Moving!

We've temporarily relocated to the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, Waikiki until we fly back to the mainland on the 17th. The house is empty and we're doing a massive cleaning today. Zeke is staying in a kennel for 10 days and we miss him tremendously - he's flying on the same flights as us. If you mail us cookies, they're going to Jess's parents, and they will probably be stale by the time they arrive. Our Internet access is a bit limited these days, but we'll both try to check our emails daily.

--jess and jeff

Moving

We have less than a week left in this house before we move. Not that we're leaving the island immediately, but rather that we'll be living out of a suitcase in a hotel for several days. It has been a race to accomplish all the remaining things that we want to see and take care of all the personal business associated with relocating thousands of miles. We managed to make it up to the North Shore yesterday to see the big waves; though not massive, still very impressive, and also difficult to capture with a camera. We got this shot, however, of Shark's Cove. To think that just over a month ago we were snorkeling there, and now it isn't recommended to go close to the water!
We don't have a forwarding address yet. If you have something you'd like to send, let us know and we'll let you know where to send it.

--jeff and jess

Happy Thanksgiving!

We cooked our first Thanksgiving dinner this year! We had turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, mashed sweet potatoes with pears (Hawaiian sweet potatoes are about the same color as regular potatoes, so we were a little disappointed that they weren't orange, or better yet, purple), mashed cauliflower (we like our vegetables mashed, apparently), rolls, cranberry butter, green bean casserole, and apple and pumpkin pies. We had six people in our place; for those of you who've been here, you know that's a feat!

After dinner, everyone piled into the living room for some Guitar Hero III. We got a second controller - the picture at the right is Dan and Randy rocking out while Annie watches.

Hope everyone had a great turkey day!

jeff & jess

Sharks!

Yesterday we went up to the North Shore to do something Jess has wanted to do practically since she got here - shark cage!!! We went out around 9:30am in a little boat with North Shore Shark Adventures with about eight other people, strangely enough, all locals. The water was rough, and it rained intermittently, but it was pretty fantastic. We were in a cage with masks and snorkels getting beaten around by the waves (hoping our arms and legs didn't go out through the bars) while about 15 Galapagos sharks (left - the photo is from another outfit that does shark adventures called Hawaii Shark Encounters (we took photos with an underwater 35mm; hopefully some of those came out okay)) swam all around us. Of course, the captain didn't tell us until after we had our turn in the cage that despite how enormous, scary and sharp-teethed they are, Galapagos sharks only eat fish (which is why they weren't snacking on the seagulls that were hanging out on the water's surface while they were up there). We were far enough out that there was no worry of the tiger sharks that like to occasionally feed on unlucky surfers.

It was definitely one of the most interesting things we've done out here, and a great way to enjoy Hawaii in the short time we have left. Afterward, we ate at Haleiwa Joe's, which is a place most people try to eat while they're here, and we'd never been to. It was okay, but there are definitely better places to eat out here.

--jeff and jess

Happy Halloween!

Jeff said this was another forbidden picture unless I said something about pollinating him... It really needed to be posted because he was such a cute little daisy.

Happy Halloween!

Albatross

Jeff and I hiked out to Kaena Point from the Waianae side last week. It's definitely a tougher hike than it is from the North Shore, but along the way, we saw lots of baby albatross in their nests! We were both really hoping to see a grown-up albatross, but they were probably out fishing. They can sleep while they're flying and drink ocean water, and sometimes they go five years without coming back to land.

Albatrosses are really interesting birds - I like this site because it tells you about a lot of the animals you see in Hawaii - albatrosses included!

--jess

Jeff added a title

Yesterday we drove circle isle again. We stuffed our faces with yummy food all day - Anna Miller's for breakfast, Bubbies ice cream for a snack, Kahuku shrimp, etc. We did the walk (it's a walk as opposed to a hike since it's paved the entire way, but there was definitely a fun incline...) up to the Makapuu lighthouse that overlooks the windward side of the island. The breeze was fantastic. Later in the day, we found a beach in Laie (Jess still finds it amusing that a word with four letters can have three syllables) where we waded out to Goat Island (there's a Hawaiian name for the island, but we're too lazy to look it up) and had a beach *almost* to ourselves. Afterward, we had shrimp at Giovanni's - one of Jess's coworkers said it was the best on the island. It was good, but definitely garlicky - we both preferred the volcano shrimp at the truck we visited with Jeff's parents last year!

--jeff and jess

Wikao

We are in the process of preparing to move, which unfortunately includes the prospect of selling the Wikao property. Despite the deep cleaning and de-cluttering that should make the house presentable, we have been discussing doing something to the kitchen to make it look nicer. The hazard with doing anything to the kitchen is primarily that we wouldn't be able to enjoy it in long enough to do anything significant; therefore we are soliciting for recommendations on how we can maximize our return on investment while minimizing our costs. If you have thoughts, please don't hesitate to send them our way.

Speaking of the kitchen, we've been cooking lots and having a ball doing it, so if you have a chance, send us your favorite recipes! We're trying to figure out what our favorites are. Among them is spaghetti squash lasagna (to the left).

-jess and jeff

Polo, and not the Marco type

We took in a polo match on the North Shore yesterday and took the new camera on a test drive. Neither of us had ever been to a polo match before; it was definitely interesting. Apparently it is an entirely different social experience more akin to going to the Kentucky Derby in places other than Hawaii, but here it was just as relaxed as everything else. That would include the announcer. He was so bad it was hilarious. He said the game was four chukkers long when it was actually five and compared the Chilean players to Mexican food. After the match between the Hawaii team and the Maui team, some people from Skydive Hawaii parachuted right onto the polo field. All in all in interesting but relaxed Sunday on the North Shore.

--jeff & jess

Post Number 100!!!

Welcome to the One Hundredth Jess and Jeff... Blog post!

We got our new camera today. It's very similar to our old camera, but this one hasn't been through the wash (yet). We'll get out and start taking more pics, but it's currently charging. Wait for it...

This morning, after Jeff finished ship duty, we went down to Haunama Bay for some snorkeling. The current is changing, so we didn't feel like swimming past the break to get to where the mass of coral reef lies, although there is some along the way. The more interesting sea life lives further out though. None of the pics we ever take of the Bay turn out really well, sorry!

-jess and jeff