A Year of Change

Making up for yesterday, here’s a quick recap. We landed at 6:10 am and were headed up the hill after dropping Ty at Maddy’s. Once home, we began putting things back together around the house. Jag headed to Boulder about an hour after we arrived and we headed out to run some errands. The flight was fast, about six and a half hours. I slept on an off most of the way. Good to be home, GB

This morning at 8 we were at the Mala Boat Ramp to meet Woody and head out on the water for 4 hours of snorkeling, fishing, sun and fun. Around 12:15 we were back and headed home for a rest. We saw lots of turtles and a sand shark while snorkeling. We trolled for big stuff (fish) but had zero action. We did catch some tiny puffer fish but threw them back. The boys got to snorkel with spear guns which made their day.

After heading home, we all needed a rest. Especially the boys as they were going surfing at 5 with Nick and his high school best bud, Jonah. Both grew up on Maui and are really good kids, around 30 years old. Both boys are slaying it after only two days. They’re riding 5 foot waves all the way into shore. 5 feet doesn’t sound all that big until you have one crash down on ya! Super happy and proud of them.

Today we’ll hang out at the house until around 3 when we’ll head out to the airport. Our flight to Honolulu leaves at 5:35 and is 40 minutes long. Then at 7:40 pm we board our 777 for the seven hour flight to Denver. Hopefully we’ll sleep as we land at 6:30 in the morning.

It’s been a great trip. We’re already making plans to come back. It was one of those trips that will be remembered forever. Everyone had a blast and we did a lot! Time to get back to reality. I’m tan enough anyhow, ha. Have a great day and happy June! God Bless.

Yesterday the boys hit the waves. They both did really well and will be surfing again at 5 this afternoon. First up, at 8 this morning, we’re going fishing! It’s 6:02am now.

After surfing the boys went and hung out with Jagger’s friend from college, Max. His family, 30 people strong, are here for a week. Lori and I went to the grocery store for a few essentials and then went and picked them up. Then it was straight to our favorite restaurant, Star Noodle. After that, it was home to hang out, and watch the sunset.

Been a much needed great family vacation. Hard to believe it’s already been a week. We all feel like we’ve been recharged and are ready to tackle challenges anew. We’ve agreed we need to get back here in the Fall for sure. That’s it for now, time to get moving, Aloha and God Bless.

watching the boys surf

waiting for waves, Jag on the left, Ty on the right, with Nick, their bud and instructor in the hat

last nights sunset

Yesterday we drove up to DT Flemming Beach which is at the bottom of the Ritz Carlton property in Kapalua. The boys hit the waves with boogie boards while Lori and I read our books. After that we hung out at our pool. At one point we played basketball in the pool. It was Ty and I against Lori and Jagger. It was a close game until I had the ball and was getting ready to take a shot when Lori lifted up her top at me, distracting me and I missed! Oh well, all worth it, ha! The boys missed the whole thing but I couldn’t stop laughing, neither could she, fun times.

Around 5, we drove down to see Jeffrey and Pete play a few songs at the Maui Coast Hotel where their gig was. We didn’t hang out too long as we were going for dinner. On the way home, all of a sudden, traffic stopped. There was a grass fire off the two lane highway that delayed us for well over an hour. By the time we made it through, it was about 8 so we just went home.

This morning the boys have surf lessons. They’ve both surfed before but we have a guy taking them to the next level. It’s at 10:30. Tomorrow we’re fishing with Captain Woody and then Thursday night we fly home arriving in Denver at 6:30 Friday morning. It’s 6am here now, 10 am in Denver as we wake up this time every morning. That’s it, hope all’s well, Go Nuggets and God Bless.

First up, thanks to all those that served, are serving and that gave their lives for freedom. Sadly many today take freedom and all that comes with it for granted. Seems many are willing to give it up, little by little, not realizing just what they’re doing. Wish everyone could go to Pearl Harbor and see the USS Arizona in person.

