Tonight's sunset in Kona

[DebbieM Member Find all posts View Profile Close DebbieM]

This is from unit 14A at Kona Hawaiian Resort. The roof of 10A is in the foreground.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

This is from unit 14A at Kona Hawaiian Resort. The roof of 10A is in the foreground.

Debbie, thank you for sharing your very nice sunset tonight. This is what I love about the Internet as we are connected to the "right now" and your Aircard is working too. Did it work fast enough for you?

[DebbieM Member Find all posts View Profile Close DebbieM]

Glad you enjoyed it. We almost missed it while cooking dinner, then noticed how purple it was outside. The AirCard is at 4 of 5 bars tonight, not too bad. Again, the best part of it isn't the speed, but the portability. I like not having to cram up next to the phone port!

[gophish Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close gophish]

Nice photo! thanks

[mshatty Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close mshatty]

Not bad!!

[hope54 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close hope54]

Kona - only 28 days and we will be there. Can't wait!!

Hope

[urple2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close urple2]

10A is the room I have been assigned to, unless they change it for 11/18.

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Now that is what I call a fab photo! Thanks for sharing! How are things on the island after the earthquake? Is Waikoloa area the worst suffering part of the island? How are the road conditions? Let us know any info that you get regarding cleanup and damage! And have a wonderful time!

[DebbieM Member Find all posts View Profile Close DebbieM]

Below is what I was inspired to write after our first week here. Nothing much has changed since. I've been through lots of earthquakes in California, and this one is practically invisible compared to those. The only thing we haven't been able to do because of the earthquake is the Pololu Valley hike. The road to the lookout is closed, as is the trail down to the valley. Quote from another thread here (I tried to embed a link but couldn't figure it out -- hey, I'm on vacation!):

We are here in Hawaii now, into our second week already. A week at Kona Hawaiian Resort became available at the last minute and that was too much to resist, so here we are!!! It feels like home.

Despite the high dollar values being assigned to damage from the recent earthquake, if you didn't know there was one you just wouldn't figure it out from casual observations. It is hard to tell earthquake damage from the normal somewhat state of disarray on the islands. At Paniolo Greens we had to reposition the fluorescent light covers on the kitchen ceiling -- they were hanging off their tracks. And there were a few cracks and spots of missing plaster on the walls, although those could have been old. A friend is staying at the Royal Kona Resort and has some pretty big and definitely fresh cracks in his walls. KHR only has reports of some TV splats, and nothing that I can see.

This is our second year volunteering for Ironman. This year was more of a challenge, not all fun. For about an hour during our shift the skies parted and DUMPED rain on us in a way I've never seen before in Hawaii. We got soaked to the bone and way too cold (it was also dark and windy). We were working the area past the finish line where the athletes can go to various areas (food, massage, medical, family connect, medals, etc.). We "catch" them and help them to where they want to go. The rain meant that most of them were coming in quite chilled, even hypothermic, but we had little to offer them. At one point we were warming up wet table cloths by wearing them on our own shoulders, then passing them off to the next shaking finisher. One of the night's laughs came from a woman finisher -- I asked her if she was cold, and she said "Honey, I'm 53 and menopausal, I'm NEVER cold!" Another highlight was when I surprised another volunteer, a young local kid, by showing him how we could see our breath. He had never been in cold enough weather before! In the medals area, where we were originally scheduled to work, a huge lake formed, and the volunteers' feet disappeared underwater for the rest of the evening. Another lake swamped a row of port-a-potties, eeeewwww. But despite the follies, I still whole-heartedly recommend volunteering. They have an appreciation dinner for the volunteers a few days later (quite nice), so if you do volunteer, try to have a few more days on the island so you can take advantage of the dinner. This year it was on the following Monday.

[susieq Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close susieq]

WHAT A REALLY AWESOME SIGHT !!! Thanks for sharing!!

Sue