Stoned

Flying is fun. There is nothing more exhilarating than takeoff, more thrilling than finding a thermal or more peaceful than the views from five-hundred feet. Since the only thing missing while airborne is food, d and I often stop to eat after a flight.

Although we try to vary our menu, time of day and launch site often dictate our options. After our flight on Sunday morning we stopped at local restaurant for the breakfast buffet: biscuits, sausage gravy, grits, bacon, sausage (links and patties), french toast, potatoes, fruit; $5.99.

I had been to the restaurant several times on earlier trips but d had not yet had the pleasure. When we first purchased the property we had stopped a couple of times at the local diner but it has since closed (it is up for sale if anyone wants to open a diner out in the country).

This place is country all the way from the hitching posts in the parking lot to the wine bottle holder made from horseshoes that sits on top of the buffet.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy this kind of country. There are no airs here; when you walk in the front door you are part of the family. People speak freely; there's nothing whispered or hushed about conversations. There are no secrets.


The first time I ate here I listened to several farmers discussing tomato crops and how any farmer in Florida with a tomato crop was going to make a lot of money. This was right after the hurricanes and tomatoes were selling at four times the pre-hurricane price.

It's a good thing that I didn't run out and plant the farm full of tomatoes because a couple of months later I listened to the same farmers complaining that everyone had overplanted and now the only people making money on tomatoes were the grocery stores that were buying at all time low prices but still charging hurricane prices.

A lot can be learned while dining here.

As we started in to our second helping (hey, flying works up an appetite and isn't better to be slightly over the weight range stated on the wing?), some new patrons arrived and were in the process of saying hello to everyone when the waitress scurried over to them. "I know you are going to wanna take a look at these," she said plunking something hard and heavy down on the table in front of them.

"What are they?"

"Stones!" she said as proud as she could be. "Bladder stones!"

This is not a big restaurant and we were only two tables away. We weren't being nosy, it was just impossible not to overhear. Even so, I was positive that I was not hearing things correctly and leaned over to d and asked what those things were.

I had heard correctly, they were bladder stones. And they were huge - at least two inches in diameter. Again, I wasn't being nosy it's just hard not to see them when they are being held overhead in what appeared to be an attempt to view them in the best possible light.

Having grown up in a much more urban environment, I couldn't understand what would prompt anyone to want to look at someone else's bladder stones. And why they would want to do so before enjoying the buffet was a little more perplexing.

The guests were taking it all in stride and were right there with the questions which helped to clarify that these stones did not come from the waitress, they came from her dog who for months had been "squatting as if she were going to pee but she would only go a little bit." After the vet got the results from the x-rays he operated. No, it wasn't he local vet, the dog was taken to the vet "in town" who thinks the source of these stones could be diet. He's checking into it.

"No, I don't think she could'a passed these, she's only 50 pounds."

"Jesse says that he could facet these and make some jewelry out of them."

"Nice part is she's all better now. She's been peeing with no problems at all."

"Would you like some more coffee?"

Smell-o-vision

Had smell-o-vision taken off, you could have experienced this morning's flight with more sensory stimulation than you are going to get from this post. But, times and technology being what they are, you are just going to have to settle for my writing, a few photos and your imagination.

We arrived at 7 Flags at 8am and set up. Winds were light from the southeast and conditions looked to be almost perfect. Clouds were few, the dew was light and the scent of freshly mowed grass was lightly mixed with the woodsmoke from a farmers burn-pile several miles away.

In no time we were in the air and headed into the wind.

I normally leave my radio off during takeoff so that I can hear any strange sounds the engine might make and to avoid being startled by unexpected talking. Once in my seat I turn the raido on and establish communications with d.

There are probably situations where having my radio on during takeoff would be beneficial but I have gotten into this habit and leaving it off until airborne just seems safer somehow.

So, I snap the radio's dial into the on position and start with the line I always start with, "Hi girlfriend, are you online?" She normally responds with, "I am here for you, boyfriend" and we head off into the sky.

