The Kilauea Lighthouse…A popular site for tourists…

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A special thanks to my sister Julie for her contribution to today’s photos.

View of the drive to the Kilauea Lighthouse when it was closed.

On several occasions we’ve made our way to the Kilauea Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuse only to be put off by the crowds.  The scenery surrounding the area is beautiful with birds of many species making this area their home, including the Laysan Albatross, Red-Footed Booby, and the Hawaiian State Bird, the Nene Bird, often found on golf courses.

Although we weren’t certain that we spotted the Red Footed Booby, we’ve included a photo of one here:

These may be a family of the Red Footed Booby sleeping in their nests.  

The ocean cliff in this area provides a safe habitat and breeding ground for many other species of Hawaiian seabirds.

The Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1885 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and is noted by its towering lighthouse. We never had an opportunity to enter the lighthouse due to the size of the crowds and now as time winds down, it doesn’t look promising that we will.

The fact that there’s only a $5 admission fee per person with children under 15 free, this low-cost attraction is a huge draw for families traveling with children. Where in Hawaii can a couple with two children enjoy such a venue for $10? 

Many birds flock to the cliffs in this area. 

For us, having the opportunity to see the lighthouse, take photos and enjoy the wildlife refuse was all we needed for a pleasant experience. Entering the lighthouse itself, wasn’t as important to us as seeing the surrounding area. We’d have enjoyed hearing about the tour, especially with our friend Alice who conducts tours on Wednesdays.

The Kilauea Lighthouse.

Instead, wandering the grounds taking photos, hearing the sounds of the surf slamming into the ocean cliffs along with the myriad of calls from the many birds, was all we needed.

The top of the lighthouse.

As for the geography of the area, Kilauea Point is a narrow lava formed peninsula which protrudes from the northern shore of Kauai, a short 15-minute drive from Princeville.

It’s obvious that the lighthouse has been well maintained.

The land was purchased from the Kilauea Sugar Plantation Company (tomorrow, we’ll be writing about sugar plantations in Kauai)in 1909 for $1. Construction plans went into play with decisions made to deliver supplies to the point by boat when there was a serious lack of roads in the from the Nawiliwili Harbor. 

View from the railing at the entrance to the Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuse.

The Nawiliwili Harbor is 1.9 miles south of Lihue, where the airport is located and the cruise ship, Norwegian Pride of America, docks for tours every Friday. Every Friday evening around 6:00 pm we can see this particular ship sail away from Kauai after the day tours have ended.

After four years of planning, construction began in July 1912 and the lighthouse was dedicated on May 1, 1913.  The tower is approximately 52 feet high and built in the Classical Revival architecture style of reinforced concrete.

Distant view of the lighthouse.

“The upper portion has a steel circular walkway with handrail. The lens one of only seven second-order Fresnel lenses remaining in a lighthouse in the US. Barbier, Bernard, and Turenne manufactured the lens in Paris, France. The 9,000-pound (4,100 kg) lens floated on mercury and compressed air. The lens was rotated by a system of pulleys powered by weights that needed to be reset by an operator every 3.5 hours.

A radio beacon was added in 1930, and with the added generator the light was changed to be powered by electricity. Originally 250,000 candle power, the light reached 2,500,000 candle power in 1958. The station was manned until 1974 when it was automated. In February 1976 the light was moved to a nearby smaller tower and the tower was sealed. It was one of the last lights converted to automation by the United States Coast Guard in the Hawaiian Islands. The radio beacon was replaced in 1956, and then in the 1980s converted to a visitor center. On October 18, 1979, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places listings in Hawaii as site 79000759. The historic district included 31 acres.

The oceanview from the grounds.

“In 1985 the Kīlauea Point National Wildlife Refuge, starting with the original Coast Guard Station, and then expanding to preserve the surrounding habitat. A new visitor center was built in 1988. The buildings were damaged by Hurricane Iniki in September 1992 but repaired. The visitors center is operated by the Kilauea Point Natural History Association. Starting in late 2008, the group raised funds for the restoration of the lighthouse.”

The lighthouse tickets were sold out.  Waiting for the next tour would have required a 90-minute wait.

The lighthouse and wildlife refuse will surely continue to be a great source of interest for tourists to Kauai for years to come. The love, pride and care the citizens of the state of Hawaii provide for all of their national treasures is evidenced in the preservation of the beauty and nature bestowed upon these magical islands.

Although tickets were sold out to enter the main area of the lighthouse, this museum area was open to the public.

Have a fabulous Friday and Mother’s Day weekend. Make it special! You’ll never regret any effort exercised in honoring moms.

                                               Photo from one year ago today, May 8, 2014:

A display area at a restaurant, Le Jardin, which we frequented in Marrakech. On this date last year we were leaving Morocco in one week. For details, please click here.

There’s always an exception to the rule…I left out an important point in yesterday’s post…Making errors here…

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Any comments on the name of these gorgeous lilac flowers?  Notice the blue center.  Wow!

Whatever plans we may make, whatever thoughts we may enter our minds and whatever experiences we may have, there’s always an “exception to the rule.”  The expression is actually “exception that proves the rule” as stated in the following quote:

“Use in English

Henry Watson Fowler‘s Modern English Usage identifies five ways in which the phrase is commonly used, here listed in order from most to least correct.

Original meaning

The phrase is derived from a legal principle of republican Rome: exceptio probat regulam in casibus non exceptis (“the exception confirms the rule in cases not excepted”), a concept first proposed by Cicero in his defence of Lucius Cornelius Balbus.[1] This means a stated exception implies the existence of a rule to which it is the exception. The second part of Cicero’s phrase, “in casibus non exceptis” or “in cases not excepted,” is almost always missing from modern uses of the statement that “the exception proves the rule,” which may contribute to frequent confusion and misuse of the phrase.”


A path to the beach in Kapaa.

Yesterday, after proofreading the post, Tom reminded me of something I’d left out of the post of major importance in regard to our experiences with obtaining visas which was an “exception to the rule.”  Now, bear with me if you aren’t interested in visas.  This is less of a story about visas and more about an “exception that proves the rule.”

After he read the entire post while instructing me to correct sentence structure, nonsensical use of words all the while fact checking dates and events, he adamantly stated I’d left out a very important aspect to the story.

A lagoon at the Kealia Beach in Kapaa.

In yesterday’s post I implied, or rather emphatically stated, that we either obtained visas at airports, ports or call or at a train station’s immigration desks or online from a company that provides them.  This was stated incorrectly. He caught it.

We had one entirely different experience shortly after we first left the US, ending up in the country of Belize, formerly known a British Honduras (reminiscent of what we learned in geography class in grade school).  That particular country, unlike most others, requires that tourists obtain a new (or renewed) visa every 30 days.

This playful dog was with a family loving his/her time at the beach.

We posted the hysterical (to us anyway) story about the cumbersome process in order to renew our visas once a month, which was required to be obtained in person.  For our long time readers, humor me for a moment while I explain this “exception to the rule.”

