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Tak-a-leeki.

Looks like great fun! Oscar you're looking like you've shed a few pounds since September.

Curious as what you do with all the sleeves from your shirts?
 
Today was pretty fun. It was shuttling from the hotel life over to the boat life. Before we got going we went out for a hour lay in the sun. I wore a shirt with sleeves so MtMiller wouldn’t make the JC Pennies sleeveless jokes . *wink*

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We had to leave out Hotel. I wasn’t too sad because when you vacation on a budget and find the cheaper hotel sometimes you don’t get all the amenities…. Like a shower that works, at all. Or a tub that drains. You would think with a broken shower that when you fill the tub you could drain it. I did say I’ll tell the good and the bad and the Aqua Continental hotel in Waikiki wouldn’t be on the top of my list again.
We made it to the dock mid day and they were starting to load the boat. The Pride of Hawaii has 2700 people on board and 158 kids. We got that stat tonight. We heard on the Christmas sail they had over 800 kids on board. I couldn’t imagine !!!
Here is what our room for the next 7 days will look like :

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One of the first things you have to do on board is take a Safety drill. We got on the Life jackets and went to the area we were supposed to after the test alarm went off. Vicki was practicing her Shocka Hawaii sign !!!

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The long skinny hallways make for good walls to bounce off of when the ship is in motion. For some reason our last cruise in the Caribbean didn’t seem this rough. Vicki doesn’t do well with planes, Windy roads and boats. We’ll find out how this plays out tonight!!!

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I will get kicked by my kids when they see this picture. I’m going to have to make it up to them somehow. They had a Nice Slide on board. I haven’t been on it yet but I’m sure before the trip is over I’ll be sliding down :

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There was a couple shows and we saw as many as we could. The Hula dancers weren’t as impressive as the Polynesian center but fun non-the-less.

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Tomorrow we should be on the “BIG” island with some rainbow volcano tour or something. My wife lost my attention after she said the tour goes to the Macadamia nut factory. I’m not one to be in love with nutz and chocolate…. But…. OK, I love chocolate covered macadamia nutz !!!!!!
Oak, What bird is this ?

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Tomorrow will be another long day, Mahalo my cousins !!!!!!
 
Have fun!!!! More hula girl pictures, screw the bird pics!! :D


Glad to see pics of Mrs Moosie after she got lei-ed! :D
 
Hey Oscar- I'll be there day after tomorrow. What did the dude selling the weed look like?
 
Today we went to the big Island of “Hawaii”. Particularly “Hilo”. On Hilo there were many excursions we could take but we wanted to learn more about the volcano Activity and Pele (the Hawaiian Goddess). The morning was Rainy as we got off the boat. We piled onto a Tour bus and started our trip. I won’t upload all the pictures I’ve taken but to see how the weather was Vicki Posed in her jacket !!!

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Pele, The Goddess of fire (Or something like that, I was looking at the rocks and for more Hula chicks so I missed exactly what she was) but many of the locals try to keep her happy so she doesn’t destroy the Island again. There were many offerings of fruit, Bread, flowers, Lei’s, Etc to keep her happy. Legend has it that Greed makes her mad and with the growing tourist industry she will once again take back her land and destroy it all.

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During the volcano tour we got to see a lava tube. This is an underground area that when the lava flows it cools and gets hard on the outside and leaves tunnels in the paths that it went. Here is Vicki and me posing at the opening of one :

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We were also told that if we banned together as a bus and Said ALOHA real load and really meant it the rain would stop. We tried it several times and by the time we got out of the tunnel it had stopped. We were all happy :

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Then…. We went to the Macadamia nut plant. I sampled all kinds of flavors. There was the Standard Roasted ones, chocolate covered ones, and even garlic and Wasabi covered ones. I walked out with more then my fair share of them !!!!!

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Then we visited a Large flower garden. It had over 10,000 different flowers and trees in there I bet. My favorite was the one area that had the Bell in it. I rang it several times and how was I suppose to know it was a Sacred thing ?!?!?! I tried to say sorry but didn’t know the word in Japanese when the lady came out yelling so I returned the Wave she gave me in a mirror image. Although she was mad I think the Middle finger means I love you in their language:

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Then it was off to the Rainbow falls. There was a tree there that was probably over 30’ wide at the base. I felt like I was in Jamanji or something. I did look for the mad Japanese lady before climbing it but I didn’t see her so I’m guessing it was OK !!

