August 2018

August 2018

We hit our one year mark this month!

This is my reward for walking early in the morning.

We had an office retreat where we got to go off campus for the whole day. This is a view on a mountain across the valley from Diamond Head (left in the background) and the ocean. We had a lot of training and games which turned out to be really informative and fun. Then we went to a restaurant in Honolulu for lunch at a Korean BBQ. Sadly the sun was not in the right direction so you can't see the faces of the great students I get to work with. But the view across the valley was amazing.

This was a really fun place where you cook and eat all the meat and veggies you want for 2 hours for $17 each. John, a Korean student in the office, was in heaven ordering and cooking for our table. It's a gas grill underneath and you just stir fry all your own food. They truly lost money on the guys at our table. We went through so much wonderfully flavored Korean meat.

I want to highlight a student here. This is Melisa and her younger brother from Colombia. She and her husband, John, from the Philippines, are students in our Ward. She's so cute and such a little pixie. She just graduated with her elementary ed teaching degree and is also our Ward Primary President. Melisa served a mission in Brazil and her mission president was John Tanner, the current BYU-Hawaii president. She proves there's more to Columbia than drugs!

Hurricane Lane

I really didn't know what I was going to put in the blog this month, and then things got really exciting. I'm sure you've all been aware of Hurricane Lane coming toward the islands. I thought I'd share our experience.

Because school is out for the months of July and August and things are very slow on campus, we planned a visit to the Big Island.  The BYU-H missionaries have time for these adventures because we serve around the school schedule. The PCC missionaries are busier during summers and holidays and don't have time for off island excursions. We got permission to take off from our office directors and our mission president.

We flew into Kona on Monday, Aug. 20, the west side of the Big Island and rented a great condo right on the beach through VRBO. We didn't know what a great place we had until we got there. It was directly on the beach. Most of the beaches on the Big Island are lava beaches, certainly not inviting. Oahu definitely has the best beaches we've ever seen with beautiful sand on every beach.

This place had a portable AC in the living room only. We definitely love our second floor apartment above the trees with cool trade winds every night. No need for AC.

We didn't hear a single dog or rooster for three days. But we still couldn't sleep in. Our internal clock hasnt changed. 

This is the beach front of our condo. Not inviting but beautiful in it's own way and put us very close to the water.

*****

Mon. Aug. 20 This morning we drove from Kona down to South Point. This is the southernmost point of the United States, even further south than the Florida Keys. The next landmass south is Antarctica. At these cliffs some crazy kids jump the 40 feet into the ocean and then climb up the rickety, rusty ladder. After visiting the place, my son David told us that he had jumped off these same cliffs when he visited. It's best that mothers never know these things. 

One of the crazy kids...

We also came across one of their famous black sand beaches. This sand is not fun to walk on since it's pebbles of crushed up lava.

Great little bakery known all over the island for their sweet Hawaiian breads and desserts. You could watch their baking process through the windows.

Because the Volcano National Park was closed due to the recent lava flows, we turned back toward our condo. We had dinner with an old friend of Steve's that he knew 35+ years ago in Hardin, Montana. We ate with him and his wife and two couples from BYUH who were visiting. This fellow eventually moved to the Big Island and taught at the University of Hawaii. All this time we were keeping an eye on the hurricane activity.

On Tues. Aug. 21 We drove north from Kona up to the northernmost part of the island. We drove through lots of old lava flows from volcanoes that flowed in the 1800's and early 1900's. These were pretty desolate and unappealing. Part of the scenery looked like Arizona and only has 6 inches of rain a year.

As we drove further north it turned into landscape that reaches 100 inches of rain a year.

We had to hustle and get back to Kona to our adventure of snorkeling with the manta rays. Several folks had said this was a 'must do'. So we booked the tour. Ours was a sunset tour, and thankfully they provided wet suits. Since we don't have a water camera, I'll just have to tell you about it.

The manta ray food is plankton which shows up near the ultra violet lights produced under water. The food brings in the mantas and they swim within inches of us as they feed. We are all in the ocean holding on to this floating contraption with lights and our feet are held out by swim noodles so as not to touch the mantas. Of course we all have snorkel gear on.

I had no idea what a manta ray was. Kind of ugly but fascinating. I borrowed these images from our tour company since we didn't have our own.