This pale man and woman laying in the sand and sea must be tourists with their pale skin. Hope they took precautions in the heat of the Hawaiian sun. 

In February, March and part of April 2013, we lived in Placencia, Belize on a peninsula, four hours south of the capitol of Belize City.  The little village of Independence was home of the immigration office located a long way across the bay to the mainland.  As a result, we had to travel on a water taxi, humorously called the “Hokey Pokey” in order to get there to apply for our visa extensions. 


We surmised this line in the Kapaa Path indicated the beginning and end of the Kealia Beach.

In the event you haven’t read that story and seen those funny photos, please click here for our original post from February 25, 2013.  In looking back, we still laugh over that unique experience.  It is those kinds of experiences that add a depth of purpose and meaning to our travels that no tourist attractions can possibly provide.

Shallow lagoon at Kealia Beach.

Anyway, the Belize story was yesterday’s exception to the rule.  How I could have failed to mention this escapes me.  Sure, I could have gone back and changed it to include it.  But, once I upload a post, I’m done, other than to correct any of Tom’s bossy mentions of my errors. 

At times, he sounds appalled by an error I’ve made and even throws a jab of “overly grumpy” at me.  I always say, “You write an essay every day of the week, every week of the year with photos and never make errors!”  Ha!  How about that!

The Kauai Path has numerous pavilions for the enjoyment of visitors.  Once one embarks on the long walk, there are not seating area.  For those, picnicking or preferring to sit, its best to stay in the area closest to the multiple parking lots.

Oh, yes, I make errors and, dear readers, Tom makes errors in failing to find some of my errors. How could we not make some errors.  At times, they consist of sentence structure, spelling, punctuation and line spacing. It goes with the territory or perhaps I should say, “Its the “exception that proves the rule.”

Happy Thursday.  Today is 5% off senior day at the Foodland.  Hummm…
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Photo from one year ago today May 7, 2014:

Our time in Morocco was winding down as we were running out of photos ops when many of the shop owners and locals refused to allow us to take photos.  We took photos when the shop owners agreed.  On this date, we were only eight days from departure and we were excited to be on our way to Madeira, Portugal.  For details from that post, please click here.

What’s the deal about applying for visas for various countries?…

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Fisherman casting toward the huge surf.
Long ago, we applied for second passports, which basically consists of a US two year second passport with different passport numbers from our main passports. Most US travelers aren’t aware that a US citizen can apply for a second passport.

Why did we need a second passport? Two years ago, it was necessary to send in one’s passport to a consulate in order to get visas from some countries. We didn’t want to be stranded in a country without a passport in our possession while a visa was being processed through snail mail. 

Tourists stopping to read a sign on the Kauai Path. Notice the cross on the shore, most likely as a memorial to a swimmer’s death in the sea in this area.

Over these past few years, most countries have since begun issuing electronically produced visas for travelers to their country, making it unnecessary for us to send it in to acquire a new visa.

Over these past two years we’ve used these second passports for all of our entries and exits to about 40 countries, resulting in our main passports, which don’t expire until 2021, having no stamps posted as yet.

In December, the second passports expired. As a result of the use of electronic filing for visas, we decided not to renew it. When we soon leave the US, for the first time we’ll use our 10 year passports.

Tiny green balls growing along the beach appear to be some type of weed.
How have we been able to get visas in all of our travels to date? We’ve been able to acquire 90-day visas when we arrive at immigration at any airport, train station or port. The ease of this was surprising to us. 

This easy process doesn’t apply to every country’s immigration process. For some odd reason, US passport holders seem to be presented with an easier process to enter and exit most countries.

If you have a passport from any other country, please check with your travel agent, passport office, immigration or consulate for the country you’d like to enter to determine the process applicable to your country’s passport in regard to obtaining visas. This can vary from country to country.

The Kauai Path is an easy to walk path along Donkey Beach and other beaches.

Thus far, for us, its been a breeze. When traveling to multiple countries via a cruise ship, the immigration staff aboard the ship collects all of our passports. When we arrive at a particular port of call, an immigration officer boards the ship and processes all of the passenger’s and ship staff’s passports for entry and exit.  

Prior to reaching a country’s port, our passports are returned to us, in most cases which we bring with us on our tour whether arranged by the ship or a self guided tour. 

There’s never a shortage of roosters wandering about.

When arriving in a country, we wait in what is usually a long line at immigration processing, tell the agent how long we’d like to stay and as long as the stay doesn’t exceed their set duration of 60 or 90 days, we receive a dated stamp providing us with a visa which is stamped in our passports.

Australia, where we’ll be arriving in little over a month on June 11th after an 18 day cruise from Honolulu, Oahu to Sydney, Australia requires a pre-arranged visa before entering. If we arrived at our ship without processing the visas the cruise line wouldn’t allow us to board. 

The wind and waves were substantial on Monday which has since settled down. 

In reality, a more stringent process may be wise for most countries to follow for obvious reasons I won’t get into here. Here’s a quote from Tom:

“When we applied for our driver’s license in Nevada before we left the US, they asked me to take off my glasses when they took the photo.  I said that I needed to wear my glasses to drive. They said it’s not for that reason. This is a facial recognition photo. Why isn’t this technology used for passports?”

Good point! Why isn’t it?

Last night, we visited CIBT at this link. In less than 10 minutes, with our passports and a credit card on hand, I completed the online documents separately for each of us and our individual visas for Australia were processed, completed and confirmed at a cost of US $45 each.

This view at the Kauai Path is similar to the views we had from the two houses we rented on the Big Island in December.

(By the way, once we arrive in Australia, we’ll be entering all dollar amounts posted here in both USD and AUD (Australian dollars) as we ‘ve done in all other countries which use a alternate form of currency).

The visa process will be slightly more complicated for some of our upcoming stays including both Fiji and Bali.  We’ll report back the processes for those. 

The vast expanse of the ocean never disappoints.

Our Australian visas were issued last night for which we won’t need a piece of paper. It’s recorded electronically in the Australian immigration department’s system and will appear when we check in at immigration at Sydney.  The visas are good for one year until June 10, 2016. 

With our visa on file in Australia we’re allowed 90 day visits only and in one year we’d have to file again which may be more complicated the second go-around. Before we book more time in Australia, we’ll figure it out. At this time, we are only booked for 89 days in Australia (leaving one extra day for cancelled flights, etc.). 

Alternate view of the above fisherman.

We decided that we’ll investigate other options in Australia once we are there and get a feel for the “lay of the land.” Prices on vacation homes are as much as 100% higher than other countries in which we’ve lived, making it difficult to rent vacation homes to fit within our budget. 

We still have the over two month gap to fill beginning next June and have yet to decide where we’d prefer to go. We shall see what we decide and of course, report it here promptly. We’re attempting to stay somewhere in the South Pacific, if possible.

At certain areas, the beaches are less pristine as is the case here in the southern end of the Kauai Path.

With the imminent visa task handled for the moment, we’re now beginning to tackle the other items on our lengthy “to-do” list, found here.

