16JAN2010 - going home

Sad but true, we had to fly back home. At least this trip we were on the same plane, and there were lots of empty seats, so I had 2 by myself and Kortni moved to the row behind her and got 3 to herself!

Just a little science here, if the cap is closed at take off, when you open the bottle during flight, it squirts you in the face because the pressure increased due to the atmospheric pressure change (the part that makes ears pop), likewise, when you are landing, if the bottle is capped and empty, the pressure change causes the bottle to collapse. YES, I saved the bottle for the children without messing with it so they could see. The only part they really cared about is that they still haven't gotten to fly anywhere. :D

We got to Portland around 9:00 PM, Rob picked us up around 10-10:30ish. We hooked up with kurt around...late at Denny's just off of I-5 in Albany and made it to Duke & Annie's to stay the night around 12:30 AM. Sigh.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Alrighty folks, there is a COSCO on Oahu. We couldn't stop to eat at the many, many little authentic *mom & pop* type trailers of authentic, local food, it scared Kadi, they probably aren't safe...(right. like they could get much worse than my own kitchen at home). So we had lunch at COSCO folks. Same food they sell at every Cosco I have ever been to. Comforting...yet somehow just not...well...exotic enough for vacay lunch.

We bought some mini cheesecakes and other foods Phil liked to snack on once inside and we planned his "reenlistment party" for the evening, with Apples to Apples of course.




We SAW these mochi and sent the photo to Dad and did not buy any. Dad would have bought at least one box, probaby 2. He loves mochi.

Then Kadi dropped Kortni & I off at Hanauma Bay so we could snorkel. We bought new bathing suits at Cosco (they are under our clothes, you didn't want us to frighten children off of the beach did you?) Most of our photos here are with reusable, 35mm, underwater cameras and I haven't scanned any of my prints yet. We'll get around to that eventually. We saw mahi mahi, and schools of convict something fish (black and white striped) and urchins and coral and we had a FANTASTIC time - got back to the beach to find that Kadi had been calling and texting repeatedly...as if we were going to hang out on the beach next to our phones at Hanauma? ARE YOU CRAZY?? Phil was scheduled to pick us up at 4:30ish... We didn't have time to go back in, but we had been in the water over 2 hours :D This is a MUST DO event if you are on Oahu, even if you have to rent gear. It's SO worth it (even if the locals think it's cold this time of year).

Then we have Mike. Apparently the ONLY photo I took at the *party,* during the evening time. We had yummy mini cheesecakes and eventually got around to the Apples to Apples. Phil won...I think. I know I didn't win :( Eh, whatever :D

January 14, 2010 - Phil's Reenlistment, Bowling...stuff

Sgt. Spatz reenlisted in the Marines. Beautiful day, rather short ceremony. Kadi got a certificate for being a wonderful and supportive wife.

After Phil's reenlistment ceremony, we went to lunch at Pinky's because he got the rest of the day off. Then some shopping on base, grocery type shopping. Then a quick stop at a beach I remember from my last trip, because of the "Chinaman's hat" sticking up from the water (even found a book about this beach, which is why I know they call it Chinaman's Hat).  There happened to be para-sailors there too. Two that were having trouble lifting off and one flying around. AND I found a coconut...that someone's dog apparently tried to cart off while I was down at the rest area, Kadi & Kortni didn't let the dog have it lol.

We went bowling on base Thursday night, and finished the evening at home playing Apples to Apples (oh wait, there was a brief stop at Kailua Palace to karaoke).

Lookie What I can do...January 12 & 13 in ONE post

We hit Windward Mall. I found a junk store...aka, the kind with inexpensive Asian foods that I love, and I found Korean Style Nori on sale for $0.95/3pk - tasty. YES, I bought one that I am not opening for RUBY! I also found gen mai cha for $8/lb, but didn't buy any because I just bought 2# back home. We did the crazy photo booth thing, and it's REALLY small in there. Then it was off to Spencer's to buy stuff for Kortni's bachelorette party. The front of Spencer's is full of  cool socks, tights, hats, bags...the back of Spencer's was moderatlely frightening. 
Bad photo, but it's a Kermit stocking cap folks, yes, they sell stocking caps on island. Crazy isn't it? I am not sure why they do this, but I saw them all over.




I found a photo of myself marking the ladies room at Windward, and a Hello Kitty store (yes, I thought of Patricia, NO, I did not buy the very expensive, I LOVE NERDS bag, even though it was so totally cute!! The party store had the most disturbing poster I have seen in quite a while hanging in the window. Yes, they put purplish hair on that child and made her look...like a freakish leprechaun - eerie. Sorry folks, that's just a bit too much, she looks FIVE...just not cool.