Today all I got in return was dead air so, I tried it again, "Hi girlfriend, are you online?" No response.

I look down at my radio and notice that there is nothing on the display. It is dead. I must have left it on the last time I used it and the batteries were dead. I had two choices at this point: I could take the batteries out of the camera and use them in the radio or I could leave the radio off and take pictures. Hmmmm.

Actually, that was a no brainer. I fly to get away from all of the jabbering going on on the ground. I like the quiet hum of the engine and don't even listen to music while flying. Talking is optional, taking pictures wins.

It is fun to fly over all of the farms that surround 7 Flags.



With the wind coming from the southeast, our initial path will take us out over an extremely large farm. Most of the farms are just hundreds of acres of planted fields with no buildings. Occasionally, there will be a pump house or a large piece of farm equipment but mostly it is just wide open fields separated by treed wetlands.



The farm we were headed toward was different because it was littered with machinery and it had a complex of buildings in the center.



Intrigued by the buildings, I flew in closer.



It was right about here that smell-o-vision would have made this post worthwhile because from where I was, all you could smell was cow. It is hard to tell from the picture but all of those little dots down there are cows.

Now, let me say that I do miss DC's but I don't miss the cows. Phew! Even at five hundred feet, cows are nasty!

Even without radio contact, d and I agreed that this was no place to hang around.



Off we flew to farms that smelled of freshly turned soil.



Where acre after acre were ploughed and planted and would soon be providing the sweet scents that accompany summer harvests.

Two months gone... (part five)

Two months gone. We are up to part five and I still have told you nothing about any progress on the Parastars. This was supposed to be a blog about the Parastars, wasn't it?

Bear with me a little longer, I promise to get back to the Parastars soon. But before I do, let me just say one word: Sheikra! If that doesn't ring any bells let me try two other words: Busch Gardens.

Anyone into roller coasters has probably heard that in May Busch Gardens, Tampa Bay unveiled their newest ride called Sheikra. The ad for this roller coaster is, "200 feet up, 90 degrees straight down." Sounds scary, right? Well, it is scary but not at the first 200 foot freefall where you would expect the biggest screams to occur. The really scary part is the second, smaller 90 degree drop that threads straight down through what appears to be a smoke stack or a busted up grain silo, plummets underground and emerges into a turn that skims the car over the top of shops, restaurants and heads of park visitors.

As part of the Discovery Cove package, we were entitled to 7 consecutive days at Busch Gardens. Rather than waste it, we planned to go on Thursday and asked d and c to join us. Not having been there in a while, they decided that now was as good a time as any and purchased their tickets. C, who is now doing caricatures in the park, joined us for part of the day.

Here's one of C's caricatures (I don't know who the subjects are and I hope that I am not violating some copyright law by posting this):


Since Sheikra was new, we decided to hit that first. The line was short but there were technical problems that delayed us for about 20 minutes. It was a good ride but my favorite is still Montu which we rode twice (or was it three times?). Lines were so short for everything other than Sheikra and the flume ride that we waited for the front row of Montu. It was worth the few extra minutes. From the front row you can really see everything coming at you and I found myself lifting my feet every time we passed something.

The only thing that bugged me about riding the coasters was that sometime during the ride they take your picture. I still can't figure out how they know it but they invariably snap the shutter when I look like I'm about to shit my pants. Look at anyone else in the picture and you see them laughing or screaming or doing things that appear normal. Me? All you see is white-knuckled terror. I hang there with my face pulled back in a grimace of death and big, bugged out eyes. From the pictures, it doesn't look like any fun at all... but it was!

It was so much fun that we paid the extra couple of dollars to get another day pass to the park and are looking forward to another trip to Tampa soon.

Coasters anyone?

Two months gone... (part four)

The more I use this Blogger thing, the more I like it. It is nice to be able to give you narrative and pictures together without investing a lot of time or effort. It's so easy that I can blather on about anything...