We’re down to 17 days until departing Kauai to fly to Honolulu for one night. On the 18th day, we’ll board the ship. We’re excited, to say the least. We haven’t been on a cruise since this past September. Hopefully, we’ll have good weather as we travel so far across the ocean. If not, as always, we’ll just hang on!

Happy Hump Day!

                                              Photo from one year ago today, May 6, 2014:

Strawberries were small in Marrakech as shown here. They don’t do GMOs (or pesticides). As a result, the berries are small and unevenly shaped. When buying giant, uniform strawberries or other fruit, its easy to assume that nature alone doesn’t make them that huge, uniform and sweet. Remember the strawberries we ate as kids? They were tart and small. For more photos from that day’s post, please click here.

Yesterday, on the road to take photos, shop and have fun, fun, fun…Easy food tips and photo…Good health, the ultimate objective…

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Tom walked to the shore to check out the views at the beach in town in Kapaa.

“Fun, fun, fun, my till her daddy takes the t-bird away,” another line from an oldie from our long-ago past released in 1964. Click here for the Beach Boys music video.

It doesn’t take much for us to have fun. Although we’ll have to return to the airport in Lihue to pick up a different rental car and could have shopped at that time, we decided to get out yesterday. 

We visited this beach by taking a road off the main road in Kapaa, close to the business district.

Our original departure date from Kauai on May 15th is the scheduled return date for the Dollar Car Rental. They refused to extend it for the extra eight days we’re staying over the phone (we tried). As a result, we’re returning to Lihue on the 15th to rent a different car (a better deal).

We could have waited to shop, but it felt good to get into the car and head down the Kuhio Highway on a sunny day to Long’s Drug (owned by CVS) for a few toiletry items we needed to take on the upcoming cruise. The cost on cruises for a tube of toothpaste is often two or three times more than a drugstore.

Prices at Long Drugs were lower than at the grocery store in Princeville and of course, the selection was considerably better. We only spent $35 but the trip was well worth the scenery along the way.

We noticed a pole sticking out of the water at a distance, most likely some type of markers on the coral reef to protect boats and surfers.

While I was in Long’s Drugs (Tom stayed in the car reading a book) I was reminded of the day in December when part of our family was with us on the Big Island and Long’s Drugs was closing early that day due to the lava from Mount Kilauea heading to the shopping center. They had a huge sale, but with limited space in our luggage, we only purchased what we could use at the time.

At the time, it was sad to speak to the employees about the loss of their jobs at the local stores. Luckily, the lava never made it to the shopping center, grocery store, gas station, and drugstore. Subsequently, each has since reopened.

Bear with us, you may have seen similar photos in our past posts when we’ve headed south. These we’re showing today and over the next several days were all taken on yesterday’s outing. 

The coconut trees along the shoreline always create a pretty scene.

Making one more stop at the health food store for macadamia nut oil for making our homemade mayonnaise (please comment or send an email to request the recipe if you’d like it) and we were back on our way.

We stopped at every scenic overlook, every beach, and each viewing spot where there was space to park. In the past, when we’ve made this trip it was often cloudy and rainy. Today, the rain is pelting and the air is cool. 

Several times last night, we were awakened by the sound of the rain. We’ve never heard thunder during our lengthy stay in Hawaii nor have we noticed any lightning, which most likely occurs during hurricanes and tropical storms. In the off-season, the cooling and soaking rain further brighten the already lush green terrain.

From one shoreline to another, views at a distance.
Today will be a laid back quiet day. We’ll work on obtaining our visas for Australia online, do some laundry, and prepare another good meal. Tonight, we’ll each have a different entrée which is a common occurrence. Tonight, Tom will have pork chops (there’s no free-range pork available on the island), green beans, muffin, and salad.  I’ll have wild-caught yellowfin tuna, shrimp, mussels, green beans, muffin, and salad.

It has always been easy for me to make two different dinners when the only extra item to make is one extra entrée item when we share the sides. We use two tin foil pans we reuse over and over, covered in tin foil. In one pan I’ll place Tom’s pork chops and the other which will contain my various seafood items on a bed of organic spinach seasoned well with spices and coconut oil. 

We cook many such entrees under the broiler (no grill here), his first and then mine, during the last five minutes.

This beach park provided covered pavilions where we noticed locals and tourists having lunch.

After cooking both entrees we toss the foil, rinse the pans and they’re ready to be reused for the next meal. We could use regular metal pans in this same manner but none is available here in the correct sizes.  

Using the foil, we avoid the necessity of scrubbing pans, pointless and frustrating waste of time. We use parchment paper when baking if the temperature is under 400 degrees (parchment burns at temperatures over 400 degrees) although doing so doesn’t eliminate the need to wash the pan.

Tom, butterflied giant pork chop, and my pan of delectable seafood. Since we eat no starchy side dishes, only salad and veggies, we usually have a good-sized portion of protein. I keep my daily protein consumption under 80 grams, carbs under 20 grams, and fat grams around 125 grams, easily maintaining the strict requirements of my way of eating to avoid inflammation, pain, and resulting illnesses precipitated by chronic inflammation. At home, Tom and I both follow this way of eating. When out, he indulges, especially on the cruises.

Reynolds makes a fabulous non-stick foil. However, using coconut oil on top of the cheaper foil prevents anything from sticking. Reynolds non-stick foil is $7.95 for 25 feet here in Hawaii whereby regular foil is $2.95 for 25 feet. 

You may wonder why we always use coconut and macadamia nut oil (readily available here in Hawaii). Actually, we also use olive oil, walnut, almond hazelnut, and other nut oils. 

Coconut trees along the beach had been trimmed to avoid risk of injury from falling coconuts.

We no longer use any vegetable oils or store-bought mayonnaise which contain dangerous Omega 6’s, soy, seed oils, chemicals, and processing. Click here for more information. There are 100’s of reputable sources of research and information available online. We share this information that we’ve chosen for our health and, if interested, we encourage you to research if you’d like to know more. 

Our goal is to stay as healthy as possible for as long as possible in order to ensure our ability to continue to travel well into our 70’s, 80’s or more. Along the way, we’ve met travelers in their 90’s who are fit and healthy.  Here in Hawaii, we’ve seen dozens of people who may easily 20 years older than us, walking at a good clip looking wonderful and joyful. 

At first, when I spotted the trees, I thought woodpeckers may have pecked at the trees. Tom reminded me that the park maintenance staff had used spikes to climb the trees to remove the coconuts. That made more sense!

There’s so much world ahead of us. We’ll continue to strive to be safe from injury and free from disease. Of course, we’re certainly not exempt from an occasional achy joint, cough, cold, or virus. With cruises coming up, we’ll take extra precautions to avoid catching an illness from other passengers. In reality, at times, it’s unavoidable and we do fall prey to illness as we have in the past, taking necessary measures to regain health as quickly as possible.