As you can see they're quite large.

After our swim we went to the condo, did laundry and packed up to leave early the next morning. The VRBO's usually have washer/dryers so we like them much better than hotel rooms. The hurricane reports were not favorable so we wanted to get out early and head north and inland to sight-see.  Since we were on the Kona beach side of the island where the hurricane was heading, we didn't plan to come back to the condo. We called the owner and told him we were heading off and would mail him the keys. He didn't want them left under the mat. Maybe he'll give us a break since we had paid for two more days.

Wed. Aug. 22.We started early to stop at Walmart for a few food items  in case we got stranded with the weather. We picked up 2 cases of water, a loaf of bread, and peanut butter and jam, We figured that could hold us out for a few days. Sadly we had to leave our milk and ice cream in the condo. The north side of the island is so lush and beautiful with up to 100 inches of rain a year. It was very cloudy and sometimes we could hardly see the road because of the clouds. We had an app called 'gypsy app' that provided a narrated tour of everything we were seeing, suggesting side tours, local and ancient Hawaiian history and stories, vegetation, towns to visit, etc. It was a fabulous personal tour guide. 

We reached this low spot also on a side tour. Let me tell you it was so scary. As we drove the narrow one lane road, the side ditches were roaring with rain water and we crossed a narrow bridge over an angry stream. The guide on our app was just talking about the danger of flash floods. I know this was not safe but it started out just fine. Fortunately we were on a loop that took us back to the main highway.

This is the Waipi'o Valley on the north side of the island.  It was one of the side trips suggested by our 'gypsy app'. Many years ago many of the natives that lived in the valley were washed away by a tsunami. The valley floor at sea level is almost 2,000 ft below the surrounding terrain. A steep road leads down into the valley from this lookout point at the top. The road gains 900 vertical feet in 0.6 miles at a 24% average grade with up to 40% grades in sections. The road is paved but is open only to 4WD vehicles. It is the steepest road of it's length in the US. You can hike down but it was pouring rain while we were there. It would have been a fun adventure. As a side note this valley was the site of the final scene in the 1995 film 'Waterworld', where the main characters found dry land. Guess we'll have to find the movie. I think Kevin Costner was in it:)

 This is what it looks like on a clear day.

*****

Parker Ranch is a working cattle ranch also on the north side of the island. The family members have all died off so it's run by a charitable trust. The ranch was started in 1847 and is one of the oldest ranches in the US, even predating ranches in Texas and other SW states by nearly 30 years. It spreads across approximately 250,000 acres on the island and they say it's the largest ranch in the US. There are about 26,000 head of cattle on the ranch. We did see lots of cattle along the drive. The tour guide talked about the amazing organic local beef that some of the restaurants serve. Along the road we came to 'Tex', a joint that sold hamburgers using the local beef. A student in our ward said we just had to go there. They also sell malasadas, a large Portuguese donut, with different fillings; chocolate, bavarian cream, etc. I had the Portuguese soup, great for a cold day, and Steve had the burger, we shared the Bavarian cream-filled malasada. Frankly, I would not have know the difference on the beef. I guess I don't have a discriminating palate.

*****

By this time we were heading towards Hilo the largest city on the east side. We were following Highway 19 which circles the island and would probably take 6 hours to get completely around. We later heard this highway was closed in several places because of rain and landslides. The rains in Hilo were torrential and we stopped to decide what our plan was. It finally dawned on us that we needed to get out of there or get a hotel and hunker down. We had cancelled our helicopter tour of the volcano and waterfalls the day before. The public schools and government offices had been closed for W, TH and F. Many places we wanted to visit were not available because of rain, clouds and closings. There were several hikes to famous waterfalls (Akaka and Rainbow Falls) we wanted to take but they were behind locked gates and of course it was too rainy. We wanted to visit the Keck Observatory at 9200 ft. elevation near the Mauna Kea volcano in the center of island. This is the volcano that often has snow on it's 14,000 foot high peak. But that was closed also. There was nothing we could do but get home.

