Monday, November 29, 2010

12 Year Anniversary




Also known as the Brawl of the Wild or the Cat-Griz Griz-Cat game, depending on which part of Montana a person is from. We Montanans love it! It's kind of like a family reunion every year where Montanans who don't know one another get together and talk about the people they know in common. Yep, the annual big football game. And it was a mere 12 seasons ago that we ran into each other entering the SLC version of the game. We sat and watched the game together. The rest is history. The next year, we went to the SLC satellite party again, and another betrothal between some other friends also ensued. A few years later, we went to a Detroit satellite party. We got some good news at that one... it's when we learned we'd be heading north, to Alaska!


In our lives, it's a warm fuzzy feeling day. We actually don't focus on the game too much. We just want each side to have fun playing a good game. It was a great game this year, coming down to the wire!

So this year, we unpacked from Hawaii, got a sitter, and celebrated our 12 year anniversary in Anchorage. Yay!











The overall scene. Well, part of it, anyway. Montanans were all over the Peanut Farm. And that place is huge!


We also enjoyed some of Anchorage's new culinary delights... Fire Island Bakery, home of the tastiest $3.50 peanut butter cookie you'll ever eat! (It's worth it. For reals.) And Spenard Roadhouse. Any place serving tots and bacon jelly is going to be good. No anniversary is complete without bacon jelly. That's what they say, anyway.


Sunday, November 28, 2010

Here on the North Shore We Treat Friends Mo Bettah


Like, by handing out free Rock Stars! (Notice the little kiddo in line. I can assure you, they cut him off after two.)

And what a great place to be a kid... free surfing lessons, free SUP lessons, etc.

We took advantage of our long layover and went on a scenic trip to the North Shore and around the island of Oahu. No more bus riding. This time we got serious and rented a car. Of course we declined the auto insurance! That's a big scam. Besides, our credit card has free supplemental car insurance. Anyhoo, a serious surf competition was going on, even featuring one of the guys who was actually in the movie The North Shore.

It was interesting to watch for a few minutes. The waves were large. And the free Rock Star was delicious. The kids found the water fountain the most entertaining part of the whole scene. Who can blame them? Surf contests aren't super exciting unless you have great vision and/or binoculars. It's a bit like birding.

The honu stole the show, really. Love those turtles! Boppa took to the seas Jules Verne style to capture the swimming honu in their natural environment. Witness the spectacular results:
See those turtles in action? Yeah, turns out they are quite a bit more nimble in the water. If he would've got a picture of them, it would probably look like this:


Oahu has lots of cars and people, and great food in Chinatown. The kids loved the Vietnamese restaurant we found, through tried and true scientific research. It was scrumptious. And the servers were very nice to Pax and Stokes. It's amazing how uplifting an understanding smile can be!

On this trip, we mastered the art of eliminating picky eating. If starving, the kids are much more adventurous eaters! (They sure were hungry, considering that their only other sustenance was the aforementioned free RockStar beverages from hours before.) Just joking, we really don't feed the kids rock star. The were running on KillerTacos, I think.

In case you were wondering how that automatic car insurance that comes with using your credit card for a rental car actually works, we will let you know. Somebody dinged our car's bumper at some point during our 6 hour rental, unbeknownst to us. A claim has been filed. Seems pretty minor, some yellow paint on the bumper, but we'll see. Should be interesting.

Then we hopped aboard our 737 for the long sleep back home. The kiddos slept like babies. Light snack! A bit tiring for the grown-ups in the group. Funny to think, the next trip we take will require four seats. Momma sure will have her hands full! Boppa sure will be lonely sitting all by himself, with nothing but a digi-player, a complimentary beverage, and some good books to keep him company.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

South Coast Beaches and Adventures



Hale O Lono. It's accessible by a long dirt road. There's a guy there living in a catamaran. He's been there for two years. Seems like a pretty cool situation he's got going. The beach was pretty fun. There's a protected harbor, and it's where the big outrigger canoe race from Molokai to Oahu starts.


Our favorite Molokai High School sport: Canoe Paddling.



Go Farmers!

The other two cool southern beaches we checked out were Mile 20 Beach (didn't take any pics), and Commercial Activities Prohibited Beach. Nearly the entire southern shore is protected by a reef. The ancient Hawaiians took advantage of that and built huge fish ponds for fish farming. Some of them are still going today. Down an unmarked dirt road lies Commercial Activities Prohibited Beach.



These are the remains of one of the fish farm walls, at the Commercial Activities Prohibited Beach.






The scene, as we experienced it.




Yeah, and to all you people thinking you can take advantage of this scene to make some money off of these crowds, well, don't even think about it!



We knew there must be a reason for the sign. We had fun brainstorming. Did some poor kid with terrible business sense try to set up a lemonade stand here? Perhaps a poached farmed fish stand? A massage parlor? Who knows! The point is, don't even think about it! It's prohibited.

Okay, other good fun we had on the island... the Koala Poo Cookhouse. Mmmm, the island's tastiest joint. It was very tasty. Mama couldn't get enough of the macaroni salad.



The kids ogle the yogis while we endure the lengthy wait. The wait was worth it, though. Mmm.




Also near Koala Poo village, the 100% organic macadamia nut farm. The free tour is great, although a bit in your face. "Do you have any questions? We are communicating here. We are communicating. Do you have any questions? We are communicating. Do you have any questions?" Needless to say, we learned a lot about macadamia nuts. Which are from Australia, originally. And extremely tasty when covered in milk chocolate. Thanks for all the free samples, and the communicating, Mr. Purdy!





Stokely, earnestly communicating with Mama.

The nuts are picked up from the ground daily. The trees produce year round. Being a macadamia nut farmer seems like a pretty fun, fairly easy job.



An unplanned bonus... we discovered where video games go when they get old. Video game heaven, located at the Molokai Arcade! Paxson and Mama play a game of centipede in honor of Aunt Rainold, while we await a tasty Molokai Pizza.



Sunset Pizza dining.




One of America's most awesome Post Offices:
The Postal Clerk is certified coconut inspector. We would've mailed out more coconuts, but unfortunately we were limited to addresses we could recall from memory. To those of you who didn't get one, they are basically like postcards. But on a coconut.




The Royal Coconut Grove.













And finally, what trip to Hawaii would be complete without a... RODEO!





It was just like being in Montana, or Kodiak! A Stampede, as they call it. Cow ropin' good times!

Farewell Hawaiian farm country! Maybe we'll se you again some day!