"Explode a boat"

This was  our first activity of our trip, we remember a friend of ours went on the Atlantis VII with his daughter so lets give it a try. It was an awesome trip max depth was 100 feet and a light in the sea floor with a couple of wrecks one was due to a storm ans the second one was from an explosion a couple of propane bottles decided  to expand at a fast rate.  Yellow tangs, moorish idolfish, goatfish, milletseed butterfly fish,  6 or 7 different types of coral but no sharks.  Clownfish aren't found here either but almost all of the other stars of finding nemo could be seen.    Unfortunately, because the new camera doesn't work well, we got very few decent pictures.  Anyone thinking of a powershot X40, be warned.  

We then went over to "Quinn's (not quite by the sea)" for lunch. Probably the best meal out we have had so far this trip for sure.We puttered around Kona for the rest of the afternoon and really enjoyed the downtown of Kona even though it has a lot of vacant store fronts.

We then had a quick stop for water and some provisions and back to the hot tub and an other perfect sunset in Kona. Later our friend Mark and his mom Isis and Aunt Mahalla arrived and we had a short visit they then went for dinner and off for provisions also. Great to see the Krause's again, certainly a long and arduous journey for them from Ausi Land and both the ladies are in there late 70's.

Dinner was Caesar salad and Kim Chi shrimp with bean sprouts it was quite delicious an I would recommend it if you like spicy.

Monday started off with unbelievable noise from our neighbors, before 7 in the morning no less.  After we offered to be relocated to a quieter location, and some other neighbors' complaints about the noise phoned in to the front desk, quiet arrived.  A couple of cups of Ferrarri coffee improved our dispositions and then we enjoyed our breakfast on the lanai.  Ferrarri really is one of the best coffees ever. 

Exploration of the south Kona coast took us to Ho'okena Bay, a beautiful little black sand beach which, naturally enough was pretty hot on the feet.  Walking along the beach just where the sea lapped up was the order of the day.  A sea turtle had beached him/herself on a rock in the bay, just hanging out, back feet in the water enjoying the sun too. 

This is a good season for flowers, bouganvilla, hibiscus, plumeria, tulip trees and orchids.  During a stop at Kona Joes, another great coffee brand, we found a little orchid garden on the side of the roasting/retail building.  We have phaelenopsis orchids at home and are enjoying checking out the dendrobium orchids here.  Hope we can find a supplier and get one of these when we get home.  We can bring home coffee but not orchids, darn. 

 

Getting there

Royal Sea Cliffs

Sat was a weird day starting with me in the blood bank Friday night and we finally got home at 12:30. followed buy a few short hours of sleep and leaving the house at 4:30 for the airport.  We got to Seattle in the pouring rain at about 7:00 and ended up in the lounge having breakfast and coffee.
The flight to Kona was great but we ended up an hour late about 4:00 pm but the sun was out what more can we ask, getting the car as easy because of the pre-arrangements and I say good planning. After leaving the airport there was a quick stop at Wally's Mart for the basics then to the room for setting in and fighting the TSP people sorry no presentation this time.

After settling in we thought a reasonable dinner was in order so over to the local Sam Choy's for dinner and oops forgot and didn't know about the Halloween parties, we finally ended up at Denny D's even so not too bad and fast to boot.

On the way back to the room we heard sirens going off was it fire.......was it practice ????????? no it was the real  thing a tsunami alert,  it appeared that the Charolette's  had dropped one on us, so every one was in evacuation mode with no one left out so in the end at 2:00am  a destructive 1.5 foot wave hit Hawaii so back to the room and a few well deserved sleeps were made.

Sunday started with an Island information session as though we need it but we might have won some thing in the draws.  Like ya really?

Today we got a slow start to the day I didn't wake till 9:00AM however Laura had been up for quite a while and exercised the dogs and got a lot of the pre-departure stuff done. A quick breakfast and on the road again ......wait where's Willie...... any way the idea is to get to Thermopolis this afternoon and stay the night.

Scott Bluff National Monument Gering NE

Scott Bluff National Monument Gering NE

Scott Bluff National Monument Gering NE

We made it to Thermopolis alright about 7:00PM a little late for me but after all said and done it is quite a nice camp ground. Laura is looking at our route for tomorrow. It is now 8PM and it is still over 85 I am finding it quite warm and will probably get to bed quite early tonight.

To day is the day we start home. After a roaring evening with Steve, Mel, Cathy, Randy, Milli, Marg, Tony and a few others we had dinner drinks and lots "O" laughs.