Interesting but worthless sidenote: the English language has three words that are identical in their meaning and usage which are separated by only one letter: blither, blether and blather. Now, can anyone tell me why we would need three words to use to describe "talking nonsensically"? Maybe this blogspot should be blather.blogspot.com.

Back to more important things like what was being done for the past two months that was more important than blogging.

As mentioned in an earlier post, vacations were a big part of the time away from the computer. Vacations were relaxing but not particularly productive and for me, being productive is important. I am not the type to plop down in front of the idiot box and allow the airwaves to fill my face with consumerist crap. No, if I want consumerist crap I am going to work damn hard to get it!

Someone at work recently decided to buy a hybrid car. The reason they gave for looking at a hybrid was to save money on gas. Having done research on hybrids in the past, I tried to explain that the notion of saving money by driving a hybrid was, well... consumerist crap. Driving a hybrid makes perfect sense for this country to reduce greenhouse emissions and to reduce the dependence on foreign oil. Whether or not driving a hybrid is an environmentally beneficial decision is questionable (based on whether you prefer to pollute the air by driving a gas guzzling, ozone depleting tank or if you are more environmentally conscious and prefer to poison the land with all of those batteries - come on, you really didn't think that those batteries would last forever, did you?). I respect people who are making an honest effort to go green but believing that you will be saving money by paying more than MSRP for the privilege of driving a hybrid is foolish.

I started this rant by telling you that I don't like to be idle then I sidetracked to talking about hybrid cars. There is a solid train of thought here, stick with me...

After politely explaining that you can't save money by driving a hybrid, I went home and - rather than sit in front of a TV and vegitate - I created a nifty little spreadsheet that my co-worker could use to calculate the total cost of ownership of any vehicle. Keeping the thing simple, I based total cost on several known factors like number of miles driven per week, initial purchase price of the vehicle, interest rate and the price of a gallon of gas. I intentionally left maintenance costs out of the equasion because these costs are way too hard to assess before purchasing. For the purpose of comaparison, I assumed that maintenance would be similar on all vehicles.

What it boils down to is that for someone driving 100 miles per week and paying $2.50 per gallon of gas, the cost difference between owning a hybrid (at 51 mpg - paying MSRP) and any less expensive vehicle (getting over 25 mpg) is negligible. With finance and gas costs factored in, at the end of the finance period the difference in MSRP is exactly how much less it will cost to own the vehicle that gets half the gas mileage. The cost savings in gas is consumed in additional finance fees on the more expensive hybrid.

The initial comeback was, "I drive more than 100 miles per week." Well, if that's the case you really shouldn't be looking at a hybrid anyway. Hybrids work most efficiently in city traffic; if you are out on the highway you're using the gas powered side of the vehicle. So, why not just buy a vehicle that is inexpensive and gets 30 or more mpg? It's not like they are hard to find; every manufacturer has several models and most come pretty well equipped. The problem is not economy or efficiency (both are easily attainable), the problem is in the amount of consumerist crap that we mindlessly accept as fact. Two years ago you were positive that you needed the honking big SUV because nine-passenger capacity and a DVD player were essential. Now, you are convinced that driving a hybrid is going to save money. Both of these convictions were reached without ever putting pen to paper and doing any sort of math.

My point here is twofold. First, I need to keep active. Second, it's probably easier to just sit in front of the TV and believe whatever they feed us. There is something that you may have noticed and that I realize but don't often commit to print: I am one seriously anal bastard. The decision to buy a hybrid wasn't even mine but there I was doing the math and making sure that no one made a poor financial decision.

My complaint is not with hybrid vehicles but with the absurdity of the marketing and support for these vehicles. Why don't they cost less? Rather than go into this here, I will get back on topic and tell some of the other things I have done in the past two months.

I did a lot of work around the house. The yard looks great! I cleaned the pool cage, pressure washed the pool deck and the pool cover then stored the cover in the attic for the summer. I weeded and mulched the planters that surround the house (using 120 bags of pine bark and 100 bags of cypress mulch - the Element came in handy for that!). There were many other small chores completed - just check with D and look at all of the things crossed off of my to-do list.

