Hello again,

Hope everyone is well.  We've been doing great.

We have been trying, once again, to take in a bit more, and new, scenery. So ... no long stories, just some pictures and some dialogue ...

H and I decided to go on a short hike up what is called Kole-Kole (Koh-lee - Koh-lee) pass. It is small saddle between two peaks on the mountains that separate the central part of the island from the western side (or Leeward side as it called here). This was the view from the top. A sign at the start of the trail tells of a great rock that was used as a sacrificial altar during ancient times for the Hawai'ian royalty. H decided to get a bit silly and took a seat in the 'chair' in the rock.

(hey uncle D, does this remind you of anyone??)

Anyway, we walked around at the top for a while and scrambled down this short trail and we ended with this view ...

The top photo shows the western side just north of a town called Waianea (Wi-ni - long 'i' sounds). There is a beautiful hike along the coast that takes you (if you want to go) all the way around the north-western tip of the island and then back along the north shore to just north of where we live. There is no road that traverses that area. We took part of the walk and here are a couple of views from about midway from the park north of Waianea to the north-western tip. The first is looking south ...

and this is looking north ...

It doesn't get much prettier than this. My co-workers say this is a great hike in the winter as the whales are pretty plentiful, as well as dolphins and other sea life. The entire walk to the tip takes about 2 hours. We went a little over an hour and the little ones, all 3, got tired and hungry so we turned around. Next time ...

On the return trip, G spotted this unique rock form and I had to take a staged shot. This was too cool. Total shark attack ...

The water here is far enough from the city and Pearl Harbor and Hickam Air Force base to be extremely clear.  The tide pools were beautiful and many shots like this one were taken.

There were also some cool rock formations. This is a natural arch that faces north-south (I fell taking this picture on some volcanic rock that looked stable but when I stepped proved otherwise. I looked like a total tourist and everyone had a great laugh even though I got a nice strawberry on my elbow and knee.)

We also saw some land dwelling creatures. This crab was hanging out just catching some rays while he waited for the tide to bring him some lunch ...

All in all it was a very good trip. Anybody up for a hike ...

This past Thursday, I got the chance to visit G's school during 'Community Helper' month. They had been visited by Firemen, they had gone to the Mayor's and then they decided to choose me. It was way cool as the teacher asked me to show some really gruesome pictures so we did. Some were very grossed out and others thought is was just as cool as we did.  I also took some time to dress up in my surgical outfit to show them that I was still me even though I was all draped up.

This is a pic of G giving me the traditional welcome/thank you ... a Lei. I actually enjoyed myself pretty well. The teachers have such a hard job. My hat is off to you, teachers, who help us raise our kids. THANKS!!!

This morning. L, G and I went on a drive down the southeast side of the island and went to the 'Pali' (Pah-lee) lookout. This is a site where the last battle for control of the Hawai'in islands took place. You can see by the photos, the cliffs were very steep and I cannot imagine climbing those to mount an assault on the home team. The island in the background below is Kaneohe (Kah-nee-o-ee), the marine corps base here. Again this is all on the south-east side.

G took after her big sister and decided to get a little silly. See the road down below. This is a really steep hill ...

Here's trusting you all have a great summer ... looks like we'll be seeing some of you very soon.

Aloha