Living on the move is not unlike living in one location. The daily chores, responsibilities, and trials along the way motivate us to be as creative and proactive as we possibly can to ensure the best possible outcome…for us, the joy of continuing on in our travels and in life…

Have a great day!

Photos from one year ago today, May 5, 2014:

There was a short step when exiting the master bedroom in the riad in Marrakech. Upon exiting the bedroom there was this low railing. One could slip on the step or the long hanging drapes that covered the doorway and topple over the railing. We both reminded each other frequently to exercise caution in making our way around the house to avoid injury. For more details, please click here.

Cruise cancellation and results of vacation rentals date changes…New amazing photos…

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This chick was sitting close to the road wondering what I was doing.

As a result of next year’s cruise being cancelled and the necessity of booking a different cruise with two day’s difference in arrival and departure dates we waited anxiously to hear back from the owners.

When he realized I was no threat she relaxed a little.

Would they have availability for us to stay four days longer in New Zealand and arrive two days later to Bali, extending an extra two days at the end to compensate?

With the substantial time differences between New Zealand and Bali, 22 hours and 18 hours respectively, we didn’t expect to hear back for a few days. First, we heard back from the owners of the New Zealand property with a positive response…no problem with staying four days longer than our contract. For Bali, arriving two days later and staying two days longer is also a yes from the owner, neither of which scenarios resulted in any additional costs.

As he moved, we were able to see more of the white and black feathers which will soon replace all of the fluff.

We’re grateful for the availability and the kindness of the owners of both properties for their cooperation.  Problem solved. We had a backup plan ready to implement in the event either of these didn’t work out which included additional costs and monies lost. We’ve found that there’s always a solution. The question becomes, does one want to pay for that solution which is often the case?

Yesterday afternoon, a sunny day, we drove over to the neighborhood to check out the growth of the Laysan Albatross chicks. Being able to watch them morph from fat fluffy balls of inactivity and to actually see their new mature feathers was a sight we’d never expected to see in person.

This parent wandered from the chick for a walk.  Note the feathers on an adult as opposed to the fluff and feathers on the growing chicks.

As we slowly drove through the neighborhood, we spotted one chick after another in varying stages of molting their fluff. It’s crazy how they aren’t disturbed as we stop the car and I get out to take photos. We may be only 15 or 20 feet from them but they are as fearless of humans as the adults. 

They’ve been so loved and respected by the locals, they’ve had no reason to be afraid. Yesterday we watched a homeowner working in his yard with a chick and two parents only three feet away. Neither the human nor the birds paid any attention to one another as they each went about their usual activities.

Check out the chick’s huge beak!

Here’s a quote from National Geographic:

“On the Wings of the Albatross
By Carl Safina

An albatross is the grandest living flying machine on Earth. An albatross is bone, feathers, muscle, and the wind. An albatross is its own taut longbow, the breeze its bowstring, propelling its projectile body. An albatross is an art deco bird, striking of pattern, clean of line, epic in travels, heroically faithful. A parent albatross may fly more than 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) to deliver one meal to its chick. Wielding the longest wings in nature—up to eleven and a half feet (3.5 meters)—albatrosses can glide hundreds of miles without flapping, crossing ocean basins, circumnavigating the globe. A 50-year-old albatross has flown, at least, 3.7 million miles (6 million kilometers).”

One of the main highlights of our long stay in Kauai has been watching the life cycle of the albatross from the parents sitting on the nest when we arrived on January 15th, to the chicks hatching in early February and now the chicks maturing with only a month or more from the time they’ll fledge from the nest. 

Suddenly, she stood up giving me a great shot of the white feathers growing on her underbelly.

Although we won’t be here to witness them fledge which only occurs over a very short period as they run to the edge of the cliff and dive off to soar into the air, we’ll keep an eye out on the live video feed we’ve been watching many times each day at this link.  By watching this live feed with two chicks about 100 feet apart it’s possible to see the permanent feathers coming in and the fluff molting away.

This was our intent when we stopped by yesterday. We’d hoped to take photos of the gradual change in their appearance and were pleased to be able to do so with ease.

When the chicks sit on their back end, their weight causes their huge feet to lift off the ground.

Before we leave Princeville in 20 days, we hope to be able to follow Cathy, the Laysan Albatross expert, and docent, on one more of her two daily rounds as she documents the progress of the chicks, twice each day. She does this for seven days a week over seven months each year when the albatross return to the same neighborhood for the life cycle to begin again, year after year.

After returning home I prepared our pu pu for last night’s Full Moon Party. After attending four of these enjoyable monthly parties (last night was our final party), orchestrated by friend Richard, we’ve found these parties to be highly instrumental in enhancing our social lives. 

We couldn’t stop laughing when we shot these huge paddle-like webbed feet lifting off the ground as she leaned back on her butt.

Holding the party at the Makai Golf Club’s pool was especially fun last night. Although the crowd was slightly smaller than usual with about 20 in attendance, we had a marvelous time, again meeting new people.

Back at home by 8:30, we had a late dinner when I’d left a full meal ready for our return. Popping our precooked (earlier in the day) tasty well-seasoned chicken wings into the microwave (sans sauce), adding a salad and green beans we sat down at the little table to dine and watch prerecorded videos of “Shark Tank” and the new “Beyond the Tank.” Once again we had an excellent day and evening.

Months ago, the chicks slept most of the day. Now, they are alert and awake waiting for the parents to return with more food. They don’t interact with the other chicks although other parents may stop by for a visit.

Today, we’ll take a walk in the neighborhood, watch some golf, prepare Sunday dinner and play with Birdie and his friends, who as usual stopped by this morning as soon as we opened the blinds and the door. 

Have a satisfying Sunday!

                                             Photo from one year ago today, May 4, 2014:

This broken egg was outside our bedroom door when we awake that morning a year ago. With the riad’s open to the sky center courtyard we imagined that an egg fell from a nest somewhere in the house. How peculiar. For details from that date, please click here.

Laugh fest last night…Safety on other islands is different than in Kauai…

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This Bird of Paradise is the best example we’ve seen of a bloom appearing to be a bird’s head.

Last night’s dinner party at Alice and Travis’ house with Louise and Steve was more fun than we ever could have imagined. The stories, the laughter, and the bantering back and forth was indescribable. All I know is that by the end of the evening our faces and bellies hurt from laughing so hard and so long.

I drove home. Tom, who rarely drinks alcohol had his fair share last night, and although I don’t drink for health reasons I too felt intoxicated from the great evening.

Thanks to reader Annie, this is Ixora.

How did we get so lucky to meet so many fabulous people? And how hard is it going to be to leave exactly three weeks from today? 

It’s funny how we never have trouble leaving a place. Instead, we find it difficult to leave living beings behind, both human and animal. 

This morning Birdie saw me wander into the kitchen while he sat atop his favorite tree. Immediately, he flew to the lanai railing and began singing his song as shown in this video (in case you missed it). For a more professional Northern Cardinal video presented by Cornell Labs, please click here.

Nature has a way of creating flawless symmetry as in this variety of Plumeria.

