Albuquerque for the holidays: singing dogs and such

Hi everyone, from the frozen tundra of Albuquerque. Decided to pack up the teenager and the pooch for a ROAD TRIP! [ROAD TRIP must be yelled, of course.]

I have the week off from work as we shut down the office (yay!) so decided to take advantage of it. It took around 7 hours, so it wasn't too bad. We left at o'dark thirty to avoid any holiday traffic on Christmas eve and sailed right on through. Once we hit the NM border the snow was piled up, but it was mostly cleared when we got to Albuquerque and on to Rio Rancho. For the teenager, there was a nice little patch in Dad's backyard.

We woke to 18 degrees-- yes, 18 tiny little degrees. Oh, it's been a while since I felt that kind of cold, living in Phoenix now. Dexter, my dog, did a lot of singing and dancing for his walks given that I wasn't willing to go at our usual 6 am. Did I mention it's 18 degrees then?

Decided to introduce Jamie to a Jewish Christmas with a movie and chinese food. Of course, the movie that we selected was.. well, let's just say that while I enjoyed it immensely and it was very well cast, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may be best not viewed with three generations of family sitting in the theater. Jamie, at the end, looked at us and said 'That was kind of like watching a porno with your mom and grandfather.. how awkward!' lol!

There's a nice little off-road hiking trail a few streets over that we've been enjoying. While the dogs are very nervous around each other and we've been keeping them on leash for their own good, they've been doing fairly well overall. The house is filled with teenagers, furry and non-furry!

Heading back to the animal shelter today to visit some of the critters there. I'm in love with a spunky senior dog there [go figure!] and Jamie is in love with two cats, a preggers dog, a pig and a goat. She's only asked 99 times if we can take them all home, so we're doing ok!

Not much to tell from this trip, but it's been nice and relaxing. Colder than I expected and I've been hibernating a bit, not wanting to go outside too much until the temps hit 40 mid-day. It's been nice to catch up on some sleep from my busy Phoenix existence, even with a singing and dancing dog..

New Mexico Christmas 2011

Pictures!!

My computer tried to eat them, but I managed to save 'em. Good thing!! Enjoy.

Hawaii trip November 2011

Pictures!!

My computer tried to eat them, but I managed to save 'em. Good thing!! Enjoy.

Hawaii trip November 2011

DAY 8: Kona

Another beautiful day here in Kona. It was a bit overcast when we got up (oh, and dark!) but beautiful walking weather. We both headed out on separate journies for a bit, then met up at the pool for some r&r. And so I can work on my freckles. :o) It was sunny and warm with a light breeze so perfect! But I never have patience just laying out, so did that for a bit then went back up to the room to get ready for lunch. We skipped breakfast as we had a big dinner last night.

We headed for the Hulihe'e Palace down the road, and right on the water. Built by the second governor of the Island of Hawaii, John Adams Kuakini, it was completed in 1838, a hear after he built a chuch across the street (of course!) called the Moku'aikaua Church. The Palace has two floors and six rooms with an engry hall, parlor, dining room, second floor sitting room and two bedrooms. Yes, the kitchen is noticeably absent.

The Palace is filled with the most stunning and intricately carved wood furniture I've ever seen. After Kuakini's, and his son's death, the property passed to Princess Ruth Ke'elikolani, half sister to Kins Kamehamena the Fourth and Fifth, and became a favorite retreat of the royal family. Pictures of the royal family adorn the walls. The grounds are beautiful with two lanais (long decks) overlooking the ocean. I should mention that the home was built with native lava rock, coral lime mortar, koa and ohia wood (the floors are wood and gorgeous! So nice, that you have to leave your shoes at the door!)

Across the street, as I mentioned, is the Mokuaikaua Church, the first stone church built on this island.

Today there's a large cruise ship in the harbor, so lots of people from the ship are milling around!

We headed to a place recommended for local cuisine, but I wasn't very impressed, nor did I have a lot of cash on me (it's cash only) so we headed over to the Kona Inn, where we were recommended to get fish. Specifically, the calamari sandwich, which Lorrayne got and loved. (Sam, who usually hates calamari, actually thought it was ok!) I got a salad with a papaya dressing and seared ahi tuna. Yum!