Yesterday we headed to Paia to hang out for a bit. We met Jeffrey for lunch and then hit Costco and another grocery store called Down To Earth. It’s like a more natural Whole Foods. We decided to bbq steaks by the pool last night and eat in. It was nice and the food was great. I think today we’ll head up to one of our favorite beaches in Kapalua by the Ritz.

Remember the other day I mentioned the wild chickens everywhere. They don’t bother anything except they start crowing an hour before sunrise, every morning. You can hear them right through the walls even with all the windows shut. Natures alarm clock.

Sure is nice with no tv, no news, no politics or anything. Back to reality at the end of the week. Happy Memorial Day, thank a veteran! God Bless the USA.

The Sun is an amazing thing, especially here on Maui. We all had a bit too much of her today. The day started with getting up island to a beach where Lori and Jag could wrap up their certification by 8am. They had 3 dives to do today. Ty and I dropped them and went to breakfast. Next up was a couple surf shops and an art festival outside where Ty found a necklace for Maddie. We then grabbed breakfast for Jag and Lori and headed back.

While they were diving, Ty and I went snorkeling. At one point, Ty was above Jagger and yelled at him and surprisingly, they heard him! Eventually they had their third dive done and passed all the tests. Their last dive was 50 feet deep which is deep! Michelle is going to try to find some time to get me wrapped up before we leave as my ear seems better.

Afterwards we had lunch in Lahaina and then headed back to the house and relaxed at the pool. Soon it was 4:30 and we got cleaned up to go see my close friend of 48 years, Jeffrey, play at a bar down in Kihei. Jeffrey is one of the best guitar players on the planet, no exaggeration. He’s also known as the Guitar Doctor and coincidently, recently worked on a couple of Kirks, (Metallica) guitars. Kirk lives here in Hawaii. Small World. Anyhow, Jeff’s played with everyone from Fleetwood Mac to, well, just about everyone, doing studio work on albums. We met when I was 19 and we both worked at a guitar store in Seattle. We’ve been good friends ever since. We’ll see him in the next few days for lunch too.

Lori was really tired so we stayed for a set and then hung out for his break. Pete, who he plays with gave me some local Maui herb for the family, in case anyone needed any. We drove home and were in bed by 9. I’m sure someone will put it to good use.

Today I think we’re headed to the North Shore and Paia. We love Paia and always go when here. I think we’ll bbq at the pool tonight. We’re all going to try to stay out of the sun for at least a day. That’s it, here’s a few pics, more to come, God Bless.

Fresh coconuts Carlos got out of a tree for us!

Our pool, waterfall and all that the boys love jumping off of into the pool!

My good friend Jeffrey, he’s always been an amazing player and we had some great times, lots we can’t talk about, ha. And we’re the same age! More to come.

Ok, this scuba diving thing is work. No way around it. We all did well until mid-afternoon when my left ear wouldn’t equalize to the pressure. That’s when I had to stop for the day. We started out in the ocean becoming familiar with all our new gear. First we had to learn how to put the whole kit together, and take it apart. This involves lots of steps testing of multiple pieces of gear from your regulator to the air cylinder to secondary air, meters and weights and your BCD which is your vest that inflates and deflates depending on what you do to it. We had the general idea down from our training so all was good. There’s a trick to scuba diving, it’s to just relax. It’s easy to panic underwater and feel like you’re not going to get a breath. After some time in the ocean, Lori was getting cold, even with a wet suit, so we went to James and used the pool there to continue training. About halfway through that is when I blew my ear out, so to speak. Not wanting to push it, I stopped. Lori and Jag needed to go back to the ocean with Michelle, our instructor, for an open water dive. They were under water for about 20 minutes and both did well.

After getting cleaned up, we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Star Noodle. We took Michelle with us as she’s a great girl and now our new best friend. She’s 41, single and is quite together, but still a young single girl. We all had a blast and will pick it up again this morning. If my ear doesn’t feel better, or won’t equalize the pressure, I’ll snorkel with Ty while Lori and Jag do another open water dive. You can’t push your body if something’s wrong. That’s the number one rule of diving, besides, don’t ever hold your breath. If you have a cold, you can’t dive, if you’re physically cold in the water, you end the dive. If you had a rough night the night before, you don’t dive. Safety is always first.

