A WET THANKSGIVING DAY

Aloha! Jackie and I had a very nice Thanksgiving. We spent the day the way we always spend Thanksgiving...eating way too much and watching a lot of sports on tv. The only thing being different today was our football games were being interrupted every 15 minutes by emergency warnings to let us know that Kauai was under a flash flood warning! Guess thats one more thing we can be thankful for...that where our house is located we don't have to worry about flooding. Our hearts do go out to all the poor folks that do live in the low lying areas and all the homeless people living on our beaches. Seems they have had to cope with more than their share of nasty weather lately. Todays rains weren't as severe as what we went thru a couple of weeks ago and the worst rains were to the south of us in the Kapaa and Lihue areas where they got between 7 and 8 inches. Think Koloa got hit as well with rainfall near 6 inches. I would guess we probably got around 2 inches at our house. Our local paper The Garden Isle will post updates throughout the day to keep its readers informed about whats happening and will give you info on road closures, accidents and such. This morning they posted a story about the Hanalei bridge being closed. Nothing surprising there as they have to close it every time it floods. What was kind of surprising to us was the update they posted this afternoon. They stated that they had opened one lane for northbound traffic. This seemed rather odd to us seeing as how the Hanalei bridge is only a one lane bridge anyway! The video I posted today was taken on our snorkel yesterday at PK's. We had hoped to get Rey to join us but no luck! We had a nice visit on the beach but getting Rey in the water would have been like trying to give a bath to a cat...it wasn't going to happen with out someone getting hurt!

MUCKY WATER

Aloha! The last couple of days Jackie and I have been pretty busy. Monday we mowed the lawn and today we went snorkeling. Now of the two I definitely prefer the snorkeling even though today the snorkeling was not that good! We have a huge swell hitting the north and west facing shores with wave heights nearing 20 feet and that combined with the fact that we went out at high tide made for real mucky water. We ventured out anyway hoping the conditions would improve the further we got from shore. They didn't so once again we cut our snorkel short. As we were exiting the water we talked for a bit with a couple visiting from Fort Worth. They wanted to know if the water improved as you got further out. We told them it did but not by very much. They went out and gave it a try but soon joined us back on the beach where we talked story for an hour or so. Jackie and I gave them what advice we could about places to check out with the lighthouse being high on our list. The waves should have been crashing hard there today. We also told them if they wanted to snorkel the south shore was their best option. Speaking of the south shore thats where Jackie and I will be going in the morning. Rey and his family are here visiting from Washington and tomorrow we want to take them snorkeling. I was really hoping that Anini would have improved enough to take them there seeing as how Anini is usually so calm and it is one of the easiest places to get in and out but with the water conditions we have now the south shore is the only place you are going to be able to see the fish that are there. The photo I posted today is of the unnamed waterfall on the mauka side of the highway near the Kalihiwai bridge. This is where they are removing or trimming a lot of the trees. Those of you who have visited before should notice how much more of the waterfall you can see now. Sorry the photo is kind of blurry...Jackie took it this morning as we were driving past at about 20 miles an hour.

NICE AND EASY

Aloha! Things have been pretty slow for Jackie and I these last few days and thats just the way I like it. On Thursday Jackie went with Cory for his eye exam. Then they made a stop at Costco for his contacts and to pick-up a few supplies. I, on the other hand, stayed at home watching a little tv and napping. As you can see I lead a very rough life! On Friday Jackie and I went to Anini snorkeling. The water has cleared a lot faster than I thought it would so I figured it would be okay to give Anini a shot. In hindsight it would have been better if we would have gone to the south shore instead. First off they are working on the trees by the Kalihiwai bridge and have the highway down to one lane. We had to wait in line for about 20 minutes. After we arrived at the beach we found the water was still a little murky...not real bad but not good either. We cut our snorkel down to about a 1/4 of what we normally do. We did manage to swim with Mr. Honu for a bit and saw an eel or two so the snorkel wasn't a total bust. We had to wait in line again going home only this time it must have been for at least a half an hour. Today has been spent watching tv and playing on the computer.