Just as we were leaving Cathy had three beer in a case when the bottom fell out and spewed two bottles of Blue moon all over the floor for 10 feet around, one survived  for another day. Needless to say half an hour later we had collected all the broken glass and mopped all the beer off the floor. We didn't let the night teller clean since we did it with many thanks from the young lady. I guess all those years of my mopping the floor at McDonald's wasn't wasted.

Today we started with packing and storing things better than the last three days so nothing gets broken. With all the cords, mats,and chairs stored we said our good byes to Tony and Marg as they head south and we head west.

We had been looking for some where to get the oil changed, since I didn't want Cooter to do it, it took 5 stops till we finally found a Ford dealer in Ogallala 120 miles west of Kearney to change it for us.we drove to Gering just before the Wyoming border on highway 26 and booked into quite a nice camp ground  quite a way from the train tracks for a change. We had time to work on our blogs and do a laundry you know the usual stuff that is hard to on the road. A nice quiet dinner and time for dog walks and bedtime.

Today we are seeded first in the division it seems there are the same teams in it but our seed time didn't change it is going to be interesting to see how it works out. One of the apprentice judges had to go home mid day I think Randy Kenzie will give him a favorable report, at least I thought he did quite well and has the makings of a good judge.

After watching three days of judging I think that I am safe to say that it doesn't seem to mater where you go the teams are the same. There are different dogs and people but the teams don't change. There are those there for the points those for the dogs and those for the glory, as it is every where else.

Ultimately today was a great day we worked hard and just tried to run clean and it finally paid off as we won our division and the beat the team that beat us on Saturday. It took 4 heats but we enjoyed them all and Stan said he would rather loose to us than anyone else,thanks Stan. All our dogs got better over the weekend which tells me they are very fit dogs. After the tournament was over we all sat for a well deserved drink with Cathy and Randy Kenzie what great end to the racing day

Racing Day is Here

Now that race day is here and we had a chance to catch up with Kim our group is starting to feel more comfortable with the strange venue and teams. During the day all has gone well and every one has pitched in to help as best we can. The Label stuff has been perfect and with the exception of the time the new roll of labels that were installed upside down, I have got lots of compliments from the participating teams, so I guess they like them a lot.

At the end of the day all turned out that we were right where we were seeded we were seeded third and we placed third not too bad for the little team from the North West I think we did our area proud.  The dinner was quite tasty even though they ran out of the shrimp before I got to the table but such are things. The dogs are very tired and will sleep well tonight, Seeker was lying with his head resting on my shoes and his eyes closed so we know he is tired. Tomorrow will be another day of racing I hope the weather gets better as the rain is problematic for getting to and from the Moho.

Racing day is here and I think we are all ready for it. Ruffy and Dancer are all set to race in Singles and Pairs And all started out great then in the third race Ruffy bruised her nail and Marg decided to pull her just for safety sake I thought it was a good decision but too bad for Ruffy. In the end Marg and Ruffy did well and so did Kathy and Dancer.

After the tournament Terri May and our group had dinner and then Laura went with Terry to pick up another long time friend Kim at the airport.  By the time they got back I was sound asleep and it was quite late so I had to wait untilthe next morning to see Kim. Kim was the person that rescued Chianna. Chianna is still not sure when she sees Kim but she has now figured out that she is going home with us.

We have caught up with many old time friends over the last 24 hours and it is so nice to see them again I just wish it wasn't so long between catching up. It seems that there are friends that you see regularly and it seems like it was just yesterday ..........wait it was yesterday................. then there are those that it can be a mater of years and it still feels like yesterday those are the ones I think are true long time friends.

We left Lyman this morning and drove and we drove and we drove and did I mention we drove? Today was quite a long day and we have just settled down in Chappell at an RV park that is quite nice small but nice and it is virtually deserted  We did some more shopping for provisions and found lots of things that were too good a deal to pass up. mostly 50% off of the price at home so some of our funds are going to these things. The other advantage is that it is only 3 hours from our tournament. so we should arrive mid day and still not bee too tired.

On one of our stops at a rest stop we saw a blade for a turbine being towed to the site some where in Nebraska and what a site that was later on we were passed another one. It is very impressive when you are passed by a 200 foot piece of windmill.

We later stopped at Laramie at a rail road museum even though it was closed the trains in the yard were worth the stop.

One thing that has stood out to us this week is the number of trucks on the road I estimate better than 60% of vehicles on the high way are trucks going somewhere, not sure where but some where for sure and most going way faster than we are. We have kept the speed down and it has payed off as our gas mileage is about 150km more than the last time we went drive around.

