Things have been moving along here in Hawaii. The weather has started to become more rainy and cloudy lately, but not to the point that you have to let it ruin your whole day. These past few days have been amazing. The vog has cleared and the clouds are staying away. The past three days have been sunny, clear, and in the high 70's. Who loves Hawaii? This guy.I have been very busy lately. Ironically, that is due in large part to how much time I have had off of work. The month of November brought with it 14 working days. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that there is less to do, so the work days have been longer and busier. December should be a little bit easier. I am planning on taking some time off around the holidays, but at least I will be able to do what I need to do at work before then.
It has been a month and a half since my last post, so I should have a lot to add, but I can't think of it right now. What have we been up to? Well, my brother was in and out for about two months, there was stunt kite flying at the sand bar (the kite recently suffered a broken wing), Melissa and Michelle have each been to their last Wednesday night dinner, I have been kayaking to the Mokualuas a couple of times, I went to a fancy-pants dinner, the Wednesday night crew took a bike trip to Maui last weekend, and I ate my own body weight in turkey and stuffing over the past 24 hours. That's about all of the news.
We have been having a lot of fun on the water. I got a stunt kite on Amazon which, with a little practice, can be steered quite accurately. At the sand bar we have been having one person fly the kite while everyone else gets chased and/or throws stuff at the kite. I know that probably doesn't sound very fun, but trust me: you can't help but laughing. Also of note, before Melissa left for Florida to get married, she and I bumped the volleyball 116 times in a row. The previous record was 87. No big deal.
Our Wednesday night TV-on-DVD dinners has evolved into just dinner and conversation. Last year, when I lived in an apartment, it didn't really make for a relaxing setting. Noisy neighbors and tight quarters, as well a lack of a dinner table and chairs, meant that we were eating on the couch and facing the TV. Having a backyard with a lanai has changed that. I'm not really sure how the whole ordeal works, so we'll just say "Tomollie's future sisters in-law", Melissa and Michelle, have been coming over to eat with us. It was a lot of fun having them, but they have both seen their last Wednesday night TV-on-DVD night. Melissa left about a month ago to prepare for her wedding (she's marrying Tom's brother) and Michelle is moving off island next Tuesday. We do have a good number of new people in the mix, so maybe we can continue on with the chit chat.
I have an old/new roommate who I just met recently. She has technically lived here longer than me, but she has been gone for the last half a year. She got some major bonus points with me when I asked her to go kayaking with me and she said 'yes.' You would be amazed at how hard it is to get people to get in a boat with you sometimes. I also went kayaking with the Wednesday night people a few days after the roommate adventure. Twice in 3 days. Weird.
Last weekend the Wednesday night peoples (in case you aren't seeing the pattern here, the Wednesday night peeps are about my only friends...) and I took a trip to Maui. We left Friday morning on the super ferry, rented bikes, and pedaled (walked) our way to the top of Haleakala. 35 miles on a bicycle may not sound all that challenging, but let me add a few other elements: 8 hours of sleep in 72 hours, sea level to 10,023 feet, and no down hill on the way there. At all. It wasn't all that bad, but I really hit the wall at mile 32.
We made it 24 miles in the first 7 hours, which was Hosmer Grove at Haleakala National Park. I was determined to see the sunrise on Saturday morning since, for me, that was the one thing you have to see on Maui. No one else wanted to come with me, so I hung out a camp for a few hours, slept for an hour, and pushed on alone just before 1:00am on Saturday. Everything was going fine until about 3 miles from the top. I ran out of energy. I think it was a combination of tired muscles and sleep deprivation because I just wanted to lay down in the road and sleep. I pushed through and got to the top right around 3:45am and waited for everyone else, in the car, to meet me. At around 5:45 they finally pulled in. By that time I was in my sleeping bag, slumped over on the side walk, but still very awake.Unfortunately, the sunrise was obscured by the excessive clouds, but it could have been worse. Apparently we narrowly missed a massive thunderstorm. Instead of the thunderstorm, we got constant rain on Saturday. At any rate, I made the final summit and headed back down to camp. The girls left for the beach for the day (even though it was raining) and the guys hung out in the rain, hovering over the fire. It felt a bit like a hobo village and the rain did not stop. That night I ended up sandwiched between two dudes in my tent because their original plan was to sleep under the stars. That doesn't work so well in a down pour and a two person tent doesn't work so well for three adult males.
The rain let up around 4:00am. We woke up around 6:00am and were on the road by 7:15am. The trip down was way easier than the trip up. It took about 1h45m and the weather was beautiful. I think I might be doing that trip again in a few weeks, but on a motorcycle rather than a bicycle. Liquefied dinosaur bones are way stronger than my own two legs.
That's about all of the excitement. I went to a play called, "The Rabbit Hole" at a local community college. It was good. If you are in Oahu from now until mid-December, I would recommend seeing it. I also ate way too much food yesterday and today. I ate so much that I literally put myself to sleep. Around 7:00pm my forehead started bouncing off the table. I tried as hard as I could to be a good host and stay awake, but it was no use. I think someone laced my 4 pounds of turkey, stuffing, and cheesy potatoes. I was out cold. Just to make sure, I woke up this morning and finished the turkey, stuffing, and potatoes. Sure enough, I have been laying around the house, refusing to move, ever since.
