The "CliffsNotes"
PART 2
Loving Holiday, and a Needed Getaway
PART 1 (see previous blog) Birthday Celebrations, Home Renovations, Disneyland, Wineland, Visibility, Dog Agility
So it's Five (5) in the morning and what's a girl to do? I suppose, "Blog". Sure, why not. The dog's have been let out and have been fed (why mess with their daily routine).
It's not like I need "sleep" or anything. (*yawn*)
So where was I in my previous blog update. I'm tired and need to refresh this old tired brain of mine.
"Oh Yes". I need to catch you up on February now. OMGosh! That reminds me. Today is March 1st. Wow! 3 months into the new year - can you believe it? No wonder all my friend's babies are growing up so fast.
Anyway...back to February.
The first weekend in February was simply "recovery time" from the busyness of January.
Loving Holiday
The second weekend brought Valentine's, Love AND Family to the Black's Casa. What a fun weekend spent with Jerry & Jill (Jim's brother and our SIL); Caitlin & Nathan (Jim's daughter and her husband); and Sara & Don (Jim's mom and her husband).
If you recall; we had some major rain here in the southland (the beginning of February). Much needed (so no complaints - because our mountain range was beautifully draped in a white snowy blanket) and it actually "felt" like winter (which we don't get very often).
Well that bad weather prevented Sara & Don from driving their motorhome - so instead, they flew down from Nevada and arrived Friday evening. The weather did however prevent them from coming in "on time" and we picked them up from John Wayne airport (JWA) about 11:00 p.m.
And, as many of you OC folks know, JWA has a time curfew so thankfully the plane was allowed to arrive late/land (so we didn't have to drive to LAX to pick them up).
Cate & Nate drove down Friday from Placerville. For those who don't know where Placerville is located - it is just above Sacramento. (Awww - to be Twenty-something again. I recall numerous 8 to 10 hour roadtrips with friends - but I digress.) They arrived in Mission Viejo about 11 p.m.
Fortunately for them (and us); the rain stopped long enough that weekend for them to get through the pass and make it safely to and from their home in Placerville.
Jerry & Jill drove down from Santa Barbara early Saturday morning. They were fortunate to miss Friday night's traffic and still get a good night's sleep before all the "family" stuff.
So now you might be wondering where the heck did we put all these people (in our small 2 bedroom condo)? Well - we didn't . They all stayed up the hill at "Ayres Suites". It actually has nice accommodations for a reasonable price (and is close enough to walk to - but why?). *grin*
Saturday brought sunshine and even though it was in the mid-60's (Brrrr! for us So Cal folks); the rays of light needed to be appreciated. And what do you do with a large gathering of family on a day like that day? Take them out on the lake. From the pictures you'll see we were bundled up. That's because even though the sun was out, my guess it was at least 7-10 degrees cooler on the water. But it made for a fun outing.
We brought Subway and drinks. Nathan brought his trumpet. Yes - I said trumpet. Why? Not sure. But I bet there are some folks that live "on the lake" that will remember us floating by while Nathan played the theme song from "Star Wars" on his trumpet. (Oh, to be in my 20's again - nuff said)
Jerry & Jill
If you recall; we had some major rain here in the southland (the beginning of February). Much needed (so no complaints - because our mountain range was beautifully draped in a white snowy blanket) and it actually "felt" like winter (which we don't get very often).
Well that bad weather prevented Sara & Don from driving their motorhome - so instead, they flew down from Nevada and arrived Friday evening. The weather did however prevent them from coming in "on time" and we picked them up from John Wayne airport (JWA) about 11:00 p.m.
And, as many of you OC folks know, JWA has a time curfew so thankfully the plane was allowed to arrive late/land (so we didn't have to drive to LAX to pick them up).
Cate & Nate drove down Friday from Placerville. For those who don't know where Placerville is located - it is just above Sacramento. (Awww - to be Twenty-something again. I recall numerous 8 to 10 hour roadtrips with friends - but I digress.) They arrived in Mission Viejo about 11 p.m.
Fortunately for them (and us); the rain stopped long enough that weekend for them to get through the pass and make it safely to and from their home in Placerville.