We decided to head out to Greenwell Farms, the largest Kona coffee plantation, comprised of 25 farms. In the Greenwell family for four generations and 160 years, it's still owned and run by a Greenwell today. There are 25 miles of Kona coffee belt, otherwise, it's just plain Hawaiian coffee. Kona coffee is picked by hand, and while it's very good, that fact sure reflects in the price! This Farm buys coffee cherries from around the Kona region, after certifying the farms, and will sell back the roasted beans if they choose. We got a guided tour and got to learn about the farm and the coffee growing, and roasting, process.

some facts I remember: it takes 7 lbs of coffee beans to make 1 lb of coffee. As I mentioned, kona coffee is picked by hand, and this farm has 35 workers that do all the picking. We got to taste one of the berries and saw the process in action. A skinny dog wandered through the group, so of course I had to pet him (yes, I miss my Dexter!!) We also got to taste 10 different coffees.

The farm grows 25 different kinds of avocado and gives them away, along with bananas, oranges and anything else grown on the property.

We then started down the road to the next place I really wanted to go to, but it started to rain. So, we decided to turn back and brave the school traffic. So tomorrow we'll hit that site, and will go to the farmer's market so I can get Jackie's tahitian lime ginger jelly (that was oh-so-good!!) We picked up some coffee as well today, of course.

I think a mini-nap is in my near future, then a yummy dinner for certain!

Sam

Day 9: kona

Hi everyone! Lazy morning after all the driving we did yesterday. Don't get me wrong.. we were still up at 5, but lazed around a bit listening to the sound of the waves. While we don't have a sand beach at this hotel, which is a little disappointing, having the sound of the water crashing on the rocks is quite a nice thing to enjoy in the early hours!

We ate last night at a place called Huggies, right by the hotel on the water. Without a reservation we got prime seating overlooking the lava rocks and the tide pools, so must have scored with a cancellation. We got this killer mushroom dish and an arugula salad with strawberries, goat cheese and candied macadamias. We both got the cioppino, which was a bit of a disappointment. It had a heavy red broth, which really overpowered the seafood. It had a kona lobster tail, small but great, shrimp cooked to perfection, and two types of clams. It was ok and the seafood very good, but would have been good with a light saffron broth as I've usually had.

The view was amazing and we dined to the sound of the surf crashing on the rocks. The water is incredibly clear, and the sand white, which was striking against the black lava and blue ocean. I got a glass of malbec, one of my favorites. Yum. The lady at the table next to us got the mudpie, and omg the piece was the size of her head! She ate it all! Much as I love desert, I passed when I saw the size of the deserts!

We decided to walk a bit to walk off dinner, and headed back to the hotel. The luau at the hotel was ending. I'm glad we booked the luau at the other hotel! That was ok, but much better than this! We watched some of it from our balcony.

Lorrayne is tired of driving so she decided to stay by the pool today. I can certainly understand but hey, there are still sights to see! So.. off I go!

I decided to see some of the local sights today in the Kailua-Kona area, and started out to drive through the cute little towns just south of town, and then on to Pu'uphonua o'honaunau. This is a place of refuge, where ancient temples and kiwi (wooden images) whisper stories of the page. It provided refuge to Hawaiians who came here. It's a 180-acre National Park in south Kona, around a 30 minute drive from our hotel (it's only around 20 miles, but it's a bit congested in our area.)

The ranger said I was lucky to get in early before all the tour busses got there, and I had the place mostly to myself. It was so beautiful! The crystal clear water against the lava flows and bright green of trees and plans peeking through the lava again was a stark contrast in the landscape. This place of refuge was because it was considered holy ground, and blood could not be shed within its confines. So a sign posted a mental image of a battle-worn warrier swimming to the shores, once reaching it, collapsing on the shores knowing that he was safe. People who broke a kapu would come here, defeated warriers and those too old to fight. The priests would forgive them so they could go back out to their former lives free of the kapu.

There were royal grounds, home of the ali'i, or royalty. For hundreds of years, this was a favorite place for the royalty. The land was segmented and within the 'great wall' only royalty tread. Outside, all were welcome. I walked the grounds and saw temples (heiau), Hawaiian fishponds and the "Great Wall", a 10 foot high and 17 feet thick wall. There was a sign warning people to stay away from the turtles, though unfortunately I didn't see any! Signs marked some of the sights including kanoa, bowls carved into the rock which may be used to hold dye. Also the Ka'ahumanu Stone-- legend says that Queen Ka'ahumanu, favorite wife of King Kamehemeha I, swam to the pu-uhonoa after a quarrel with her husband. She hid under this large stone, but her barking dog gave her away. The king found her, and they ended their quarrel.