For those of you who were expecting pictures of these accomplishments, I am sorry to disappoint you but I will make up for this shortfall in a moment.

In addition to yardwork at the house, I did yardwork at 7 Flags which, as you can see, is a little bit bigger than most subdivision lots. And although it doesn't look like much, that green spot in the center is about 2 acres and it takes almost 6 hours to mow... by hand... with a 21" Toro push mower:



Let me zoom out a little so you can get a better view:



And a little more:



It is a great spot and you are probably wondering why I just don't spring for a tractor and cut my mowing time down to nothing. There are several reasons but the bottom line is the cascading series of dependencies. It starts with the tractor. Ok, so I buy this tractor. Great, now, where do I store it? Well, to store it I will need a shed. No problem, I will build a shed. But, where should I build the shed? There's 16 acres but where on that property would be the best place to put a shed so that it won't interfere with future housing plans? Well, that means that I should design the house, lay it out, have the county approve the plans, get the building permits, develop the site then put up the shed. Oh, and while I'm at it I should probably get electric and water run... Easier to just mow by hand for a while.

The nice part about 7 Flags is that there is no one around for miles:



And miles:



And miles:



And miles:



And miles:



There is so much open space and so few uniquely identifiable landmarks that it is possible to get lost while flying. Heck, it's easy enough to get turned around and think you are flyng north along Wachula Rd when you are really heading east along Route 70 near the Desoto County line:



OK, you get the picture.

But the farm is not just work, it is fun, too. It is a place to fly:



And fly:



And fly:



And fly:



Even though there is some work involved (I'm headed out there today to sow some grass seed, hopefully the afternoon rains will help it to take root and allow it to fill in some of the bare spots), 7 Flags is a little piece of heaven:

Two months gone... (part three)

Surprisingly, I do realize that slide shows are not a whole lot of fun. But, unfortunately for you, I am the one at the controls here and I am going to risk another slide show.

For the past two years I have been working like the typical American dog trying to keep my reasonably decent job. This means long hours, late nights, weekends, on call at all times and, as should be expected, no vacations (or, at best, vacations strapped to a cell phone and a laptop). Work was so much a part of my daily routine that I was beginning to lose perspective.

The trip to Hawaii was like hearing a power outage. It is odd but you live and work in environments that are full of noise that you just don't hear. Until it stops and you notice the quiet.

Without a cell phone or a laptop, Hawaii was quiet. And I enjoyed the quiet so much that upon returning, I scheduled another week off around Memorial Day weekend. This time, D and I traveled no further than Orlando and, in addition to some much needed home chores (D had a whole list prepared for me), we did some things we had been talking about doing for years.

Always concerned about the country's economic condition, we strive to contribute our fair share and, basically, we buy whatever we want whenever we want it. It's no surprise then that when holidays roll around we don't have lengthy lists of things we want or need. Oh, sure, there are always the standard gifts but it's hard to impress someone with a pair of tube socks or a package of Fruit-of-the-Looms. Especially when it's the same package that you gave them last year. Heck, there is no reason to go out and buy another one when last year's gift is still unopened in the bottom drawer, just pull that one, re-wrap it and give it to them again.

In addition to practical things, I try to give gifts that involve an event that can be enjoyed together: dinner at a new restaurant, a play or concert, or a short trip to somewhere new. With this second vacation, D was finally going to collect on trip I had promised several years ago.

Discovery Cove is an adjunct park to Sea World in Orlando. The big attraction at the Cove is having the opportunity to interact with the dolphins. And it was a big attraction!



The park itself is small but, like most theme parks, you'd never know it. The grounds are beautifully landscaped and each area is separated by thick foliage and paths that meander in such a way as to hide the fact that the attractions are stacked one on top of the other.

