Hot, Hotter, Hottest (so far)

Pretty boring to be talking (blogging) about the weather but the Apiarist is one of the 23,000 Australians (more than 2 million people worldwide) who is living with Multiple Sclerosis and he and many people living with MS find hot weather difficult. Our evening with the Angels (i.e. Los Angeles Angels) had been hot enough for the Apiarist to be dressed in shorts and a T Shirt and pleasantly warm, the time on Oahu & Maui was hot but there were plenty of opportunities to cool off.

These next few days were reminders of why the Apiarist and the Educator normally call Narooma home!  http://www.narooma.org.au/narooma-weather/ We were now starting our extended North American road trip that would see us travelling through more than twenty States and Provinces of Canada & the USA, and we were getting ready to get HOT!!!

After saying goodbye to the Mission Motel we called in at the nearest AAA shop www.aaa.com/home/travel.html who provide great free advice & maps to NRMA members and also spoke to the people manning the desk at the Buena Park, California Welcome Centre. Nice people at both places with plenty of FREE advice!

As we left LA we saw something that we should see more often in Australia-the San Gorgonio Pass Wind Farm. More that 3000 wind turbines, hmmm we seem to be wasting too much time and effort propping up unsustainable energy providers! 

If you look at "The Rough Guide to the USA" or Trip Advisor you will find many references to Joshua Tree National Park not only for the eerie beauty of the arid rocky landscape but of the unnatural gnarled vegetation.  No they really aren't trees, they are actually a type of yucca or agave and it seems the mormons who gave them their name saw "the arms of Joshua pointing to the promised land". Who am I to argue and they are definitely different, as is the desert landscape where they live!

Taking advantage of the excellent advice from the National Parks Guide where we purchased our National Parks permit ($80 for 12 months) we headed off following the suggested drive. We stopped, oooohed and aaahed, walked (one person more than the other) and we were both amazed by what we saw of this wonderful place. Joshua Tree National park exceeded our expectations! But was it ever HOT!!!

It's not unusual but when we travel we seem to find ourselves running a bit later than we would like, at times. but as they say "time flies when you're having fun" and we tend to have a lot of fun!

Travelling east from Joshua Tree National Park took us along a part of Route 66 http://www.roadtripusa.com/routes/route66/route66.html which we'll see in detail on our way back from Gravenhurst in September. But that will be another story.

Driving past deserted homes and businesses in the middle of what was hot,dry, rough country was a little disconcerting and at times depressing. The Global Financial Crisis may have been responsible or maybe this area and its environment are just too tough.

As we drove into yet another wonderful sunset we didn't have any adea of what we would find when the day and our trip finally came to an end but to give you an idea here is what $20 buys you when there is a casino involved!!!

And the view of the Colorado River from our room the next morning was.........

nice!!!

Time spent with Angels, Los Angeles, California

Island Air flight from Maui was another great one with stunning views and fabulous service which made us wonder about the somewhat negative reviews we'd read of the airline. Oh well I guess you can't please everyone!

Final night in Honolulu was a good one. Started with a very tasty and satisfying Pho for dinner and a good opportunity to say farewell to Melissa & Duane who were heading to Korea and then to Laos the next morning.

Our VERY early wake up for our flight to Los Angeles was not really ideal as our night's sleep had not been a great one! But we were ready for the cab who arrived and we had plenty of time to deal with some booking difficulties (we will never use Flight Centre again)! As we had suspected Greg & Flick were on the same flight,ironically they've done much better flight wise by making the bookings themselves!! A lesson we will remember!!! 

Again another scenic flight on Hawaiian Airlines with wonderful views of Molokai after the departure and of Los Angeles on our arrival. Seems like Hawaiian Airlines is on the interchange bench for Virgin which has been good for us! 

Some problems with picking up our rental car at Alamo but they were sorted out by the wonderful Chelsea. Seems as though there would be a problem crossing the Canadian border which would have put our British Columbia / Ontario plans into jeopardy. The educator and our, by then, favourite rental agent sorted out the problem and we were away in what will be our vehicle for the next 10 weeks!




