Waimea Canyon

Here are a couple of photos from last Monday's drive up the mountain, past Waimea Canyon, on the way up to Awaawapuhi trail. There are more photos yet to come.

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A few photos from Kuaui

I didn't get to take as many photos as I would have liked on this trip. We were only gone for 5 days. Friday and Tuesday were dedicated mostly to travel time (the flights). Saturday was the wedding. Sunday was the after wedding celebration. Monday was ours to do what we wanted as long as we made it back in time for a dinner with the family. Reservations for the early evening were made without checking with us, and cut our hiking time a bit short. We had to turn back before completing the trail and de-mudify ourselves while taking turns changing in the car. Still, we did have fun.

I haven't had time to sort through the few photos I did manage to take, but until I get a chance, I hope these will tide you over.

The view from the hotel (Resortquest Islander on the Beach). The facility may not be luxourious or have all the ammenities that some might like, but the rooms are large, clean and recently upgraded. They have plenty of storage, including linen closets, and an armoure, and captains beds. They also offer pay by the day internet in the room or free wifi in the lobby. And you have a kitchenette with a larger than average refrigerator, microwave and coffee maker, cups, bowls, plates, glasses and flatware. There are two grocery stores a short distance away. If you plan it right you can cut your food spending by eating fresh foods or zappable foods. The staff is very friendly and helpful, though there is no elevator in these three floor buildings and the bellman only comes by once a day. So be prepared to tote your own luggage or wait a bit for someone to bring it by.

Coconut Market Place is right across the alley/parking lot, and offers a movie theater, touristy shopping, bars, quick and sit down restaurants, and Eggberts, which serves a palatable and large breakfast throughout most of the day (for you late risers). Kountry Kitchen, just down the road in Kapa'a is known for having the best breakfast in town (even the locals say so). It is just past the large ABC store and across from the library on the far side of the park. Park in the dirt lot by the library and cross the road, but get there early or you could have a 45 minute or longer wait. They open at 6am, for you early risers.

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Wailua Falls

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The Island Bird

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Kauai--Day 3

We began the day slowly.

Originally, we thought we would get in a short hike, maybe a mile or two, but that didn't work out. Instead, we headed out for a quick view of the Wailua waterfall, which is just down the road. You've already seen a couple of the photos. We had thought to hike in to the base of the fall, but the trail was closed a few years back because it is too steep and slippery. Well, that and the fact that several people died making the attempt. A good reason to close the trail. So now you can only view the falls from the road above.

After the falls, we quickly drove over to Port Allen to meet up with my room-mate's family and the newlyweds for the sunrise dinner cruise to the Na Pali coast. The weather was rough, so we didn't make it all the way out to the nose, but still we had a wonderful time. I actually love standing at the front of the boat and letting the wind and salt spray hit me head on. Yes, I was drenched, but it was great fun.

At one point, both on the way out and the way back, we were surrounded by a pod of spinner dolphins. Beautiful and friendly, they put on a show for us. Apparently, this particular breed does not survive well in captivity. They rarely last a day. So you can only view them in the wild.

We also saw whale spouts everywhere. They're here to birth. On the way back one surfaced no more than 25-50 yards behind the boat. It's an amazing sight. I haven't seen so many spouts since I was a kid living off the Strait of Juan de Fuca during migration season.

Wedding Day

My room-mate's step niece's wedding went well. Though not without a few minor problems.

It seems there was an accident on the bypass highway just a mile or two from our hotel. Sadly, it was a fatality. What that means here on the island is no one is going anywhere for several hours, if not the rest of the day. This highway is the only open road connecting the Lihue side of the island to the Koloa area. The only other way to get there is through cane roads--red dirt/mud roads running through what used to be cane fields--, which need to be opened up for usage-they're generally closed.

We left our hotel on time to reach the wedding, maybe even arrive a little early. But ten minutes before that the accident occurred. Several cars were badly crushed. We've heard that there were possibly two fatalities. The locals are accustomed to this sort of highway blockage. Apparently it happens every two or three months. They all turned their engines off, got out of their cars and wandered off to the local golf course--right next to our stopping position--and had a drink or used the restroom. Some pulled their cars into the golf course lot, until it filled. Then opened their car doors, climbed up onto the roofs and hoods of the cars and sunned themselves while speculating with others on what must have happened. Meanwhile an hour went by and we knew we would not be making the wedding. As one of the locals advised us--Wedding? Ain't gonna get there bro. Hope it's not yours.

