MAINLAND USA
After a year out of the country we crossed half the US by
car (new truck actually). One of these
days I will get around to posting our European adventure that occurred between
April 2015 to April 2016.
DENVER
Welcome Home March 30, 2016. US Customs was no issue whatsoever but the
conveyor for the luggage broke down twice and we missed our shuttle. It was rescheduled and only cost us an
additional 90 minutes.
Great
to visit with Therese, childhood friend and fab hostess. We took advantage for two weeks while we got
new phones and service, Gil found a new truck to buy and Sharon suffered a ten
day knock-down flu. One snowy day while
Gil was out truck hunting, Therese (fitness trainer & dance instructor)
entertained me, in costume!
Winter in April
Therese cheering me up
Between
snow storms, the trees were budding. Gil
loves his 2015 Nissan Frontier and we ordered a folding cover for the bed so our
luggage would be safe and dry for the road trip ahead. My fever broke after a visit to a Chinese
herbalist and lots of homemade chicken soup, then we had very short visits with other family and friends in the Denver area.
Gil's new truck under the splendor
I
managed to take the train across the mountains to Grand Junction and met up
with my niece Laurie for an overnight giggling session looking at
pictures. The renovation to Denver’s
Union Station was now complete, beautiful.
Denver's Union Station
The six hour train ride through
the Rockies is fantastic and one of the few US trains I try to take. It really felt like a nice segue way from the
Alps to home.
Beautiful red grasses along the river
Moody winter/spring, nice to be lounging on the train instead of driving.
AMERICAN ROAD TRIP:
SOUTHWEST
Finally
leaving Colorado we headed south as snow threatened the passes to the
west. It was good to see Pike’s Peak
before crossing the border and remembered climbing it at summer camp when I was
twelve.
Pike's Peak
On then, to Santa Fe and the
home of Siglinde, another sista,
expat of Kauai. Just one night but very
heart-warming visit indeed.
In
Arizona we stayed at a comfortable hotel but spent our days with Gil’s Mom and
brother Michael. Good to catch up and
check out first-hand the health situation.
Got a few minutes with old friends there too.
Big sky
Good little truck and dry luggage
Typical southwest architecture at hotel in Sun City West
AMERICAN ROAD TRIP:
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Off
again to the coast this time, we elected to stay with old friend Eva in Laguna
Beach. Originally from Hungary she is
the aunt of the violin maker in Budapest we made good friends with while
there. It was great to catch up and
complete the circle that covered time and continents. From Eva’s home in Bluebird Canyon we were in
easy range of our kids without burdening them as house guests! Eva has great guest quarters next to the studio
where her folk band still practices and at one time she did her oil and silk paintings. I hadn’t seen her for thirteen years so it
was a wonderful catch up. We even got to
attend a folk dance that her band performed at.
Classic Laguna Beach
Eva's folk band (eva is in yellow skirt with accordian)
Bluebird Canyon sunset
The
Pacific Eva, Leon and Sharon
Our kids met us in Dana Point and oddly we had never gone on a whale watch boat the whole time we lived in California. So we did that! We had gray whales around us, and with us, the entire time we were out, not a common event, it very much impressed even the crew.
Youngest son Ian, wife Stacey with Gil before the whale cruise
The jetty committee seeing us off
Star performer, off Dana Point
Eldest son Shawn and only granddaughter Chloe, so bored, right?
We also got a few hours at Shawn’s house and got to see 6 year old Chloe’s workshop in the garage. What a
hoot!
Chloe's workshop
What a monkey
Shawn cooking, always a treat
AMERICAN ROAD TRIP:
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
The
drive up California State is not remarkable unless you take the many extra
hours to cruise the beautiful coast (not this time). We made it to our friend’s home in Silicon
Valley in time for a lovely dinner with Laura, her daughter Amy and another
good friend Diana. The salmon was
finished off with some of Amy’s homemade gelato. Good times.
Diana left, Amy middle, Laura far right, Gil is the pillar and I'm the stump
Next
morning we wandered from Sunnyvale to Mountain View (both near San Jose) for
breakfast and to see Diana’s music store.
WOW – great stuff.
Beautiful etched sax
We hadn't seen so many violins since the music museum in Prague.
We
hadn’t planned to go through the city but it was a GPS goof and it was
great fun to see the bridge in all her
glory.
