Glad to be back, though I do miss the eternal summers in Hawaii (rainy or not) and the way the air smells and the fact that I could get huge avocados for next to nothing (papayas, too!)..I made some amazing guacamole while there.
Once Larry arrived we had a good time. Renting a car and driving to Kona was cool. We took a really fucked up and bumpy road there called the Saddle Road. I liked how many different terrains it took us through, though. Kona itself didn't do anything for me. I wasn't into shopping and everything was so pricey. I think we spent less than 2 hours in Kona, but driving over there and back was cool!
We met up with my niece and nephew and that was probably the highlight of the trip. Just riding around with them in the car, getting ice cream, giggling with L and talking with A was so cool. They are seriously into surfing now and A is really good (I can't believe he'll be 13 in October) and L is getting better (she will be 10)...They are tan and lean and look healthy. They live way off the grid in what I'd call a jungalow..a very open aired, non-traditionally structured house (it isn't even really a house...too hard to describe)...They are surrounded by jungle and it smells amazing there. It reminds me of places they used to live with their mom in. I guess the whole family is thinking about moving to Maui now for many different reasons. Sounds like a good plan as long as they can afford to live there. They really are such amazingly cool kids. They aren't spoiled (because they've never had much) and they are really mellow and easy to be with.
We took them down to Kalapana and ate at the Kalapana cafe, and we also went to view the lava flow that is currently active and oozing into the ocean. I got some great video and photos of it. I'm glad we were able to see it at sunset and when it was fairly dark. It is all orange and and pink and red vapors and fires and it kind of reminds me of what Hell would look like..I've never seen anything like it before (and doubt I ever will again)...so glad we could all experience it.
I'm still sort of jet lagged and on Hawaii time. It'll take a few more days before I'm on Oregon time.
Not much else. Doing tons of laundry. Getting my night guard from the dentist today. I'm really hungry. Not much in the way of food here, though.
Oh, looking for jobs again...hopefully I get one right away and it is something I really enjoy. I'm hoping to do care giving full time. We'll see how it all pans out.