We’ll miss him and his significant other both of whom we’ve interacted several times each day. He’s our first sign of life each morning and last, just before dark as we dine at the table beside the sliding screen door. While we’re dining, he sings. How can we not miss this magical display of life, however tiny he and she maybe?

And the people? Ah, how can we not miss them? 

We’ve found that somehow we are able to build strong relationships with people we meet in our travels in relatively short periods of time. In our old lives, it seemed that building new friendships transpired over a period of years, not months.

The buds on flowers such as this Plumeria (often used for making leis) become beautiful in themselves.

Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that many of those we meet are on the move like us in one way or another. Most of the friends we’ve made here in Kauai came from other locals for example Louise and Steve are originally from the UK.

Alice and Travis are from the state of Washington, having moved here permanently five years ago. This is the case with most people we meet. They, like us, came from somewhere else, longing for the lifestyle only Hawaii or similar island living has to offer.

Volcanic rock is also seen along the shore in some areas of Kauai.

As for future islands on our upcoming itinerary which includes both Fiji and Bali, we have few expectations that life on those islands will be comparable to living in Hawaii.

Some have mentioned that both Fiji and Bali can be rough in areas with political unrest, poverty, and strife. We never promised ourselves nor expected that everywhere we live will be easy or feel as luxurious as living in Princeville has been these past months.

As the tide rolls in the waves pound against the lava rocks.

We easily recall where we’ve lived in the past, in the heat and humidity with insects everywhere, crawling about our feet and buzzing about our heads. Last night, we mentioned that we’d lived outdoors in Kenya on the open (no screens) veranda for three months when there was no indoor living room, lounge, or salon.  here were two bedrooms, one bath, a small galley kitchen with a small hallway connecting them.

Each day the temperature was in the high 80’s to low 100’s with humidity so awful that the zippers on our luggage turned green. Tom used WD40 (Kenya’s version) to release the zippers each week to ensure they’d work when we left. 

From what I can determine online, this is a coot.  If any of our readers have any suggestions on this breed, please post a comment or send an email.

The flies and mosquitoes were rampant and every day I had to lather up with a DEET (below 30%), the only product that would keep me from being bit.  

The insects and the heat were equally bad in South Africa but, by the time we got to Marloth Park, we were accustomed to being outdoors all day. There, we had two living rooms inside the house and yet we stayed outdoors on the veranda (again no screens) all day amid the heat and insects, batting off the flies, keeping an eye out for snakes and poisonous things.

This is a hala plant. Please see this link for details.

After those total of six-month experiences during which neither of us whined or complained, we’re thinking that Fiji and Bali won’t be any more difficult and most likely will be somewhat easier. 

As for the political climate in both of these countries, the properties are located far from the busy cities where most of the danger lurks. Plus, in Fiji, we’ll be living in a resort with managers and security on the premises. In Bali, we’ll have a house staff on the premises. Both scenarios put our minds at ease.

There are many bath and candle shops throughout the islands comparable to this shop in Kilauea. With the scent of flowers blooming year-round, it’s not surprising that many small businesses are centered around scented soaps and candles.

Worry?  No, we’re not worried. We’ve come to accept that there is no place in the world that is entirely safe from crime, natural disasters, and political unrest. We’d only need to watch the US news in the past week, months, or years to realize that nowhere is entirely safe.

We can’t live this life in fear of what could happen. We choose to live this life in love with each other, in love with what we see in front of us; the people, the wildlife, and the beauty. 

The former movie theatre in Kilauea is now a church offering free lunches every Sunday after the service.

That, dear readers, drives us on with the hope and the passion for an extraordinary and safe experience anywhere in the world we find ourselves.

Tonight is our final Full Moon Party to be held at the Makai Golf Course pool house.  Today, I’ll make our pu pu to bring, Hawaiian flavored chicken wings (a few without the sauce for me), and off we’ll go to yet another fun evening on the island. We love island living. Stay tuned. Much more to come.

                                               Photo from one year ago today, May 2, 2014:

In the Medina, aka the Big Square in Marrakech, vendors would often neatly place their products on the ground on a blanket expecting passersby to negotiate. Within a short period, this display would turn into a messy pile as the vendors were busy selling the item. At this time, one year ago, we were less than two weeks from leaving Morocco, chomping at the bit to be back on the move. For details, please click here.

Peace of mind…Vital to health and well being…Procrastination…

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View along the highway to Hanalei.

It’s easy to forget the value of peace of mind and quickly it can be whisked away in a moment from a phone call, a disappointing email or the sudden change of plans when something we thought was “in the bag” actually is not.

The beach on the way to the town of Hanalei.

We’ve found that one of the most influential aspects of our travels is having peace of mind, providing our health and health and well being of those we love is intact, as a result of avoiding procrastination.

We don’t have the privilege of procrastinating for long. Most tasks facing us, if not attended to promptly, may result in a domino effect that could become considerably costly in both time and money. We strive to avoid putting anything off for too long.

A tiny island off the coast in Kilauea.

As we near the time of departure wherever we may be living at the time, the list begins to accumulate as if it has a mind of its own. That’s about now with about three weeks until departure. The list includes the following:

  • Arrange online for our visas for Australia, which we’ll be entering and exiting on several occasions over the next two years. 
  • Pay baggage fees online in advance of the upcoming flight (20-minute flight from Kauai to Oahu). 
  • Cleaning the property to ensure it is as spotless as it was when we arrived which includes using oven cleaner to clean the bottoms of the pots and pans we used, rearranging the cupboards once our food it out, moving the furniture back to its original place which we often move to accommodate our needs and my most dreaded, cleaning the refrigerator.
  • Tossing old worn clothing and almost-empty toiletries.
  • Pack everything one day prior to departure, making piles a few days prior.
  • Checking on upcoming accommodations to ensure they’ll have a roll of toilet paper, a bar of soap, towels and bottled water waiting for us in the event our flight arrives too late for shopping. 
  • Check on the safety of drinking the tap water where we’ll be living.
  • Check on the location of the best local grocery store.
  • Get the password for the Internet.
  • Contact Julie (our designated contact) with flight and accommodations, information, and inform her once we’ve arrived. 
  • Check on the availability of SIM cards for our phones allowing us to make calls when away from our laptops, check maps and use data as needed.
  • Ensure we have enough cash on hand for tips and taxis.

Also important when leaving the US for this extended period, we’ve had to be certain we had any necessary supplies or clothing on hand before we pack. Yesterday, we received a 20-pound package from our mailing service with supplies we’ve ordered. 

As always it was like opening a gift as Tom cut the box open for me while I stood by anxiously awaiting to go through its contents. Included in the box was such things as an electric razor for Tom (blades so expensive everywhere), a haircutter (I’m going to try to do a buzz cut for Tom which we’ll write about with photos), three pairs of Tom’s favorite cargo shorts with lots of pockets and a few cosmetic items for me.

Narrow one-way bridge on the way to Hanalei as we headed to Tunnels Beach.

