Season's Greetings!

Mele Kalikimaka to all of our friends!

More about us, but first...

One of the favorite songs we've been hearing on the island is the Hawaiian version of 12 Days of Christmas. I've copied the lyrics below. For your enjoyment, try going to YouTube to hear the song being sung. Here are a couple of versions that are fun:
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GoMmIEKgks 

or,  a cute hip-hoppy version :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0n9SnuvX28&feature=related

(Hang in there for the dance. It's worth it.)

(The 12 Days of Christmas local style)
- by Eaton B. Magoon Jr., Edward Kenny, Gordon N. Phelps

Numbah One day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
One mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Two day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Two coconut, an' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Tree day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Foah day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Five day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Five beeg fat peeg... foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Seex day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Seex hula lesson, five beeg fat peeg (that make TEN!),
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Seven day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Seven shrimp a-swimmin', seex hula lesson,
Five beeg fat peeg, foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Eight day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin', seex hula lesson,
Five beeg fat peeg (that make TWENNY!), foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Nine day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Nine pound of poi, eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin',
Seex hula lesson, five beeg fat peeg, foah flowah let, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Ten day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Ten can of beer, nine pound of poi, eight ukuklele, seven shrimp a-swimmin'
Seex hula lesson, five beeg fat peeg,
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

Numbah Eleven day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Eleven missionary, ten can of beer, nine pound of poi,
Eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin', seex hula lesson,
Five beeg fat peeg, foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree.

(Numbah Twelve day of Christmas the bes', and the bes' stuff always come las'...)

Numbah Twelve day of Christmas, my tutu give to me
Twelve TELEVISION, eleven missionary, ten can of beer,
Nine pound of poi, eight ukulele, seven shrimp a-swimmin',
Seex hula lesson, FORTY steenkin' peeg,
Foah flowah lei, tree dry squid, two coconut,
An' one mynah bird in one papaya tree!

Music and lyrics published by Hawaiian Recording and Publishing Company, Inc., and copyrighted in 1959.

Sam and I taking a walk on Hanalei Bay Beach at sunset

                                               

Regarding us: THE Latest Blog...or somewhat of a Christmas Letter

We are alive, well, and very moist here on Kauai. For those of you wondering what happened to us, my husband said that the dogs and I were getting very boring and very Christmas letter like in our writing. So, I stopped writing. Well, now you get the news since Thanksgiving:

•We've been Tebowed. The Broncos are one of the most popular teams here. They are 3rd behind San Fran and Oakland. We're watching the Buffalo game right now. (4th quarter - ugh!) It's nice to get Bronco games and it's been fun watching Tebow grow as a quarterback. What an outstanding young man on and off the field! It's a nice change in the midst of the not-so-nice news one usually hears about pro athletes.

•Rain. There has been a lot of rain here. We Coloradans aren't familiar with dampness and gray skies. But the good news is that when it seems like it's been gloomy for awhile, the sun does finally appear and Kauai is its gorgeous self. So, those of you with snowy days, know that winter does exist in Hawaii. The tropics do have bad weather.

•In regards to weather, we do feel like locals. People told us that 65º feels cold here. It does! It must be the humidity factor. It's a good thing that 65º is a night time temperature.

•We are finally exploring the island. Last week, we went on a Sierra Club hike to an archeological site.  We visited and learned the history of the Makauwahi Cave (basically a sinkhole). Creepy stuff, like old Hawaiian royals buried behind rocks... We ventured on to learn about some beaches we had visited before. Fun, beautiful, and good exercise. We are looking forward to doing a lot more exploring.

•Sam was neutered. He woke up during the surgery and howled the most horrific screams I've ever heard from an animal... It continued for quite awhile. People waiting with their dogs looked horrified. I was ready to leave the island when he came out of the surgery. I immediately called one of our Colorado vets and asked if she had ever experienced a situation like that. The answer was that some types of anesthesia will cause an animal to be vocal. I'm not quite sure that was what happened, but I've calmed down over the past two weeks. Sam is fine now. (For those of you who don't know, we couldn't neuter Sam until we arrived here. We were advised that any physical changes to an animal after the application was received by the state could cause him to be refused admittance upon arrival.