One nice feature of the park is that attendance is strictly limited. I didn't get a count on the day we were there but at no time did I feel that the park was crowded. There was never a wait for anything and there were plenty of attendants available - even for silly things like when you inadvertently reset the code on your locker with your clothes and car keys locked inside...

Discovery Cove is not a place to go and look at things. To really enjoy Discovery Cove, you must get into it. Literally, you must get into the water with the dolphins, stingray and tropical fish and into the aviary with the birds.



With Florida summer coming on and the threat of afternoon rains, we decided to be at the gate at 8:30 am when the park opened. Getting there early ensured that we could schedule our swim with the dolphins early in the day. You can do as much of whatever you want in the park with the exception of swimming with the dolphin. The dolphin swim is a 30 - 40 minute scheduled event that costs extra - a lot extra - but is well worth the price.



At check-in we chose the earliest dolphin swim time, 9:30 am, and proceeded directly from the check-in to our cabana where we received our wet suits and lockers. A quick change and we were off to the introduction and a brief video. The 32 people in our cabana were separated into 4 groups of 8 and each group was assigned a trainer. There were 3 other cabanas with 32 people in each going through the same introductions at the same time but because of the way the park is laid out, it is easy to believe that there are only 32 people being readied for the swim.

The video was exciting and inspiring and the music had that catchy theme park beat and a simple, repetitive melody. The narrator was a perky college-age woman dressed in a Discovery Cove wet suit and carrying a plush stuffed dolphin. She explained the rules of pool, broke us into our groups, introduced our instructors and in no time we were wading into the water.

I mentioned the landscaping but didn't go into much detail. On some level you knew you were going into a man-made pool but all of your senses were telling you that this was the beach and you were wading out into the ocean. The sand, the palm trees, the beach, the rocky shoreline, it was all man-made but it was almost perfect. We asked later and even the salt water in the pools is manufactured...

During the dolphin interaction, each group of 8 guests works with one specific dolphin. Our dolphin was to be Rose - the youngest dolphin in the park - but it seemed that Rose had a crush on one of the other dolphin and just couldn't break herself away long enough to come and play with us. We were in the water for 15 minutes with no dolphin. We could see the other groups interacting with their assigned dolphin but ours was not cooperating.

The trainer assured us that we would miss out on nothing and that another dolphin would be brought out shortly. We used the time to ask questions and learn about dolphin, the park and the staff. When our dolphin arrived, he turned out to be the oldest in the park.

Like everything in a theme park, the dolphin interaction is a timed, choreographed event. We were behind schedule and, if things were going to go as planned, we had to skip a lot to get to the same place in the script as the rest of the groups. Our trainer did this effortlessly and assured us again that we would miss nothing.

The interaction concludes with all 4 dolphin performing together. It was quite impressive to be in the water as they executed several aerial maneuvers. As promised, we stayed in the water after the other groups left and we continued our interaction. The best part was that we now had 4 dolphin to play with instead of just 1 which provided good reference for the lecture on how to tell them apart. Having Rose not cooperate turned out to be the best possible thing that could have happened: it gave us the opportunity to work with more dolphin for a longer time.



From feeding, to touching, to training, to ...yuck!... kissing them, the time we spent interacting with the dolphin flew by. It seemed that after this, the rest of the day would be a relative disappointment. Boy, was I wrong about that!

From the dolphin pools we headed to the stingray pool. The only rule in the stingray pool is that you have to keep one foot on the bottom at all times (no floating or swimming). With the number of stingray in the pool, it's hard to move without brushing up against the rays as they glide through the water. If you stand still, schools of them will surround you.



Feeding time in the stingray pool is as much a treat for the guests as it is for the rays. Imagine holding a few small fish in your hand and having a stingray with a 3 foot wingspan glide over and suck the fish up into its mouth. It's an experience.

After feeding the rays, we were hungry so we headed over to the parks restaurant for lunch. The menu was adequate, the food was tasty, plentiful and included with the park package that we purchased.

