Our New Adventure

So, we are here in Hawaii.  We've met our builder, Monty Miranda, a cousin of Marilyn's with whom we are staying.  Monty went to Blue Mountain Community College in Pendleton on a rodeo scholarship.  He's won the Pendleton Rodeo.  He stayed for a while in La Grande building houses before moving back to Hawaii.  When he first started digging with the excavator he let our great nephew, Luca, ride in the machine with him.  That's when we knew we got the right guy.  Nico and Cruz, you guys would have liked to work the controls.  So our project has started and if we can hold off the rain this month, we'll get the cement slab down and we'll be off to the races.

On another note, we haven't regretted our decision to take on this adventure - the last big one, I'd say. We're getting too old to keep doing this.  One thing we're finding out is that most of the people we met, came from somewhere else.  The guy at the building supply where we bought our siding today has been here a year from New Hampshire.  Crissie's hairstylist is from Rome, Italy.  Our kitchen lady who is bidding our cabinets is from New Mexico and her assistant just got a job and is from Klamath Falls.

Hawaii is an interesting state.  No majority ethnic group. You will find a “mixed plate” of ethnic groups in Hawaii; 38.6% of Hawaii's population is Asian, 24.7% is White, 10% is Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders, 8.9% is Hispanic, 1.6% is Black or African American, 0.3% is American Indian and Alaska Native, and 23.6% of all Hawaii residents are of multi-ethnic.  Also, Hawaii is the widest state in the union, wider than Montana, Texas, or Alaska.  We have 5 dormant volcanoes on the island.  Mauna Kea (the world's highest mountain from the ocean floor and that's where all the observatories are), Mauna Loa, Kilauea which is active, Kohala (which is the closest to us), and Hualalai.  Kilauea is roughly 2 hrs from us. 

Thanksgiving sunset at the Kawaihae harbor.

Crissie cutting the grass on the riding mower. 

 This will be a view we will have of Mauna Kea. Notice the observatories at the top.

Just a pleasant walk down a country road.  Our usual walking route.

Church Bazaar and steak fry in Hilo.

Monty and I measuring where we want the house.

Finally the digging begins.  That's Luca (Marcus Prietto's son) helping run the excavator.
He's in heaven.

It all starts with a driveway.