Donnelly Oceantics: RETURN TO USA 2016

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.

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.

HOME – KAUAI

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.

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.

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.

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 4^th 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).