Monday, March 22

This morning I woke up at 9 am. Guess that means I am still 2 hours behind since I usually wake up at 7. Of course it doesn't help that I stay up until midnight watching basketball. I had thought about trying to get tickets to the Dayton Regional for this week end but Mr. B isn't too keen about going and the cheapest tickets I could find were $129 x 2 for the 3 games. I think if it were Tennessee playing instead of Connecticut it would be a done deal but I guess I'll save my money and watch on tv. Maybe we'll go to a Capital softball game instead if the weather is nice. One of our former students is playing for them. I'm excited to get back to the zoo tomorrow. Think I'll check out all the babies, lion cubs, baby bonobo and even though I probably won't get to see the baby otters I will find out how they are doing. I felt pretty cold all day today so I hope it warms up a little for the rest of the week. I know, I know....we got pretty spoiled by all that sunshine in Hawaii.
Photos: '09 baby flamingos, '09 lion cubs, otters from'08, baby Beco who will be 1 this Saturday.

Thursday, March 17

After flying all night we got in to Atlanta this morning around 7 am. We had a 3 hour lay over so we had adequate time for breakfast before boarding the plane for our flight to Port Columbus. Our nephew picked us up when we arrived around noon. It was so nice of everyone to have some nice warm weather to greet us when we got back home. It isn't the 80 degrees we had become accustomed to but it is better than the weather we were having when we left. My plan is to get our outside Christmas lights taken down now that the weather is nice. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from our trip.

Monday, March 15

Our last full day in Hawaii. Both kids had to be at work early but Mr. B was up at 5 to send them off. We won't see Matt before we leave because today is his duty day and he has to stay overnight on his ship and won't be off duty until after our flight leaves. We had a car today so Mr. B and I drove downtown to the Aloha Market Place for lunch. We decided on Don Ho's restaurant again as we love the coconut shrimp there. We arrived home just as Sara was getting off work and Sara and I went to the Navy Exchange to pick up a few things. The sun was still shining so we decided to take Shorty to the beach at Hickham Air force Base. We walked the beach and hung out until the rains finally moved in and we headed back home. For supper we went to Tony Roma's. Mr. B found a coupon for 2 slabs of ribs for $26 in the paper when he was checking out the basketball brackets. We had a very nice meal and once again we ate way too much!! It's a good thing they only weigh the luggage and not the passengers! See you when we get back home, however I expect some jet lag especially since when we left it was a 5 hour time change and since DST it is now 6 hours.

Sunday, March 14

After yesterday's adventure we didn't set the alarm. I forgot to tell you that after the sail yesterday, we drove to Lahaina on the west coast. I was pretty sure Sara would like all the quaint little shops and she did. We ate at the Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and we all ate way too much! Amazingly we got up pretty early and went to Denny's for breakfast. Mr. B wanted to go back to the room so he could watch the OSU game so we dropped him off before we headed up to the summit of Haleakala. It was another sunny day and the drive up to the National Park was very scenic. We were a little later this morning so we didn't see all the downhill bikers coming down the mountain like the last time when Sharon was with us. Although it was nearly 80 degrees at the bottom, when we got to the top, above all of the clouds, it was still sunny but only 47. The views are unlike those any where else. I think it looks like a moonscape. There is a horseback ride to the bottom of the crater that I may have to try if I ever get back here. Another thing tourist love to do is to get to the top early and watch the sunrise. Today the sunrise was 6:28 am and since it takes about 1 1/2 hours to the top we would have to leave at 4:30 to get here for the spectacle. Maybe next time, I'm sure it would be a memorable site to see. Sara and Matt agree that Maui is a beautiful island and I think it is still my favorite. Before our flight back to Honolulu we ate at Pizza Madness, stopped at a craft fair, and drove to the Io State Park near Kahului. (We did stop by and pick up Mr. B) The weekend was a perfect way to end our visit to Hawaii. Tuesday afternoon we head back to Ohio, relaxed and ready to get ready for the birth of our new little granddaughter in May. What an exciting life we lead!

Saturday, March 13

Saturday and we are up bright and early heading out for our sailing trip to Molokini Island to snorkel. We arrive at Buzz's wharf and find the Trilogy V in slip #99. We read all the disclaimers and go on board, stow our gear and find some good seats up front. At 8 am we set sail, actually we motored out, to Molokini about an hour and 15 mins away. We were pleasantly surprised that we saw humpback whales all the way out. We saw lots of fins and flippers, blows and backs but non breached all the way out of the water until the afternoon. When we arrived inside the crater of Molokini we got a brief orientation on how to snorkel and where we were allowed to go and the danger spots of where not to go. It was the most wonderful experience and I just couldn't get enough. We snorkeled here about an hour before moving to another spot called turtle town. That should be self explanatory and I will let my pictures tell you what a great day we had. After cinnamon rolls for breakfast, 2 snorkel and diving stops, teriyaki bbq chicken and rice for lunch and an ice cream sundae on the sail back, we arrived back at dock around 2 pm. It was just awesome. If you go to Maui, it is a must, even if you don't snorkel like Mr. B, the trip was still well worth the $89. Check it out!! www.sailtrilogy.com

Friday, March 12

The week end was absolutely phenomenal. The weather was the best since we have been in Hawaii. The flight to Maui is short, just 30 minutes. We checked into our hotel on the beach in Kihei (pronounced key-hey) and then went to Peggy Sue's for supper. Andy and I had eaten there over the summer when we were there with Sharon. It's a
50's style diner serving burgers and shakes. We got to our room and collapsed into our beds listening to the sounds of the ocean right outside of our patio doors.