We've been learning more about our boy. He is very adorable, sweet, and charming on one hand. On the other hand, he is not dependable. Sam is what I'd call an ADHD doggie. He is easily distracted by anything that moves. (Kind of like the dogs in Up) Yesterday, he took off when he saw a dog about an 1/8 of a mile down the beach. He ran so fast away from us, he could have won the Kentucky Derby. I jogged down the beach to get him and there he was crying and sniveling. I couldn't determine if the dog bit him, or, he hurt himself running like that after the surgery. We don't think he learned his lesson. He's a lab. We're sure that something similar will occur again in the future.

•Sea-Sea hasn't been feeling too well. She got a centipede sting and that has been an issue. The sting area has been swollen for awhile. We were told by the vet it takes a long time to heal. Poor thing! She's been on antibiotics and had the area lanced. On a positive note, Sea-Sea loves standing in the shallow water at the beach. There is a nice quiet beach about 5 minutes from here and she will just stand in the water forever. (She's also senile. We think that is part of it).

•We like going to the beach with the dogs.  From tourists to locals, we've met some nice people that are drawn to our guys.

•Both Steve and I are taking painting lessons. We both really like the artist. Fred is a kind person who truly embodies the Aloha spirit. Though painting is something Steve has never done, he's hoping to learn from the perspective of a painter to see if it helps him with his photography. Speaking of Steve's photography, you might want to visit his blog: stevegandyphotography.blogspot.com 

 I, on the other hand, am learning to paint without drawing first. I haven't painted in 20+ years so I am excited to give this a try. Fred has an interesting technique. He teaches one thing that you  work on during the lesson. Then he fixes your painting, so you can move on to the next lesson without worrying about what wasn't done correctly.  He says that after completing a few paintings, you really see how important each step is to complete a painting and get the necessary practice with each of the skills he teaches. It's nice to have the time to learn from an artist like him.

•On the horizon: Paddle board lessons! The weather wasn't cooperating these past weeks on the days we were free to try it.  January is now our time to get the lessons.  The influx of Christmas tourists has occurred, so we'll just wait. Also, we need calm water. Some of the days this past month had 15+ foot waves. The surfers were happy. (We can boogie board on the not so big wave days.)

•Whenever possible, I swim. The waters have been rough and I heed the caution of the lifeguards here. I can't read a rip current for the life of me. I can only tell if there's a really obvious one. There are a few beaches where I can swim safely on most days. To swim in open water feels good. It's been a long time since I've been able to do that.

•Forced retirement, not working in science education, was really hard for me. After being away from work for two months, I can now say it's easier for me to read and truly internalize what's going on in science and science education. That has been a good thing for me. My mind feels more refreshed and creative at the present time. Hope it lasts and my brain doesn't become waterlogged.

•We've been seeing humpback whales breach, tail slap, and blow from the shore. We've also seen turtles and spinner dolphins. We plan a February trip to Maui to whale watch with Lesley and Terry Thompson. We're very excited about that!

•May your holidays truly be bright! We miss our friends and family on the mainland.

Aloha,
Linda

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends and family from this beautiful island! 
We wish only the best for all of you. It's hard being away from the friends that we have always spent our holidays with. It's just hard being away from friends. We look forward to spending the day with Kristin and John and a whole heap of their family and friends. It should be a fun day. In the spirit of Thanksgivings past, I get to bring vegetables to the event! Nance and Karis know of my previous annual vegetable assignments.

Good News:

• Our cars arrived salty, but safely. It's wild to be on an island driving our own vehicles. No rental car!

• Sam has managed to scare most of the chickens to the outer parts of the property. When we arrived, chickens were roosting on the lanai.

• Sam loves the beach! He has been running, swimming, fetching, licking faces, and enjoying the experience just about every day!

• Steve and I are walking on the beach daily. 

• We're starting to explore places we haven't seen before. (More to come on that. More of that to do!)

• We saw our first famous person on the island. We saw Will Smith today. He is more handsome in person than he is on the screen. 

We are grateful to have all of you in our lives. We feel lucky to have the opportunity to be here and see what it is truly like to live on a tropical island. It is a great adventure for all of us. 

More from Carmel: Can you tell?

                                                               Linda and Sam?

 

Linda and Sam?

 

Santa Barbara to Kilauea

                                                  Sam wasn't so sure he wanted to leave SB!
                                                    Maybe too much California Cool time?

This is a very late update as we have been extremely busy these past weeks.We are in Kauai with Sam and Sea-Sea safe and sound. More about the journey...