We quickly drove to the airport, only 9 minutes away and swapped our Friday tickets for an immediate flight home. The Kona and Hilo airports are so small they just have outdoor buildings with no walls. We dropped off our rental car and hopped on the next flight, only a 1/2 hr. wait. The flight was a bit bumpy and we flew through the clouds the whole way. It felt good to be heading home with so much uncertainty on the Big Island. We feel blessed to have made the decision to get home. Now we can await the hurricane if it comes to Oahu. At least we are better prepared for it at home.

Thurs. Aug. 23 The school and PCC are both closed today. We topped off our gas tank, and bought a few more groceries, though we have plenty of food. In case the power goes out, I made banana muffins, a ham/potato soup, and a meatloaf and cooked it. All these can be eaten cold if necessary. We have a good supply of canned veggies, fruit, chicken, tuna, beans, etc. and lots of water. We even have a camp stove with propane gas. The previous missionaries left it to us and we'll leave it for the next missionaries when we go home.

The students have been directed to stay in their hale (dorms). If flooding occurs, bottom floor students go up to the 3rd floor. BYU has enough food for all students to have two small meals a day for 2 weeks. The rest of us can take care of ourselves.  We've had rain off and on today, nothing big nor big winds. Everyone is going about doing their usual activities. The neighbor kids are out playing, someone is mowing their lawn, etc.

Now we wait and pray.  Thanks for all of your prayers also.

Fri. Aug. 24. We took a nice walk this morning before any rain started. We took a carton of 'Meadow Gold Fruit Punch" to a homeless woman at our local beach, her name is Patricia. We check on her quite often. She has no teeth and is specific in what she needs and wants. She likes cookies that she can gum, specifically Oreos and cinnamon graham crackers and of course the fruit punch. She lives at the beach and was very upset because they locked the bathrooms during the storm. She refuses to go to any shelters or churches. Somehow she lost her chair and was sitting on the short cement wall. When we asked what we could do for her she asked for a chair. We went home and grabbed our folding camp chair and took it back to her along with a clean pair of socks. She was delighted. I'll have to go to 'give and take' on campus and look for anything she could possibly use. This is the student thrift store where students can drop off items usually when they move home.

We've had a quiet day at home mostly reading and watching the rain and wind come and go. I wondered if this is what retirement is like. I feel I didn't get to retire much between my last day of work and the day we left on our mission. We did take a few vacations, visited kids and did a lot of cleaning out but it was a very busy time. Today I just sat around and read, worked on this blog and watched the weather. I did make rolls this morning but they weren't successful. They mostly turned out like biscuits:) Oh well, we'll still eat them and Patricia loved them. We also filled many containers of water and the bathtub in case we need it through any emergency. Several neighbors boarded their windows and filled sand bags around their homes.

Our sweet neighbor children, the 5 Faustino children, brought us cupcakes with a rainbows (sweet & sour candy) with marshmallows as the clouds.  When they were so confined yesterday, they played games, watched movies, played soccer in the house and baked to keep themselves busy. They have a very creative mama, Melissa.

Sat. Aug. 25 - We are not out of the woods. It can still be dangerous. Hilo, on the Big Island where we were, has received 3-4 feet of rain. Again we feel so blessed to safely come home early.  

From the Sr. Missionary Facebook post:

"I want to say that a miracle truly happened today. Hurricane Lane was a monster lumbering towards us with immeasurable power. The level of destruction on the big island was terrifying. Predictions all along kept saying it would lessen in strength, but hour after hour it barely changed, and as time went on, it began to feel like Oahu truly was it's intended target. Then at the 11th hour...poof, it simply fell apart. Think they over estimated it's force? Tell that to the Big Island.

I know that the hand of God protected and guided us. I know that He heard the prayers of our children and grandchildren from home and I want them to know that I felt their love and support from across the seas. I felt it, I was blessed by it and I am inspired and humbled because of it.

Kudos to the planning, the dedication and the hours of hard work from our officials and public servants. The greatest miracle is that there was no loss of life. That wasn't a lucky accident. That was many answered prayers.

This is the sunset that greeted us at the Honolulu airport when we arrived home. All the passengers were standing at the window taking pictures and grateful to be home safely.

A quote I just heard..."The best antidote I know for worry is work.  The best cure for weariness is the challenge of helping someone who is even more tired.  One of the great ironies of life is this: He or she who serves almost always benefits  more than he or she who is served."

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