Pamela Dore Arrives - May, 2010

(Click on a picture to enlarge)

Arriving from West Seattle on the 4th of May for a 6 day stay.

Pamela had a big wish list and at the top was going surfing! Our friends Terry & Lisa Dorries led the way to a good surf spot and Terry provided a surfboard.

Testing the water



I tried shooting a Hi-def video for the first time with my recenlty aquired Canon 5D Mark II camera. Not so good but I learned a lot. Like, when shooting Hi-def you really need a tripod or, better yet, a Steadicam rig because it's almost impossible to hand hold without having camera shake resulting in a jittery mess, like this one!. But here goes anyway. Pamela wasn't out there more than 5 minutes before she caught her first wave.
Click here:

Pamela catches a wave video

Waiting for the next ride.

Standup Paddle Surfboarding is becoming very popular. This guy came surfing by as Pamela stared at another missed wave. He was very proficient, all over the place, catching waves and riding them in, then paddling back to grab the next one.

Coming in - happy surfer

On another day we took a drive out the Hana Highway into the jungle.....

First stop was a favorite little bay that is an easy drive to an overlook and a short walk to the edge. Being the extreme collector of "Jump Shot's" that she is, we had to get a couple. Especially special because of her proximity to the 800 foot cliff edge! (Click to enlarge)

Windy

Our destination down the Hana Hwy. was this grove of Rainbow Eucalyptus

Closeup (photo by Pamela)

A friend planted these very rare bananas in this area. The are bright red and fuzzy. One day in Haiku he told me how to find them. They were back in the jungle off the road in a swamp, this variety needs an abnormal amount of water. He asked me to photograph them for him. That was a few months ago, so, it was fun to return and see that the number of these have increased - a successful experiment, I'd say.

Do you think Pamela & Tracy ate some of those bananas?

There were more adventures as well as plenty of rest & relaxation, but time came for the goodbye dinner out. One of our favorite restaurants in Paia is Cafe Mambo. It has become tradition to take our guests there for..........you'd never guess.........Paella! Then one can say, "I had Paella in Paia" which is, well, fun to say and quite delicious - in fact the best we have ever had!
(BTW Paia is pronounced Pah-ee'-ah and Paella is pronounced Pah-ay'-ah)
(Photo by our server using Pamela's camera)

Pamela left us with many great photos. This panorama is of Baldwin Beach, our local hang-out 15 minutes (by auto) from where we live. That's Neil and a bit of Tracy there on the shore. You'll usually find us way down near the end to right under the shade trees. Come on by!
(Click to enlarge)

Robin & Jeanne in April

In April Robin arrived. She has family in Honolulu so she set up her trip to swing through Maui on her way home to Poulsbo, WA. A couple of days later Jeanne arrived from Northport, WA.

                                 Jeanne                                                     Robin

Hanging out in the morning.

Late afternoon at Ho'okipa Beach Lookout near where we live and great place in the winter for surfers, sail boarders and kite surfers all going off at the same time - and yes, it can get sort of cool here.

Robin stayed for 5 days. One thing she loved was snorkeling and we managed to get in two good trips. The first was right after we picked her up early in the morning at the airport. We proposed heading straight over to one of our fave. snorkel spots across the island and she was totally up for it and ready to go! Nothing like starting off the day with a good swim/snorkel and then breakfast at the Kihei Caffe. Robin left on the 15th.


 Jeanne stuck around:

The Inverted Massage Chair Position

Induces silly thoughts and nonsense!

Jeanne stayed busy and active, seeing friends on the island who have horses, swimming, making new friends and lot's of exploring.

She's a go-go adventurer and couldn't wait to get Tracy and head up the slopes of Haleakala for a Zip Line adventure. Here she is ready to ride!

Info here:  http://www.zipline.com/locations/haleakala

Here is a video of Jeanne jumping off:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLI7cAFNbMs 

Marilyn & Sevag in March

Tracy's niece Marilyn and friend Sevag arrived around the last week of March.

They were here during Spring Break so there was lot's of running around on the sunny, white sand beach side of the island swimming, snorkeling and sun bathing.

Sev dug himself and easy chair...........

This little known beach is one of our favorites. Down at the other end it's called Turtle Town. Great snorkeling and, of course, many Hawaiian kine Green Turtles to behold.

Marilyn with little Auntie Tracy................

Big congratulations to Marilyn! Just graduated May 21, 2010 from San Diego State University. Here she is on "The Day" with big sister Natalie and Sev.  This is a major accomplishment for Marilyn and we are filled with pride and admiration. 

GOOD JOB MARILYN!
(We swiped this photo from Marilyn's Facebook page, Natalie, you're cute!)