After lunch we headed for the aviary. After playing in the water all morning, it was nice to stay on dry land for a while. Even the most avid birders will be impressed by the variety of birds in the aviaries in Discovery Cove.

Some are accustomed to people and are not in the least bit afraid of the guests while others tend to stay off by themselves. This picture was not staged. We were photographing the toucans when this little fellow decided that D's head would make a good perch.



Once he had staked out his ground, he wasn't going to go away! You have to know that we intentionally did not stop and get a container of bird feed from the attendant. Our logic was that an unfed bird makes less mess - let someone else feed them...




From the aviary we headed to the lagoon. This is the only heated, fresh water pool in the park and, as such, has nothing but humans swimming in it. There are caves to swim through and a river that runs around the park. The river rarely reaches depths of more than 4 feet and the current makes the swim easy enough for most of the younger and older guests.

Along the way are a couple of waterfalls.



The final pool held lots of surprises (but unfortunately did not photograph well). This pool was set up like a coral reef and contained many of the colorful tropical fish we had seen in Hawaii. We had brought our own snorkels and had spent over an hour in the water near the entrance to the reef when I heard someone say that there were barracuda over by the sunken ship...

Barracuda? Sunken ship? What were we missing by hanging out where we were?

A short swim and we found the sunken ship. Actually, it could be seen from above the water but I was so intent on looking underwater that I somehow missed seeing it.

Now, I must tell you that I never expected to find barracuda in a public pool - these things have teeth, BIG teeth and the liability would be phenomenal. I expected to find long, narrow fish that might look something like barracuda...

I swallowed a mouthful of water when a half dozen five-foot barracuda swam directly in front of me with their razor sharp smiles. Yikes! Needless to say, I backpedalled out of there as fast as I could.

When I finally had enough guests between me and the 'cudas, I slowed my pace and started looking around again... and there, off to my right were several shark.

Wait a minute, had I gotten into the wrong tank by mistake? A quick look around and I could see the lifeguards looking at me and all of the other guests. Must be OK then...

OK or not, I was not hanging around anything that might mistake me for lunch.

Swimming around the next bend was like swimming over an underwater cliff: the bottom just dropped away and down in the depths were large schools of fish and rays with 12 to 15 foot wingspans. Taking a big breath I dropped down and insinuated myself into a school of fish. Rather than swim away, the school parted to allow me to join them then became a glittering envelope around me.

Back up for a quick breath then back down to the bottom to let the rays glide above me. Not as welcoming as the fish, you either followed the rays or waited until they swam by you. It was awesome to see how effortlessly they moved through the water and how, with only a tiny flick off the tip of a wing, they could change speed and direction.

To me, any activity that awakens a sense of wonder is worthwhile. The trip to Discovery Cove did just that. After a day at the park, the cacophony of work had faded and the quiet that I had experienced in Hawaii had returned.

Two months gone... (part two)

I thought that part two of this narrative would move off of Hawaii and back to the mainland but in reviewing the twenty-one hundred pictures, I realized that there was more to show you...

Like the condo we stayed in:


We were on the ground floor of the two story condo and the view from the patio was wonderful. Imagine seeing and hearing this all day and night:


I guess what is most impressive about The Big Island is the diversity.

Obviously, there is lots of lava but the lava is everything from seaside arches that the waves crash through:


to underground tubes that you can walk through:



From lava fields that stretch forever:


to lava flows that stretch across the roadway:


There is everything from rainforests:


to rainbows:


From petroglyphs:


to plumeria:


From the breathtaking beauty of Waipio Valley:


to the sweetly refreshing Volcano Winery:


to the windswept trees living precariously on the edge of live lava flows:


And for your continued entertainment and enjoyment, Hawaii will even throw in a few mongoose:


or even an 89 year old hula dancer and her extended family:


OK, you get the picture (as much as I would like to, I won't bore you with all 2100). Before we move off the island I would like to share with you one of the major sources of inspiration in Hawaii...

...coffee...


