Sorry Via Rail. “Might” doesn’t cut it. Not after I have already spent $200 changing flights. ViA Rail still gave me my money back. I am out less than $400 on this entire mess. Would I have done anything different. Nope. Would I have gotten some sort of trip insurance? Must likely not. Bought “flex” tickets. Not happening. I don’t like losing $400. But, shit happens.
Gratitude
Grateful for topical Benadryl. I sat on a bee the other night.
Note to Carlton: Clive Cussler died yesterday. Think I will round the earliest book of his that we have in our Kindle library and give it another read.
Since I gave myself 4 more days in Kona – I feel like I am enjoying a bonus round of aloha.
The stock market is tanking, the Democrats are still a circular firing squad, the orange lord is still playing at being cheeto-n-chief, Covid-19 is preparing to terrify us. But, all is right with my world. Spam, papayas, ocean, sun, trade winds, Charles Mingus on the Alexa.
Gratitude
Grateful for that wonderful feeling that I get when I first swim away from the shore. The ocean fixes anything that is wrong.
I was pretty sure this was going to happen. But I was still less than overjoyed when this came pinging into my inbox while I was enjoying my first cup of coffee.
I decided that I would just go directly back to The Asylum. But not on March 1 as originally planned, but on March 5. Giving me another few days of tropical goodness. No adventure that I might have undertaken along the way matched my clothes. And, frankly, I am a tiny bit concerned about some unforeseen travel kerfuffle that Corona Virus might cause. I have not had stellar trip planning karma in 2020.
Gratitude
Happy to the way back finalized. (But, I thought I had that done a month ago!)
What can I say? This is my last Sunday. Already have a week full of “last” lunches, breakfasts, and dinners lined up. All that is missing is a plan to get home. Canada Rail is not running my train on March 1. Tomorrow, we shall see about March 2nd – which is my ticket date. And on Tuesday – well then I will spring into action and make a new plan, which seems highly likely.
Took some video of the boys doing their practice this morning. But, I am a little too lazy to make a 30 second movie this afternoon. Also took some fish movies during my swim – but I think it might have been too cloudy (both the sky and sea). It was chilly.
Gratitude
Grateful for my wetsuit. Love it. Love it. Love it.
Yes, I put Dark Mode away on all my devices and the blog. The world is dark enough. But, I am pretty sure that Dark Mode will return.
Still in a holding pattern about going east. Canada Rail cancelled my train on Feb 29. But, it wasn’t going to be leaving Vancouver on Feb 29 anyhow, so, I am still “holding”. I have set Tuesday as my drop dead date to deploy one of my backup plans.
Gratitude
Grateful to have found this quirky old film time photo in my catalog yesterday. I haven’t a clue where was taken or when.
The early 80s? East Coast/South? We Sold Your Neighbor.
Almost finished reading a book about Robert Louis Stevenson. I was hoping it would say more about his time here in Hawai’i. He spent 6 months here in 1889, hanging out with King David Kalakaua. He even came to exciting downtown Kailua-Kona. I am happy to report that I seem to have recovered, at long last, my ability to read. Even things of some seriousness.
Been messing around with browsers again: Chrome, Safari, Opera. With the crappy bandwidth at the hotel and my VPN, Opera is the hands down winner.
Starting to think seriously about breaking camp and heading East. These 3 things have been on every trip with me for years. A good quality but ultra light day pack, a shopping bag that my friend Melissa gave me (it used to say Walk Arlington, but I walked the letters off), and tiny Nikon binoculars that I paid a lot of yen for in Japan.
Via Rail will give me my money back if I want it. Starting now. They have cancelled trains on my route through Friday Feb 28. I am supposed to leave on Tuesday Mar 2. That train only leaves Vancouver on Friday and Tuesday. I am going to give it another couple of days. It would be an “adventure” to be on the first train out. Would the tracks be reblocked? Would we have to be rescued by the RCMP?
Gratitude
For dear friends back at The Asylum. Else, I might be AWOL. Or even a deserter.
For dear friend here in Kona who dropped off 2 dinners for me this morning.
Friends. They are what really matter. I am truly blessed.
Still lots of potential trains to take. Even to Churchill.
