I survived the road to Hana

Before we drove to Hana, I was noticing all these t-shirts that said “I survived the road to Hana” – and separately, both Sam and I had the same thought: “hmm… that’s a funny way to put it.” Whenever we talked about this “tourist attraction” to anyone, they all seemed to downplay it. They said – yeah, it’s kind of a long trip, plan for a full day, the road is a little winding. A little? Wow. Maybe I when I tell stories of our adventures I go over the top with my descriptions, but still, I’d never think to describe that road as a “little” winding. Quite simply, the road was terrifying. Now I understand why the t-shirts all say “I survived the road to Hana” –...

Paradise

We are in Hawaii right now and I’ve decided that this is where I want to spend every vacation for ever and ever. I am so in love with this place I’ve been moved to tears several times already. The hotel we’re staying in is completely fabulous. The two upgrades I made when we booked the trip were to get a room with an ocean view and to have their breakfast included. First the view is absolutely spectacular! And the breakfast, for some reason, I thought it was just going to be a continental breakfast: some coffee, a bagel, maybe waffles if we were lucky. HOLY COW the breakfast is HUGE. Made to order omelets. scrambled eggs. Hash browns, eggs benedict, lox, bagels, fruit, waffles, steamed fish, even miso soup! There’s so much I can’t...

Flower 2

This is the last of the shots I had stored up from our vacation. My back was doing a bit better today, but then I was cleaning something on the floor and it got tweaked again. With the exception of one day, I have been posting a picture every day – but not sure I’ll be able to keep up now. We’ll see.

Butterfly

The Beach House we stayed at must have been a butterfly haven. I was once told that people like to plant for butterflies, but not enough people plant for the caterpillars (that turn into butterflies) – but this house must have had both types – since earlier in the week we saw that monarch caterpillar, and then later in the week we kept seeing monarch butterflies. (Obviously not the same creature, but it was funny the in order in which we saw them) I particularly like monarch butterflies – and according to wikipedia, they’re supposedly seen across the U.S. but I can’t remember the last one I saw that wasn’t in some kind of “butterfly zoo.” Another unique-to-this-area insect: Lightening Bugs / Fireflies. We used to see...

Beach House Backyard