Great Aloha Run/Walk #8

I did not want to do the Great Aloha Run this year. Actually, it's something I'm not crazy about doing at anytime for several reasons. I don't like getting up at 3:30 to fight the traffic to get to the Aloha Stadium to catch the shuttle bus into Honolulu. I don't like standing in the long lines leading to the often gross porta potties. I don't like being tired.

I usually gripe, groan and grumble in the days leading up to one of the largest sporting events in Hawaii. This year, there were about 24,000 people taking part in this annual President's Day event which began in 1985. The route covers 8.15 miles from Aloha Tower to Aloha Stadium which always feels like 26.2 miles to me. Art just smiles (laughs) through it all.

In his sneaky (caring) mind he feels it's the only way I'll force myself to keep fit.

I prepared carefully:

1. Toilet paper in plastic bags in case they run out
2. Three cookies for energy and to coat my stomach when I take an ibuprofen pill midway
3. IDs
4. hats
5. solar umbrella
6. We both wore our lucky shirts.

I got up at 3:00 along with Art. We had breakfast, used the bathroom (which is very important) and were out the door by 4:45. The traffic was bumper to bumper.

We arrived at Aloha Stadium at 5:05 and then went through this endless, snaking line to the shuttle bus which would take us into Honolulu. I added this extra mile to my total miles for today.

The bus dropped us off in Honolulu at about 5:30 near the Aloha Tower.

Since the race would start at 7:00 there was a rather long wait time. I decided to sit part of the time.

While waiting, we met someone who had come all the way from British Columbia. I was impressed.

The area became very crowded, but we had a good spot at the fence line so we could watch the Army soldiers and Marines march through in formation.

When the Star Spangled Banner played, they all went to attention and saluted. It was quite moving.

At 7:00 they began running. Wow! I wondered if they'd be running to the finish.

The sun started to come up and we all moved toward the Start line. I loved seeing all the costumes people were wearing.

And we were off!

The energy of the crowd was palpable.

Art, who would love to run the course again if his doctor would let him was like a stallion about to buck loose. I had to warn him that I couldn't keep up with his longer legs.

Would you believe this fellow on the left was actually walking backwards... and beating us? I walked faster after that.

Along the way, Art stopped to get a rose for me from a radio station fellow who was passing a few out. He said, "Happy Valentines Day."

It started to rain so it was good to be able to walk under the highway viaduct.

There were lots of water stations along the way to keep us hydrated.

I'm always afraid I won't be able to complete the walk so I have my brother on stand by to pick me up just in case.

However, seeing the Mile 4 marker was encouraging and gave me hope.

After a few slight hills, we reached Mile 7! I couldn't believe it! The end was in sight and I was still on my feet even though my thighs were feeling pretty stiff.

And then there it was! The Aloha Stadium!

I was so relieved I wanted to sprint to the finish line.

I'm happy to say our times actually improved this year.

How can that be?

2014: 2:35:55
2015: 2:35:24
2016: 2:29:05


I was euphoric!

This is the line to collect all the after-race goodies: bananas, water, Red Bull, cookies, snacks, etc.


When we came home mom put the rose in a vase for me and every time I look at it I have to smile.

On the other hand, Art is very happy he'll get two t-shirts out of this deal. I don't wear t-shirts much so he gets mine.

I'm so happy now I'm willing to do this again. I know I'll feel like this for the next few days, but come next year, I'll be griping, groaning and grumbling all over again.

Growing Older (But Healthier) With a Zumba Beat

I go to Zumba about three times a week. I really do credit it with keeping me fit as well as happy since I have such a wonderful group of friends that I meet there every week.

Stephanie on the left is our teacher and motivator. Sue on the right is our inspiration. She comes to each Zumba session with a new and exciting combination of exercise gear. With her ever effervescent personality and energy, she lifts everybody's spirits.

She came to class the other day with rhinestones on her eye lashes and I asked if I could take her photo. She and Stephanie both gave me permission to blog about them.

I look at Stephanie and Sue and keep hoping that I can keep as energetic and upbeat as they are. I guess the best I can do is to try to keep smiling as they always do.

Oh... and did I tell you Sue is a great grandmother? 

Too Late...

We saw an ad in the paper for the Simply Organized store in Ewa which is quite a distance away.

We were looking for a particular sized container for our rice to prevent bugs from having a food source.

Friends told me that things at this store was quite pricey, but I thought 75% off would bring it down to my level of spending.

