Surprise! It's a Rodeo!

It's our final night with Jon and Sarah and they had a surprise for us. We guessed that they were planning to take us to hear a concert or maybe watch a tractor pull or maybe fireworks. We never imagined that they would take us to a rodeo! Art has seen smaller rodeos on the Big Island where paniolos (Portuguese cowboys) would have rodeos but nothing like this.

Here's Jon going to buy the tickets for us.


A kind cowboy offered to take our rodeo portrait for us.


At first the wind blew dust all over the place and it seemed like it would rain. It didn't, and the temperatures were quite cool. It would have been uncomfortable if the rodeo was held earlier in the day when it was much too hot.


It was fun seeing the participants in their cowboy and cowgirl clothing. The rodeo had lots of different fun performances like lasso twirling, sychronized horsemanship, shooting balloons with pistols, etc.


The first event was called mutton busting. Children, well protected with a helmet and vest were allowed to try riding a sheep. It was quite hilarious although nerve wracking for me.


Art took this exciting shot of the bronco riding. They also had bull riding, calf lassoing, and other incredible contests of skill and daring. It was such an exciting evening. We can always count on Jon to do something a little different and fun for us. It was very sad to say goodbye to them but Jon goes back on duty at the fire station and we will be on our way to Kingman, Arizona tomorrow.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

We got up early this morning and made our own waffles again at the Travel Lodge. We're getting pretty good at this.


Jon drove us to the Old Town Plaza which was a focal point of Albuquerque's community since 1706. We got our gifts to bring back to Hawaii.




The San Felipe de Neri Church was just beautiful. We were surprised that there was a sign inside saying we were welcome to take photos.


Our son's girlfriend, Sarah was able to join us for this outing.



We enjoyed our stay at the Old Town Plaza looking at all the gift shops and art galleries.

Tonight, Jon and Sarah have something planned for us and I have no idea what it could be. Apparently we have to get some warm clothing for this experience. There's a 30% chance of showers so........ what could it be?

Taos, New Mexico

I'm just not remembering everything I learned today so I'll have to add information later that my foggy mind just can't recall right now.


We began the morning having our free waffle, English muffin, orange juice and coffee breakfast. Jon was a bit skeptical about us staying at a very economical (for Santa Fe) motel but we're liking it very nicely with the fridge and lovely breakfast.


Jon planned an interesting trip to Taos for sight seeing and Taos Pueblo to see how Native Americans live and lived. On the way there we saw many beautiful flowers along the roadside that I don't know the name of.


Just as I was marveling at the beautiful flower I noticed this equally intriguing bug.


This is the San Jose Gracias catholic church which was built in 1760. It is in Las Trampas.


We arrived in the quaint town of Taos where I believe Julia Roberts is supposed to live. Didn't see her anywhere! This is a very artsy, beautiful town. We ate outside at the Bent Street Deli and Cafe. I recommend this place highly. Great food, nice people and just the most relaxing place to eat lunch.


It was so pretty here with musicians playing their guitars and a folk singer singing music I love but it was time to head out to the Native American town of Taos Pueblo.


There are currently 2,800 people still living there. They said it is the oldest inhabited town in the U.S. They speak the Tiwa language. 75% of the people are Catholic.


This Taos Pueblo gravesite is right beside their first church, the history of which represents the violence between the Native Americans, the Spanish and Americans.


These drying racks are where hunters would dry and preserve the meat they caught.


We enjoyed watching this dog looking for something good to eat.


We found that we had quite a bit in common with our guide Cameron. He has gone to the University of Hawaii on the Manoa Campus and is now planning to go to the Art Institute of Chicago where he would like to study film making. He says he'd like to show stories showing more positive, happy aspects of Native American life.


We noticed this prairie dog outside the visitor center. Jon says they may be cute but are a nuisance in New Mexico. I guess that's sort of like the chipmunks in Illinois.

Well...that's it for now. Tomorrow we'll be going to Albuquerque.

Texas Pan Handle Windmill--Sky Watch Friday

We saw a lot of Big Skies as we traveled the Southwest. It was hard to choose which photo to post. For more great Sky Watch Friday photos, join us at Welcome to Wiggers World and meet our very wonderful and most cordial host, Tom Wigley.

Broken Toe in Santa Fe

I really love you guys for keeping me company on this trip. I've been wanting to check your blogs to see what you're all up to but our time has been really limited. I've got a lot of catching up to do when we're finally settled in Hawaii next week. One of you will probably have won the lottery and I won't have known about it!

About my toe...
About two or three weeks ago (It's all a blur.) I stubbed my toe on the edge of the picnic table that we had set up in our diningroom for our daughter, Tiffany after we're gone. It's still swollen, reddish maroon and sore. I checked webMD and there was a diagram on how to tape it. I asked my endocrinologist and he said he wasn't sure what to do but he agreed there's not much you can do with a broken toe. It just takes time to heal. Taping does alleviate the pain somewhat, but not completely.

We're planning to walk around Santa Fe today with Jon. His girlfriend, Sarah is an investigative reporter and assistant editor in Espanola. She has to work today but we'll spend time with her over the weekend. Jon says he's got a little surprise thing that we can all do together one night but he's not telling us what. So long as it doesn't involve something like sky diving, I'll be OK. But with Jon, you never know.

