That’s the hill I wanted.  And up I went, and then down I went, with Tasha on board.  Apparently, according to Graham, “You guys sure caught a lot of air when you went over that bump!” I don’t know about that, because we were coming down the hill backwards incredibly fast, and I couldn’t turn the damn thing around.  When we hit the bump, all I knew was there was nothing under me for a long time, and suddenly there was.  I have a bruise on my butt the size of a basketball, and I’m pretty sure I re-broke the same rib I broke a couple of years ago.  Anyway, we moved over to the semi-bunny hill  (safer  for young ones AND old bones)

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more on the next pages…

About once a week, usually on a Friday evening, the challenge for a game of pool on the Wii goes out.  It invariably involves a couple of beers, and bragging rights to the winner of the tournament for a week.

Sometime along the way, it was decided there needed to be an actual tropy, which had to be positioned proudly in a prominent, prestigious place in the current champion’s home.  A broken cigarette lighter was chosen as the trophy. The Pig. As all important sporting trophies go, the trophy was modified and improved, and this is the current version.

And, for the time being, it’s mine.

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The only reason these posts are being displayed on Facebook is because Facebook automatically copies the RSS feed from my blog.  I don’t post anything at Facebook – in fact, I don’t even know how to add things to the “wall” (or want to know) unless it’s to make a comment when the comment link shows up.

And that’s why this post is here. Because I don’t do Facebook.

If anyone is interested in the real posts from my blog, or feels the urge to make a comment, go to “Thinking Out Loud” – Facebook doesn’t show the complete post (thankfully) There are lots more photos and my daily ramblings available for you to read or ignore. Images are linked directly to my web site, not copied or owned by Facebook.

…not meant to harangue or berate Facebookers, it’s just not my cup of tea.

With this many fishing rods (6 in total) we have to catch something!“Did you guys see that Flying Fish?”“Maybe they are just out a little farther”Waiting…Maybe once the sun gets up they will start biting…Well, it IS a nice boat ride

After the meal there was a a show of dance and song portraying the history of the Hawaiian people.

… more luau

]]> http://www.web-bandit.com/lee/2010/05/05/lahaina-luau/feed/ 2 http://www.web-bandit.com/lee/2010/05/05/haleakala-crater/ http://www.web-bandit.com/lee/2010/05/05/haleakala-crater/#comments Wed, 05 May 2010 21:45:40 +0000 Lee http://www.web-bandit.com/lee/?p=911 More than anything, I wanted to see a volcano while I was in Hawaii.  Unfortunately, there are no live volcanoes on Maui.  I knew that before I left.  The next best thing would be to see an extinct volcano crater.

The Haleakala Highway takes you to Haleakala National Park.  It’s a narrow winding road that takes you from about a 1000 feet above sea level to a little over 10,000.  And at the top you can see the collapsed crater of a volcano.  Perfect.

Sherry was driving, and all was good until we passed a sign that said, “Turn headlights on while driving through clouds.”  Haleakala means “the land above the clouds.”  That’s when Herb began to clutch the arm rest.  White knuckled, he mentioned about every fifty feet of the climb, “We are very, very, very, friggin high.”  The rest of his conversation usually contained something like, “Do you have to drive so close to the side of the road?”

Sherry was driving perfectly.  I don’t know what would have happened if she was a little nervous about the road.  I think Herb would have simply passed out.  We finally broke through the clouds, and soon a roadside turnout appeared.  There was parking for about 20 cars along beside a steep cliff, and across the highway was another steep drop off where you could view the clouds and Park buildings way below.

Herb cautiously crawled out of the car and huddled up against the cliff on the “safe” side and with trembling hands, lit a cigarette. Sherry and I ran across the road for the view and some photos.

… onto the crater

Uh oh.  Time to move into alternate plan persuasion mode.

I convinced them to take a drive towards the western end of the island, and maybe head up to Haleakala National Park.  We bought a road map and turned around with just a little griping from Sherry.

Our first stop was the Kula Botanical Gardens.

… more of the gardens