Mom said she hadn't been to Ewa in 15 years so we thought we'd just make an outing of it. We took her out to lunch and then drove to the west side of the island. I was pretty excited imagining what we might be able to find to organize our house. I love to organize.

Ummmmm... Could the store be this cleaned out in just one day? Some other customers who walked in at the same time as us were also shocked at seeing the empty shelves.

What could we do? We laughed and stopped at Costco on the way home.

We all had a frozen vanilla/chocolate yogurt swirl and did a little shopping.

Mom was surprised at how big the dessert was, but she had absolutely no trouble finishing it and was all smiles.

Art looked up the calories on the swirl and said it was 300 calories. He said we could make in up by walking 4 miles.

Since mom is under 100 pounds, I think she's OK.

Me? Never mind.

Waiting for the Eddie

Eddie Aikau who died on March 17, 1978 was a well-known Hawaiian lifeguard and surfer. He was the first lifeguard at Waimea Bay and saved over 500 people and became famous for surfing the big Hawaiian surf, winning several awards including the 1977 Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship.  He died while trying to swim 12 miles (I've also heard 19 miles) to the island of Lanai in order to save his shipmates when their Hawaiian voyaging canoe, the Hokule'a sprang a leak. A phrase that became famous in Hawaii is "Eddie would go."

In his honor, every winter when the surf reaches a minimum of 20 feet (wave face height of 30 feet), the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau (often called the "Eddie") invites 20 or so of the top surfers in the world to participate. The problem is that the conditions are not perfect very often. The other problem is that sometimes it appears perfect and then falls apart. I'm writing this on Wednesday when that very thing happened. The word at 8:30 AM on Wednesday was "Eddie No Go." Apparently, the Eddie has only been a "GO" 8 times in the last 31 years!

Amazingly, the last time the Eddie did go was in 2009 and we were there! I can still hardly believe we actually attempted to see it. The paper said this morning that about 20,000 people would be crowded into Waimea bay to watch. The traffic was horrendous! Some people paid $100 for parking!

Anyway, I thought I'd just reprint that 2009 blog post for fun today and hope that eventually the "Eddie" will go later.

This post is from December 8, 2009.

https://travelerswife.blogspot.com/2009/12/not-quiiiiite-50-or-60-they-forecasted.html

Yes, now you know. We are crazy!

We decided to give the Eddie Aikau Invitational at Waimea Bay another try since they said there was a 90% chance that it would run this time. They even said we might have those 50 foot waves. Did I ever tell you how whenever I would attend a Cubs game, they would lose? If I didn't go they had a chance of winning.

We decided to get up a half hour earlier since the newscasters warned that it was going to be even more crowded than yesterday. We got up at 4:40 and was out the door by about 5:20. The roads didn't seem that crowded....at first.

However, as we got closer to Waimea we found the closest space about 30 miles away. OK... fine. Art checked it out on the map. We were actually a mile and a half away. I could have sworn it was twice as far as yesterday's distant spot.

We found people had camped out in sleeping bags. Some were still sleeping. I'll bet they were warm.

It was pitch dark when we got there and COLD. OK, so it wasn't as cold as Chicago where my daughter says it looks like a swirling snow globe. But still, I was in shorts, and it was about 65 degrees. Yes, I know in Chicago we're in tank tops at 65 degrees but my blood must have thinned out because my finger tips were getting numb.

Soon the sun started to come up over the mountain behind us. You can see the shadow in the water. No, this is not my camera. I've already hinted to Art that I need a better one.

I forgot my glasses again! Half the time I couldn't really tell what I was taking a photo of. If you click on this photo you can see the tiny surfers out there.

It looked beautiful across the bay. I wonder who lives there and what would happen to their house if we really did have those 60 foot waves.

The sun coming up gilded the crests of the waves.

The day was clear so they made the decision to do the surf meet. I didn't even realize the meet had started.


When we got there we found there was no good place to stand because it was too crowded, more so than yesterday. I asked a couple of guys if they could both move just a couple of inches and I could get in and not get hit by the cars on the road side of the guard rail. Art stood in the road until the police told him he couldn't stand there. Happily, the two guys beside me encouraged him to join us. I offered them a Kit Kat bar but they weren't hungry.

One fellow was from Brazil. His name is Al. It was fun talking to him. He was using his wife's camera and didn't know how to work it so Art was able to give him a lot of camera advice. You see. One good turn deserves another.

We took a gazillion photos of the meet. Many of these are Art's shots, too.

