HAWAI'I CONTINUES

(The previous post has the start of the trip to Hawaii).

We took off about 8:45 (because that felt like 12:45 to us) and went to Kuhuku's fruit stand just outside of Turtle Bay. I've always liked stopping there as they have very fresh fruit (we're talking very fresh) and they're way delicious. Kids love the mango, pineapple, guava, papaya and even have tried (and say they like) coconut and dragon fruit. We then went on to Shark's cove. We took a lot of gear with us (enough for everyone) to snorkel. Snorkeling is great fun. Everyone seems to have taken to it quite well. We have these new masks that are pretty cool. They look like you're a space man, but offer great views. 

Just couldn't resist.

. . . After that we went to Walmart to pick up some supplies including two boggie boards. We also ate, with some having Sushi and others Panda Express (the Sushi folks were the happier as the place had some great Sushi). 

. . . We then took off for Bishop's Museum. It costs a small fortune to get in $22 for adults. But that said, it was pretty amazing and I think all enjoyed the planetarium show and seeing the amazing building and exhibits. 

Tuesday we awoke to clouds and light rain. We went to the fruit stand and bought our favs. By the time we arrived the weather was getting better so I changed to our original plans to visiting Waimea valley and the beach. Last time Aria and I went to Waimea there was literally no one there. This time not so much. I'd say the place was very popular. That said, it is so beautiful and lush and big that it doesn't matter. That is except at the waterfall that was open for swimming. It was warm enough that many did go in including JP and Sophie (of course) and Davis, Nathan and Coppelia. The rest of us passed, but we did enjoy their efforts to swim to the waterfall, which was running strong due to the storms. Waimea was a hit. 

Then we went to another beach just north of it and parked there. That beach was very nice, but didn't have waves. Still we swam and snorkeled. I got within a foot of a very large turtle and that was cool. I didn't have my underwater bag for taking pictures which I regret and won't make that mistake again. 

We swam for a couple of hours and then went to Kahuku grill (now known as 7 brothers) for late lunch. It was still great albeit they didn't have buns for their burgers, which seems odd for a famous burger joint. But, it was good. Sophie and JP lamented not getting to boogie board so after we returned most to the hotel Coppelia and I took JP and Sophie to a close by beach that the locals stated was good for boogie boarding and the like. I can say that the two additional hours there were very much enjoyed by all who went into the water. 

Friday--It shouldn't come as a surprise that traveling with 9 people has its challenges. Just keeping all of those people relatively happy at the same time can seem impossible especially if they involve family. But that said, I can definitely say that by the end of Day 6 we were all quite happy. 

This was the day that we were scheduled to move to the beach house. (They stayed in a hotel the first week and rented a beach house for the rest of the time.)That couldn't occur until 3:30 officially, but our day at the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) was supposed to start at noon. Fortunately, through a series of email exchanges, we worked it out with the owner of the beach house, a rather protective woman, that we could move our luggage in early. She would only give us the code for one of the two smaller "cabins" at the property. We received the actual property address about an hour before so we didn't even know where the place was. Coppelia thought it was a scam and that we'd be having to find a real place that day. I was relatively convinced that the house was real (we paid a lot for it after all), but I had to admit that this owner was amazingly secretive. In the end, the place was real. They were working on fixing electricity in the main house, which now having been here for a couple of days is essential. 

We made it to PCC. We bought the SUPER AMBASSADOR package. We had a great host, Joseph from Malaysia who was quite charming and informative. You could tell he was a very good guide because everyone knew him and he seemed to take the lead when more than one guide was around. 

We visited all of the islands of New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, Tahiti and one I'm forgetting. All were great. At Tonga in the middle of the show the heavens opened up suddenly and a ten-minute downpour ensued. It felt great for awhile, but eventually all agreed that shelter was needed. Actually, it was a stampede. But, the rain ended and the show continued and was very fun.

 I think that was sort of a turning point. We'd been going hard all week with our activities and I think emotions were a bit frayed. The rain seem to calm everyone. We rode the boats and then went to our Luau. Our seats were again amazing and the food was all you could eat of very delicious items. Plus there was a very wonderful host who entertained us the entire time. In one sense, we saw the same items as we were going to see at the night show, but the night show would still prove a huge hit.  

Our package included the IMAX experience and that was great and then we had a behind the scenes tour, which was also very interesting and enjoyable. The show has been "Disneyfied" a bit, which is probably good as it has a story to go with the amazing display. Without the story I think it would be a bit dull, but the story gives it life and weaves the amazing displays quite well. The people acting the story are quite wonderful, but there are definitely stars. The guy who is the lead is incredible. His "wife" is also amazing as she does the Tahitian dance with a lot of flair. 