So, let's move on in time and see what else has been going on.

Two months gone... (part one)

The last post to this blog was two months ago. So, where have I been and what have I been doing for two months? And how could it be so all consuming that I would deny you, good reader, of the pleasures of the blog?

Well, since I don't do guilt and since I was really having a wonderful time, I will not apologize. I will, however, take a trip back through the past two months with you and bring you up to current times. If you are ready, strap yourself in because this promises to be an exciting ride. OK, it was probably more exciting for me than it will be for you so you can unstrap yourself, grab a cup of coffee, slump down comfortably in your chair and read on.

I know that I just said that we were going to go back two months and get caught up on things but to fully understand why the past two months have been extraordinary you need to know about the past two years. Don't worry, it won't take long to tell you about the past two years; it will only take one word: work. Up until a couple of months ago, all I did was work. The few days off that I did have were so crammed full of obligatory things that there was little that was memorable.

During the past two months my life has been more normal with work taking up the requisite number of hours per day and with weekends containing two full days without work. To make the past two months even better, I was able to take three weeks off. Two of these weeks were spent on vacation (which means no computer, no phone, no beeper), the other week was spent doing chores around the house (which I enjoy) and taking local day trips. But, more on that later...

Looking back we see the last post here was on 4/12/05. April 12th is three days before the end of tax season. Working for a tax service you learn that if you live until April 15th, you will probably be ok until at least January 1st when the whole shooting match starts over again.

April 15th fell on a Friday this year. On Saturday morning, April 16th, D and I were on a plane headed for my parent's place in Phoenix. We stopped in Phoenix only to avoid the hellish flight from Tampa to the big island of Hawaii. If you are like me then it's not the flying that's bothersome, it's being treated like luggage that makes flying so uncomfortable. The thought of being squeezed into an airplane for over 12 hours almost thwarted our plans for a Hawaiian vacation. Stopping at my parents overnight and breaking the long flight into two more easily tolerated flights really improved the chances of having this be an enjoyable trip.

The trip from Tampa to Phoenix was uneventful. My parents met us at the airport and we headed back to the house. First things first, time to relax:



On Sunday, April 17th, we headed for the airport and the four us checked in on Hawaiian Airlines. Oh, did I not mention that my parents were going? Although I stated earlier that I don't do guilt, I didn't mean that others don't do guilt on me. Can you imagine what it would be like to try to get on a plane - post 9/11 - with two octogenarians hanging onto you, screaming and crying about how their son is killing them. It was easier to take them along than it was to try to explain this behavior to airport security.

The Hawaiian feel started right in the Phoenix airport at the Hawaiian Airlines check-in where we were entertained by a ukelele player, hula dancers and a women's beautyshop quartet.

We were lucky enough to have a second uneventful flight and were greeted in Hawaii in the traditional manner. Everyone got lei'd then we got our rental car and headed to the condo which would serve as home base for the next two weeks. The condo was clean, neat, well equipped and provided this view from the private patio:



The view, the room, the smell and sound of the ocean... things were looking good. Rather than stress over where to eat and how to get there, we decided to have dinner at the condo restaurant which was a short walk from the room. As with everything so far, this was another good choice.

Rather than bore you with a detailed day-by-day account of the trip, I will just cover the highlights, those things that really stood out as exceptional in my mind.

Sunsets:


Good Company:


The obligatory luau:



Akaka Falls:


The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory (I could write a book on the couple of hours that we spent here - a totally enjoyable morning):


Walking on live lava flows at night (I was a very stupid photographer and tried to shoot pictures without flash ... ended up with hundreds of photos of red blurs ... thanks D for having the experience to take some decent photos):


Vegetation:


Japanese Gardens (and the incredible sushi dinner that followed):


Everyone's buddy, Mac:


And the phenomenal final-night dinner at the Four Seasons (a tourch lit sunset dinner fit for Hawaiian royalty):


So, now you know about the first two weeks... what about the rest of the missing two months?