Sorry about all these photos. I know my son is looking at every one of them very carefully.

We were surprised to see the photo below in the Honolulu Advertiser the next morning. The photographer who took it must have been sitting very close to us.




By the way, if you enlarge this shot and squint, you'll be able to see the photographer in the water on the left side of the photo. I'll bet I could get better shots if I could swim.

Heading back to our car we saw a long, long line of cars coming to the surf meet. Somebody was very eager to take our mile and a half away parking spot.

During our long trek back to the car, we passed beaches that were closed due to the high surf. They may have been high, but not 50 feet high. Again, I must have jinxed them. On the other hand, they did hold the meet anyway.

You know, the Cubs should be winning by now since I'm no longer living in Chicago.

Postscript: I just heard on the news that the waves today were the best many had ever seen and that conditions for surfing were optimal. Hmmm... I'll bet this happened after we left at 9:30 AM.

POSTSCRIPT: The Eddie has been cancelled. The waves just didn't arrive as expected.

Brrrrr.....

It's true. It's cold in Hawaii. It was 60 degrees F when Art went for his walk on Monday morning.

To be honest, I welcomed the lower temperature because it was my Zumba day and it's a lot more comfortable when the breezes are cooler.

Mom, however, was suffering. Wearing a sweater wasn't enough for her. I was wondering if she was going to wear the ski jacket we bought her a while ago for travel.

For people in Hawaii, anything below 70 degrees F (15 C) is freezing.

Friends in different parts of the island reported temperatures anywhere from 54 to 60 degrees F.

I sure hope all the tourists brought sweaters. If not, the stores should be doing a brisk business.

A Monkey for a Husband

 It is the Year of the Fire Monkey according to the Chinese lunar year calendar. Everyone born in 1920, 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004 and 2016 are monkeys in the Chinese Zodiac.

According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, "This is your year to be in the limelight and shine. It can be a year of fame. There is high energy for power and influence over others. Be sure this influence is toward positive means and goals. Don't forget friends play a significant role in your success."

Each monkey year is also aligned with one of five elements: Gold (Metal), Water, Wood, Fire, or Earth according to the China Highlights website. Art is a wood monkey. How appropriate since he LOVES trees!

The traits of a wood monkey are: "Always ready to help others; compassionate, with strong self-esteem, but stubborn"

Wow! That's him! And his lucky numbers are 4 and 9!

Hey! Maybe I should tell him to play the lottery.

Oh nuts! I just read this in China Highlights also!  "2016 is a Monkey year. Monkey years are believed to be unlucky for people born in a year of the Monkey. A year of one's birth sign is believed to be the most unlucky in the 12-year cycle."

OK, never mind the lottery after all.

ONE Room Finished

I've mentioned that I've been having a hard time keeping up with my blogging because of various projects we're working on. The 10 Year Photobook for my granddaughter has been time consuming and there's a lot more work on it that I need to do, but now we're also focusing on trying to finish the house renovation that we began 10 years ago.

Art cut the baseboards and and nailed them in last week.

I then  followed him with caulking spaces, applying wood filler on the nail holes, sanding and then painting over it.

In 2006, this is what my office/TV room looked like.
 At first we were going to hang the drywall by ourselves. But Art soon realized that was not realistic so we had the contractor do that as well as the taping and plastering.

Art hung the doors and has done all the trim work, flooring, tile work, etc. with a lot of help from friends and relatives.

It has been a heck of a lot of work, but my office is done.

Yay!

Now we move on to the two bathrooms and master bedroom.

2016 is the goal. We are counting on finishing this job before our daughter and her family arrive this summer.

I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Tablecloth Replacement

We had a light colored "laminated" tablecloth before that worked well to repel spills and could be wiped clean. However, because Art reads the newspaper for about an hour and a half each day on the kitchen table, eventually the tablecloth got badly stained from the newsprint. We tried everything to get it clean again but nothing worked.

We then bought this darker laminated tablecloth that would be better at hiding newsprint stains but mom just didn't like it. She felt it darkened the room and she prefers a cheerful, bright kitchen. So we put this tablecloth away.

Sigh...

And we stuck the old, stained laminated tablecloth back on the table until it got really, really yukky and had to be thrown away.

Then I had this idea.

I remembered these old vinyl placemats that we used on the mainland. I dug them out of storage and put them on the new brown tablecloth. Then I waited for mom to come into the kitchen.

She was delighted. Mom loves flowers and she especially loved the tulips that she saw in Skagit Valley and Butchart Gardens last year.

