Haleakela and more

Today we made the trip to the eastern side of Maui. We drove the swtchback road up to 10,026 feet and took some amazing pictures. Then back down we went and had lunch at Kula Lodge. The next part of the trip was to the north shore where the winds are great and so are the waves. The water was full of surfers, wind surfers and parasail surfers. And swimming around the waters with them were lots of big sea turtles, so fun to watch. The water was so many shades of blues. I hope all my pictures turn out. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped at a small market and I got the largest Hawaiian Shaved Ice that I have ever seen. It was delicious.
A cool Polynesian show at the hotel tonight.

On vacation

Maui has been great! Warm sunny days, delicious foods and fun adventures including snorkeling with green sea turtles, and lots of fish in the Molokini extinct volcano. We also toured a coffee ranch and did tastings as well as whale watching. I think this should be an annual trip.
. It is so relaxing.

Starting to snow again

The snow will make everything beautiful again. It will also make it easy for Rich and I to leave on a week long get away to Maui, Hawaii. I am ready for a beach break and some sunny, warm weather. Yay!

Still sunny and cold

Cold temps are keeping our road covered in ice. So, the rhino has been quite handy for travel. It does take some planning as we leave and arrive home at different times. Boots, hats, gloves and blanket kept in the cars for travel up and down, the rhino has no doors, so cold transportation. Hey, where is your pioneering spirit.
We have seen five beautiful bull elk all week as well as some coyotes and for the first time ever, a bobcat cub.

The Elk

Today, 5 beautiful bull elk were hanging out just below the house. Each of them have very large antlers. We are using the rhino to travel up and down the road now and I made 4 trips past those elk today. They just stood there and watched me. My new digital camera should arrive tomorrow and then I will have some zoom capability to take pictures for the blog.

No new snow

The weekend of January 21st and 22nd, it just wouldn't stop snowing. It was perfect snow and beautiful. Rich spent most of his time on the tractor snowblowing. I spent most of my time playing in it, sledding. I even made snocones, a tasty winter treat. Then, the weather changed dramatically. The daytime temps are in the 40's and there is melting and at night it freezes back to ice. We are now slipping and sliding up and down our road with the rhino! Way too slippery for the vehicles. It makes life a little more interesting and planning for travel a must.

the Elk are returning

two wondrous bull elk strolled up the driveway last week. I also wanted to include a picture of our glorious flag as well.