In the end, the show with our front row center seats were great and we all walked out happy. Perhaps the mid-show ice cream floats didn't hurt, which in a land of humidity and heat is quite a thing to try and serve to several hundred people. 

. . . Saturday would be day 7. This was meant to be a recovery day and I think it was. We pretty much just enjoyed the house. 

I did get a message from one of my companions from my mission that he and his wife were here celebrating their 30th anniversary. They were just around the north shore so we managed to meet up at Ted's Bakery and talk a bit. It was fun to see Elder Elliott, who was my second to last companion. Plus we picked up great pastries and a pie from Ted's so it was especially great. Sophie went with me and kept us both entertained. 

We visited the Byodo temple in the Valley of the Temples and it was quite wonderful. It was drizzling all Sunday, which wouldn't have been great except it seemed to fit well with the Japanese style temple. We enjoyed walking around it and enjoying the beauty of the surrounding mountains that rose into the mists. Afterwards, we went to a lunch and enjoyed that greatly. We came back to Laie and relaxed a bit before doing a highlight for me.

I attended Laie Elementary for my first four years of schooling and I think it hasn't changed much in the near 45 years since I left. At least it looks relatively the same to me for the most part.

Since our beach house was relatively close to where we wanted to go (the LDS Laie Temple) we decided to walk even though it was threatening rain. On the direct path to the temple was the elementary and that was fun to walk through it. We then made our way near dusk to the temple. It was relatively empty of individuals and we enjoyed walking around what is a very beautiful place. I loved being there. It has such a tranquility about the place. We went to the visitor center and everyone enjoyed their time it seems.

. . . That took us to the airport and we've all checked in. It is complicated because the nine of us are going to four different locations. My final destination is Atlanta. Aria and Nate are going to Oakland. Coppelia is going to Chicago and Davis, Steven, Nathan, Sophie and JP are going home to Mapleton via SLC. The good thing is that Aria, Nate and I are flying first to Los Angeles before splitting up and everyone else is going first to SLC so Coppelia can help the kids get to the car and the like. Hopefully the flights go well. 

It was a great trip. Quite exhausting and most of us face some challenges in the near future with work and school and decisions. But this was a great chance to be together for an extensive period of time, which has its positives and, of course, challenges. I'd say it was 90% very positive, which is about as much as you can ask for when you're dealing with a very broad range of likes and individuals and ages. I think if you asked what was everyone's favorite thing, they'd give you different answers, which is a great success in my mind because that meant there was a lot of elements that were memorable. I don't know if I have a favorite. It might be walking together as a family to the temple or coming home after a successful day of sightseeing and everyone being happy. There is a lot of stress in doing something like this, but I know Coppelia is very determined that we do more of them. Perhaps that is the greatest evidence that the trip was a success. 

nd enjoyed that greatly. We came back to Laie and relaxed a bit before doing a highlight for me.

Can you spot all the kids?

Sweethearts.

That's it folks!

HAWAI'I

A GREAT SUMMER VACATION!
Ken and Coppelia decided to take all the family on a last hurrah vacation. At that time, Aria & Nate were planning to attend BYU-Hawaii and so the family would go over with 9 people and come back with 7. Things have changed and Aria & Nate are now going to BYU and UVU.

Here are a few excerpts from Ken about the trip.

Packing went well. I was a bit curious to see if we could fit all 11 bags in our two cars with our 9 people. It pretty much filed our Odyssey to the max with the 7 people and 9 bags (Aria and Nate being in different cars). Plus, I didn't know if they'd be true to their word and let us check in those bags for free (due to my various statuses on Delta). But the bags went in without a hitch.

JP has his list and has all his clothes lined up on the dining room table.

Dad and Mom checking some bags.

Every flat space in the house had someone's clothes!

Those are just some of the shoes!

I think that is Sophie's things on the sofa ready to pack.

 The flight was actually quite nice. Sophie loved flying as would be expected. The plane was full. I received an upgrade to 1st class, but I wanted to sit with Coppelia and/or Sophie/JP. So I offered it to Nate or Aria who declined as they wanted to sit together. I figured Steven wouldn't want it so it came down to Nathan and Davis. They rock/paper/scissored for it and Davis' scissors carried the day. I think he enjoyed being pampered a bit.

We arrived after 6 hours or so with most having watched a couple of movies. Travel isn't as hard as it was 40 years ago. There were, of course, a few screaming babies, but that's why they invented headphones. 

