9/31 Someone Forgot to Tell the Whales

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It didn't feel like Christmas

     shorts

       flip flops

         shirt sleeves

All these are summer things

Our first full day on Maui was Christmas Day. We had decided before we went that we would need to do something special on Christmas because we knew we'd miss our families and traditions. 

A dinner cruise on the ocean seemed to fit the bill.

They told us it might be chilly, to bring a sweater or light jacket. Trust me, to hardy midwesterners, used to below zero wind chills, it was a beautiful night.

A gorgeous sunset painted the sky and the ocean with brilliant colors. Everywhere I looked, the oranges and reds transformed the view around us.

It was peaceful, relaxing, an amazing part of our trip. It didn't seem like it could get any better....

And then someone saw the whales....

December is very early in the whale season in Hawaii, which runs from mid-January through mid-March.  Everyone said we may not see any, they'd be hard to find. 

Someone forgot to tell the whales.

We saw whales every time we were on the ocean (and dolphins too), but these were our first. 

Our Christmas Whales

6/31 Remembering ALOHA

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Back in January, I chose my One Little Word...

ALOHA

After our visit to Hawaii over Christmas, I want to remember to keep that 

ALOHA

spirit with me all year.  This winter has proven to be difficult and lately, it's been hard to keep the spirit. The eight inches of snow Tuesday night and no school on Wednesday was staring me in the face and daring me to defy it.

So I did. 

I took Chloe for a walk. 

She was hooked up outside, watching my husband blow out the driveway for the umpteenth time this winter. I had scraped the leftover snow from the cement part of the driveway.  

For once, it wasn't below zero. In fact, the sun had a hint of warmth to it, so I thought, "What the heck?  Let's go for at least a little walk."

I reached inside the front door and grabbed her leash.

As soon as she saw it, Chloe went nuts. I wish I had a video.

She jumped. 

She grabbed the leash in her mouth as if she was going to walk me. 

She tugged. 

She stopped and looked back at me, as if saying, "Hurry up. Let's go. I haven't got all day."

Words of caution from my husband rang in my ears, "Be careful. The roads are icy." We took off down the street in front of our house. My very first slice of life post kept running through my mind.

It was a great walk. Although we went very slowly (well, I went slow. Chloe wanted to run the whole time), it felt good to be outside. And it was pretty. Fresh, new snow. The beginning warmth of the sun. People were outside! 

Chloe had a blast. She pranced the whole way. Smiling at being able to be outside again (even she doesn't like the below zero stuff we've had forever). I laughed at her tugging at me, wanting to run. There just isn't any place for her to go right now.

Once we got back to the foot of our driveway, I let go of the leash.

She raced as fast as she could to the house, to my husband as he finished the last of the shoveling. She ran circles around us as we stood there laughing at her antics.

The walk reminded me to appreciate what I have and the world around me. To accept that I can't change the weather or the snow days. I can only change my attitude towards it.

Sometimes, you just have to run in the snow....

ALOHA

A, ala, watchful, alertness 

L, lokahi, working with unity 

O, oia'i'o, truthful honesty 

H, ha'aha'a, humility 

A, ahonui, patient perseverance

I Didn't Know I Wanted to Go.....

The thing is, I didn't know I wanted to go to Hawaii.

My grandpa used to tell us that everyone should go to Hawaii at least once in their lives. I thought that was sweet, but I didn't know I wanted to go.

When my sister-in-law and her husband called and asked if we wanted to go with them, I said yes. I was excited about it, but I didn't know I wanted to.

We planned and saved for two years. We had mid-winter get togethers with computers and books and recommendations from friends. But I still didn't know....

And then we landed.....

And suddenly, I knew I wanted to go to Hawaii.

I was so excited at the airport!  Did you know that just about everything in Hawaii is open air?  Even the airport? There might be roofs on buildings, but there are big open windows so you can feel the air as you walk....

Since we went through a travel agency, we were met at the airport by Curtis, our representative. He gave us our leis, took our picture, helped us with luggage and finding our shuttle. Note to self: always use a travel agency when booking a big trip. Even the ride to our hotel was magical. Everywhere we looked there were flowers and palm trees. And it was warm! Chilly to Hawaiians, though. Cool is relative.

We stayed at Outrigger on the Beach on Waikiki which was beautiful. They were all decked out in their holiday finest. It was hard to remember it was Christmas. The first night, we dumped our baggage in the room well, the bellmen did and we headed to get something to eat. It had been a long day and the breakfast Greg and I ate in snowy Des Moines was long gone.









Luckily, the hotel had two great restaurants to choose from. We chose the Hula Grill based on the fact we didn't have to wait an hour to get a table!  The first meal started a tradition--Mahi Mahi and Mai Tais. You can't get more Hawaiian than that!  I am not a fish eater--heck, I'm not a very adventurous eater. I tried many things in Hawaii that I would not have eaten at home.

We were only on Oahu for a couple of days, so we didn't expect this when we work up in the morning and headed out to the lanai for coffee  my favorite part of every day in Hawaii: coffee on the lanai. Sounds exotic, doesn't it?  WE COULD SEE THE OCEAN FROM THE LANAI!  I know, not a lot, but we were happy just to see a peek.....

My number 1 rule when traveling is DON'T DO THE TIMESHARE MEAL. Greg's rule is DO the timeshare meal. He won.  

But this was just supposed to be to let us know about activities on Oahu.

And it was....kind of....

       And the breakfast was free...and cold

But we did eat an orchid.... I felt like Euell Gibbons, former Grape Nuts spokesman, "Many parts are edible...."

And we did get our tickets for Pearl Harbor.....so worth it.....

to be continued

Aloha

The view from 3/4 of the way up Diamondhead.