The most exciting item in the box for me was the six new tee shirts. As I took off the tags, neatly folding them, I went through the drawers to determine what I was ready to toss to replace these. It wasn’t difficult. I found several shirts I hardly wear either due to wear and tear or a small stain that wouldn’t come out in the wash. I’d never wear a shirt with a stain so off in the garbage it went along with several other items.

As a result, my clothing load is back to its usual weight which won’t result in any excess baggage fees for the upcoming flights to include a flight on June 11th from Sydney to Cannes (information for which we recently posted).

A sandbar at the beach.

Another task we’ll accomplish on Monday is to arrange for the extension of the rental car which ends on May 15th when originally we’d planned to go back to Oahu for 9 days. But, after we realized how much we like it here in Kauai and how comfortable we are in this condo, we arranged an extension with the owner until May 23rd when we’ll fly to Oahu, staying over one night.

After spending 11 nights in Oahu when we first arrived in Hawaii, we’d decided spending 9 more nights wouldn’t appeal to us. There’s more commotion in Honolulu/Waikiki that we’d prefer. 

Crossing the Hanalei River on a one-way bridge. Notice the horse in the background.

Instead, we’ll spend one night at a hotel close to our favorite restaurant, Burger in Paradise where I had the best Cobb salad on the planet, and Tom, the best burger. It’s funny but we chose to stay overnight in Oahu, more to return to this restaurant than to make a stress free trip to the ship.  Well, almost.

We could easily have flown to Oahu on the same day as the cruise and taken a taxi to the pier. But, in our attempt to make travel as stress-free as possible, we decided to stay overnight. We’ll pack what we need in the duffel bag avoiding the necessity of opening our luggage, perhaps even wearing the same clothes (different underwear) two days in a row.

This tied up horse was grazing in the yard of an oceanfront property.

In my old life, I’d have been planning what to wear to board the ship; the outfit, the shoes, the purse, and the jewelry. Now, I throw on a pair of shorts or jeans, a tee-shirt, the same everyday shoes, and the same everyday earrings and I’m good to go. How I’ve changed. Tom does it as he always did. Nothing has changed there.

Also, there were credit cards in the package (when the others had expired) which we immediately activated and signed. Our snail mail is down to a minimum; most often government and pension stuff. 

With recent rains almost daily, vegetation is a lush green color.

After removing all the packaging and tags on the items in the box which, by the way, the 20-pound box cost $100 to mail, UPS from Nevada to Kauai, we put everything away feeling confident nothing upset our total baggage weight.

Today, it’s sunny and if it continues for another hour we just may head to the pool. Tonight is pot luck dinner at the home of friends Alice and Travis along with another couple, Louise and Steve’s who’s home we visited at our first Full Moon party. Without a doubt, this will be another enjoyable evening.

Ke’e Beach at the Napali Coast. We stopped by to see if there were any Hawaiian Monk Seal resting in the sand of which there were none.

We’re bringing salad and low carb muffins to share, with steak for Tom and yellowfin tuna for me for their grill.  Easy.

As we begin to knock off the items on the above list, we’ll be assured as always that we’ll have peace of mind.  Failure to procrastinate is imminent.

Happy Friday! Happy weekend!

                                               Photo from one year ago today, May 2, 2014:

These nuts and dried fruits sat in the sun day after day. For details from that date when Tom was sick, and I was being bitten by no-see-ums at night, and we couldn’t find insect repellent anywhere, please click here.

You’re cancelling on us?…How can that be?…

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We never tire of this amazing view of Hideaways Beach and Hanalei Bay.

We knew the possibility existed that a vacation rental, a flight, or a cruise could be canceled over which we’d have no control. If it were a flight, in most cases that would be remedied within 24 hours. If it were a vacation rental, especially if we’d booked it for weeks or months, it would be a difficult scenario to resolve the above three possibilities. 

If it was a cruise, leaving two weeks or more of our lives with a hole in our schedule, this could be costly in trying to fill the period of time. Besides, we often use cruises as a means of getting us to one location or another resulting in added airfare expenses. 

The combination of colors of the sea and the vegetation is always breathtaking.

The worst-case scenario would be the necessity of paying for a hotel, airfare, and meals for two weeks, which if planned carefully, we could accomplish for a cost similar to the cost of the cruise. Inconvenient? Yes. Costly? To a degree (see below).

Yesterday, we discovered that our booked cruise was canceled, scheduled from Sydney to Perth from April 12, 2016, to April 28, 2016, for a total of 16 nights. 

Tom had been reading comments online at cruisecritic.com about this possibility. We were never notified directly nor were our online friends, Staci and Glenn, who were also scheduled on this cruise, whom we were looking forward to meeting in person. 

Beautiful orchids.

Yesterday, Tom called our rep at Vacationstogo.com to inquire as to the status of the cruise. They weren’t notified either. Or perhaps with the thousands of cruises in their system, it could easily have been missed.

In any case, it was canceled, as we’ve discovered due to it being booked in its entirety for a private charter. If a wealthy individual or company chose to book an entire ship for an event, someone would be inconvenienced. They often begin to book as soon as they posted at a time two years out. In this case, the inconvenience lies with us.  Good thing we didn’t wait any longer to find out. 

Remote Hideaways Beach, accessible only by a steep partially paved path.

Yesterday, after speaking with our rep about alternatives, Tom went ahead instructing her to book us on a similar cruise that Royal Caribbean was offering as one of three options for replacement, all different dates, all different itineraries. Should we choose one of these three options, we’d been given a $200 onboard credit.

In reviewing the three options, only one offered dates similar to the canceled cruise, the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas, sailing from April 16, 2016, to April 30, 2016, for a total of 14 nights, the price slightly less for the shorter by two-night cruise. 

Another portion of Hideaways Beach.

Originally, we paid $4714.20 for a balcony cabin with taxes and gratuities included. The new cruise at $4510.36 for the same type of cabin, is not an appreciable difference although shorter by two days. The $200 credit will be sucked up in the first 30 minutes on a cruise when we order the $800 Internet package.

Sure, we could call RC and make some noise. Then again, what’s the point? Plus, that’s just not our style. In reality, we’re being compensated and for most of us, kinking a cruise a few days, a year in advance for $200 may not seem to be such a big deal. Although, we wonder how long they’d have waited before telling the passengers?

Zooming in, we spotted these sunbathers on the beach.  Looks like the guy standing is adjusting his snorkel.

For us, it presents a few issues, none of which we can’t manage with relative ease. One, we need to stay in New Zealand at the alpaca farm for four more nights or, if not available, a hotel in Sydney. On the other end, we’ll be two days late in arriving for our booked rental in Bali. They will either accept our change of dates or we’ll have to pay for two nights that we won’t be there. 

In all, this could cost us for six nights somewhere at an average cost of $200 per night, including housing and meals. It’s the nature of the beast. We budgeted for scenarios such as this and have seldom had to tap into that. Who’s to complain? Instead, it becomes a matter of figuring it out on both ends and biting the bullet for the added costs.

