September vacation on Maui

In September we spent a great week on Maui. We shared expenses for a condo at the Honokeana Cove Resort in the Napili area on West Maui, with our next-door neighbors, Pat and Rusty.

It is a beautiful location on a private cove that is home to several large turtles which we saw every day and snorkeled with a few times. The condo had two levels, each with a big lanai, so I was able to get up before sunrise each day and set camera/tripod up and take photos without disturbing anyone else.

A highlight of the trip was attending the Hawaiian Slack Key Masters concert, featuring Ledward Ka'apana, at the Naplili Kai Beach Resort.

Mike talked with Ledward after the performance and discovered that he had been in elementary school with one of Ledward's cousins. Small world..

We snorkeled in the cove and at Honolua Marine Preserve and Kapalua Bay, and we went to see the volcano Haleakala, and 'Iao Valley. The biggest disappointment was our trip to Haleakala - it rained, and rained, and rained, even at the summit.....the clouds never cleared that day. A park ranger said to think of it this way - we got to feel the park, most visitors get to see it. Ummm, ok, but we will go back and see it!

I used our small Canon camera in an underwater housing while snorkeling, it was the first time I had tried it and did manage to get some photos of marine life, though it was mostly trial and error until I figured it out.

Warning!! Lot's of photos, so I linked to the albums on Picasa.

Select the Slideshow option and enjoy Maui as I tried to capture it each day.

Sept 9 -10 Arriving on Maui, flora and fauna, sunrise and sunset

http://picasaweb.google.com/chingps/MauiSeptember200899910?authkey=l5bx73jeu60#

Sept 11 Haleakala

http://picasaweb.google.com/chingps/MauiSeptember2008911?authkey=nf1rh4gFhDc#

Sept 12 Sunrise, Dragon's Teeth, Snorkeling at Honulua Marine Preserve and Honokeana Cove

http://picasaweb.google.com/chingps/MauiSeptember2008912?authkey=FktW3klC1Q0#

Sept 13 'Iao Valley, Ka'ahumanu Church, Kanaha Beach Park, sunset

http://picasaweb.google.com/chingps/MauiSeptember2008913?authkey=vwbbGIbwnaU#

Sept 14 - 15 Kapalua Bay, full moon setting over the cove, leaving Maui

http://picasaweb.google.com/chingps/MauiSeptember2008914915?authkey=RRus-M-mn1k#

No fires close to us

But we have great sympathy for all the people to the north of us in the Montecito area which burned and those caught up today in the fires in Sylmar, Yorba Linda, Corona and other areas to the east and south of us.

I have never liked the Santa Ana winds, they make me uneasy and sometimes give me migraine headaches, but I suppose that's far better than having our home burn up....we are very fortunate to be in an area that is relatively "safe".

Back again...

Spent the afternoon and early evening shooting photos at Surfers Point in Ventura with a good friend who just happens to love taking photos as much as I do!

The winds were blowing just right for the kitesurfers - there were so many guys out there it was amazing how they kept from getting in each others way!

As the sun went down the colors in the sky and water became magical!

More photos from our September trip to Hawaii to come soon. We spent a great week on Maui, staying at the Honokeana Cove Resort in Napili, doing some snorkeling, sightseeing and enjoying the wonderful island.

Way behind on posting - off to Maui!

Will get back on this blog thing with great photos (well, I hope so anyways) when we return from our trip to Maui! Can't wait to see the sites like the volcano Haleakala, Io Valley, Hana, etc...good thing I have lots of memory cards for the camera.

In the meantime, enjoy a photo from our November 2007 trip to Hawaii after I retired. Photo was taken at Mokuleia Beach on Oahu. Not another soul in sight, and this little mermaid was sitting there, just waiting for me to find her...

Sad news - Happy news

The sad part....................

In early June we were very saddened by the death of one of our three cats, Fuzz. In 1997 we had rescued Fuzz and her two half-siblings (from the feral mother cats next litter), Mister and his sister Missy. Feline asthma finally took it's toll on beautiful Fuzz and we could no longer control the asthma attacks with medication or rescue inhalers. She will never be forgotten.

And then, last week Fuzz's half-brother, our big, lovable, goofy Mister cat died. Fuzz and Mister were best buddies and we suspect he was deeply stressed. His behavior changed and he just stopped eating - which caused other internal issues and we suddenly lost him too. So very sad. We miss them both very much.

After almost 12 years, the house feels quite strange, we are not yet accustomed to having just one cat around - our shy, afraid of her own shadow, sometimes mischevious, Missy. Of course she is very much loved.

The happy news................

Tuesday was a great day! We celebrated Mike's birthday with an unexpected visit with his daughter Tristan (who was really supposed to be in London now, but that's a long story).

After the birthday brunch, Mike and I went to the Ventura County Fair. For the first time, I had entered three photos in the fair's Photography contest. There were over 2500 entries this year so it took some time to even locate the ones I had submitted!! We could hardly believe it when we found that the one I entered in the "Photo thru a Frame" division had won the 3rd place ribbon for that category - whooo-hoooo!!!!

I had (surely more by luck than skill) taken a photo of a hummingbird bathing in water drops on a plumeria leaf, and the bird was "framed" by the leaves. It is kind of an amusing photo - I guess the judges thought so too.....

A friend pointed out that I can now claim to be "An award-winning photographer". Yeah!!!!

From my photo bank, because I was lazy...

I won't show you what I had for dinner tonight, though Mike has a special talent for creating great meals (he likes to eat but I don't like to cook) but I will share some photos (because I like to take photos) from a couple of trips, one to the Guadalupe sand dunes and one in early June to Cambria. Enjoy!

Surprise.....

Jim and Heather, currently in La Paz on their catamaran "Meerkat", discovered I had linked their blog....Heather's posts are so fun to read, she can make an account of what she had for dinner quite interesting! :-)

Check out their blog when you get a chance!