GRANDKIDS

Aloha! I just finished reading a weather update in the Tricity Herald. It stated that you guys should be expecting a pretty nasty storm this evening...strong winds, a foot or two of snow in the Cascades, possible flooding along the coast. You know...the kind of weather that made Jackie's and my decision to retire to Kauai an easy one! Our only regret is that we coudn't bring all our friends and family along with us! Speaking of friends one that I had known since grade school was laid to rest yesterday...Buster Wolfe. When we were in about second grade Buster and I decided that we didn't like each other very much. I sure couldn't say why...all I can tell you was the feelings were mutual! We walked home from school along the same road so we were always calling each other names, sticking our tongues out, acting like your typical bratty little boys. This behavior finally escalated into pushing and shoving matches and more than once either Buster or I ended up with a bloody nose or a split lip! Buster and I were pretty evenly matched so I think our parents must have decided to let us go ahead and keep beating on each other until we got things worked out! Turns out they were right as parents almost always are because we eventually became good friends. I remember asking Buster after we were in high school if he knew why we disliked each other so much as kids and like me he didn't have a clue. Going to miss you Buster...you left us way to soon.

TRIP TO TOWN

Aloha! Our weather has improved a great deal...we are still getting the occasional down pour but instead it of lasting all day like it did Saturday we got it for maybe 15 minutes then it moved away only to return in a couple of hours. This weather pattern is fairly typical for Kauai especially the north shore during the winter months. Jackie and I are really thankful that we don't get many storms like the one that just went thru even though we did truly enjoy the thunder and lightening. (It was like having front row seats at the best 4th of July celebration you could imagine!). The 4 inches of rain an hour was a bit much...until you have been thru rain like that there is nothing I can say that would describe it! On our journey to town this afternoon I was expecting to see a lot of flooding but it wasn't too bad. The ditches along the highway were pretty full of brown nasty water but nothing on the roads. The ocean is a muddy mess especially where the streams or rivers enter. We have seen it like this in the past and it will take about 2 weeks to clean its self up so that means 2 weeks without snorkeling or at least no snorkeling on the north shore. I don't think the south shore got hit as hard so if Jackie gets to needing her snorkel fix we might just wander that way next week!

THUNDER AND LIGHTING

Aloha! Jackie and I have been enjoying some very wild weather here on Kauai. We had a thunder storm Thursday evening that was as intense as any I have ever been in. It lasted for the better part of the night and keep the skies lit up almost constantly. The thunder was so loud it was literally rattling the pictures on the wall! This storm seemed to have stalled directly over our house. Lucky for us we only received about 2 inches of rain. Friday the storm abated somewhat...we had rain but not as intense. We had another round of thunder and lightning Friday evening but like the rain it wasn't as bad as Thursdays was. Today has been another story. The skies started to darken this morning around 9 and then they opened up. It has rained hard here since then. We have also had our share of thunder and lightning. The heavy rains have caused a lot of flooding on our little island and at the moment the road is closed near the Kalihiwai bridge due to a mud slide. The Hanalei bridge is also closed due to high water. Not sure how much rain we have received today but it was a lot! Cory was talking with his friends from work and they are stuck at the store as there is no way in or out of Princeville at the moment. We are thankful that Cory has the weekend off and doesn't have to work until Monday at noon. This storm should be out of here by then and the roads cleared hopefully. The pictures I posted were taken on mine and Jackies trip home in October.

SNORKELING VIDEO

Aloha! Thought you might enjoy this short video of mine and Jackie's snorkel yesterday. It was taken at Anini beach. Probably a good thing we went yesterday because the weather today is awful...heavy rain and large wind gusts. The bad news is we can expect this weather to last into next week. Guess if Jackie and I run out of things to do here at the house we can always bring out the Dominos or Skip-bo cards even though Jackie cheats worse than Darrell at both!