Future lily pods. They almost look like apples and are almost as large.

So far, we’re waiting to hear back from the property owners to see what transpires. We’ll post updates as to how it is resolved. In the meanwhile, here is the itinerary for the canceled cruise and then, the new cruise:

Canceled cruise itinerary:
Royal Caribbean – Explorer of the Seas, departs 4/12/16, 16 nights
Tue Apr 12 Sydney, Australia 9:00 pm 
Wed Apr 13 At Sea 
Thu Apr 14 At Sea 
Fri Apr 15 Wellington, New Zealand 3:00pm 10:00pm
Sat Apr 16 Picton, New Zealand 8:00 am 6:00 pm 
Sun Apr 17 At Sea 
Mon Apr 18 Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand 7:00 am 5:00 pm 
Tue Apr 19 Dusky Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 9:00 am 10:00 am
Tue Apr 19 Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) Noon 1:00 pm
Tue Apr 19 Milford Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 4:30 pm 5:30 pm
Wed Apr 20 At Sea 
Thu Apr 21 At Sea 
Fri Apr 22 Melbourne, Australia 8:00am 7:00pm
Sat Apr 23 At Sea 
Sun Apr 24 Adelaide, Australia 8:00am 7:00pm
Mon Apr 25 At Sea 
Tue Apr 26 At Sea 
Wed Apr 27 At Sea 
Thu Apr 28 Perth (Fremantle), Australia 6:00 am

New cruise itinerary:
Royal Caribbean – Voyager of the Seas, departs 4/16/16, 14 nights
Sat Apr 16 Sydney, Australia 5:00 pm 
Sun Apr 17 At Sea 
Mon Apr 18 Brisbane, Australia 7:00am 4:00pm
Tue Apr 19 At Sea 
Wed Apr 20 At Sea 
Thu Apr 21 At Sea 
Fri Apr 22 At Sea 
Sat Apr 23 Darwin, Australia 9:00am 5:00pm
Sun Apr 24 At Sea 
Mon Apr 25 At Sea 
Tue Apr 26 At Sea
Wed Apr 27 At Sea 
Thu Apr 28 Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), Malaysia 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Apr 29 Singapore 10:00am Sat Apr 30 Singapore Disembark

As shown, this second cruise is by no means as exciting as the first with considerably fewer ports of call and yet the price is comparable. Based on visa restrictions we must proceed with this new cruise or we’ll end up staying too long in either location. 

Pools refilled each day from the surf at high tide.

We booked it. Our previously paid $900 deposit transferred over, the $200 cabin credit is listed in our new cruise documents and the balance is due on the same date, January 16, 2016.  Yesterday, I entered all the changes in our spreadsheet in several locations: itinerary, Deposits Paid, and Balances Due, Cruises.

There it is, folks, the realities of the possible inconveniences of living a life in motion. We both took this in our stride. I suppose if this was our only vacation for a year or more, we may have felt differently. But, in this life, it goes with the territory. Literally.

Happy day!

                                               Photo from one year ago today, May 1, 2014:

In between the enclosed area of the souks were outdoor areas where more products are offered for sale. For details from that date, please click here.

Trip to a doctor?…What about a dentist?..How does this work in foreign lands?…

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The path that we’ve walked these few rainy days where we’ve found many beautiful plants and flowers.

This morning, I was responding to an email to our dear friend and 26-year neighbor Sue in Minnesota. She has homes in both Florida and Minnesota and will soon return to Minnesota now that the horrific winter has finally ended.

As I reported that we’re feeling well and healthy, I was reminded by the fact that neither of us has been to a doctor in a long time, me in September 2012 and Tom in December 2012 (he had tests while we were in Scottsdale) when we both received a clean bill of health.

It wasn’t as if we never intend to see a doctor. We simply decided that we won’t do so unless we can’t manage an injury or illness on our own. With plenty of antibiotics in our possession, we feel relatively secure, never taking them unless absolutely necessary.

These pretty pink flowers, Double Hibiscus, have begun to bloom right outside our door.

We’ve only used the antibiotics on a few occasions since we left when I couldn’t kick a three-week old sinus infection and again in Morocco a year ago when I had tried to recover for two weeks from a horrible intestinal infection I’d picked up from a salad on our first day there. I never ate a salad or uncooked item in a restaurant again while in Morocco.

There have been a few occasions that seeing a doctor came to mind, especially when we were injured on the collapsing stairs in Belize on our anniversary in 2013. Please click here to read about and see photos of what transpired.  

I had hurt my back and neck so badly, I thought I broke something. It took over a month to recover with self-care. To see a doctor in Belize required a four-hour drive each way. We didn’t go based on my insistence.

Chi’a Flower blooms in many colors.

In our old lives, especially when I was suffering from chronic pain and abnormal blood tests, it wasn’t uncommon for me to visit the doctor once every month or so. Once I began my way of eating in August 2011, within three months I no longer had the abnormal blood tests nor any pain, resulting in only visiting the doctor before we left Minnesota for a general physical and multiple immunizations in preparation for traveling to Africa.

Tom, who’d followed along on the diet with me and is doing so now, had lost 40 pounds, dropped seven medications a day, and no longer had IBS, GERD (heartburn), or Barrett’s Disease (an inflamed esophagus). To this day, he has no symptoms and in December 2012 when he had his final tests everything was normal.

Sure, a physical check-up, mainly for blood tests, would be good to do at some point. For now, we feel no need to do so other than to get a new prescription for our two Epipens which have both expired. Both allergic to bees (hornets and wasps) and with the huge bee population in Australia, we may need to make a doctor appointment in Cairns, shortly after we arrive.

This is the ever-blooming Ixora a widely used plant in landscaping in Hawaii.

My insurance doesn’t pay for office visits since Medicare doesn’t work outside the US. Plus, I waived Part B when discovering it won’t pay. Instead, we purchased international major medical for me and a policy for Tom as well, although he still has insurance that may or may not pay outside the US. Once he turns 65, his insurance drops and he’ll continue on with our international policy which offer emergency evacuation as well.

The fact that we don’t have insurance to pay for doctor visits has had little effect on our decision to avoid doctor visits other than consideration of the cost in Hawaii. We’d have gone here for the Epipens but, from what we’ve read online, the required office visit will cost considerably less in Australia than it would in the US, let alone Hawaii.

The bark on this live tree was peeling making us wonder if it was a seasonal thing.

We aren’t concerned that we haven’t been to a doctor all this time. We both feel wonderful healthy. Why would we? When we were kids we hardly ever saw the doctor unless we had a high fever or couldn’t shake an infection after many days, often weeks of waiting for it to subside. Those of you in our age group can relate to this.

As for the dentist, we tried once in Maui. But, Tom didn’t feel right when we arrived at the peculiar office arrangement to be told we’d have to wait an hour for our appointment. Somehow, red flags popped up for him.  We canceled and left, especially after we were told to wait for our appointment at the senior center across the street. 

More stunning anthurium flowers.