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Vicki practicing her Hang Loose !!!!

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Maybe I upset Pele when I took one of the Offerings and Ate it, but the Orange just seemed to be going to waste as an “offering”. On the boat ride off the Island we saw her signs of reclaiming one side of the Island back. We never got too close and the Pictures didn’t come out the best but Lava flows are cool.

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Tomorrow is Maui for 2 days. I’m guessing no more Flower gardens for me ;)
Aloha !!!
 
Maui is Ridge runners home Island. HuntTalk is good for something because people Like Ridge Runner are top notch in information. He helped plan a lot of our activities on the island and told us the Do’s and don’ts of the Island. Although we stopped to get Shaved Ice at Mile marker 15, the person that does it wasn’t working. When I said I was going to come back the next day to see, the Local laughed and said “You can try”. Sounds like they were out for awhile, maybe in jail ?!?!! But hey, everything else worked out great !!!!Our morning was a lot warmer with our arrival. Our convertible Mustang was ready at the Rental place and we were cruisin’ down the road with the wind in our hair enjoying the Warm air.

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We took a photo op near a lookout for Humpback whales. They are in the Area for Calving I guess and there must be hundreds or more of them for every place we looked there were Blowholes… Actually it reminded me of Hunttalk *wink*.

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With the morning to kill, we stopped by a couple stores and then went to a beach. We drove to the other side of the Island and stopped by what we figured would be a good place. Little did we know the Wind was Blowing 100 MPH and by the time we baked 20 mins each side we had more sand in out nooks and crannies then there was on the beach. We decided to pick up and meat AKbearHunter and his wife. They had happened to be on the Island and we were fortunate enough to get to meet them. After a Quick phone call, we met on the “strip” and were off to a restaurant called Moose’s.

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After we ate and relocated the cars and went back to the dock were we met ridge runners dad. He runs a Whale watching cruise and got us 4 prime spots on board. By “prime” I mean we wer eon board and not working so it was Awesome.On the docks, there was a bird that befriended Vicki and cuddled up to her. If it wasn’t a “she” bird I might have gotten jealous :

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Here is a Picture of AkBearhunter and Mrs AKbearhunter. We enjoyed an Afternoon of laughing and story telling. It’s great people like that which make me glad I have this site up.

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Me and the Mrs. :

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The wind had died down and then we seen it working our way. There was a distinct line in the water that was heading our way. The sales were hoisted up and when the wind caught it the Starboard side top edge went into the water and Akbearhunter and me were on the port side wondering if the boat was going over . Captain Gene saved the day and we were off to find some splashing In the water :

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It wasn’t long till we seen the show :

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With the Days Excitement behind us and the sun going down, we invited the AKbearhunters out to dinner and they showed us a little local place that they had eaten before. It was a great place on the beach. We then jumped back in the Drop top Ford and drove back to the other side of the Island to catch a little shut eye.Tomorrow we’re going to be going down one of the Windiest roads in the world (Ok maybe not the world but rumor has it that it is a narrow road and few brave souls venture to the end. AHHHh the road to HANA !!!!!Till tomorrow, Mahalo !!!

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Very cool Oscar. Snowing here right now, so nice to see the better weather. Now to be an ass, nice sleeveless you picked up over there.;) Hell, even you jacket is sleeveless....err...I guess those are called vests.;) :D

Very nice to see you and the better half enjoying life. You the man.
 
Pics look great. looks like you guys are having a good time. The lava tubes are awesome and I know a few spots that have some underwater ones that we scuba into and get lobsters at night. If you look at the picture of you and Mrs. Moosie the island behind you is Kaaholawe. The old target island. the military used to use it for bombing practice. But look at the shape. It looks like a giant humpback. Hmmm maybe that's why they come there.;) :D Man can't wait to get back this summer. Enjoy the rest of the trip bud.
 
