Sixty Three And Thar She Blows!

No I'm not 63, but my blog is 63 posts and 1 year old today! Who'da thunkit? Not I; I never planned to blog in the first place (hence 'no-blog-rachel'). Even when I started I didn't think I'd keep at it. But it's fun, and I've met some of the coolest people, both on line and in person. Thank you all for reading!

The Land Of The $14 Tuna Sandwich

I've heard Hawaii's an expensive place to be, but it hasn't been too much pricier than the Bay area. One notable exception of the price of a tuna sandwich - yikes! - at the 'casual' resort restaurant. But other things aren't bad at all. We picked up some pretty fine (and huge) panini at the nearby grocery store for a really reasonable price. So I guess it's just where you go.

Whales!

Friday evening, we were treated to a sunset sail. About 40 of us piled into 2 buses and made our way down the coast a little bit to board one of these:

It's past the time when the humpback whales who hang out here to calve head up toward Alaska to feed. So I was just enjoying the view and the breeze when I saw something dark come briefly out of the water. And then, a spray of water that looked like steam coming out of a kettle. A spout! It kept on for about 10 minutes; probably a mom and baby. She'd stayed behind until the calf was big enough make the trip north, and of course to give me a chance to see whales for the first time ever. So cool!

Sorry, no whale shots but the sunset was pretty. My camera doesn't do it justice.

Today is our last day at the resort; it's pretty plush here and pleasant but I'm looking forward to seeing other parts of the island. We're heading to Hilo today; we're going to stay there and spend this evening and all day tomorrow hiking around the volcano.

But first, brunch.