Big Sur, Ragged Point Resort - The views up and down the coast from the resort were phenomenal. Steve tried to get some good shots. I'm not sure he had the best light. Below are pictures from my I-Phone. Sam and Sea-Sea got to eat outside at the restaurant with us. They got along with the manager and everyone else. They tend to get lots of hugs wherever they go. Monarch butterflies and hummingbirds were everywhere. I always wanted to see the monarch migration and had my chance. There were also hundreds of elephant seals basking in the sun near the Hearst property.  The drive up to Carmel was just one incredible ocean view after another.

Carmel River Inn, Carmel and Monterey - Though nice grounds for the dogs, the "cottage" was expensive and pretty much felt like you were at Outdoor Ed in the clapboard cabins. The good part of this leg of the journey was seeing family.

All four of us got to spend time with my sister, Connie, my brother-in-law, Tom, and their girls, Calene, Erin, and Tawni ( We also met their boyfriends). Connie and Tom love this part of California and were great tour guides. We did Carmel Beach, a famous dog beach, where Sam adopted a little girl and played with her. He also got the "Brewsky's, otherwise known as "Labrador Butt Tucks." He ran wildly up and down the beach. Sea-Sea followed another lab that she thought was Sam. Poor old girl! No Clint Eastwood in Carmel. Oh, well!

We spent time at the Monterey Bay Aquarium,  hiked on the Monterey path with family, and spent time at Asilomar State Beach.

Calene is in the biological science illustration program at UC Santa Cruz (The Banana Slugs!). She's working on a dive boat on weekends.  Tawni is busy at Cal State Monterey Bay. Her schedule is filled with student government responsibilities, as well as her full course load. She had the best Halloween costume ever. Tawni and a friend made Fem bot costumes. They looked the Austin Powers role parts.

Our greatest surprise was that Erin got engaged earlier in the week! We got to meet Kevin in Monterey. Erin and Kevin drove all the way from Fresno to see us.  Lucky us! We were able to celebrate the engagement with the entire Luczo family at a nice restaurant. They are both at Fresno State University.

Oakland - Ugh! This is where our adventure was no longer smooth sailing. We got our vehicles to Matson, the company in charge of containers, cars, and all things going to Hawaii. However, there was a dock strike. We were told we would need to wait a few days, but that wasn't possible as the Dept. of Agriculture appointment for the dogs couldn't be changed. Matson worked out an arrangement by the end of the day to get us into a lot. Our cars would later be towed to their facility. The people there were nice about working with us. But, it was a long, long day at the docks. Right now, the car and truck are sitting in Honolulu waiting for a full barge to come over to Kauai.

The Flight - It was quite an event checking in the dogs in San Fransisco. It took over an hour at a very small gate with very large dog crates, plus 4 pieces of luggage to step over and around. At least, we were checked in at the same time. I'll give United credit for that and the people were nice. Sam got sick on the flight. He was very sorry about the situation. He's our experienced flyer so we think he thought he was abandoned. Plus, their time without being able to relieve themselves was over 7 hours. Since he's fairly new to us, Sam definitely likes to stay near by. He's doing much better now. Sea-Sea was our trooper. She made the flight just fine.

Kauai - We made it to Kauai only to be introduced to a major winter storm. 5.5 inches of rain poured down in 24 hours. And, the storm went on for a few days.  Bad News - The fear lurking in the back of my mind of the house being rented for 2.5 years and not being taken care of while the owners were gone came true.  Good News - The owner (Wendy) is here and taking care of things.

There was a brown water alert where no one was to swim from the North Shore down to the airport on the east side after the storm. It wasn't safe to swim. 

Wendy introduced us to her gardeners - lovely, friendly people. Hazel has become my mentor. I've learned to hack away weeds on the island. I'm learning about palms, orchids, Heliconias, and centipedes. There are also a few poisonous plants and frogs on the property. Wild stuff!!!

11/13 Kauai Update:  The weather has been gorgeous. Sam loves swimming in the ocean and retrieving. Sea-Sea stands in the salt water panting and smiling. Sam is our Kauai Chicken Chaser. We're waiting for him to catch one very soon. Kristin is teaching me about cleaning red dirt, mold, and mildew, as well as how to keep ants, cockroaches, and rats in check (prevalent on the island). We went shopping for island survival goods and my mind is still spinning from the information.

We've enjoyed seeing Kristin and John. They are so much fun and keep us laughing!  More later...

Utah to Santa Barbara

It's been days since I've written anything. So, I'll share a quick summary of our adventures so far this week.