I have 3 more days of Pictures but looks like DelW is messing with the Picture hosting again ;) I even got a Hula girl Picture for 1-pointer. I guess I'll check in tomorrow and see if any picture hosting is back up again ?

DelW, don't I pay my bill ? Hook a brotha up !!!!!

Since I have alot of people reading this or checking it daily, I'll upload on Photo Bucket I guess......... for now, Gesh.

......

Day 2 on Maui, We stayed on the North side and headed East. We wanted to Brave the road to HANA. It is about a 50 Mile road that winds along the coast with probably over 50 one lane bridges and many drop offs that are thousands of feet down. With the car being rented yesterday we just hopped off the Ship at our Leisure after a HUGE buffet breakfast and headed out.
Here is a view looking back at Lahania :

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There were hundreds of movies filmed in Hawaii. On the Big Island Jurasic parks opening scene was filmed in this canyon and if you remember it you’ll recognize this rock :

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Along the way there was many pretty flowers, trees, birds and Waterfalls :

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It rained and poured then switched to sunshine back and forth throughout the day. Usually the rain only lasted 5 mins. Just enough time to put the drop top back up, then down again. By early afternoon, we started the 2 hour drive back and it rained over 1 hour of the time. Now I’m used to rain, I’ve lived in Panama for 4 years as a kid. But I guess the lack of being in a rainforest for a long time made me forget exactly what “RAIN” is. :

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The road was Windy and narrow, here is an example of how the road winds around the mountain :

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All in all a pretty good day. Maui is alright but was windy as all get out.
Tonight we ate dinner around 5:30-6:30. In case you’re wondering how the food is on a Cruise, You can order whatever and however much you want. I couldn’t decide between the Lobster and the specialty pork chops so… I had them both an older couple at our table ordered several lobsters a piece. One thing I like about cruising is Meals are included. They say the average person gains one pound a day. Vicki and me decided not to utilize the elevators on the Ship and walk up and down the stairs every day. That being said, I’m still going to put on a few Cruise pounds I’m sure !!!

After Dinner we went to a hour long Magic show. The guy was incredible. After that we partook in a Stand up Comic show. By that time it was time to retire for the evening so we bid Maui good bye. Tomorrow brings us to KONA, back to the big Island.

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ALOHA, my cousins !!!!
 
Before we knew it we were rushing over to the Breakfast buffet and heading to our Tender. Every morning that we go on an “excursion” provided by the cruise we meet in the Stardust lounge. From there we go ashore and onto our bus. On Kona, it was the only port we weren’t docked on a land dock and had to be shuttled or “tendered” to shore. :

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Then we were off across Kona to the Black sand beach for a day of snorkeling. We went to ANAEHO’OMALU BAY…. Or A’ BAY it is called for the NON Locals. On the way to the snorkel spot there was a plethora of whale activity. :
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We saw a still black thing in the water. As we got closer we realized it was a mother Humpback and her little baby. Below is a picture of her and the baby to the left :

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Although we didn’t see the bigger whales Breaching, (Coming out of the water), the little one was sure active once it got done feeding.

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We got to the location and did some snorkeling. Although I do have alot of under water pictures, I have non to share on the net. But here is one of the beach. The black sands are from the volcano’s. They say that parrot fish poops out white sand and as much as 1 ton of it a year. We saw a lot of parrot fish snorkeling. At that rate the beach is expected to not be black in about 200 more years. I’m excited to come back then and see if it’s true… Ohhhh wait :

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[Heading back to the boat we saw just as much whale activity, and even a little closer to the boat :

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Here is a couple pics of Vicki back on the beach :

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Although this is a sight most don’t need to see, Here is the Big Kahuna on the beach !!!!

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The lava flows had a lot of graffiti on them. The cool part was it was just white coral that were arranged in different names and such. It was pretty cool reading the thousands of names and short messages along the road :

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The evening was ended with a great dinner again and a Musical. We retired a bit early due to the busy following day.
Mahalo my cousins !!!!!!
 
Thanks for sharing Moosie, I'm not gonna get there anytime soon, glad you're having fun
 
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