Jerry & Jill drove down from Santa Barbara early Saturday morning. They were fortunate to miss Friday night's traffic and still get a good night's sleep before all the "family" stuff.
So now you might be wondering where the heck did we put all these people (in our small 2 bedroom condo)? Well - we didn't . They all stayed up the hill at "Ayres Suites". It actually has nice accommodations for a reasonable price (and is close enough to walk to - but why?). *grin*
Saturday brought sunshine and even though it was in the mid-60's (Brrrr! for us So Cal folks); the rays of light needed to be appreciated. And what do you do with a large gathering of family on a day like that day? Take them out on the lake. From the pictures you'll see we were bundled up. That's because even though the sun was out, my guess it was at least 7-10 degrees cooler on the water. But it made for a fun outing.
We brought Subway and drinks. Nathan brought his trumpet. Yes - I said trumpet. Why? Not sure. But I bet there are some folks that live "on the lake" that will remember us floating by while Nathan played the theme song from "Star Wars" on his trumpet. (Oh, to be in my 20's again - nuff said)
Jerry & Jill
Sara & Don
Nathan (& his green trumpet)
Jim & Jerry
Caitlin
Beautiful view of Saddleback mountain, blue skies and white fluffy clouds
I just realized that after looking at the pictures, it appears as though we are the only crazy people out on the lake. But I can assure you, there were other crazy people out there, too. Some in paddle boats, some sucessfully (and unsuccessfully) fishing. And even another pary boat (like ours) that was heading out when we were heading back in.
After our "lake" excursion we headed back home to "warm up" and relax some more. Jerry & Jill and Sara & Don headed back to the hotel for a brief rest before coming to our home. Caitlin & Nathan hung out for awhile then headed back to the hotel briefly. And all returned somewhere around 3:30 or 4 p.m.
Here are few pictures of eveyone hanging out on our comfy couches (with the dogs, of course).
Prior to everyone's arrival I made Lasagna (from scratch). I plan on making it again today (as Jim said it was quite tasty). Because it was February 14th (Valentine's Day) we didn't want to have to deal with the crowds so it only made sense that we host the dinner.
As some of my friends and blog followers, you know about our new table. Well it worked like a charm and easily sat 8 of us.
After dinner we sat around and talked. And about 10 p.m., when all headed back up to the hotel, the dogs laid down on the couch and passed out from the day filled with activity. I don't think they moved until Sunday morning.
Speaking of Sunday morning, we dropped Sara & Don off at JWA around 6:45 a.m. Shortly after 9 a.m. we met up with Jerry & Jill and Caitlin & Nathan. We went to breakfast and then said our "Goodbyes".
We're looking forward to hosting another family gathering (soon?).
Needed Getaway
The following Thursday we headed off to the Big Island (Kona side) where my friend lives. They plan to move back to the mainland (back to Prescott AZ in April) so we decided to "Carpe diem" seize the day (because we're not sure when we'll head back over to the islands again).
We arrived Thursday afternoon. Karen met us at the airport and we had a lovely afternoon (driving around Kona). We had lunch at the Kona Brewery Co. and headed to Captain Cook where she lives. It's about 45 minutes from Kona. Marc came home from work and we had a yummy dinner and listened to the whales from their Lanai (aka porch). Yes! You could hear the whales. Pretty amazing; being that they live about a mile or so up the side of a mountain.
Another funny tidbit - Karen has pet geckos'. A family. And not intentionally. They decided to move in behind her "Home Sweet Home" artwork (how ironic). I saw two peak their heads out at the same time. Karen believes there are more. I'm guessing she'll find out the final count when they get ready to move in a month (*note - good luck with that, Karen).
Because we delayed renting a car (and when we arrived they were all sold out - did someone say recession???) Karen was such a sweetheart to lend her car to us. We simply needed to drive her to work (back in Kona).