So, we joined the crowd and made the best of it. We called every family member cell phone we knew and left a message, hoping that someone who wasn't in the wedding party would at least pick up their voice mail.

Eventually, the golf course opened up a cart road that joined to a cane road and let many, but not all of the cars on our side through. We were among the lucky ones. We didn't make the wedding ceremony, but we arrived early for the reception. Only to find out that everyone thought we had been in a car accident. So, we explained the entire thing to everyone again, and then suddenly realized that if we had been just ten minutes earlier we would have been in the accident. There's always something to be thankful for.

It turned out that the dj was also stuck behind the accident. He'd never been late to a wedding reception before and felt terrible. He was certain the bride and groom wouldn't believe his tale. But, they had us for verification of the tale--he ended up verifying ours as well--so all went well. The dj arrived a few hours late after a can road was opened to bypass the highway, and all went well.

My room-mates family spent a great deal of time apologizing to him. They had all assumed that he was just late again. They may think twice before making that assumption next time. I hope so.

The wedding was beautiful, the bride gorgeous, the groom had a permanent grin on his face. Everyone had a terrific time.

Arrival day continued

Evening

We left LA in the midst a rainstorm that had sent small tornados through Long Beach—the type that can take a roof off if it hits just right, but usually just tosses a few trash cans about, knocks down a fence here and there, or uproots a few trees. We arrived in Kauai to yet another rain storm, with more to come. It rains a lot here, so that was not a surprise, especially this time of year. I slept well last night. Rain can be very soothing.

We arrived on the island later than planned. Our luggage was waiting for us. It made the flight that we had missed. Then we picked up the rental car and headed off to the rehearsal dinner. Or, perhaps, I should say non-rehearsal dinner. Thankfully someone at the party had the good sense to call us, or we never would have found the house. It was well hidden on the ocean side of Koloa. The food was good, the company pleasant, and the chair that everyone insisted I sit down in comfortable. Too much so.

I curled up and silently slept through much of the evening. Ah well, everyone still had a wonderful time. :-)

Day 1--And We're Off to Kauai

Well, maybe.

We had an early morning 8:40 am flight. We missed it, but our luggage is on it's way to Honolulu. And then on to Kauai.

We have managed to get on a later flight to Honolulu. We should be boarding a little before noon. When we get to Honolulu we must contact Aloha Airlines and arrange for another flight to Kauai. With luck, we will gather our luggage, the rental car and make it to our hotel room just in time to call everyone at the rehearsal dinner and let them know we will be late.

Don't ask why we were late. I'm not really certain.

The Photos are here

Check out the new photos of Aguille du Midi.

More to follow later.

More photos coming soon

More photos are about to be posted to my photo site. (Ok, it could be a few days yet.) Part one of the rest day. What do you do when you’re on trek and a rest day comes up? Why more hiking, of course. In our case we decided to visit Le Praz and Aguille du Midi. The photos from the afternoon at Aguille du Midi are posted. Those from the trail to Le Praz will join them shortly.

And now, according to my trainer, it’s time to pick a new goal. That means selecting a new trek. Since I don’t actually have any one specific destination in mind at the moment, and finances and schedules of all involved need to be considered as well, I have set a temporary goal of trekking up Mount Whitney. It’s a three day trek, requiring reservations for the camp sites on the way up, and a couple more days to acclimate at about the 8000’ level as well. I have enough time to prepare for the trip, if I stick to a strict training schedule. And I don’t expect to make it to summit on my first attempt, but heck, you never know what you can do until you try. There is also a very good chance that I won't be able to reserve space, or be chosen from the lottery. Yes, they hold a lottery for the reservations.

Besides, the training alone should prepare me for whatever goal I actually do accomplish this year. Well, that and I want to lose another 40 pounds by the end of April.

Most immediate hiking goal--perhaps a trail or two in Hawaii. Choice of trail depends on weather conditions as well as people conditions. Many of the trails I was interested in become dangerous when wet or when it rains. And we do have a friend who would like to join us on the trail. The friend's idea of a hike, I fear, is a gentle stroll through a meadow or a flat well tread trail. I could be wrong. Nevertheless, one of my tasks tonight is to pick a few trails that will allow everyone to tag along for a short distance.