Photos from Santa Fe:

Palace of the Governors
We enjoyed looking at all the Native American jewelry and crafts but had to refrain from buying since we did not have any luggage space.


We rested in the Plaza. The temperatures were rising and we were surprised at how dehydrated we felt. We loved being able to spend time with our son again. Being a firefighter, his schedule of 2 days on to 4 days off afforded him the flexibility to spend a happy amount of time with us.


Lunch was wonderful but I think Art must have had about 5 glasses of ice tea. He did feel much better after that.


The Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi






Tomorrow we'll head out to Taos.

Wednesday, June 25th: Tulsa, Oklahoma to Santa Fe, New Mexico

5:00 AM We woke up, got ourselves organized and left Motel 6 for Oklahoma City by 5:30. Our new GPS system, Tom Tom took us efficiently to the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum.



7:00 AM We arrived at the Memorial. No one was there and we were able to walk through the solemn and beautiful memorial for the tragic victims of the bombing. I couldn't help but feel an extra sadness for the smaller chairs for the children who were killed that terrible day.


10:30 We crossed the Texas border and drove through Amarillo.


11:30 We drove past Groom, Texas where we saw what was touted as the largest cross in the western hemisphere.


4:20 We finally arrived in Santa Fe after driving 648 miles in one day! It was worth it to see our son, Jon again!

Tuesday, June 24th: Springfield, Illinois to Tulsa, Oklahoma

6:00 AM We got up early and had breakfast with Gene and enjoyed his beautiful gardens. He is about the most liberal Presbyterian minister we know. Well, maybe he’s the only Presbyterian minister we know. He and his wife, Sharon shared a deep interest in the Asian culture and created a garden that any Japanese gardener would surely be proud of. We were sad leaving Gene. He is grieving for Sharon but readily agreed to come and visit us in Hawaii next year. I wish all ministers could be as accepting of people no matter their race or culture or beliefs. It would be a far happier world.


8:40 We left Springfield and headed for Cahokia Mounds in Illinois.



10:45 We arrived at the Cahokia Mounds. Unfortunately, the visitor center was closed! There were many visitors there who were turned away by the sign saying it was closed on Monday and Tuesday. We were disappointed because it sure didn’t say that online. Tsk! Still, we enjoyed climbing the 150 steps to the top of the Monk’s Mound despite my broken toe. We could see the St. Louis Arch.

11:45 We passed the St. Louis Arch in Missouri.
1:00 Lunch in Rolla, Missouri at the Hardees. It cost us about $10.00 for both of us. We really are cheap travelers.
3:00 We discovered that Oklahoma does not accept the Illinois I-Pass toll. We had to pay cash but Art was excited to get his change because it included an Oklahoma 2008 quarter for his collection. The 2008 quarters are rather scarce and hard to find.
7:12 We arrived in Tulsa, Oklahoma and checked in at the Motel 6.
Unfortunately, we thought we would have Wifi at this Motel 6 but there weren’t any rooms left available with it. When we mentioned that it was advertised, the desk person said you had to reserve it. She acknowledged that it was true that it was not indicated on line that you needed to reserve a room with Wifi but oh well…


We were on the road for 10 ½ hours of driving at 65 miles per hour or under to economize on our gas consumption even though the speed limits in Missouri and Oklahoma were between 70-75 mph. Everyone was passing us, especially the big truckers. However, we calculated our mileage and have found that we have been getting about 25 miles per gallon which is great considering we are driving a van filled to the brim with our son, Jon’s things. The cheapest gas we’ve found so far is in Oklahoma at $3.66 per gallon. Maybe we should move here. One thing for sure, we have met the nicest servers at the little restaurants we've eaten at.

On the Road to Springfield

After a string of bright, sunny days, yesterday morning was gloomy. The rooms in our home, usually sunny and cheery were lonely and dark. We managed to squeeze in our luggage and started out as rain began to fall


As we traveled out of Chicago on Interstate 55 the sun came out and the flat farmlands nearly put me to sleep.

Our first stop was the Bloomington home of our friends, Jim and Peggy. Peggy kept me sane when I first moved into the village. She was there to drive us all to the hospital when Art was out of town and Jon broke his arm on the playground. She helped me get my driver's license so I could join the preschool carpool. And then she moved away to California, then to Ohio and now to Bloomington. When we first met, I told her we'd be moving back to Hawaii in a couple of years. Instead, she moved several times and I stayed for 33 years. I tried to get Peggy onto a blog but something went wrong. I'll try again when I get a block to time to do it. I hope you'll all visit her whenever that happens because... good grief! She has got a million stories to tell! (I did get her on from Springfield. Her link is Musings of Meggie.)


After a scrumptious lunch that Peggy and Jim prepared, we were back on the road headed for Springfield, Illinois. The skies were a sparkling blue!



We arrived safely and were happy to see Gene again. Gene is a recent widower who lost his wife, Sharon just a few months ago. He is a brilliant Presbyterian minister with a million ideas to share and we loved seeing him again although I kept expecting Sharon to walk in any minute from around the corner. Ted, from Japan was also there but had to leave at 2 AM this morning to get to Kentucky for a business meeting.