Today started out quite a bit earlier than we wished but we had to get to the local Ford Dealer to see why the "service engine soon" came on yesterday. The dealer was about 10 min from the campground and were nice enough to look at it right away and it seems the Oxygen sensor gave a rogue code. It was reset and away we go on the road about the usual time.

We saw the Snake River canyon, badlands and even a waterfall, that was a surprise.  Reminded us a bit  of the Grand Canyon.  As we got into Utah the terrain changes to beautiful rock formations. We had lunch at a Triple D place in Roy UT,well lets just say we are not going to go looking for it again


On the road into Wyoming there are lots of  windmills and one group we saw must have had 100 or so.

Yesterday was kind of uneventfull compared to Saturday Other than a couple of stops at Walmart to get supplies it was pretty much just driving And stopping to get the blood moving.

Yesterday was kind of uneventfull compared to Saturday Other than a couple of stops at Walmart to get supplies it was pretty much just driving And stopping to get the blood moving.

We did go through the Columbia River Historic Highway and up to the view point. well worth the drive and the set of stairs.  At the bottom there is a sign saying if you are over 50 feet dont drive this road and they realy are right. Seeming that we are only 22 feet I thought it would be OK and basicly it was until a BMW didnt give us enough room and we scraped the low rock wall on a curve. You know the differance between a Porkupine and a BMW? It realy is true.

We ended staying in an RV park at LaGrand OR quite a nice spot (Hot Lake Ln) but a little under used, and thats OK makes nicer for those that were there.

We are back on the road this morning and more driving. We got to Twin Falls today and are bed down in a KOA for the night, again quite a nice spot. It is also quite hot out and lots O' Mosquito's for sure, they are so bad we had to come in after dinner to finnish off the files for the label printers but just a quick check and compile the info and we are done.

Last night we left for our tournament in Kearney NE. We left the island by the Coho ferry and ended up at the Port Angeles Walmart for the night after a long foggy crossing of the straits. We left Port Angeles about 9:00 AM heading to Salem Oregon.

After meeting up with our friend Tim just south of Portland we have the displays and had a chat so now we will be heading off to NE after spending the night in Woodburn OR.

Next trip .....U-FLY Championships, Kearney NE

Next trip is to Kearney Nebraska. The attraction to Kearney is the North American championship flyball tournament. It is the last time Chianna will be able to race at this level since she is now 13 years old and a height dog to boot, she basically has been a really tough dog all her life. Also it might be the last time I can make it to an event like this.

We will leave next Friday and head to Salem Or. to pick up my Heat Race displays for the tournament. Hopefully I can get the seeding before we leave so I can get the files assembled for the tournament.

The Rendezvous was excellent, with lots of Healeys from all over including Georgia an New Mexico to name a couple. Sunday we were able to meet many people from all over the continent. We were not the only ones with dogs either, a couple from CA had two Daxies with them but they trailered there car up several other people also had dogs with them.

There was another Florida Green over White car there also a very nice BN6, lots of red and black and combinations as well the most common car was the various shades of BGR (British Racing Green). The most common car was the BJ8 most done to the 9's. The most common thing was the love for these beauties the owners have. The star of the show for us was the fabulously restored Nash Healey out of Alberta just spotless and a thrill to see such god job. And I would be in deep trouble if I missed the 100/4's they were terrific a real testament to the appreciation these people have for there cars.

                                                        The ever ready car traveler.

Last night aboard

To day is get off the ship day. An early breakfast and a whole lot of hurry up and wait. It is almost 10:00AM and they re already an hour late getting people off so I think it will be a short day in San Juan for us. Glad we don't have any thing planned.

Last night we took in the final show and the cruise director gave us a list of the top ten questions they have had over the last fifteen years. A couple of them don't mean any thing unless you have taken a cruise, but the rest I can see people asking. So here they are,

1 Why doesn't my microwave doesn't work? (its the safe)
2 Is it fresh water or salt water in the toilet? ( who cares )
3 Does the ship have cable TV? ( there's a little guy at the back of the ship letting th cable in and out)
4 q)Do the pools have fresh or salt water in them
   a)salt water
   r)  Oh that is why there are waves in them then
5 Does the crew sleep on board?
6 I can't get into my cabin there is a Do Not Disturb sign in the lock
7 Does the sea air make clothes shrink?
8  I asked for a sea view . So why do I have a view of a parking lot? ( asked before they left port)
9  What happens if I flush the toilet when I am sitting on it. ( unless you have been there)
10 What religion are the people with the patch behind there ear (maybe they pray to the porcelain god)

Our dinner table mates

Good by Coconuts