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

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

As expected, my few hours in the sun erupted into a sunburn. It’ s not painful, except for the top of my feet, but I know I’m gonna lose some skin in a few days.  But I ain’t gonna let that bother me.

According to Google Earth, it’s only a couple of kilometres (or about 160000 inches) to the Palms at Wailea from my hotel.  I checked the map so I knew where I was going and off I went for a walk.  Chelsea and Jonathan were supposed to be here already, and if they were at home I was hoping for a short visit.  Audie and Lois and family were going to arrive sometime today too.

I got to the Palms a lot sooner than I expected.  I arrived at an intersection I wasn’t really expecting, and my first thought was “Now where the hell am I?”  I looked for a street sign (as if that was going to help) and there it was!  The Palms at Wailea.  Just across the street.

I called Jonathan’s cell, and demanded a beer.  More importantly, I wanted to know how to find them.  A few minutes later I was sitting on their deck.

Audie and Lois were already in town.  They had gone to the airport to pick up more people, and would be back later.  I finished my beer, and as nice as the grounds at the Palms were, I wanted to move on.  I’m not much for hanging around hotels or wasting time at a pool when there’s an ocean a few blocks away.

I got directions to the beach (I could see I needed a car soon) and headed out.

It all started innocently  enough.

me:  “What’s new?”

brother: “We’re finally going to replace the flooring in our house.  Should start next week.”

me: “Great!  How long is that gonna take?”

brother: “Not too long.  They are coming in and doing it one room at a time (a good plan I thought, but didn’t say anything) and they move the furniture and everything. (moving the furniture first is even a better plan!)”

me: “Cool – and you’re getting the whole main floor done, right?”

brother: “Yeah – and we got new appliances too”

me: “wow – you’re going all out.  All hi-tech stuff I presume”

brother: “Not really – except the microwave.”

(here’s where it happened…)

brother: “Yeah – it’s got push buttons and dials and controls and stuff”

me: “mm hmm” (trying to sound impressed)

brother: “It has a button just for popcorn. You just push it, and the microwave knows it’s popcorn and cooks it.  And it’s supposed to taste better than the old way, and doesn’t burn”

me: “Really – wow, that’s some microwave!”

brother: “And the beeper works all the time.  Our old one didn’t work when it was cold.  It just made a huunn huuun sound, and it wasn’t even doing that all the time.”

me: “And does it have a button for re-heating coffee?”

brother: “yeah, yeah – I think so.  And it’s got a turn table thing so that food cooks evenly. The food goes round and round like a merry-go-round!”

me: “So your old one didn’t have that stuff.  It must have been really old. I pretty much thought all of that was standard.  In fact, I had to replace my old microwave a couple of weeks ago and it had all of that.  Even the popcorn button.”

brother: (slightly annoyed) “We’ve had it for a while…”

me: “So, your old one, did it have an electric start or did you have to kick start it?”

brother: CLICK

I never did get to ask him if his new “ice box” actually plugs into the wall, and makes ice,  rather than the need to haul ice to store in the bottom compartment to keep things cool.

Ben was born Tuesday morning in Calgary.  (I think was Tuesday morning, Graham called me Monday night to tell me he and Ivy were at the hospital) In any event, photos say more than I could.  Congratualtions, Ivy, Graham and Tash!

There’s more photos on the next page…

Amy and Bert were married on Saturday. The ceremony was in my back yard, and despite the rainy day, things could not have been better.

I’ll post a few photos for now, and some more later on.

All was well and good, and kinda funny while the dog was licking his hand.

But it was a cry to Mommy for help when that thing tasted his whole face with one swipe!