Twenty ten takes off

I forgot that I started this earlier! This blogging is tricky for me. Bear with me. I tried to edit both of these most recent posts, but couldn't figure it out, so I will simply live with it. That's just the breaks.




Well, it's well in to 2010, so I suppose it's time to put some thoughts down. So far, it's been a great year. Everyone is relatively healthy and we're certainly happy. I decided to take an active roll in getting back into shape by joining a gym last December. With the help of a trainer for a few sessions and going to group classes on some days, I'm feeling much stronger and healthier. It's a work in progress.

In February, we flew to Honolulu, Hawaii to visit our good friends, Bob and Erica McGee. We had a terrific time. It was so nice to have locals take you to the best and least touristy spots.  We would get up every day and Erica or Bob would pick us up and take us to another fabulous site.

Needless to say, we ate a lot of wonderfully bad for you things: Loco Moco (burger covered in gravy with eggs on top), malasades (warm donuts filled with seasonal custard www.leonardshawaii.com/ Feb. was liliquoi or passionfruit. YUM!), cocoa puffs (cream puffs with chocolate filling and coconut, butter cream topping). www.lilihabakeryhawaii.com/ Can't forget Dave's ("KILLER") ice cream. My first ube ice cream. Ube is Okanowan yam. Delicious. We also had some terrific, healthy stuff: Acai bowls (blended frozen acai berries sprinkled with granola and surrounded with fresh strawberries, blueberries, and bananas and all drizzled with island honey), fresh pineapple, papaya, bananas, taro poke (yes taro-not the wallpaper paste, but from the same plant.  It was excellent!) among other great things. www.diamondheadcove.com/

To sort of counter all the food indulgences, Erica and I hiked up Koko Head Crater. www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIJBiyYdzkU (I had to mute this, but you can watch it in HD. These guys had a nice camera) Bill and Greta-the-dog waited for us. 40 minutes up and 40 minutes down. After the hike we went to Diamondhead Cove and had acai bowls!

Every day was wonderful and different. Different beaches, different people. Watching Erica surf at Waikiki was a great way to start. Our favorite beach had almost nobody else there and the sea turtles were all over the place. A great beach was tarnished because Erica got stung by a box jellyfish. Lucky that probably only one got her or she could have been badly hurt (even killed!). Many of the beaches were closed due to them, but this beach was supposed to have been okay. The lifeguard sprayed the sting with vinegar or else someone would have had to pee on it. Truly, that seems to be the best antidote.

Bob, being executive chef at Apartment 3 in Honolulu, took us to the Farmer's Market.  Wonderful stuff.  Lovely people.

A couple of nights Erica and I went to Waikiki and hung out in the fancy hotel bars, which are right on the beach. We had cocktails and watched the sun go down. Some nights the clouds interfered, but it was always lovely, anyway. Our last night, Bob and Erica treated us to dinner at Apartment 3. Bob was able to change out of his chef clothes and come join us for dinner. It was fabulous. I've always loved Bob's cooking and he didn't disappoint us.http://honoluluweekly.com/restaurants/2010/02/apartment3/

We were only gone a week, but it was so nice to not have to worry about anything or anyone. Django stayed home with a woman who nannied during the day. He got to go work with her, so he had kids to throw the ball for him almost constantly. I don't think he missed us, though he slept for almost two days after we got home.

The only changes I would make next time:
1. Take a non-stop flight even if it costs a little more
2. Maybe get a room closer to the ocean to be more restful. The earplugs worked well, though.

Alrighty. Next up: Yakfeet. I'll keep you posted.

How I spent my winter vacation

When I first moved to Oregon it became clear to me that winter was a very long, dark place.  To break that up, I decided to go somewhere sunny every year mid-winter, which just happens to be my birthday. For several years I followed that plan. Then Bill and I bought the house. Mortgage and maintenance ate up most of the travel allowance. Now the house is paid for, so we have a LITTLE something we can use for winter escape.

Bill hates to fly since security can be such a pain, so I had to negotiate with him.If I would go camping with him last summer, he would fly somewhere warm with me this winter.It just so happens that two of our favorite people recently moved to Hawaii. Erica, who grew up surfing in Florida, got tired of having to wear a wetsuit to surf in Oregon. Bob, an excellent chef, realized he can cook anywhere. They packed up and moved to Honolulu and asked us to come an visit whenever we liked. Any of you who know Bill and me, know our motto is: "Say what you mean and mean what you say". So we took them up on it.

We left Portland on my birthday. Being the penny pincher that I am, I chose a flight on United that took us forever to get there. We arrived around 6:30 and took the city bus from the airport to our hotel. Called Erica once we arrived and she came down to meet us. We were starving, so we went to a nearby spot for salads and drinks, went back to the hotel and died. Travel can be so tiring! Well, once again, the penny pincher found the hotel that was a good deal, but a bit on the noisy side. We're talking Waikiki and not immediately on the beach, so people partied until very late. More on that, later.

Friday morning. Erica comes to pick us up after she drops Bob off at work. The sun is out, nice breeze, we head for the beach at Waikiki so she can surf. Terrific first day.