The walk wound through the area, by remodeled thatched buildings and a rebuilt section of the stone wall. The color contrasts were striking and the site offered beautiful ocean views.

I headed back to town stopping at a few scenic turn-offs for pictures before heading back to town. I then walked down Ali'i, the main drag, to the farmer's market to get the jams I eyed the other day. I got two of the Tahitian ginger lime (you're welcome, Jackie!) and one called calomondin. I had never heard of it, but it was amazing! The farm produces all of the fruit and honey for these products, and they are jarred on site. Yummy!

I then walked back and decided on sushi for lunch. Yum! I love sushi and getting fresh fish on the ocean seems a great idea. I decided to work on the freckles a bit by the pool, then met up with lorrayne for some drinks by the pool. With a clap of thunder the rains came in, and we chatted with some great people, one of which, Rick, was holding an umbrella up to block the wind and rain. Ever thankful, I told him he'll now be 'famous' in my blog! Rick, if you're reading this, it was nice to meet you!!!

somehow lost the last half of this post, which is frustrating as I lost the first half this afternoon. In summary, we went back to Lava Java for dinner and I got the signature salad with butterfish-- will say that the lettuce here is really great, and I'm not a big salad person! We then headed for Huggos to try their mudslide dessert (which you may remember is the size of your head!) yum! We made a good dent and enjoyed some Kona coffee with baileys, and chatted with a couple of locals here for 20+ years. She's in real estate, and he works at a golf resort.

Another great day! We head to the airport tomorrow but will enjoy some time at the pool before we go. We heard the breakfast at Lava Java is excellent, and since we haven't done breakfast since coming here, we may check it out. Get leaded up on some great kona coffee before we go.. yum!!

Thanks for reading.. until the next adventure... aloha and mahalo!
sam

Day 7: Kona

Hello from Kona, 'the big island!' We woke up early and decided to get an early start driving to the other side of the island to Volcano National Park. Hey, let's go hike a volcano today! Woohoo!!

The ride was over 2.5 hours, winding through some cute little towns that we may go back to if we have time. We decided to take a detour to visit a black sand beach, and it was well worth the trip! I snagged a mini shell for a friend of mine who collects them (yes, past the sign that says it's unlawful to remove black sand from the beach. well, it's not black sand, thus justified!!) We also saw several green turtles swimming in the waves and the little wading pools. It was really striking to see the black beach next to the gorgeous blue ocean. The sand was very course and felt almost like little beads.

We hit the road and went to Volcanoes National park. We stopped at the visitor's center to get our bearings and recommendations, and to see if we could shake off the rain cloud that seemed to be following us (no such luck!) We stopped at the Jaggar Museum and it was really interesting! We learned about the different kinds of lava (the smooth and rough stuff), and the difference between some of the lava from the Mt. St. Helens explosion and this Hawaii site. We also read about a town on the big island that was absorbed by the lava.

We stopped at a gorgeous lookout site and took some pictures. As soon as we got there it started pouring and the skies unloaded, so we raced back to the car. I was glad I got a windbreaker at the visitor's center! We then stopped at the Kilauea Iki Crater overlook, which erupted for five weeks in 1954. It was amazing to see and steam was floating from the top of the crater. We hiked through the woods to the Thurston Lava tube (Nahuku). It took about five minutes to walk end-to-end, but was really impressive with how long and wide is is. Simply amazing that the lava left this!

It was pouring when we got out so we made our way back to the car and continued the drive. Unfortunately a good bit of the park is closed due to sulfur levels, but there was a path with several things to see. Our next stop was to see the Pu-uloa Petroglyph trail. Slipping past the 'people with lung issues, please do not continue due to the sulfur levels' (I have asthma), and feeling the comfort of my inhaler in my pocket, I decided to venture on. We walked over lava field for around a half a mile to the petroglyphs. We somehow beat the rain cloud and it was sunny and gorgeous!

