Aloha! Home again...

Got home from two weeks in Hawaii this morning. It was a whirlwind trip but we saw so much on 4 different islands. I am in love with Hawaii and can't wait to go back. My skin loved it, my hair loved it and the air is so incredibly pure I can already tell a difference and I have only been home for less than 8hrs.

So much to tell and share, don't worry for any of you who like looking at photos there will be plenty of those coming on-line soon, but I'll be brief for the moment.

20 Things I learned in Hawaii in no particular order:

About the state-
1. Hawaii is full of big things. Big plants, bugs, bugs, flowers, more bugs, waves and mountains. But there are no snakes and very little dangerous wildlife so there are trade offs.
2. Hawaii was one of the most literate areas in the world during the 1800's and it had the first printing press and high school west of the Rockies for many years, long before it was part of the US.
3. The air is soft and smells of flowers but open air sections in the airport and hotels take a little getting used to.
4. Rainbows are everywhere and hardly a day goes by when you don't see one somewhere.
5. The sun rises at the top of Haleakala Crater only about 15 min. before it does in the valley so you DO NOT have to get up at 3:15am to be there on time to see it rise!
6. Exit signs on most of the main roads are about 20ft. from the exit so if you are not in the right lane you can just forget getting off on the right exit. And for anyone that thought driving in Bellingham was bad because the road are not in a particular pattern and there are lots of one ways steets try driving in Honolulu and you won't ever complain about Bellingham again!
7. Starbucks Coffee shops are everywhere!
8. Pineapples take 18mo. to produce their first fruit and another 6+mo. for their second.
9. The sugar industry is just about dead in Hawaii and there are only one or two sugar mills left in the state where there used to be several on every island.
10. There are lots of job opotunities in Hawaii and a very low unemployment rate.
11. Hawaii is properly pronounced Havyii.
12. Watching Kilawea spill into the sea at night is an awesome sight.

About me-
13. I get a little clostrophobic snorkeling in dark waters.
14. Parasailing was great but definetlly tested my comfort zone a bit. Flying around at the end of a very small rope 800 ft. from a boat over the ocean felt a little strange when the harness started creaking.
15. I am one of a special group of people (less than 10%) who get sea sick while swiming in the water but is ok while in the boat.
16. Swiming with dolpins is very cool!
17. Wearing a coconut bra is not comfortable. LOL
18. Being in a submarine is not to bad as long as you don't think about being 100ft. under the water.
19. Body surfing is fun and snorkling is much easier than it seems.
20. Driving a Jeep Wranger is fun, very fun. LOL

Must go get unpacked...Aloha and Mahalo (Thank you) for visiting my blog.

Oh and Sarah Bushey if you read this we saw a little shark while we were on the submarine near Waikiki and I thought of you!

Truck Tails

Ok so it's not really that exciting, more embarressing than anything, but I will elaborate a little on Marks mention of my truck.

It was a dark and stormy night and this fair maiden was out in the pouring rain changing her truck battery by the light of a flashlight and another car's headlights. Why didn't she wait till daylight or at least wait till it stoped raining you ask? Well let me explain...I was on IM sunday evening and noticed that Mark mentioned his car as being broken. Well due to my mom's broken wrist and inability to drive right now we have an extra car so I asked him if he would like to borrow my truck? He said he would be interested but his enthusiam took a slight nose dive when he found out it was a standard! I regretfully couldn't offer him my mom's car which is an automatic so his options were somewhat limited. I assured him this was the perfect opportunity to learn and he would be fine after a few days! The only problem was that I had left the key in axillary mode a couple days before and drained the battery. Since I was driving mom's car didn't really need it so hadn't taken the time to jump start it. If I had taken care of it right away the ensuing embarressment might have been avoided. The tabs were also expired and I couldn't very well loan it out like that. So anyway he decided to give it a try and the plan went like this: I would pick him up on my way to bellingham after having taken mom to an early morning dentist appointment, drop him off at class, go get the tabs renewed, go to work for a few hours, pick him up after class, bring him out to the house, we would jump start the car, he would be off to work and I would be back to Bellingham for an afternoon appointment.
Well this is really how it worked out: I picked him up, got him to class, got the tabs, got him out to the house and from there things went foul. After 45 min. of having the jumper cables hooked up, standing around in the pouring rain having to babysit my mom's car because it kept dying, my truck wouldn't even turn over. It seemed that I had actually killed the battery, dead, very dead. It was about 6-7yrs. old and I guess I had "tested" it one to many times by leaving the dome light on all night, etc. So there we were quite wet and cold with Mark still carless. I do believe I may have tested him patience severly but he held up quite magnificantly! He called his gramma and arranged to borrow her car for the afternoon while I figured out the next steps I had to take. I took him back home again, made it to my engagement, only to find out it had been canceled, picked up mom from work and we went battery shopping. When we got home it wasn't raining and I was really tired so I decided to lay down for a quick nap and put the battery in a little later. Big mistake. When I woke up about an hr. later it was pouring rain! But I had promised him I would have it ready by the time he got home from work and could get someone to bring him back over so out I went. I can now say that I have successfully changed a car battery by myself by headlight and flashlight in the pouring rain! LOL Actually it's not that hard as long as you know how to turn a wrench and aren't color blind but it sounds good right??? Come on people humor me just a little! So anyway, Anna brought him over later and he and my trusty Cashmere Stead drove off into the night...

Actually I am kind of glad it worked out this way because as we were trying to jump start it I began to worry for his sake because he hadn't driven a stick shift much before which means he would be most likely stalling it. I realized that even if we could get it started if he stalled it before he had driven for a while it would be dead on the road and that would be awful. I was trying to figure out if I should give him mom's car for the afternoon and then trade after I was sure the battery was charged, if I should drive it to his house where he could let it run for a little while he met with his uncle about his car, etc. I was praying really hard and I think the Lord solved all my concerns by just not letting it start! Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers! Once the new battery was in no one had to worry. He was perfectly safe to kill it, stall it or do whatever he might do in the name of experience. The timing worked out overall and I was happy to be able to help him out even if it didn't go quite as smoothly as I was would have like. I learned how to change the battery and to not put things off because you never know when your belongings might be called to help someone else. By procrastinating you could ultimatly inconvenience others...much to lear but positive outcome all around!