Friday, March 12

Haven't done too much the last 2 days. Just sunning in the back yard. It figures, the 2 weeks we have been here the community pool has been closed. In about 2 hours we are catching our flight to Maui. So excited as tomorrow we are doing a sailing excursion "Discover Molokini". It is a snorkeling sailing trip. We leave at 8 am and get back around 2 pm. We have Mama Koon's cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then a teryaki chicken BBQ for lunch and we get to snorkel. Can hardly wait!! Will update when we return Sunday night! Mr. Bichler has been watching basketball pretty much non-stop. He loves that he can get up early and watch bball. This morning he was watching the Buckeyes at 7 am. How about that game and Evan Turner's buzzer beater! Aloha!!

Wednesday, March 10

Sara only had to work half a day today so we went up to the north shore of Oahu to the Waimea Valley. It's a restored area that holds more than 5,000 kinds of tropical plants and is a sacred area to the native Hawaiians. And Sharon is going to be jealous but there was a waterfall at the end of the valley. We also stopped at "turtle" beach on the way there and saw 2 large green sea turtles on the beach. It rained several times while we were there but it was a very pretty walk through a lush garden of plants. I did add a Hawaiian Moorhen to my bird list and there were several descendants of the royal Hawaiian peacocks and peahens on grounds as well.

Sunday, Mar. 7

This morning Shorty and I were greeted with a brilliant rainbow on our morning walk. Around 8am we gathered our beach gear and headed out to Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay is one of the best snorkeling beaches in Hawaii and we went there several times in July also. It's my favorite thing to do while here. Today I was trying out my new underwater camera. After nearly 3 hours,until my fingers were so pruny that I couldn't snap the pictures any more, we left for lunch at "The Shack" a little bar/restaurant near the bay. Enjoy the pics.

Saturday, Mar. 6

Today has been the prettiest day yet so we headed out to do a little sightseeing. (1)Our first stop was the Paiko Lagoon wildlife sanctuary. When we located it there was a sign saying you needed a special permit to enter so we went to the beach next to it and took a few pictures from there. We didn't see any birds which is what I was looking for. (2)From there we headed to "From Here to Eternity" beach. The water was really pretty today. We were looking for whales here and saw 4 volunteers who kept saying things like, "oh, there's one or blow over there", but none of us could see what they were seeing. I think it was a game they play with the tourist! Maybe when we go to Maui next week we will get lucky and see some humpback whale on our snorkeling trip. We headed on up the west coast and soaked in all of the views and then cut through the (3) mountains to get back to Honolulu. We stopped at (4) Pali Lookout so Andy could see it and it wasn't nearly as windy as the other day when Sara and I stopped. Tomorrow we plan to go back to Hanauma Bay to snorkel. We are hoping the box jellyfish aren't too bad.

Friday, March 5

Rainy day today, but warm. When Sara and Matt got off work we decided to head downtown to Waikiki since the sun was shining for the first time today. We went to the Hale Koa, a military hotel located next to the Sheraton. Of course by the time we got there is was raining a little but we enjoyed the great views of the ocean and ate at the beachfront Tropic. Mr Bichler especially enjoyed the many fountains filled with koi. Check out the Kahuna Burger and he ate "the whole thing"! We topped off the evening with a Haagen Das milkshake. What a life!!

Wednesday evening, March 3

The winter trade-winds have been blowing pretty much non stop since we got here and it has been raining off and on each day. Today when Sara got off work we went to the Bishop's Museum. The museum is a private collection of everything Hawaiian and reminds me of a smaller version of the Field Museum in Chicago. Mr. Bishop's wife was native Hawaiian and part of the Royal family and she wanted to preserve as much of Hawaii's history as possible. The museum was wonderful. Housed in 3 different buildings it included artifacts from the many Pacific islands, flora and fauna, a history of the native monarchy in Hawai'i and a natural history room complete with a life sized hump-backed whale and a typical thatched island home. There was also a planetarium and a large walk thru volcano. The museum was a blend of our Ohio Historical Society and COSI. Certainly a must-see if you make it to Honolulu and would be great for children as they provided a lot of hands-on interactive exhibits.

Wednesday, March 3

Well, we made it to Hawaii. Sorry I haven't posted, guess I just am still tired from the 12 1/2 hr plane trip. It was pretty uneventful except we almost missed our connecting flight in Atlanta. I had asked for special assistance because I knew we were going to have trouble getting to our plane in just 50 mins., but even though we were late getting off the plane, the Delta guy at the desk told us we would have plenty of time to get there. I was not happy but we quickly set off to trudge what seemed to be about a half a mile to the tram, got to gate E12 and no one was there. Luckily they were just at the next gate and ready to close the door. It would have been nice if they had told us that they changed the gate #. Anyway 10 1/2 hours later we landed in Honolulu. So great to see Sara & Matt. Yesterday we went to the Iolani Palace in downtown Honolulu. It was the official residence of King Kalakaua and Queen Lili'uokalani, the last monarchs of Hawai'i, 1882-1893. It is the only palace in the US that had an actual monarchy. It was beautiful and we learned that it had electricity even before the White House or Buckingham Palace. I will try to do a better job of posting for the rest of the trip .
Aloha!
Photo 1 - The Royal Hawai'ian Palace, photo 2 - The Pali Lookout