We should be done around noon today. I need to lather up the sunscreen as even with my wet suit, I got good sun and so did Lori. It was a short sleeve suit so that’s why. The weather is great, and we’re having a blast. More to come, GB.

We’re off early this morning for our live water training. It’ll be a long day so I’m writing this the night before.

Yesterday we had fun. Lori and the boys did a little paddle boarding and ocean kayaking while I finished my scuba exams. We were up early, like 5 as we didn’t sleep well. We went to breakfast at our favorite health food cafe on the island for Acai bowls. Then after another stop we headed home. For dinner, we went to PacificO, a great restaurant that sells our wine. It was seaside and fun. Then we went to the grocery store to get the food we needed for an 8 hour day of training.

Everyone is having fun and we’re so glad to be here. We needed this bad and it’s just what the doctor ordered. I did get pics up yesterday so if you missed them, go back a day. Here’s a picture of the giant tiki with cameras in the eyes near the front gate. One of our favorite things is the outside shower outside our bathroom, nice touch. James and Adriana are having fun in France and have been sending pictures, they and we wish we were there. Maybe next time. More tomorrow, GB.

We were out the door on time and all was good until we hit Silverthorne. Traffic was stopped about 1/2 mile from the tunnel. They had holds for some helicopter operations. We sat for at least 30 minutes but finally got through. Then we received an email saying our seat had changed? I called United and one of our seats was broken so they moved me. We were all still in First, just separated. The boys each took the individual seats so Lori and I could sit together.

We took off on time and had a lovely senior (been flying for 40 years) flight attendant from South of London. She knew of our seat mishap and was very apologetic. I told her everyone needs a drink and she asked if the boys were old enough and I said yes, big mistake, ha. So, Mr. Ty, had 3 or 4 jack and cokes, a bloody mary and a glass of white wine on the way over! Jag slept most of the way, probably 4 of the 6 and a half hour flight. The flight went quick, the food was crap, as always, and we landed early. We grabbed our Tahoe easily and headed to Costco. 30 minutes later we met Carlos, the caretaker, who showed us around and gave us needed info like the gate code, WIFI code, etc.

After unloading and unpacking, the boys hit the ocean in a two man kayak while Lori and I went to Foodland for more groceries. We made it back just when they were coming up from the water and all hung out watching the sunset and taking in the sound of the waves. Then we decided to go to Monkey Pod for some food. It was now 7pm, 11pm Colorado time. Sadly they screwed up Lori’s and my fish tacos and we sent them back, but they weren’t the same. We made it back by 9, (1am Colorado time) and crashed. At 5am this morning the wild chickens (roosters), outside started doing their thing, cock a doodle do! We’re doing laundry now and I’m working on my scuba course.

Today we’ll get some things done, hang in the sun, hit the ocean and the pool. Tomorrow is Day 1 of our scuba certification. More to come, God Bless

At 11:55 we’re taking off for Maui! The flight is 7 hours but direct and we’re in First so it won’t be that bad. Three movies and lunch and we’re there. We land around 3 in the afternoon and will grab our rental car and head straight to Costco before going to James house. Super excited.

Harley did not want to go to the doggie hotel! The young girl there said she loves Harley and Harley is fine after about a day. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house, packing and working out. I was going to take a TRX (band system) to workout with but think I’m just going to go all cave man over there and lift logs, giant turtles and Hawaiian bbq ribs!

Remember the blog will be up around noon MST each day with the time change. Cora, our 12 year old neighbor girl, is watering Lori’s plants while we’re gone. Of course it looks like good weather while we’re gone too, figures.

Time to hit the road. We might drop the truck at Tommy’s and take an Uber or I might just drive it in case there’s hail in Denver while we’re gone, as the airport has covered parking. I’ll decide when I get down there. Have a good day, God Bless and Aloha!