Rockhunting in the Woods

Saturday and Sunday, I made some forays into the local woods and did some fossil hunting (Katie went with me today).  We found some puffballs to kick, and re-found the old Oldsmobile that Kris and I found a long time ago.  It has been cold, but much of the snow is gone.

Tenth Anniversary of Big Hawaii Trip

Dean and Karen's Big Hawaii Trip – March, 2004 (thankfully I wrote this up just after the trip)

Day 1 - Saturday, March 13

-left Kris with Karen’s parents in Peoria, who took her up to Wisconsin

-flew from Peoria to Chicago to Honolulu, saw from air:

            -Lake Tahoe

            -Pacific Ocean

            -southern part of Oahu, including Pearl Harbor w/Arizona Memorial and Barbers Point

-a rainbow greeted us as we landed at the airport

-as we rode to Waikiki hotel we saw Tripler Hospital and Punchbowl Crater

-that night we saw a hula at the local mall

Day 2 – Sunday, March 14

-strolled to Waikiki Beach and saw Diamond Head

-went to Maui Divers orientation and tour

-stopped at Hilo Hatties and Kmart

-walked Waikiki Beach and saw the Royal Hawaiian Hotel

-visited the International Marketplace

-went to church at St. Augustine’s

Day 3 – Monday, March 15

-went to Hanauma Bay near the crack of dawn – beach closed soon after due to box jellyfish invasion – took sort of a scenic route back

-walked to Ala Wai canal from hotel to look at area Dean’s parents used to live

-took a bus tour of the southeast corner of the island and saw:

            -Diamond Head

            -Hanauma Bay

            -Blowhole

            -Nuuanu Pali Lookout

            -Tantalus

-went to the International Marketplace again

-had a Mai Tai near the beach

Day 4 – Tuesday, March 16

-took a bus tour of the middle and north sections of the island and saw:

            -went to Arizona Memorial and saw Ford Island

            -Dole Plantation and Kolekole Pass

            -North Shore (including Sunset Beach)

            -macadamia nut place near Kualoa Regional Park

            -Nuuanu Pali Lookout

-went swimming/body surfing at Waikiki Beach

-ate at Cheeseburgers in Paradise

-watched the sunset on Waikiki Beach

Day 5 – Wednesday, March 17

-packed up, walked around

-flew to the Big Island (saw other islands along the way)

-rented car at Kona Airport

-drove to and explored resort

-visited a local shopping center

Day 6 – Thursday, March 18

-drove southern half of island and saw:

            -South Point (southernmost point in the 50 states)

            -a black sand beach

            -Volcano Park Visitor Center

-drove to Hilo to take a single engine plane over Volcano Park:

            -saw older and newer cooled lava flows

            -flew near the active vent Pu’u O’o and caught a glimpse of orange lava when a “skylight” opened up in a new flow

-drove back from Hilo to Volcano Park and saw:

            -steam vents

            -Kilauea Caldera and the Jaggar Museum

            -Volcano Park Visitor Center

            -Thurston Lava Tube and fern grove

            -Devastation Trail

            -Chain of Craters road to where lava cut off the road in February, 2003

-dinner in the town of Volcano

Day 7 – Friday, March 19

-listened to a timeshare sales pitch to seriously discount the previous day’s plane ride

-snorkeled coral reef at Kahalu’u Beach Park

-went to luau and hula show in evening

Day 8 – Saturday, March 20

-snorkeled coral reef at Kahalu’u Beach Park

-drove northern half of island and saw:

            -white coral on black lava field graffiti (I really think I saw the my brother’s name “Dace” out there)

            -Mauna Loa, Mauna Kea, and lenticular clouds

            -Waimea

            -Waipio Valley

            -assorted gulches and waterfalls

            -went to St. Joseph’s Church in Hilo (turns out it was the Feast of St. Joseph)

            -incredible view of stars and Venus reflecting on the Pacific Ocean

-returned rental car at airport

-11 pm flight postponed due to computer crash

Day 9 – Sunday, March 21

-checked into really fancy Mauna Kea Hotel at 2:30 am

-phone call telling us plane was fixed at 6:30 am

-fancy breakfast at fancy hotel

-got to airport at 9 am, flight supposed to leave at 11 am left at 12:30 pm

-flew to Los Angeles and hung out at internet cafe

Day 10 – Monday, March 22

-flew from Los Angeles to Dallas to St. Louis to Peoria (11 am)

-arrived home in Peoria to find Kris with Dean’s parents, who brought her here from Wisconsin

Chicago Trip

Yesterday the family made a day trip to Chicago with Wayne and Maria Bosma and Lidia Riley.  We drove to Bloomington to catch the 7:30 am Amtrak to Chicago.  Upon arriving, we ate breakfast at Lou Mitchell's Restaurant, then walked to the "bean" (Cloud Gate sculpture), and then up Michigan Avenue to the Water Tower Place to visit a variety of stores.  The weather was cool, but thankfully there was not near as much rain as predicted. Later in the afternoon, we walked back down toward Union Station and met my sister for a little while at dinner time.  Our Amtrak home was delayed by mechanical problems for 2 hours, so we did not get to leave until 9 pm and did not get home until 12:45 am.  All in all, it was a fun trip!

St. Patrick's Day 2014

Too chilly to hit the parade this year, but we did have green eggs and ham (and corned beef hash) for breakfast.  Kris drove on the interstate and through a roundabout  for the first time.

Painting

Today after church and Sunday School, we hung out with the Bland kids. It was colder and windy and a little snowy earlier, but I took a few of the kids to a rock outcrop in the woods and collected bits of crinoids.  It is interesting to find evidence of coal mining in the area: remains of foundations, shallow pits, etc.  I have been recently finding out that the mining was extensive than I originally thought.  There is not much known about the one closest to us, but a lot of the mines closed over 100 years ago.  This evening Karen updated painted highlights in one of our bathrooms.

Spring Break 2014 begins

The weather has been nice the last few days, reaching into the 50s and 60s.  A lot of the record-breaking snow and ice is melting.  I finally took down the outside Christmas lights - they have been up so long we could call them Lent lights - and remounted a downspout I accidentally knocked off the house a couple weeks ago.  We are seeing a couple plants sprouting on the south side of the house, possibly hyacinth.  Today, the St. Anthony's Church choir held a big St. Patrick's Day fundraiser dinner.  Karen and Kris and others worked very hard at it.

Kris learns and stuff

Been busy and have not taken a lot of pictures lately, but here are some pix from yesterday.  Kris is learning to drive a car, so I took her to learn that crucial skill of going through a drive-through at McDonald's. (We parked the car to eat.)  Later in the day we worked on the set for the Peoria Christian High School musical and Kris used an electric saw and Karen used a nail gun.  Katie had fun playing in the sawdust.  Yes, the nail gun is disconnected from the compressed air line in the picture.  Still getting some pretty light snows,  but the snow is melting more than rising lately. Been seeing more birds, including robins, lately.  Yesterday morning, I rigged up some homemade spiles and bags to collect some sap from our maple trees, but nothing collected yet.