A View from the Top of the World

We made it to the top of Mauna Kea, the tallest peak on the island and actually, the tallest peak among all the pacific islands. It is quite the view. There are several observatories up here, one of the four most important observatories in the world. It was a spectacular sight of stars after the sun went down.

Sitting at almost 14,000 feet, we were cautioned about altitude sickness, of which I experienced a little. I thought for a minute we would have to leave before the sunset, but the ranger there told me about 'pressure-breathing', which helped to oxygenate my lungs better and I was able to stay. It was a very weird feeling; feeling like I was going to be sick for a while and very light-headed. I was glad it passed.

The visitor's station sits at 9,200 feet and we didn't have a problem with the altitude there. On our way down the mountain, there was a car accident which closed the road and they sent everyone back to the visitor's station. Because we had to go back, we were able to sit in on a 'star tour' and look through the telescopes they have there. We saw a great view of the moon; like you could reach out and touch it. Bruce saw Saturn and was able to see rings and a couple of moons. I was farther down the line and it disappeared behind the horizon before I could look. I did see a star cluster, though, which with the naked eye looks like one faint star, but when you look through the telescope is actually many stars. It was cool.

It was also cold. We were actually wearing coats and were very glad to have them. It felt pretty funny needing coats in Hawaii, but if you ever plan to go up there, be prepared!

The other pictures are of the beach when Bruce and Scott and our friend, Ken, went diving. Ken is out here for a couple of weeks working with Bruce. The weekends are for playing, though, and they did!

After being so cold last night, it was pretty nice to go to the pool this morning and enjoy the sun and warmth. I always feel like I'm on vacation the days I can go to the pool. Pretty fun.

Getting settled in our new (temporary) home

We have been rather spoiled for the last 15 years or so, not needing to live in a rental house while we built another house or remodeled one. The last rental house we lived in was on Bridle Hills Drive when Lisa was in first grade. That's been quite awhile ago.

Finding a place to rent in Hawaii was a much bigger challenge than we thought it would be. It wasn't that there were limited places to choose from or that the rents were so incredibly high (although they are a lot higher than in Logan); no, the hard part was finding someone who would allow the dog. We follow generations of people who rented houses and brought with them un-trained dogs and poorly behaved dogs. Many landlords simply say no, no matter what.

We were offered the opportunity to house-sit for a family in our ward while they were on vacation on the mainland. This gave us another two weeks to find something and, of course, it was at the very last minute that we decided on a house (the only house left that would take all of us). We moved in the night before Bruce left for Utah and Nevada to do the fireworks show, but didn't sleep in the house until after he left and the people in whose house we were staying came home. It's a 3 bedroom/2 bath house with a 40x8 foot screened-in lanai and an ocean view. We agreed to do the yard work in exchange for a discount on the rent.

The day before we moved in we saw a sign in the village for furniture for sale. It turned out that the furniture was used furniture from a hotel complex. And everything was garage-sale priced. It isn't what we would have picked out in a furniture store, but it will certainly do for now and until the rest of our furniture is here from Logan (whenever that may be). We bought a sofa-bed, a bed for grandma, a large side chair, a couple of nightstands and a couple of other pieces. Combined with what Bruce had already scavenged before I arrived on the island and we have almost all the furniture we need. We also bought a new bed for ourselves; the only thing we've bought new in the way of furniture. But now we can welcome anyone who wants to visit!

The pictures are of the outside of the rental house. I'll take more pictures inside when we've got everything figured out. We're still working on a couple of tables where I can sew and/or bead and/or paint. I'm anxious to start a new painting. The water here is so inspiring! I may just do a couple of landscapes or seascapes to begin instead of flowers.