Golden Gate Bridge
Our destination was Santa Rosa and neither of us had been
to the area. We stayed at a good
friend’s home and although she was not there, that house is filled with pencil
drawings done by Sharon’s late brother.
Mary Frances had been David’s number one patron yet they never met. It was quite a pleasant but nostalgic surprise. The zebra drawings were not the only ones she
had of his but staying in the zebra room was very special.
Zebra room
Zebra collage - three drawings by David Bruffet
We
stayed several days, caught up on laundry, some T shirt shopping, visited
Kendall Jackson winery and went to the coast – Bodega Bay. Fantastic mellow out.
Mary Fran’s velvet roses
I had a visitor while I did some laundry
Sonoma grape vines
Bodega Bay
Back
on the road toward Oregon, we were happy to see Lake Shasta full (it had been
about 30 feet low last time we were through here).
Mount Shasta, it always looks like it has a space ship sitting on it
OREGON
It
had been 13 years since we worked our way up the coast to see Gil’s brother and
family near Ashland – just before we moved to Kauai.
We’ve seen them, of course, both in Arizona and Colorado. But this year we wanted to see their homestead,
catch up with their kids, grand kids and just visit the area. What a full fun few days.
Another Donnelly House
Did I mention birds?
One excursion to the lake, out on the boat.
One excursion to the lake, out on the boat.
Denny & Gil on the lake
Darlene &Sharon, stories while looking for eagle's nests
Klamath Basin Wildlife Refuge
Gil's truck
Darlene with her mega cam, little birds, big birds
The wetlands are beautiful
Denny & Gil below an eagles nest
We hung around long enough to see the eagle chick, oooh mama
Camo geese, the parents duck their heads to make a low profile as we drove past the ditch
Large blue herons sharing the tree for their nests, not far from the eagle
Darlene's shot, it took us a while to identify this flock of White Face Ibis
I have to say, the whole
mainland trip was a déjà vu for me.
Colorado where I grew up, the village of Laguna Beach where I trans-located
to in the late 70s and the hospital where I practiced acupuncture for a couple
years in the 90s; San Francisco where I lived briefly with my brother before
settling in Laguna. The family we meet
and see in various locations and this was a continuation of that phenom. In Oregon we came full circle at the bird
refuge and I knew I was ready for my beloved Kauai.
We shipped the truck from Oakland and flew home from there.
We shipped the truck from Oakland and flew home from there.
It
took us a while to unpack, sort, launder and retrieve clothing and other things
from storage. The yard and house were in
amazing shape – the best part of having hand selected people to care for
it. Thanks Greg and Linda. They left a fridge full of lovely fresh items
to get us started. Some pantry foods had
expired, however, so we re-arranged the kitchen again and threw out and re-stocked
(spices for instance).
Our PC worked fine but was no
longer supported by Google or anyone else so we wiped it and said goodbye. No
computer, we rearranged the furniture and the desk with laptop is back in the
family room and there is a meditation room where the office was. The new truck arrived and I got a new bike,
Craig’s list found us buyers for the outgoing items. It was somewhat like moving here all over
again. But not quite, this was better.
Gil
framed his two paintings from Switzerland, the day view and the night
view. At first glance they could be our
Kauai view.
Looking across Lake Maggiore
Same view at night with little town of Vera lighting up.
MAY JUNE LOCAL
From our front door looking out
at Namolokama left and Mamalahoa right.
Not so different from our view in Switzerland across the lake to the
mountains.
Home view - green mountains but we cannot see Hanalei Bay beneath them
My
turmeric and ginger plants die back in the winter and I don’t even know where
they are. Looking at the native ferns I’m
encouraging I get so excited that the turmeric is blooming and then
I pull the ginger by mistake (but we ate it – yum).
Palapalai fern & turmeric (olena)
Turmeric flower
There were orchids everywhere. Some in pots were blooming on the shelves and
I brought them in. Others were blooming
outside. Oddly enough, we always had
orchids in Switzerland too, easy to come by and the color was welcome where we
had little on the walls.
A white vanda on the side of the garage
A lovely from the bench
And a phalenopsis (butterfly) orchid
Typical
scenes that we had forgotten took us by surprise. Yard waste going by, plants volunteering to
grow anywhere.
Typical scene
Fern fender
Yard waste
Did I mention food?
Access to locally grown fresh organic fruits and veggies is heaven
For Instance, wing beans - blanched and cut, add a little crunch to a salad
And then there is the FISH.