Arriving, we found it quite humid due to the tropical storm Darby. We went to get our cars. Coppelia's status with Enterprise won the day as I received a compact car and was told that there was no other cars available. I was thinking we wouldn't possible get our luggage in one trip and went to the taxi stand to see about the costs of taking it to Laie ($200) to carry our luggage. That didn't sound too good, but it would work. But then Coppelia did get an upgrade to the biggest Subaru (still only carries 5 people, but it has a much bigger trunk). Using my tetris skills I could see that we could fold down a seat and get everything in, which we did. (Yea for Ken's Tetris skills. I was the recipient of that when he loaded my moving truck!)

Hawaii remains beautiful even in the light rain. We made our way to the hotel. Aria and Nate didn't have a big lunch like we did at the airport so they were starving. However, I find that most people can eat if they're boys and their between the age of 15 and 25. So we did just that as two of our three rooms weren't quite ready. We piled our suitcases in the one and headed to get some food. We went to neighboring Hauula that has the benefit of a nice eatery and a Longs Drug store. As we knew, things are expensive here, but we have strategies to cut down expenses. For example, they don't sell cheap water at Longs in individual containers, but they sale gallon jugs for the same price as the individuals. So we bought a single smaller container and a bunch of gallon jugs for refill (see we're smart like that). 

Great panorama shot!

We enjoyed eating and a bit of shopping and then went back to the hotel where our rooms were now ready (it was 5 pm so you'd hope so, but then again this is Hawaii). The kids really wanted to swim and it being a bit muggy I felt inclined to allow even though it was Sunday. The pool here at the courtyard is quite amazing. It has a fun water feature and a nice hot tub. Before too long everyone but Aria and Nate, who were still recovering from driving from Sunnyvale to Mapleton through the night on Friday and then working to fix their new apartment up on Saturday, made it to the pool. It was nice and I think made everyone quite tired by 10 because that's 2 am for us Utahans. A nice first day. We'll see what today brings.

COUSINS

Meeting for the first time. . . 

Riley and Hank

FAIRFIELD

Getting out of LA is always tough. I had a couple of slow-downs, not bad, but one was significant. After 40 minutes of very stop and slow, I drove by a burned out shell of a car. All that remained was the frame. Question answered.

About  100 miles from their home the Freeway splits going left to San Francisco and right to Sacramento. I took the right, but must have missed something or other. I knew I wasn't on the right road. Took about 20 minutes to correct with the help of a UPS driver and then I was back on track. 

As before, showered and plopped into bed.

The big news was January's car situation. Her old Tahoe of 16 years had finally died! Bob's car was in the shop addressing the recall for the airbags but he did have a loaner. Good thing I was there as I provided an extra car.

Farewell old Kemo-Sabe (her car's name.)

After a lot of angst, this is what she ended up with.

It's a 2010 black Lexus 450

Even the back seats recline and are heated AND cooled!

We did some fun things while I was there and then the following Monday I headed home staying a night in Elko.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

 I arrived in SoCal at the end of a long day so after a short greeting, I was ready to take a shower and collapse into bed. I spent several days there enjoying being with the family, the weather, their pool and catching up on the busy lives of the Agle Bunch.

  

 Southern California Utility Solutions recently moved into a new building.

 At the front doors you see this beautiful garden in front of you.

 There they are. Count six down.

 Go through and down the hall, around the corner . . . 

 And there they be!

  

 Erik's office. They are still working on the decorative finishing touches.

 Making sure they get the pictures on the wall in the right place.

 Kristin's office. It also is a work in progress.

(Doesn't she look great!)

Erik took me to lunch.

 He had pork chops and I had fish tacos. Yummy.

 Lindsey was so nice to let me have her bedroom and bath while she slept on the sofa.

This school day she dressed all in pink!

It was Travis' birthday while I was there. Here he is with some friends as they prepare to go paintballing. 

(Dad was always the picture taker, so though I did a lot of things while there, 

I usually forgot to take the pictures.)

Now on the Northern California.

MY JAUNT TO CALIFORNIA

 I had a shot in my back that made it much more comfortable for me to sit so I thought it was now or never.

I headed down to St. George and planned to stay with the Rummlers and if I felt I couldn't continue to California I'd rest a day or so and come back. After a days rest, I decided to continue on.

 The first stop was to see my dear friend Annie, from St. George. She was at work, so I stopped there and met some of her employees and toured her warehouse.

Some of her employees.

 One of her quilts decorating the wall.

 Inventory.

She designs and sells patterns mostly for making bags and totes. They are really nice and very popular.

Then it was on to Dameron Valley to visit the Rummlers.

 This is the elk that Steve got while hunting last year.

 It's size is VERY impressive.

After a short stay at the Rummlers I continued on to SoCal.