the island of the chicken… at least since hurricane Iniki in 1992… now they are everywhere… they are the unofficial mascot of the island… this is an island in search of a good chicken recipe… We would see more chickens… and more chickens… but this is a travel blog and not a seminar on poultry…

There was a note at the bottom of the stairs welcoming us… we gathered our bags and made our way upstairs… We noted that the cats were excluded… the area upstairs was pleasantly devoid of chickens but did feature a collection of stuffed dragons... we were confused…

We found the information about local restaurants and started making plans for dinner…

The closest place, The Mediterranean Gourmet, was within walking distance, and had a good reputation, and an ocean view… We later found it was a favorite of Pierce Brosnan, but unfortunately he was no where to be seen… Dinner was nice… we walked on the beach… we started to slip into vacation mode…

We were in bed early… I was up early before dawn, walking on the beach and taking pictures… Tina slept in… We had breakfast with the other guests… then climbed into the car and headed south along the coast… no destination planned… We turned inland in search of water falls… We found water falls…We stopped and Hilo Hattie’s, a well known island souvenir stand with ample bus parking… nothing called our names… We continued southward ending up at Waimea Canyon… On the climb up we found a bazaar red dirt landscape…truly Disney-esk… (but had nothing to do with Disney) We reached the canyon overlook… we overlooked… we (I) took pictures… we retreated down the hill in search of lunch… I found an abandoned sugar mill and took photos…

This was Sunday, and apparently, much of Kauai still celebrates the Sabbath… many restaurants and shops were closed… we found a former brew pub, which does not brew beer (any more) but did have chickens wandering among the outdoor tables… We had a wonderful lunch, then headed back north…

We tried to be tourists, stopping at a couple of tacky shops but our hearts were just not in it… We walked the beach at Hanalei, but at least found somewhere to eat that evening…

Back to the B&B… Tina napped… then after a appropriate interval, back to Hanelei to Bar acuda… a tapas bar… The wait staff thought that they needed to explain the concept of tapas… small plates… apparently some of the guests who visit, from all over the world… who are in that increasingly smaller percentage of people who believe they can afford to travel… who hopefully are traveling in search of new experiences, who when on the islands chose a tapas bar instead of McDonalds, complain that a restaurant with a “small plates” theme serves small portions…

I ended dinner with the caramel balsamic vinegar ice cream… It was one of the most wonderful, unexpected things I have ever eaten… more of a Mexican dulce de leche than an American burnt sugar caramel, with lots of balsamic flavor…

We returned to the B&B, shared wine with our fellow guests, and went to bed…

Up too early this morning… we had breakfast, said our good byes to our B&B, proprietors and fellow guests and headed back south to our one planned activity… visiting a house museum, the Grove Farm, in Lihue… We were due at 10:00, and while only 40 some miles away, the trip was likely to take more than an hour… It took a full hour and a half… including a couple of stops to find the lovely Tina a early morning Latte…

We found Grove Farm, toured (this is a great house museum… you can feel the presence of the family… but also see the others who lived and worked here… they include the Japanese laundry women’s house… the chickens the gardens and a really nice mid 1960’s Buick Skylark…

Having toured, we went in search of lunch, this time at Poipu beach… then back to Lahie where we found our motel, fueled the rental car, then walked across to a bar overlooking the public beach, had a couple of beers (T had wine) and watched people surf and the sun set (well, not the sunset, as it set somewhere out of site, but instead watched it get dark…)

On the public beach the locals were drinking beer around a couple of pick-ups with an Hawaiian flag flying… a quarter mile away at the Marriott resort tiki torches were lit... With enough beer at least one of the locals got restless and turned over a picnic table… nearby at the resort people were blissfully unaware… The scene is probably more closely related to Occupy Wall Street than many would like to admit.

Oh, about the great variety of stuffed dragons… Tina figured it out… the B&B is located in Hanelei… so…

Puff, the magic dragon lived by the sea
And frolicked in the autumn mist in a land called Honah Lee,

So, all makes sense…

Tomorrow we take an early flight to Oahu… to stay for a couple of nights on Waikiki and play tourist…

Too many bags....

Oakland airport, 7:20...

We are headed for Hawaii... We arrive with tickets, but without boarding passes... We check a couple of bags... Still no boarding passes... Those will be issued at the gate...

Security was easy and pretty quick...

We check in at the gate... They take our tickets and tell us they will call us... We wait... They are boarding the air plane... Asking people to gate check their carry ons... But we still don't have boarding passes... They call VIP boarding.. They board those who have voluntarily gate checked their bags... They are calling the first general boarding... Starting with the rear of the plane... We still don't have boarding passes...

The lovely Tina cheeks with the gate staff again... Our boarding passes are ready, but they have not called us (yet?)

We have seats together, 29 a & b... Last row... In the first general boarding group... Which had long since started to board... We line up for boarding, but things are going slowly... The line is confused... Everybody is ling up, but they are only boarding the last ten rows... (& 1st class of course, and "million mile club members", & anyone else with special status) but not those seated in rows 9 through 19... But many of those seated in rows 9 through 19 have lined up with those of us in the higher numbered rows... Or worse yet are just crowding the gate, waiting to jump into line once their row is called... We make it to the head of the line where a very pleasant gate attendant was inviting passengers to place their "lovely bag" into her "very lovely bag size check thingie..." Many, most would not fit... Some passengers were repacking, in hope that it might fit... Some argued... Others just surrendered their luggage.. T and I had checked bags, and were only carrying smaller, acceptable bags, and made for the jetway, and our seats...

The strict interpetation of the carry-on rules worked, and once on board, there was little of the too common ritual stuffing of too large bags into the over head bins. Alaska tried something I hadn't seen before... If you surrendered a bag for gate check you got on ahead of the other passengers...of course they didn't have over size carry-ons to hog space in the overheads, didn't block the aisles as the boarded, (not having to stuff over size, over weight bags into the overhead)... As a result, boarding went pretty well.

We took our seats, which being very last row, didn't recline... But the seats ahead of us did... I figure we had a space of about 22" x 26" at at our shoulders...

Now above 10,000'... IPad back on... Music on (Counting Crows)... We settle in... Tina is napping... I work on the blog... We are finally off to Hawaii.

Now 12:32 Pacific Time... The pilot has just announced that he has spoken to Honolulu tower and the found us a short cut, and we will start our decent at 12:47... Not 12:45... Not 12:48... 12:47... Wonder if there will be a count down...

Now 12:47... There are islands visible 20 miles or so to the south... We begin or descent... We are getting close... It is becoming real...

PS... I am blogging from our B&B in Hanale, we have had a great day... went to my favorite Sammi house... visited a light house and saw spinner porpoises... explored a couple of caves... now at the B&B... we have reservations for dinner within walking distance... We are officially on vacation