Seared ahi and homemade ahi sushi
Our dwarf apple bananas
Coconut sprout
Coco tree trimmers
Yard birds - chasing Gil with the mower
Our next door neighbor Jenny bird
BEACHES
We visited the beaches too. Lake Maggiore is not the Pacific after all.
We visited the beaches too. Lake Maggiore is not the Pacific after all.
Tunnels
Pali Ke Kua
HANALEI BAY
Toward Lumahai
Toward the pier
Always something happening - May Day with keiki (little ones) representing all the islands.
Part of the house clean-up was
collecting all the dried leis that had seen better days. These do not go into the compost bin but are
taken somewhere special to return to nature.
This is my secret spot – I usually chant and toss, thank them for
sharing time at our home.
Sealodge
FRIENDS
Group Therapy Band at Anini Beach
Fun-run Mem Day - OC-1, wave blade, kayak and stand up surf all represented
Canoe club party – Gil started paddling as soon as we got
here; didn’t miss a beat.
Nice way to end the day
SUMMER AND GUESTS
JULY
Good friends from N. California,
Laura and Diana, arrived on island and had booked a cabin in Kokee to start
off. We joined them. It was so rainy up there, even our secret
grassy trail in the forest (for rainy day hikes) was ankle deep in mud. We did get some paddling and snorkeling and
good laughs in during their visit.
Ohe Ohe state cabin near the lodge in Kokee
We got a bit of exposure to the birds and native
plants before the mud overwhelmed us.
Back to civilized Princeville we visited Tiki Iniki
and I ordered a flaming zombie for threeeeee.
While we
all did the 6man and mandatory Sunday breakfast after, Diana (the consummate
white water rafter) wanted to try the one man.
The Open Water Swim in Hanalei is the annual fundraiser
for the canoe club – great success.
Waiting for
start of one of the races, the yellow and green swim caps indicate which length
race participants are in
Gil and the
pro race-timer Jim Lovell are hard at making sure the computerized results get
in.
Only in
Hanalei
AUGUST
Shawn & Chloe came for a
much anticipated visit. She tried all
the local tastes and since her favorite is raw fish, she was in heaven. The shave ice and coconut water were OK too.
A real water bug, we
couldn’t wait to take her snorkeling.
Fave – all suited up,
water camera ready
Honu – first time snorkel,
WOW, not bad for seven years old.
Gil was going to forego his Na
Pali Challenge race but I convinced him if he could get Shawn on the escort
boat it would be a real treat for both of them.
And it was. With an inexperienced
escort driver, Shawn was great helping the relay teams back on the boat at
changes. And no better way to see the Na
Pali than by boat.
Gil’s team catching a wave
Women’s team
in, men’s team about to jump out
All the teams change at the same time.
All the teams change at the same time.
Shawn & Chloe on the south side
Our
anniversary is when we used to travel.
So we went south again and visited the botanical garden and acted like
tourists. Thirty-three years and
counting.
Dino eggs – this is where
the raptor eggs were in Jurassic Park (the first one).
One of the still pools on the compound of
McBride Garden at National Tropical Botanical Garden.
A stop in Poipu and
caught this lovely monk seal taking a nap.
Mary Frances came in for a few days, we got to snorkel three times.
A quick view from her
lanai.
SEPTEMBER
Dennis and Darlene arrived and
while we had just seen them in Oregon, they had never been here while we were
here. Time to circle the entire island
with events, wear them and us out!
D&D in our two man kayak, Dennis and I switched
out so he could try the one man, too
6 man: I stroked, Dennis, Jim Costello, Gil, Darlene, and Peter
steering
Namahoe, Kauai’s first voyaging canoe in 500 years
launched on 9/11
D&D in
the water
Cards at another cabin in Kokee
"Turtling" in Princeville
There was more, lots more, but we had a great time.
A couple new ornaments found their way from Europe to Kauai
FALL INTO WINTER 2016
OCTOBER
With guests’ comings and goings
completed, we got into our usual activities, birding, paddling and cultural events. Doing the monthly water-bird counts at the refuge means
stomping around the taro fields where the public has no access. I love it.
Taro fields and fallow fields east of Hanalei River
Refuge wetlands west of Hanalei River
Gil started to get invitations
to paddle elsewhere and we loosely committed to him joining a 70’s team in Tahiti in 2018
with a side trip to the Great Barrier Reef after. Just rolling our imaginations around all that
the trip would be, he was invited to compete next year in New Zealand in
April. We had about five days to come up
with our total itinerary so we could reserve the flight in with the team and
the return date since we would stay a couple weeks longer. Whew!