So, Friday we drove her to work, had breakfast on the beach at Lava Java. We stopped for a few staple items at Long's drugs (like an inhaler, in case I should have an asthmatic attack at the volcano - due to the sulfuric fumes). We got on the road about 9 a.m. from Kona and headed back up towards Captain Cook and on pass to Kilauea (one of 3 volcanos on the big island of Hawaii). Kilauea is active and thriving.
We made a point to drive the "Chain of Craters", down to the coast (approx. 20 miles from the park entrance) to see the lava running into the ocean. Of course, you cannot get very close to that area by car. But you could see the steam rising at the point.
We also stopped at an ancient Lava tube. It was a very odd feeling walking through the tube.
And we also took some pictures at the active crater top (where steam rose).
After hitting all the "hot" spots at the National park we took the road further and drove to the Hilo side of the island.
And as my husband likes to put it this way; when I say "Hilo" all you can here is the theme song to "Cops" (bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do when they come for you...). It is a very lush green side of the island; but the town is very "seedy". No wonder "Dog the Bounty Hunter" worked on that island. (*note - no pictures taken - shocker)
After our short stay in Hilo (drive by); we drove back to our friends. Marc made yummy tacos and we all relaxed a while before heading off to bed. "Relax" seems to be the keyword/theme to our Hawaiian getaway.
Saturday we (Jim, Karen and I) drove back towards Kilauea but this time headed out to South Point (the most Southern land in the USA). It was beautiful landscape. Ocean and farmland. You'd never know you were on an island.
After viewing the tide pools and exploring a little we got back in the car and went to Black Sand beach where the turtles come up on shore to rest their weary shells (*grin*). Honestly, they do. It's the funniest thing. I guess all creatures "even Honu aka sea turtles" need to rest ("relax") in Hawaii.
Sunday Jim, Karen, Marc and I headed back to Kona for a "3 hour tour" out on the ocean to whale watch.
But before we reached town we stopped at a local "Avocado Fair" (Jim's heaven). You wouldn't believe the size of Hawaii's avocados. Incredible! And they say California's avocados rock. Well, if you've had an avocado in Hawaii, you might think otherwise. I wish I had a California avocado to take a picture of next to the Hawaiian version. But I did use a pineapple so you could see the massive size. Yes! It's at least 3 times the size of a regular avocado (easily the size of a softball, if not bigger). And the taste "like buttah" (butter)
Whale watching was very exciting. We saw several adult whales (one that actually breached). I, of course, missed that photo op because I was busy looking at video I just took. What a bonehead.
*Mental note - look at pictures and videos later; especially while whale watching.
Along with the adult pods; on our trip back to the harbor we saw a mother and her calf. Fortunately for me, the calf was very active and I was able to get quite a few pictures of the baby whale breaching.
After our boat ride, we headed into town for some schooners ; and had lunch at Bubba Gumps on the water. We walked around Kona to work off the schooners and our late lunch and headed back to our friends to, you guessed right, relax.
Monday came too quickly (though we were able to do quite a bit more this trip than last); but we had one last excursion to see Captain Cook's memorial and Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Historical Park - the Place of Refuge. We had lunch at the bay and watched the many people snorkel and scuba.
After a relaxing lunch, we packed up our bags and headed into Kona to meet Marc for dinner. Our flight left at 10:20 p.m. (red eye). The benefit - it allowed us another full day in Hawaii before heading back to the mainland. Worth it? Most definitely.
Not only did we bring back plenty of fun memories (but also, about 20 bug bites, I personally brought home on me).
If you have a moment or two, check out the electronic scrapbook of pictures/videos I put together.
And now that we're all caught up on the first two month's of the year; my next blog will possibly be on "scrapbooking" (the real deal).
Not only did we bring back plenty of fun memories (but also, about 20 bug bites, I personally brought home on me).
If you have a moment or two, check out the electronic scrapbook of pictures/videos I put together.
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| Make a Smilebox scrapbook |
And now that we're all caught up on the first two month's of the year; my next blog will possibly be on "scrapbooking" (the real deal).
As we found our way out of 
Just Kidding! (actually both were taken after the tasting; I just cropped the owner out of the silly picture for selfish purposes)
It might not look like much to you, but it's BEAUTIFUL to me. :)