Zion National Park -  Sunday and Monday: Steve and I each took the bus separately into the canyon.  Steve had the morning hikes and I had the afternoon hikes. Dogs were allowed only on one trail and we didn't want to leave them alone. Sam is still bonding with us. He sometimes worries that we will leave him somewhere along the road. 

The park was beautiful with its varying shades of red rocks and green foliage. It became my favorite Utah National Park.  (See Steve's pictures on his blog site.) Sam and Sea-Sea made friends with the hotel staff and were given privileges (though we didn't take advantage of all of them) to roam certain areas of the hotel grounds. Lots of hugs for the dogs. 

Springdale is a fun little town with good restaurants and interesting shops. We met a photographer named David West. Steve may have to go back and go "shooting" with him. David does gorgeous work. My iPhone photos aren't close, but I had fun taking these...

Nevada - Tuesday: We got to see Terry and Pat Donnelly and their home in Mesquite (Golf Heaven). It is the perfect place for those two and their undying golf addiction. Terry took us on a tour of the many beautiful golf courses. They have a course just across the street from their lovely home with its tropical landscaping. There's no need to worry about these two leaving Colorado. They are tanned, relaxed, and playing golf 4-5 times a week.  Terry is still writing. He has a column in the local paper. I am sure Terry is the liberal voice of Mesquite. (Go, Terry!)

We left Mesquite for the Hoover Dam. Once again, Sam and Sea-Sea got to hang out in the back of the truck. (They have been unbelievably mellow throughout this adventure.) Steve walked the new bridge to get the best view of the dam. The bridge is an amazing architectural feat. With my fear of heights, I just ventured out to where I could barely see the dam. It is 75 years old and looking very strong.

 

Santa Barbara -  Wednesday, Thursday: Sea-Sea went to the beach for her very first time. She was a little wobbly with her balance. She got confused with the water moving so quickly around her. Sam lived in Florida and Oregon before joining our family, so he wasn't that impressed with the salty water. However, beach path hikes have been fun here. They met plenty of Santa Barbara dogs and their owners.

We have been staying at the cutest place ever - The Beach House Inn.  Even though its claim to fame is its dog friendliness, we'd have stayed here just the same. It's comfortable, warm, and inviting. The room is more like a studio apartment with a fireplace, kitchen, and large bedroom.  The courtyard has colorful chairs and umbrellas to entice you to spend time outdoors. It's only a couple of blocks to all of the action. Bo found the place for us. Members of his band have stayed here.

 Speaking of Bo...The best part of the Santa Barbara leg of the journey has been hanging out with Bo and Pam in their "natural habitat."  They took time out of their busy lives to introduce us to Santa Barbara. We got to visit their homes and have dinner with them two nights. Relaxed, fun conversation with family. What more could we ask for? Sea-Sea got in her Uncle Bo time with plenty of hugs. Sam met Bo and Pam for the first time and bonded immediately. He became a huge Uncle Bo fan.

This is my first time in Santa Barbara. It is more beautiful than the pictures you see of it. I definitely see why its so popular.

                                                  Bo and Sam bonding...
                             
Bo & Sea-Sea: Happy Together!

On the road in Utah...

Sam's tired! National parks are exhausting when you have to stay in the truck and don't get to hike on the trails. Here we are at Capitol Reef with Navajo Dome in the background. When we got to Springdale near Zion, there were plenty of dog-friendly things to do.
The hotel has a walk, field, and river on the property. There's a dog park down the road.

Plenty of gorgeous scenery, though the drive to the parks from Grand Junction isn't very inspiring. From Capitol Reef to Bryce to Zion, fall was in full color. The cottonwoods were bright yellow, shrubs were bright orange and red, and grasses were just about every color, from bright green to purple. With the red rocks behind the foliage, autumn was at its best.

See stevegandyphotography.blogspot.com   for Steve's pictures from the road.

Sam and Sea-Sea have joined us on a big adventure...

to Kauai. It starts in Blue River, with an almost 3 month stay at the cabin of our good friends, Katie and Lee. We've enjoyed Summit County...the mountain trails; Breck, Dillon, Frisco, and Silverthorne community events; scenic vistas, and good times with our friends. (We've seen Katie and Lee more up here than in a year down on the plains!)  Sam learned to swim, conquer whip worms and giardia; and met all of the dogs of Blue River. Sea-Sea discovered Connectin and regained a desire to walk at the age of 13. Linda and Steve were forced to relax, a good step on our way to Kauai.

All of us at the cabin.

Sam's girlfriends