I would have been OK going ahead with it. Long ago, we agreed that if one of us doesn’t feel comfortable with an activity, we won’t do it, avoiding any argument, feelings of being pressured or shaming one another.
 
In the interim, we continue to spend tremendous effort in caring for our teeth. Currently, neither of us has any issues with our teeth or gums. At some point, we’ll arrange a cleaning in another country.

A Brown Gecko is commonly seen in the Hawaiian Islands.

This philosophy continues to work out well for us. It also works the other way around as well; if one of us longs to see a certain part of the world, then we’ll go. It’s always about safety and passion, safety first, passion second.

Again today, it’s raining off and on as it had for over a week. Although I’ve continued to work out at the Makai Golf Course’s fitness center and pool, we’ve only lounged by the pool on one occasion in the past week. 

A pair of Myna Birds on the hunt for food.  Not too much available in this parking lot.

When the sun peeks out for a bit and it often does, we head out for a stroll in hopes of getting a dose of Vitamin D, considerably important for the senior population. Here’s an excellent article on a study on the benefits of Vitamin D for both seniors and the younger population.

With a busy social weekend ahead on both Friday and Saturday night, we’re looking forward to seeing many of our friends once again. We’ll report back on these two events.

Be well and enjoy a wonderful Wednesday!

                                            Photos from one year ago today, April 29, 2014:

These clumps of yarn were hanging outside to dry on this railing outside the souk creating this scene. For details from this post, one year ago, please click here.

1000th post today!…How did we ever come to this?…A fabulous video to share!…Please check it out!…

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It took considerable time to get this video. Finally, Tom suggested I kept the camera opened and ready when we realized if I stood up to take the video, he’d stop singing. As a result, part of this video is through the screen door to the lanai, my view from where I was sitting at the time. Enjoy this simple video with us for the magnificence of Mother Nature and for the world around us, whether it’s a little bird or a Goliath rhino. It all matters.

Today we’re posting for the 1000th time. How did this happen so fast? Where did the time go? When we look back at prior posts we realize that so much has transpired, that we’ve had so many diverse experiences.

Often we noticed digitally enhanced photos of roses with raindrops. This photo is exactly as we took it when we walked after a rain shower a few days ago.

It’s hard to believe that on March 14, 2012, I sat down in my comfy chair in my old life and wrote the very first post found here? In the early days, I wrote sporadically as is the case for most bloggers. 

There are numerous varieties of Anthurium these included.

At that time, I seldom included photos for which I used my less-than-ideal smartphone camera, with little knowledge on how to adequately use the digital camera we had. 

It was only after we left the US on our first cruise that we purchased the first of three digital cameras we’ve since owned, each a little more sophisticated than the other. Finally, I began to learn to take photos and include photos in the posts which has proven to be an ongoing learning experience but pure labor of love.

Apparently, this is a Giant Sunflower, the first we’ve seen in our neighborhood.

There was a gap in time from leaving Minnesota until we first left the US, from October 31 to January 3, 2013, slightly over two months. Originally, when we were completing our paperwork to leave the US, we decided to rent a vacation rental in Scottsdale, Arizona for a few months.

This way, we’d be close to eldest son Richard in Henderson, Nevada, my sister in Los Angeles, and Tom’s sisters who spent the Minnesota winters in Apache Junction, Arizona each year. 

Often ambitious gardeners plant these parasitic type pods to a palm tree in order to grow more orchids. 

With plans to get together for the holidays of 2012 with all of the above family members, and more we also rented a vacation home in Henderson, Nevada for a week, leaving behind the rented condo in Scottsdale which had no room for overnight guests. We had a blast, to say the least.

During the remainder of our time in Scottsdale, we kept busy taking care of “paperwork” and other tasks associated with leaving the US; taxes, banking investments, lowest ATM fees, and exchange rate credit cards, new computers, phones, and digital equipment and on and on.

Close up of the orchids growing on the above parasitic pod is eye-catching.

We were busy almost every day of those two months in Scottsdale working on all of the above, taking walks in the neighborhood, going out to breakfast at a favorite local restaurant, US Egg, and fine-tuning our scheduled bookings for the upcoming two years. 

Packing in those days was a nightmare. We had 17 pieces of luggage. Now we’re down to two large, one medium, one computer bag, and a purse, for a total of five items. Big difference. Now, we can pack in 30 minutes. Then, it took days.

A new little palm tree had sprouted at the base of this tree.

After the holidays and saying goodbye, we left Henderson to return to the Scottsdale condo on December 27, 2012, for the few remaining days until we were ready to leave for San Diego, California for our first-ever upcoming cruise which was scheduled to sail on January 3, 2013. 

We loaded everything into Tom’s car and on January 1, 2013, we drove to San Diego to stay with my niece and her husband for two nights. On January 3rd, we drove to the pier in San Diego, spotted our ship, the Celebrity Century and for the first time the excitement kicked in. 

It looks like these are impatiens a popular shady area flower we often planted in Minnesota.

My sister Julie, her partner, and Richard met us in San Diego at the pier. Julie wanted to say goodbye and Richard came to say goodbye and to take the car off of our hands, later to sell it. Wow! How this all worked out so well still baffles us.

The excitement, the trepidation, the uncertainty, and a bit of fear washed over both of us. As the ship sailed away from the pier we looked at one another as we stood on the deck of the ship and Tom said, “Can you believe we did this?”

We were baffled when we spotted these buds unsure of what they’d become.

I shook my head as I looked deep into his blue eyes, “No, I can’t believe we did this.”

In time, the fear wafted away to be replaced by an innate sense of adventure and excitement which remains firmly in place today, 1000 posts later. In 26 days the adventure will continue as we board yet another ship on cruise #11 since that date in January 2013. 

And then, we walked a little further to spot these, and we had our answer, more exquisite orchids.

In eighteen days at sea, we’ll be in Australia, living close to the Great Barrier Reef, the Outback, the ocean, the jungle and wildlife galore, Funnel Web Spiders, Tiger Snakes, and crocs. Now, we’re talking adventure!

Thanks to all of our readers all over the world who have followed us, written to us, challenged us. Thanks to all the contributors to our site. Thanks to all the wonderful people we’ve met in our travels, on cruises, on beaches, at vacation homes, who invited us to social events, and to all of the people who assisted us in one way or another. 

A different arrangement of orchid buds.  We’re looking forward to when these all bloom, hopefully in the next 25 days while we’re still in Kauai.

We are humbled.  We are grateful and most of all, we’re in awe of the world around us. Let’s see what happens over the next 1000 posts!  Whatever it is, you’ll find it here, each day when you turn on your laptop, desktop, iPad, iPhone, or smartphone to see what’s happening, in the life…

Have a terrific Tuesday!

                                               Photo from one year ago today, April 28, 2014:

Houseman Samir warned us about purchasing spices from open containers such as these which were often stale or contaminated. Since Madame Zahra did all of our cooking, we had no use for spices during our period in Morocco. For more details, please click here.