The side benefit is that when Art reads the newspaper now, we stick all the placemats under his paper. The vinyl placemats protects the tablecloth and Art can read the paper worry free.

Problem solved! Yay!

Managing My Computer Cords

We started our house renovation in 2006 in preparation for our move to Hawaii in 2008. After 10 years, the end is in sight. Right now we're working on the baseboards in my office.

Art has been cutting and nailing in the baseboards and my job later will be to caulk the spaces, cover and sand the nail holes with wood filler and then paint it.

It's tiring for us. I think it was easier to handle all this 10 years ago, but my joints are creaking more now.

Anyway... I'm hoping this will be the year that we actually finish this project.

We had to move all the furniture away from the walls so we could work on the baseboards.

What I found behind the computer was a HORRIBLE tangle of cords going every which way. I used to have the worst time trying to figure out which cord belonged to the scanner or speaker or printer or computer or monitor or web cam, etc.

I wish I took a photo of the BEFORE so you could appreciate the difference.

This is the AFTER.

It might still look like a tangle but it really is more organized now.

I separated, coiled and secured the long cords. I then labeled them carefully so I'd know what they are when we move the computer table back to the wall.

OK... Now back to baseboards. We have 11 months to finish them which is our goal. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Resemblance?

Art and I were watching Revenant and we both remarked something I've noticed before.

I think it's hilarious we both noticed this when Leonardo was rather bushy for most of the movie with beard and mustache.

We thought our nephew, Cody looked like Leonardo diCaprio. Maybe it's not a huge resemblance, but there's something that grabbed us both. It's funny how often we'll both be watching a movie and think an actor reminds us of someone.

Does that happen to you too?

Trying a New Korean Dish

I was out with my Zumba buddies for our Friday lunch and we tried a new restaurant called Sadie's BBQ Inn.

I am not an imaginative restaurant goer. When I go to Wendy's I get the chicken cashew salad. When I go to Gyotaku Japanese Restaurant I get the California roll (sushi) lunch special. At Taco Bell I get the 3 crispy tacos. And so on and so forth. I know I should try new things, but I'm usually not terribly adventurous.

Well, I'd never been to Sadie's BBQ Inn, but I know what bi bim bop is supposed to taste like so I figured that would be a dish I'd probably like. My son-in-law, Ed who is Korean American and my daughter always make it for us when we visit them.

I was about to place my order when my buddy, Diane said she was going to get the bi bim kook soo which she prefers. She said it was the same thing as bi bim bop, but instead of rice, there is a bed of somen type noodles. I e-mailed Ed and he kindly replied right away, "Bibim means mixed. Bop means rice. Gooksoo means noodles."

As in many Korean restaurants, they brought out a variety of panchan which are little side dishes to taste.

This is what Art usually loves even more than the main dish he orders when we go to Korean restaurants.

Sadie's gave us a lovely selection which we enjoyed trying.

Alyce, Diane and I avoided the kim chee because it looked rather red hot.

The very friendly owner came out and chatted with us. She said the restaurant is named after her granddaughter. She also mentioned that her son was married to a Japanese American girl. I told her I happened to have a Korean/Japanese American granddaughter as well.

Our dishes arrived and Alyce let me take a photo of her kim chee fried rice. She said it was good, but a bit spicy for her taste. The owner said she should request mild next time.

My bi bim kook soo was mild but they gave me a little plate of hot sauce of which I did use a little.

It was such a generous serving that I brought half of this home for Art who enjoyed it immensely.

Before we left,  the owner gave each of us this reusable grocery bag.

We really had such a wonderful time. Art says we should bring my daughter and her family there when they come to visit us this summer. I'll bet Ed would like it.

Actually I'd like to go back before then. Who knows? Maybe the Zumba group will go there again soon.

Snow!

Our son sent us a photo of the snowstorm that hit the East coast last week. His car was totally buried.

That was indeed a lot of snow. I believe he said there was about two feet of snow.

I remember when we moved to Chicago and had a huge snow fall, people would tell us that was nothing compared to the blizzard of '67.

Well, now I'm finding myself saying, "You think that was bad in Pennsylvania?"

We were in Chicago for the Blizzard of '79. Tiffany was four years old at the time and Keola was one.

The Chicago Blizzard of '79 had 21 inches of snowfall so actually Pennsylvania had more snow, but our photos seem to show our snowfall was much more significant.

I really do like snow... but not this much. We are too old to shovel anymore.