It was a good show. The people were pleasant, and the show "organization" was a rather libertarian affair of voluntary participation and self-advocacy. The enclosed arena was just climate-controlled enough to even out the lows and highs of the weather (43 degree mornings and 82 degree afternoons). There were highly convenient real bathrooms, though ( Read more... )

Knitting Tours of Ireland

Wild Fibers Alaska

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(I forgot to post this on Tuesday.)

I have mixed feelings about this. On the surface, though, I think it is a fabulous idea...

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We snagged our hostess's car and took off for the westward side of the island to see the postcard Hawaii. To me, postcard-Hawaii is the resort Hawaii with beautiful high-rise condos looking out over sculpted palms and pristine lagoons. And that is exactly what Ko Olina is in my view ( Read more... )

This morning, we ran up to the Surf N Sea to ask about my snorkel. It turns out that my snorkel was just fine; it was the labeling that was incorrect. Both the little label and the enclosed instructions were for a different snorkel model. So at least it was an honest mistake. We also stopped by Walmart for an underwater camera.

Hanauma Bay is a ( Read more... )

Today we went up to the Dole Plantation for the little train tour around the grounds, and the audio garden tour around the grounds. The tour had a lot of good history about the pineapple plantations in general, the rise and expansion of Dole's business empire, and the pineapple business as it waxed and waned on the islands. The garden tour was ( Read more... )

Slacking wins. I will hopefully replace this post with real content tomorrow.

We went north to visit the beautiful and historic Waimea Valley. The entire valley, from the mountain waterfall to the ocean beach, is a park and nature preserve. There is a paved road from the entrance gate all the way up to the falls. Leading off of that main artery ( Read more... )

This morning, we all trundled over to the stadium to the "swap meet." I guess I was expecting something a little less formal, like a huge rummage sale. This was more like a mile-long loop of festival sales tents. There were vendors with food, taffy, t-shirts, wood carvings, pottery, jewelry, etc. Some things still had the "Made in China" stickers ( Read more... )

Today we went down to the University of Hawaii to visit the Lyon Arboretum. It was at the end of a twisty rising road through little houses and towering trees, past the Manoa Falls turnoff. (We decided against the falls hike because it's been too wet.) The arboretum is not well laid-out for formal tours, but has very informative labeling of the ( Read more... )