Crash course on NZ. Lots of
friends have been so we got great info and can’t lose. Down under soon.
Gil and guys out for evening 6 man practice – Gil 4th
position
Gil and his one man, New Zealand to train for
Queen Emmalani Festival in Kokee
Each year a queen in elected to represent the Victorian Hawaiian
Queen Emmalani. While spectators watch,
she rides in on a horse as does her lady in waiting, to the large meadow in
Kokee state park. They are seated in a
tent that is kapu to all others to watch the hula troops that perform (by
invitation). It is charming, the beloved
queen holds a special place in the hearts of Kauaians as the queen actually
visited, on horseback, in the 1800s.
The Queen
A couple of the many performers.
We also booked Arizona for Christmas
and New Year’s, a Donnelly family reunion.
Should be wild and crazy fun along with serious nostalgia. Everyone hopes Gil’s Mom makes it as the
other side is calling to her more strongly now.
Health reviews (standard western
med results) were good on return to US for both of us.
Sharon does some physical therapy for an old shoulder injury and in
addition to Gil doing lots of 1-man training, he is doing a complex
weight training program.
Sharon had the opportunity to go
to Palm Desert, CA for a battery of testing (natural and alternative medicine
this time): brainwaves; genes; fine-tuned bloodwork; Heart Rate Variability
(HRV) testing overlaid with Chakra, Chinese 5 element, and Ayurveda energy
systems. Very few problem areas, the
best herbal and nutritional supplements were determined and just a couple therapy
sessions with the brain cap on reminded me I need to include meditation in my
routine (again). I probably won’t have
the luxury of being retested but getting the 50,000 mile check-up led to
important adjustments. Gotta love alternative medicine.
DESERT
The desert was fantastic, warm
enough for the pool or coffee outside at sunrise but not too hot. Mary Fran’s home is newly renovated and the
location next to the mountain rocks!
Desert mountains, a little fuzzy as it was out the car window
Mary Fran's yard
Night blooming cactus flower caught early morning
We took a couple side trips
while I was there. Two Bunch Palms Spa
was Al Capone’s desert hideaway complete with a tower to observe any agents
seeking him out. All the secret tunnels
and the tower are gone but it is really an oasis.
Two Bunch Palms Spa
Desert hot springs, very serene spot
Looking up while floating
Not just people enjoying
Cormorant drying his wings
We also drove through Joshua
Tree Nat’l Park, in one entrance and out the other seeing the radical
difference between the two deserts it straddles: the Mojave and the Colorado.
Joshua Tree cactus and typical rock formations
Shawn and Chloe came out for a dip in the pool, great
dinner, and The Living Desert Zoo next day.
Root beer float shared with new fish toy
The giraffes were wonderful. One took a carrot out of Chloe's mouth!
A rare toothless cub
NOVEMBER-DECEMBER
Thanksgiving started the holiday
season with a lovely dinner at neighbor’s Kauai style – a potluck where
everyone knocks themselves out with their contributions.
I also met lady friends at the Westin for a nice holiday dinner; we
loved the lobby tree decorated with hula motif.
In contrast is the Princeville post office (about the size of a postage
stamp) the new postal mistress decorated like crazy.
Westin Hotel tree with hula motif
Princeville Post Office
Gil and I joined the
neighborhood group who rent a school bus to attend the Willie K Christmas
concert in Lihue. What a blast, pupus
being passed, margaritas and martinis being passed, movie trivia games and then Willie K. He puts on a great show.
Willie K
We put our new LED tree up early
as we aren’t on island for Christmas. We
did some catch up with friends, small dinner parties. We were scheduled to host 2 larger parties
and the first was great (but forgot to take pics). Alas, Sharon got a cold (epidemic on Kauai it
seems) and had to cancel the second, also missing the major Christmas Bird
Count at the refuge. Awwww! But our little sanctuary of Light has been
great and the newly purposed meditation room is filled with heart-strong
energy. [Recommendation: app called
Mindbliss – many of the meditations are free and excellent).
Re-purposed room for meditation
The healing stones all got a bath and a new light, they are very happy
New Christmas tree, we are getting used to it, tall and thin
like us, tee hee.
A couple new ornaments found their way from Europe to Kauai
Nativity, pieces collected over 20 years ago . . .