Actually, not so sure about the train to Churchill. It might well be full. It would just be easier to take the trip that is all planned and paid for. Including 3 plane segments. Truly an old rich blessed white woman problem.
I was doing much better with “digital distraction” until The Cheeto-N-Chief as not convicted. Since then I have gone batshit – every five minutes clicking on things to see what outrage he has committed. Removed all notification privileges from my news apps – except for Hawaii News Now. And, I made my news apps harder to access. Extra Grateful: Carlton did not live to see the current state of the union world.
Grateful that my legs are better than year. And that my shoulder is heaps better.
Today, Canadian Rail said they will refund tickets on or before March 1. My ticket is for March 2. So, I am guessing that soon I will be able to get my money back. All things considered, I would rather take the trip. It might be interesting.
Wandered past my very favorite hibiscus bush this morning.
Gratitude
Finding a book that I haven’t listened to in my Audible library read by Scott Brick.
Can you believe all the creeps that the creep-in-chief pardoned yesterday? Even a Democratic creep. Guess he is trying to set up a precedent.
On a more cheerful note – I still fit into my travel pants. Now, if my travels can only get settled. Canada Via Rail laid off 1,000 workers today. Might need to come up with Plan B.
Went out to Old Airport Beach to supervise the sunrise this morning. There were lots of ghost crab tunnels. Didn’t have the correct gear to photograph the crabs.
Ghost Crab on Honl’s – 2015
Here is a picture from 2015. I got curious about ghost crabs. So, I did a little research. Turns out, the size of the tunnel opening indicates the size of the crab that lives in it. Reproductively mature male ghost crabs arrange the sand they’ve excavated from their burrow into a neat pyramid-shaped pile next to the entrance. Females and juveniles just scatter sand around. They are true marine creatures – so they don’t drown. But, they are able to spend most of their time above the reach of the ocean because they have a water-tight external skeleton that prevents water loss and keeps them from drying out. A special gill chamber lets them “breathe” air as long as their gills stay moist, either in the humid shelter of their tunnels by day or by periodically scampering into the ocean when out scavenging at night. More than you ever wanted to know about ghost crabs. Wonderful little critters.
Lunch today. I ordered fries and burger. Should have dialed 911. To die for. Hope I still fit into my traveling pants. I didn’t eat all the fries – but nothing else was left.
Bacon, cheese, avocado teriyaki burger.
Gratitude
Grateful for everyone who works to be sure that I am well fed. From farmer to waitperson, and everyone else along the way.
Two weeks from today, I really hope to be training my way across North America. Either through Canada. Or I take the California Zephyr. Or something else. Everyday at 5PM Via Rail in Canada updates its closure/refund status. I am going to do nothing until I can get my money back from Via Rail. I figure it will be next Tuesday or Wednesday before I will know. And, a massive coronavirus uptick could change everything.
Gratitude
A month here in Kona with my three good friends from Iowa. I am sure not going to go see them in Iowa. In winter.
Oh and this is really bad. The Cheeto in Chief, Corona virus, the circular firing squad formerly known as the Democratic Party: None of these Matter.
Avocado Lace Bugs. They Matter. Big Time.
On December 16th, avocado lace bugs were found on Oahu. And, last week they showed up here on Big Island. Thank you California. Or whoever sent them to us.
Only 2 weeks left. So, I decided to enjoy the day. I spent the entire day at the Tahitian dance contest. It was a great way to spend the day.
Gratitude
Microwave Mac and Cheese when I came home at 5pm. Ten hours after breakfast. Guess I am really grateful for Percy Spencer who is generally credited with “inventing” the microwave – or RadarRange as it was called in 1946.
Now, I am tired and am going to microwave my leftover coffee, eat some chocolate and call it a day.
An otherwise-normal Saturday was made special by the annual Valentine’s Day Weekend Tahitian Dance Contest. The clips are from the individual competitions. The first group are ladies in the 35-39 category. The next group ar 40 and over. The man is well over 40. He could compete in the over 70 category, if they had one. The last is 11-13 year olds. Didn’t film any of the really young kids. Didn’t want to be arrested for kiddie porn. Because Tahitian dancing is all about sex. 100%.
And, as a bonus – I was visiting friends in the other hotel building this evening and one of the Tahitian dance halau was practicing out front of their room. The group competitions are tomorrow.
