Something to crow about

 

That's right! The Seattle Seahawks are headed to the Superbowl after a thrilling game last night. This city is going bonkers for the next two weeks. 

Some cute photos from Amanda. Her twelve hens (plus Roostie) roam around the property during the day. 

Nothing makes chickens happier than free range, scratching and pecking for yummy things. No wonder the eggs are so delicious.

The snow in the Valley is unusually light this winter, with inches on the ground instead of feet. I haven't received a single snowplow bill for our driveway, and Tom's new blower hasn't been fired up (yet.)

Nova, with one of the tamer hens, checking out the crock pot. 

The rooster is too skittish to catch and hold. He wasn't spoiled and hand-raised on kitchen scraps. Roostie was a gift from their neighbors across the road, and shows no interest in returning home now. Smart guy, because the extra roosters over there go in the soup pot. 

Amanda's hens will likely expire from old age. 

A pretty view, looking across the Valley from the farmhouse dining room window. And someone wants back inside. 

 

Speaking of birds, a rather magnificent roast chicken I made yesterday. Sorry, girls!
 

The main excitement

 

 The Seahawk mascot

If the Seahawks beat the Rams this Sunday, they go to the Super Bowl to play either the Broncos or Patriots, depending on that game. 

The Seahawks were last at the Superbowl in 2015, where they lost to the Patriots. Feelings of deja vous? Better not jinx it going down that road.

There is no such bird as a Sea Hawk. "Taima" is Auger Hawk (also known as the Auger Buzzard) native to Africa.  

She is trained to fly out of the tunnel ahead of the players at home games. Most of the time, it goes well. But birds will be birds. She once landed on a fan's head, to the great amusement of the crowd.

 Have a good weekend. Stay warm and safe.

Winter mornings

 

That east-to-west time change sure makes for some listless mornings. It is 2 hours earlier in Hawaii. I'm grateful we're retired and don't have to hit the ground running after a trip like that.

The weather is cold and dry-- it hasn't rained in Seattle since January12th. The Safeway store  parking lot yesterday had invisible patches of black ice. Someone was nice enough to warn me when I got out of the car. I slipped once in a Safeway parking lot (go figure) in Cle Elum. Only my pride was injured but shame on Mr. Safeway for not deicing and senior citizens falling down. 

Anyway, a slow news morning here. That major winter storm barrelling across the country won't affect the Northwest, which is often the case. We have our own unique weather drama up here. 

I'm looking forward to seeing my ukulele friends again today. I haven't been to the group since before Christmas. 

Farewell, Oahu

 

A classic beach sunset on our last night, shared with thousands of other people.  

 

On the way for ice cream after dinner, John was roped into a street performance and got nicknamed "Mr. Hilton" by the sassy break dancer with the mike. 

John was a good sport. A big crowd soon formed to watch. (If you bribe me enough, I'll share the video.)

We are glad to be home. Small flight delays in Honolulu added up last night, and we were sitting in those seats for long time-- then our bags were last off the carousel at SeaTac. Anyway, we woke up late this morning (for us) and still on island time. A bowl of oatmeal for breakfast then back to regular routines. 

A bright and sunny winter day in Seattle. Piles of laundry await.

 

Last full day

 

 

 

Since we're in Honolulu, I thought, why not see Chinatown? Although to be honest, they are all pretty much the same. (I mean that in a nice way.) 

We stopped first at the Kuan Yin Temple, the air filled with fragrant smoke from hundreds of burning sticks. Monks chanting, drums and community worship going on inside. Buddhists burn incense to purify sacred spaces, among other reasons. A nice experience.

The temple is adjacent to Foster Botanical Garden, which turned out to be a surprise highlight of the trip. 

 

 

Mind boggling, massive tropical trees!  

 

 

And of course, lovely tropical flowers. 

 

Then we hoofed it several blocks over to the heart of Chinatown, thinking about lunch.

 

 

The Honolulu Chinatown neighborhood burned down several times and the architecture is not especially interesting-- just the usual Asian food markets, restaurants and tourist stores. 

 

We passed a Dim Sum restaurant, but feeling the intrepid travelers, settled on the open market food court, filled with (frankly) not-so-clean cooking stalls and tables. But the takeout lunches were flying out of Papa's Court stall, which turned out to be a good choice. Once you got past the confusing menu.

 

Black bean chicken for John. Wonton soup for me. Fresh and hot. 

Then another Uber ride back to the hotel, and one last dinner tonight on Waikīkī. Back to bean-soup-from-the freezer reality tomorrow. With luck, our Hawaiian Airlines flight departs for Seattle at 1:20 pm. 

A different vacation experience for sure, but fun. We are both well.  

 

Our neighborhood

Duke's Alley, next to our hotel, is a maze of tiny stalls selling cheap jewelry, trinkets and souvenirs. I got sucked in there, of course. Almost couldn't find my way out. 

Shopping, shopping. The International Marketplace, bustling away 32 stories below our room, has a big Target, high-end stores, and fancy restaurants. And there's another fancy mall across the street with more designer stores and a food court. 

We got take-out Panda Express there and watched the game in our room on Saturday. Sweet. Go Hawks. 

The famous pink Royal Hawaiian Hotel is across the street on the beach. Remember the lyrics to Joni Mitchell's "Big Yellow Taxi?" She wrote that song when she came to Hawaii for the first time in the 1970's. She woke up in the morning and saw the skyscrapers and sprawl starting to creep up the green mountain paradise. 

"You don't know what you got til it's gone." 

Yup. Waikiki was a wetland with fresh springs and a fertile sacred place for royalty. The iconic beach is artificial and the sand replenished every 5-7 years. 

As you've probably guessed, this is not a relax under the coconut tree type vacation. But Honolulu is a fun and friendly city. The Uber drivers are a hoot and full of local information.They say international travel is down. Expensive visas are required now for foreign visitors. Some are staying away from American politics. You could have fooled us. The streets are absolutely jammed with people from all over the world, and so many young Asian families. But many are residents of Honolulu. 

You expect Hawaii to be expensive, but we were surprised the prices are comparable to Seattle. The sales tax here is only 4%, compared to 11% in Seattle. Our shocked Uber driver said we must have wonderful roads and services in Washington from paying all those taxes. We laughed. 

As for today's excursion, we walked to the Honolulu Zoo. Not a world class zoo in terms of animals, but the inmates looked happy and the grounds are pretty.  A nice peaceful break from the hustle bustle on Waikiki Beach.