Our good friend Ted arrived here before me, and left the place in spectacular shape.  He planted some additional trees, and did some maintenance and care of the orchard.  Shawn also wanted me to take picture of the trees and such, so you can find those in the slide show below.  I've also been doing a lot of entertaining here at the Hawaiii homestead.  The night before last, I had Michael and Julia over for dinner.  We met them in Santa Cruz as they are friends of Alex and Tania, who live in our backyard cottage.  Coincidentally they have also moved to the Big Island just about a week ago.  What a small world!

Last night I had our neighbors Micah and Amy over for pupus.  We talked story for hours.  Micah helps us with yard maintenance, and he's super knowledgeable about so many aspects of living here.  He is a construction design genius, as well as a botanical guru.

So I was a little tired from staying up late for my volcano visit.  That same night ended up being super clear at our house (go figure), so stars we visible all the way down to the ocean horizon.  This caused me to stay awake even later!  I woke up the next morning a little stiff, so it seemed like a good "Sunday Drive" day.  What better day to go visit Phenomenal Phoenix, Fabulous Fabie, and Masterful Matt (still thinking an adjective that starts with an "M" that really does this guy justice. It's so cool to see all the projects they have going on, not to mention their excellent taste in brews!  

The first day of summer seemed like a good day to pay Madame Pele a visit at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, just 30 miles from our house.  Because I was planning to see the crater at dark, I decided to hike the Sulphur Banks and Rim Trails from the visitor's center to the Jagger Museum and back.  It's about 5 miles round trip from where I parked our truck.  

It's hard to believe that it's already almost time for me to begin the next leg of my "Big Pacific Triangle."  I haven't been on my computer much, and that's probably a good sign.  I've been spending a lot of time talking story with good friends and neighbors here on Hawaii Island. I've been enjoying my visits and our house so much, that I haven't done a lot of sightseeing.  But I did manage to get a swim/snorkeling session in at Kapoho, and a nighttime hike around the volcano rim.  

No trip to Hawai'i is complete without a call to AAA.  The first time we came here, we got stuck in the mud with our car rental.  This time, I manage to leave the lights on, resulting in a dead battery.  It turns out that the battery hadn't been replaced in over six years, so it was time.  There was some delay in getting the battery replaced, due to the sudden hospitalization of the battery shop owner.  However, everything eventually worked out. The battery shop owner is now ok. Jason from AAA was super nice. 

I ran a few more errands today, and tuned up the smallest harp of my fleet.  It sounds great in our living room.

I also talked with Shawn today, and I have learned that there is a rumor that our salmon quota has been tripled.  This is potentially great news for our season.  

Today I figured out how to get my personal hotspot working between my computer and iPad, so that I can post a little less clumsily than just with iPad alone.  However, the connection gets a little shaky at times, and I'm not that crazy about sitting in front of a computer while I'm here.  But I will try to upload some photos, now that it's dark.

Much aloha to everyone!

Judging from some of the Facebook comments, it seems that a lot of people are confused about where in the Pacific to find us. Currently Shawn is on Prince of Wales Island in Alaska, and I am on another rock in the PPacific, known as Hawaii. I will be in Alaska in about 9dayys, in time for tthe commericial salmon opener.