Aloha!

Aloha from the Big Island of Hawaii . . .yes, my travels continue and even better, so does my blog! I bought myself a fancy little iPad holder/keyboard combo from Brookstone that I saw a lady had in the lounge in Phoenix. When I saw it I immediately thought that I needed one and low and behold, the little magazine shop in the airport had it so I got myself a Christmas present! It is taking a little getting used to b/c it is so small but it is still way better than tap typing on my screen.

So yah. I am in Hawaii. For Christmas. With my parents. And no one is dead yet, mind you, I have only been here about 24 hours :-) Seriously though, it is all good and will be a nice break and a nice way to spend Christmas. We went to Safeway yesterday to order Christmas dinner, so we will be having turkey and potatoes and all the fixings. There are the odd Christmas decorations around but by the looks of it, most people don't seem to decorate and those that do give the Griswold's a run for their money and pretty much light up the entire island!

This morning my dad and I went down to White Sands Beach - which is a beach that disappears at different times in the year b/c of the tides and the waves. Fortunately for us, the beach is there right now. What is also interesting is that it is directly across from the White Sands condos which we stayed at as a family 15 years ago when we came here for my mom and dad's 25th wedding anniversary. I was rather surprised at how many people were at the beach at 10am - it was very busy - both on the beach and in the water. My dad and I mainly went there to do a little snorkelling. The snorkelling was okay and we did see one small sea turtle at the end however it reaffirmed to me why I dive. . .I much prefer to be under the water close to the bottom when looking at fish. Speaking of diving, my dad and I have a dive planned for December 27 when we are going to do a late afternoon dive and then an evening dive with the manta rays. Last night they saw 16 mantas so I am pretty optimistic that we will see something. My friend Charley, who runs the Scuba Shack in Maui recommended Jack's Dive Locker to me, so that is who we are booked with and my mom is going to come along and snorkel. I guess snorkellers can also see the manta rays.


The rest of the day was spent relaxing, reading, did a bit of shopping with my father - which is always fun and then supper. As my mother pointed out to my brother and I (who is arriving with my sister-in-law the day that I leave), this is everyone's holiday, so we both cooked supper tonight. She bbqed and I was responsible for the potatoes - thank you Costco, and I did a salad. (sorry JB - my feasting isn't as exciting as yours) This was a picture from our balcony at sunset today.