WET WEEKEND

Aloha! It has been a rainy, wet, overcast weekend for Jackie and I. What sun we saw was in 30 minute intervals spread about 2 hours apart throughout each day. Good thing Jackie and I had lots to do here at the house. We had football to watch on Saturday as well as a large pot of homemade soup to keep us warm in this frigid 75 degree weather! On Sunday we had a little more football to watch as well as the Nascar race. Oh yeah we also were able to follow Kinzi's basketball game on the computer. Because it was a preseason game we didn't have the video or the audio but we could still stay informed thru the live stats and play by play. Jackie and I have subscribed to Bronco Vision. It is a service you can access thru Boise State's web site. It costs about $10 a month and allows you to watch most of the schools sporting events live on your computer. We watched some of the boys basketball game on Saturday and it came across pretty good. It was a little grainy in full screen but still watchable and it wasn't nearly as jerky as we thought it might be. We are looking forward to the girls game on Friday and will be checking the stands out for Jaynee and Jerry! Wish it was where we could be sitting there with them but seeing as how that won't be possible you can bet we will be sitting here watching it on our computer. I will be wearing my new Boise state hat and yelling at the officials! By the way, Boise State won their game today 84 to 64 over Lewis and Clark State. Kinzi had 7 points and 2 rebounds. I think that is a great start to what I'm sure will be a wonderful career at Boise State. WAY TO GO KINZI!

MOWING DAY

Aloha! Things are slowly returning to normal for Jackie and I. Our trip home was a lot of fun and seeing everyone was super but there is a lot to be said for getting back to your old routine.Today we got the lawn out of the way so maybe we can return to the beach this weekend. We would have gone all ready but the weather hasn't been cooperating very well. It was late on Monday when we arrived back so Jackie and I used Tuesday to rest up a little or maybe I should say I used Tuesday to rest up! Jackie and Alex went shopping for a new washer. Guess the old one gave up the ghost last Friday and Alex wanted to wait to get our opinion before buying a new one. They searched every store that carries appliances on the island before deciding the one they saw at Sears was probably the best deal. As it turned out Tuesday was a good day to shop because it was definitely not a good day for the beach! Jackie and Alex had barely left the house when the rain started and I do mean to tell you it rained hard! We got over 3 inches of rain in about a 4 hour period. At times it was coming down so hard a guy would have been hard pressed just to stand up in it! The weather was much nicer Wednesday but we figured the ocean would be pretty mucked up from the downpour so we decided it would be a good day to play on our computers. We have been neglecting our farms on Facebook and I wanted to get to level 30 in Fish World so I could purchase a shark. The shark is really cool by the way. He munches your adult fish in the tank and you get the same amount of coins as you would have if you had sold them! Thursday the weather wasn't quite as nice as Wednesday. We had rain off and on...nothing too hard but enough to discourage me from going to the beach and definitely enough to keep me from mowing so we spent the day in the same manner as Wednesday. Man...Jackie and I have it rough here on Kauai!

BACK ON KAUAI

Aloha! Jackie and I are back at home after a wonderful visit to the mainland. We had a blast playing with the grandkids and visiting with our friends and family. Wish it was where we could have made it around to visit with everyone but the time just slipped away from us like it always seems to do when we visit. Our trip this year had so many highlights. We had a Harvest Dinner at the 1st Baptist Church where Fred Cohu is the pastor. There must have been close to a hundred of our friends and family in attendance. I had all my brothers and sisters there and Jackie had all of her sisters there as well. We also had a great barbeque at Brian's. A lot of Brian's friends from school were there and seeing as how they spent more time at our house while they were growing up than they did at home it was sure a lot of fun visiting with them! Seemed so strange to see those kids with kids of their own! We also had a nice dinner at the El Caporal in Prosser with a lot of my friends from work. It was interesting to say the least to hear about all the happenings at Kenyons. We also had the chance to visit with Nancy Martinez at her new home. It is located right on the river in Prosser. Wow...what a beautiful home and the view from every window is breathtaking! We were also able to visit with the girls from Jackie's old job and had lunch with Mary and Jose. Notice how most of our highlights center around food! I think both Jackie and I gained about ten pounds. We also had a chance to visit with Chad and Denise Pilgeram. Rachel had a soccer game in Pasco on the Saturday before we left. We were able to visit during the game and had a nice lunch at Grannies Buffet afterwards. All of the things I mentioned above where very special to Jackie and I and made our trip home very rewarding but I think the one thing that brought the biggest smile to our faces was driving our old Cobra. Troy has done a wonderful job in bringing that car back to life! The hour or so we spent behind the wheel was like an hour spent being 16 again...words can't describe that feeling! All I can say is it was priceless! Thanks so much guys...Jackie and I definitely owe you one!