When the ZipMobile breaks, madness ensues!

Honolulu is just like any other crowded metropolitan city.
Commuters drive on a 5-lane highway into the city in the AM, and they drive back home on another 5 lanes in the PM. And then there's the zipper lane...

A mechanical monstrosity called a ZipMobile moves a segmented concrete barrier from one side of the zipper lane to the other twice a day to let the commute direction access the extra lane. And then the ZipMobile breaks. There are in fact, TWO ZipMobiles, and BOTH of them were broken for three days this week. You'd have thought the Zombie Apocalypse had arrived!

Traffic was stopped for hours! The governor broke into broadcast TV to beg people to stay home. They contemplated closing schools and government offices.

You really must see how a ZipMobile eats concrete barriers on one side of the lane and poops them out on the other:

Watch the ZipMobile in Action

Aloha y'all!

It's Snowing in Hawaii !

Lest any of you think that it's always sunny and warm here, these are pictures from Mauna Kea this week. Mauna Kea is 30 miles from me, and the summit is 14,000 feet above me.

This morning it was 20 degrees with a 35mph wind. 

You can see the entire slideshow here:   Mauna Kea Slideshow

Aloha!

Sophie in the Garden

Yes, I'm a bit biased, but isn't Sophie the cutest thing EVER?

Surf's Up!!!!!!!!!!

For the past week, we've been having really big waves -- 30-40 feet! All the state-owned beaches on the Kona Coast have been closed, so I haven't been able to get close enough to take any decent pictures or videos, but I can easily see the crashing waves from my house. This weekend, it dawned on me that Sophie's dog beach isn't a state beach, so we took a chance...

It was way too risky to walk all the way down to our regular beach, so I filmed this from the cliff above. Sophie stayed safely in the truck and kept a watchful eye on me. 

When I pan to the left, watch the point in the background. ((The dog beach is that cove between the distant point and where I'm standing.))

Aloha y'all!

Megan and Shannon and the Helicopter

These crazy girls actually CHOSE a "doorless" helicopter for their trip around the lava and waterfalls near Hilo.

This is the lava flow that all the news has been talking about:

Climbing Mauna Kea

On New Year's Day, we drove up to watch the sunset from Mauna Kea. The very top was closed because of high winds. We climbed the cinder cone (Pu'u Kalepeamoa) at the visitor's center with a few dozen other brave souls. It was about 40 degrees with 80+ MPH winds. We were dressed for the cold, but nothing could have prepared us for the wind. Barbara and I clung to each other for fear of being blown off the top of the peak. I have Never. Been. So. Cold.

Dana and Barbara climbing the cinder cone:

Here we are at the top of the cinder cone (about 10,000 feet elevation). We were all dressed like homeless people wrapped in blankets. That tiny dot in the sky is the full moon:

Barbara and Dana holding on to each other for dear life:

Megan and Shannon anchored against rocks for safety:

Steve - the only one brave enough to let go:

Megan's hair tells the tale of the wind. That's Shannon doing her Miley Cyrus impersonation.

Sunset views from the top. Yes, that's the full moon at the top of the picture:

We will never forget this New Year's Day. We are all happy to be alive.

New Year's Eve

Once again, Barbara, Steve, Megan, and Shannon were here for their annual New Year's visit. We had New Year's Eve dinner here at home and watched the neighbors shoot off fireworks. It's the Wild Wild West here on New Year's Eve!

Between Christmas and New Year's Eve, this is what we see at Costco:

EVERY cart except mine is loaded for bare:

We had a lovely dinner with a few good friends, and most of us were in bed before midnight. 

Steve C, Donna, Megan, Barbara, Steve S, and Dana

Barbara and Steve

Dana and Barbara