There was a wooden pathway over the petroglyphs spread out in a fairly large area. There were a lot of circles, and concentric circles, but also something that looked like a bird and the moab man. It was really cool, especially given my obsession with petroglyphs! We walked back and a minute before we got to the car, our cloud caught up with us. As we opened the door the rain went from mist to deluge. Woohoo!!

We continued our drive to the end at the ocean, where the road was blocked and closed by a lava flow. We saw the Holei Sea arch, a large arch carved in the cliffs overlooking the ocean. Again, walking on the lava flows to get there, it's a really impressive way to consider the power and beauty of the lava fields. The lava is such a deep black and absorbs the sun, but where it shows flows and ripples it's often a bit shiny. It's really beautiful.

We drove back through the rain (our cloud again caught up with us!) and left the park. I forgot to mention that we also stopped by some steam vents, just an opening in the ground with warm steam seeping out. Cool stuff!

On the way back we decided to stop by the green sand beach, and the southern-most point in the Us. First the green sand beach-- we drove for 20 minutes on a rather bumpy road, past a car farm (there were several areas where dilapidated cars in various levels of decay were left in fields of high grasses-- so I speculated that the owners may be trying to grow a new car. ?? Why not?) Anyways, we passed a really cool windmill 'farm' and came to a fork in the road. I decided to hit the green sand beach first, so off we went! We got to an area that was very pitted and sandy so we stopped and walked down to the beach. It had a good bit of green sand, but we learned that THE green sand beach was a way down a rutted dirt road, and two miles away! Given that nightfall was approaching, we gave up and enjoyed the green sand that blew onto the beach we were at.

We then went to the southern-most point of the us. There were these interesting wood pillars near the cliffs by the water, that people jumped off from. There was no sign, and really nothing to let you know it was anything special if you didn't drive down specifically to see it! A guy was fishing along the water with a milk gallon jug-- interesting!

We drove back and stopped by Lava Java for dinner, which was recommended. It was great! We both got a macadamia nut crusted butterfish which was really good! We stopped for drinks at our hotel bar-- the mai tai sampler, and called it a night. Long day but lots of fun!!!

Night all! s

day 6: Maui and Kona

Our last morning in Maui!! It hazy and humid but still gorgeous! We packed and snacked then decided to head out. We stopped at a lookout point and watched seals playing in the water on the coast. We decided to stop in the Maui Ocean Center to check out the aquarium in Wailuku Maui. It was worth seeing! We walked through a lot of interesting and educational exhibits showcasing the local fish, mammals, corals and other sea life. There was a shark exhibit with several hammerheads, which always amazed me as they look so strange! There was a huge aquarium that you walk through, which was really cool, especially as there was a diver in the tank! There were a bunch of different sharks, fish, manta rays and others. It was well done.

We stopped for a bite to eat on the way to the airport and got the kahlua pork (barbequed pork). The flight was only 30 minutes and we got out with our bags quickly. The airports here have large open-air areas, and this airport landed us on the runway and we walked in on the tarmac.

The hotel is less than 30 minutes from the airport. It's interesting here as there are grassy yellow fields with these clusters of volcanic rock littering the fields in jagged piles. We then drove along the water a bit once we got to Kailua-Kona. It's a very touristy area with lots of shopping, bars and restaurants.

We checked in to the hotel, which is the sister hotel of the one we stayed at in Maui. It's the Royal Kona here, and not as nice a hotel as the Royal Lahaina. Right on the water, but much older and not recently renovated. Our room overlooks the water with a partial water view, which is quite nice! There are few sand beaches in this area, and most of it is the black volcanic rock.

I decided to walk around a bit and Lorrayne went to the pool. I got my bearings a bit, and walked down to a farmer's market where I got a magnet and wandered around. There was a woman with jellies that sounded great-- all grown on her organic farm, she had one that really sounded amazing (and tasted amazing too!) called Tahitian lime ginger. Oh, was it good! I didn't feel like carrying it back so will go back on Wednesday to check it out.

I am craving sushi, so we got a recommendation and the place is a five minute walk from our hotel. It's really nice to be this close to town! The sushi was really good! yum. We walked a bit and explored the galleries before heading back.

Another early night, but we should get an early start as we're driving across the island to Volcanoes National Park! I can't wait to see it!

s