Hawaii Trip 12-20-2020 to 1-18-2021

Hawaii Trip 2020

Papa and Gam with Willow and Nolan

Our Trip to Hawaii was all about seeing this sweet little family.  Shout out to Tom, Jenni, Willow, Nolan, and doggies for their gracious hospitality and stimulating mayhem!  What a treat to spend a month at Christmas time on the magical Island of Oahu.  Tom and family are stationed here for 2 more years with the Navy on the Marine Corp Base at Kaneohe Bay.  There are 5 beautiful beaches accessible on base and we explored all of them.  Hale Koa Beach was one of our favorites with its aqua marine waters and coral strewn sand.

  

Half way through our stay, Tom got unexpected orders to fly to San Diego on Navy business. But before he left he took us to Ford Island and the Pearl Harbor Memorial sites, quite sobering in contrast to the beauty of our surroundings.  Randy especially enjoyed the Museum of old war birds located on the original airstrip.

Rainbow seen on the original airstrip at 
Pearl Harbor on Ford Island

Jen and Kiddos, Papa and Gam did manage several fun day trips by car, laden with a picnic lunch and plenty of snacks.  With Jen as our guide we traversed the island further with a trek to the famous North Shore of Oahu.  Many stops along the way including Kualoa Regional Park featuring Chinaman’s Hat Rock just offshore.  We also stopped at Shark’s Cove at Pupukea, Sunset Beach, the famous Pipeline a surfer’s dream, Macadamia Farm, and the Dole pineapple fields for exploration and photos.

                            
Another road trip found us on the Pali Road winding thru the mountains as high as the clouds and surrounded by mist and rainbows.  Our destination was the southwest side of Oahu where the terrain changed to a more arid climate. We surveyed the many wonderful beaches, lookouts, and scenic views this part of the Island had to offer.  A favorite was Cockaroach Cove sporting a natural blowhole coming up thru the rocks and producing ocean spray.  We briefly saw some humpback whales just off shore at Lanai Lookout, but too far away for a good photo. 

Papa, Gam, Willow, and Nolan
at Hale Koa Beach

I loved that everywhere I looked I could see the volcanic mountain majesty in the distance, ever changing with atmospheric conditions. I loved all the rainbows produced by brief rain showers.  I loved walking the different beaches each with their own unique experience. I loved being with this family, sharing meals together, laughter, fun in the sun, meeting their neighbors.  I loved seeing how much Willow and Nolan have changed and just hanging out together.

Enjoy some of our memories captured in time!

Mahalo! 

 North Beach  

Marine Base Housing

Our beautiful daughter, Jenni
at Hale Koa Beach

Willow peeking out at Gam!

Nolan and Papa at one of the five 
Honolulu Botanical Gardens
called Ho'omaluhia
in Kaneohe

The kiddos playing at the beach

  

At the aviation museum on Ford Island

        

Ran-Man in his element

Jen and the kids at Kualoa Regional Park with Chinaman's hat in the background

Tom body board surfing!

Papa and Nolan having fun

  

Me and My art buddy!

  

 

Cali - August 8-11, 2014

Cali Trip

 8-7 to 8-11-14



Hoover Dam

This has been our first Mother-Daughter trip in many years and what better destination than to see what Jason has been up to in far off Redondo Beach, CA.  It has been several years since we’ve both seen him so off we went in the big jet plane.  Jenni was busy squeezing my hand in terror of flying as we traversed the breadth of this great country.  We finally got a glimpse of the incredible topography below us including the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon, after convincing the guy hogging the window seat to share the view! 

Jason picked us up at LAX and off we went to do a little grocery shopping before seeing where he lives.  The weather is absolutely perfect.  No humidity and no bugs.  Jenni has fallen in love with the succulent plants that are the predominant feature of every Cali garden.

large canvas painting created by Jason

 

Jason lives in a cozy little bungalow.  Look, there’s Jake, “Hey ole boy”.  Gracing the main wall of the living room is a large canvas of Jason’s creation and flanked by a few surfboards.  Very cool.  We shared some lovely meals out back under the olive tree.  Jason turned me on to red zinfandel.  One brand stands out, Old Zin Vines.  

Venice Beach reminds me a lot of Daytona Beach boardwalk but in a larger scale, hosting a transient group of people in a flea market kind of atmosphere.  We passed hundreds of vendors and shops as we made our way along the beach.  Flocks of people stopped to watch a group of break dancers warm up in anticipation of their show.  We stayed and watched for quite a while. It was fun.

Nice photo of Jason and Jenni taken at Gjelina.

 

Venice Beach graffiti

heirloom tomato salad

Fine dining at Gjelina.  The heirloom tomato salad was to die for.

 

Jenna's Boutique

 

 

 

 

 

Hiking to Abilone Cove.  Just look at those beautiful crustaceans.

 

Julie in front of the Shark Stage
after Buffet Concert.

Replica of "Jaws"
pretty fearsome

 



A free Jimmy Buffet concert marked the
beginning of “Shark Week” at Redondo Pier then off to Manhattan Pier via taxi to see Jason.


 

A road trip to Malibu with Jason and Ruya followed with a yummy lunch on the beach. 

Afterwards, we did a little hiking up the bluff for some spectacular views.

 

 

 

beautiful view of Malibu Beach

Jenni has jet lag

Yo, supp

Felt so good to hug my Jason
 

 

We jetted in and out of LAX in a matter of 5 days.  Bye Jason.  Could you make it back to Florida for Christmas?



LEAF - October 11-25, 2014

On top of the world at Mamma Gertie's

Dreams of fall color.

It has been a year since we've traveled.  Need to relearn the ease of it in our new 5th wheel...

Our goal this trip: to reach Black Mountain, near Asheville, NC for the LEAF.

"Mamma Gertie's Hideaway"
Swannanoa, NC

Biltmore House
seen from one of the gardens

We arrived a few days early and decided to check out the Biltmore House, Gardens, and Winery.  So much to see but we had a two day pass.  I loved the art work in the mansion, especially the portrait of Edith Vanderbilt. 

     




Randy and Julie in the Biltmore House

The Biltmore is tucked into
 the landscape in upper
left corner.
The roses were so fragrant.



The conservatory

LEAF stands for Lake Eden Arts Festival which occurs in May and October each year in Black Mountain, NC. A four day event full of music, art, fun, and frivolity in order to raise money to help preserve cultural arts around the world for future generations. Quite an impressive happening.  Everyone smiling and happy.  Kind of like a Woodstock event without the drugs.

Beautiful weather was ours to
enjoy.  I loved the colorful tents tucked into the landscape and the reflection of clouds on water.

Quite a climb up to Chimney Rock.
Randy took the elevator,



while I climbed the stairs.

lovely fall foliage

Where are ya Ran?



 

The Broad River and Lake Lure
in the distance.

 

Destination:  Chimney Rock
our reward were panoramic views.

 

Here we are at the Black Mountain
Cider Works to taste some hard cider.

Cheers!

Bottoms up!

Well that went right to my head!
I'm feeling very happy.
 

"Glamping" in our new 5th wheel

We Stayed at Crooked River State Park
in Georgia on our way home. 
Its a "Bestie" with spacious camp sites. 
We took a quick tour of nearby St. Marys where you can connect with the ferry to Cumberland Island.  Got back to camp with a few groceries, went for a bike ride and enjoyed a campfire before bed.  It was hard to
leave in the morning.  But all good
things must come to an end.