After the mall, off to Chinatown. I like Chinatown, it doesn't scare me. Marines are not supposed to visit Chinatown because of the crime related to it, but we were on a mission. We needed mangosteen and to eat something at Pho 97 where Randy & Loan said we should have noodles. We didn't have time for noodles as we were on a schedule, but we did grab some spring roll type things that I like, one veggie, one pork, and they were YUMMY!!!


After that, it was off to Duke's Waikiki, then to the open air market and Kortni and I didn't just find this cool waterfall with Koi pond, we also found 7 for $20 t-shirts!!

I will finish later :D OKAY - the 25th is officially LATER!!
Kadi kept us busy...very busy. Pics from the 13th...

We went to North Shore...we did not buy any overpriced drinks in frighteningly carved monkey coconuts. I think it was supposed to be a monkey.


There were tomatoes in my coconut milk based clam chowder - folks, I'm all for exotic foods, but this chowder was just flat WEIRD!! and gave me stomach cramps.

Then walking through shops (apparently we didn't come to go to any beach or see the water, surfers, etc...we came to North Shore to eat at that surfer tourist restaurant and walk through shops). I liked this piece of artwork...cuz it's 3D - it has cool stuff on it, and fish and it's my favorite colors :D

You weren't supposed to take photos at this crazy...art gallery? I'm not exactly sure what it is, but it looked like an art club/gallery/hippie fest. After several photos I came across a sign in the ground that requested "NO PHOTOS." Yeah. whatever.

We went to beaches with high surf, strong current warnings. Didn't make them any less beautiful :D it did make us less beautiful as high winds blew our hair all about :D

FISHING!! Oh yeah, It's Monday, January 11, 2010

So our day begins. We got up at - 3:30/4 AM? I dunno, I straggled. Doesn't take me long to dress like a fisherwoman. It was still dark, and me in my long sleeves and leggings under my skirt...I was roasting before we even got out of the house. Our charter boat left from the Hickman Air Force Base. Civilians can also take this charter, as Sonny, the Captain, can sponsor them onto the base, but we had Phil. Kadi, Kortni and Phil NAPPED on our way out. Can you believe that - the most exciting fishing adventure ever, and they were napping. I can't nap. I am too full of curiousity, wonder, questions, and awe. The sky was beautiful, the sliver of the moon was beautiful, the water was beautiful. It was all amazing and wonderful. I have selected a handful of photos from today, because we took lots, and we don't need them all to tell you about the events :) Phil caught the first fish, an *ono,* and apparently mainlanders call them "wahoo." My turn was next and I caught a mahi mahi (I like mahi mahi, and they're pretty). The long skinny fish is Phil's ono. My mahi mahi was big...until Kortni got hers on board...and hers was bigger than mine. Then, Kadi put us all to shame, on her turn at the real, her mahi mahi was like 20 pounds and close to 3 feet long. Then we kind of just cruised around for a while, trolling, but catching nothing. 

We saw TONS of whales (yeah, no clue about what kind). Jumping whales, diving whales, whale spouts, awesome whales. We also saw beautiful water, birds diving for fish, sailboats and shoreline. I love it, I really think I could live aboard (especially since sailboats are quieter and that's what we'd live on).




 Kyle & Neil were our deckhands, and today was Neil's first day. Kyle has been on the boat for almost 4 years, and Sonny helped him to earn his Captain's License! Next month, Kyle will be leaving for Astoria, Oregon, where he's been sponsored to attend the Maritime Academy for their 2 year program to learn more about the sea and piloting larger craft! He is a very nice young man, and it's really exciting for me to have met him and hear him share his love of the ocean - and know that someone has invested in his education so that he will have a rock solid career doing something he loves, with enough education to make a decent living at it.
The flags on the rigging were put up as we were running in, they are to indicate what sort of fish we caught, the larger or more numerous fish being the highest flag. Kyle added that those flags were going to be flown at half mast because they were also coming back dead...


At the end of it all, we came home to package fish and cook up some dinner (which, by the way , was AMAZING and DELICIOUS). Kadi and Phil cleaned up and packaged all of the fish that we weren't going to eat today so it could be frozen...and packed into the freezer so we can take it home to Dad. 

While Phil was packaging the fish, I noticed that a perfectly upside down version of him was reflecting in the ball/knob handle of the cake platter display, so I took a photo of that too :D

My Dad only called...I dunno, about 20 times probably, altogether...during this fishing trip, to see how we were doing - He was probably the MOST excited person involved in the trip, and he didn't even get to be on the boat :(  THANK YOU DAD for an awesome day of fishing, the opportunity to meet Sonny, Neil and Kyle - that last one, btw, we're bringing to Kortni's wedding :D