Movies Scene

After a long day of editing still more photos from my last trek to the Mont Blanc area I was looking forward to heading out with my room-mate to meet a friend and his companion for dinner. They were only going to be in town for one night and we hadn’t seen the friend for a few months. Unfortunately, there was a misunderstanding on my part concerning the meeting arrangements and we were not able to get together. Perhaps next visit. No, make that definitely next visit.

Not wanting to waste an entire evening, my roomie and I decided to head out for dinner and a movie. And an excellent movie it was.

Atonement:: The first movie I have seen in quite a while that might actually be worthy of awards. This is not a movie to see if you are looking for something light hearted or spirit lifting. It is very emotional and dives to the root of your being. The movie centers around Briony, a girl of about 13, who witnesses an incident that she believes she understands, but her perception is colored by emotion and the lack of adult knowledge and judgement. She does not lie when she reports what she has seen to her parents, but in doing so she creates a seemingly unmendable rift between herself and her older sister. While serious, what Briony has done is the sort of thing that might normally heal and be forgiven with time. The trouble is that the time needed never comes. Most of us have memories of what we perceive as a horrible and unforgivable act on our parts, committed when we were children. In most cases our families forget the incident, but often we never do. Briony too cannot forget what she has done. In Briony’s case though, there is no one left to forgive her. She spends her life trying to find a way to repent, to forgive herself. Does she succeed? You must judge the answer for yourself.

In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale:: There is potential here for a good movie. An excellent cast was chosen for the main characters. The story, though not deeply involved, has the possibility of being interesting. Unfortunately, the actors were not given enough to work with and little attention was paid to character development. Nor was much time spent on making the plot of the story feel like more than a drop curtain on the front of the stage. Instead most of the attention was placed on the battle scenes, including Ninja like warriors. The result was a movie filmed more for hack and slash than story. The hero lacked the heroic effect. Even the villain did not feel evil. If you intend to see this movie in the theater, see it as a matinee. Better yet, wait for it to hit the $2 theaters, or dvd.

Off to the Movies again

A nice matinee at that. Off to see the Water Horse I went, with my room-mate and his mother, early this afternoon. It is a children's movie, and a quite well done one at that. It is both enlightening and sad, and at times may be a little frightening for the very very young. There were a couple of small children who had to be removed from the theater for short periods. Still, I would definitely recommend the movie. If you haven't seen this with your children and their friends, go.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

And a a few more photos.

While everyone else is sitting in front of the television, eyes wide in amazement as they watch each and every float in the Rose Parade drift by--each more wondrous than the next--, I sit in front of my computer sorting through and uploading photos from my last trip to Europe. No, not really for anyone else to see, but just for my own enjoyment I suppose. I'd be editing them too, but I am at a friends house and they have no editing software. That seems so odd to me, but I guess not everyone bothers with editing their photos. Some people just pick the ones they like and have them printed at the local photo shop. I'm not really certain what happens to the photos they don't like. They delete them, I suppose.

It seems I will have a busy week in front of me, not only cleaning my office at work and getting ahead of the game a little (I hope), but ploughing through the office at home too. With luck, I will be setting up my room-mate's new photo printer as well as an art printer he bought a couple of year's ago, mainly for my use. I don't really have any resolutions for this new year, though I may begin taking my photography a little more seriously--that's what the art printer was for. (Well that and some of my digital work or perhaps I should say play. Maybe I'll enter a few contests or submit my photos to a few of the UK journals. At least with the UK journals I can keep the rights to my photos, I think. I had better double check that.

Ok, so maybe I do have some resolutions. Clean the office. Set up the printers. Make room for my easel and paints. Load Poser, Bryce, etc onto my new laptop when it arrives, and just maybe actually learn some of the finer points of the software. Organize and edit my photos, maybe scan in some of my negatives. And after all of that, if there's time, I can consider seriously doing something with my work. I know, it sounds more like a weekly todo list, but maybe that is what resolutions are to me. A step by step progression rather than a leap.

Oh, and let's not forget the 20-40 pounds I have yet to lose. Of course, if I lose them, nobody will recognize me. Hmmm, that could be fun.

Anyway, I have another set of photos from the trek available for viewing.