Choosing among the number of SUV's is fun and although we could have HAD A JEEP (Melissa) we chose the easiest for the Apiarist to get into and out of. Hmmm MS makes you boring at times. BUT IT DOES LOOK GOOD!!! 

Next it was on with Mrs G (our constant North American advisor) and away we went through the amazing Los Angeles traffic towards the Mission Motel. Now what would US $51 per night buy us????

Nothing special but it more than filled our needs. A comfortable bed in the town where we wanted to be which was all we wanted. Now LA offers lots of things so we braved the traffic and headed off in search of one of their favourite beaches. Now normally we are fairly well prepared but when we pulled into the parking lot at Santa Monica Pier we realised we'd arrived with no wallets or purses and indeed no MONEY!!!!

Oh well at least we had the opportunity to experience 2 hours of traffic for......

A great view of what I'm led to believe is a nice beach!

After that disappointment we still had a bit we wanted to do and even without a nutritionally correct dinner we packed out pretzels and dip and headed off to a meeting with the Angels!!!!

Fireworks finished another instalment of the trip!!

Four Frosts, a Wedgie and a Wagga Wagga at a wedding!!!

During the last year the Apiarist and the Educator have been invited to two weddings and these have been a long way from home and are a part of the reason for this journey. Louise, the bride in this wedding, is our neighbours Stretch & ROK's daughter and we met Matt, the groom, first in Gravenhurst, ON, Canada and then at our Christmas BBQ in 2013. What made it even better is that Louise has been a long time friend of our kids Greg & Melissa and they were invited as well.

Now to make the invitation even better was that the nuptials were to take place on the tropical island of Maui, how sweet is that!!! For the Frosts it was made even more special as it was an opportunity to spend time with Melissa & Duane (in the middle of their Central America - South East Asia odysey) and Greg & Flick (at the start of a USA hiking adventure). 

Wonderful family time with a great reason to celebrate in a beautiful exotic place and rather than cluttering the post by being too verbose we'll let these pictures paint the proverbial 1000 words.

Sharks Cove/ Sunset Beach

Fairly early start. Did I mention that roosters seem to be all over the island? But the Apiarist has never been really good at sleeping in and we were to explore another new area. Ate tropical fruit and drank a cup of tea on the shaded balcony while we sorted through the snorkelling gear and prepared to head across the busy road to get into the water. Luckily the house came with plenty of snorkels, just enough masks and as it turned out enough pairs of aquashoes!

And knowing that, according to Scuba Diving Magazine, Sharks Cove is in the top 12 Shore Dives in the world http://www.hawaiisnorkelingguide.com/sharks_cove.html and who were we to argue. Unfortunately our  less than extensive research had not quite prepared us for the difficulty of actually getting into the water. Perhaps the route we chose was less than ideal and perhaps taking the extra time to follow the path the other divers were taking and also perhaps having one member of the party who is less than stable on their feet may have helped, but when we finally got into the water this was one of those WOW moments! The kaleidoscope of colours of the endless varieties and numbers of fish were amazing!! 

The only thing lacking was the by now dead underwater camera, so we left Sharks Cove, (by a much safer route) still full of amazement, had quick showers, swallowed a late breakfast and headed off in search of photographic equipment. Now we are in the USA where else would you look but.................  

No the camera wasn't bought there, but Walmart was a great starting point and after getting ideas of prices and after a bit of searching we headed to Best Buy and finally settled on a Fuji XP. Let's hope the fish are still there!!!

Travelling back up the Kamerahamera Highway to North Shore was much easier than the previous day and I guess that was due to the time of day as I guess even Oahu has a rush hour. We were in no real rush except to find some food and a small detour saw us in the Beet Box Cafe http://www.thebeetboxcafe.com/ for a great (late) lunch. And food was gooood!!

Home via Foodland at Haleiwa for groceries including beer, cider and wine (travelling is thirsty work) and also some local delicacies including shave ice and poke and then relaxation, more relaxation and even more relaxation!!! Life is good....even for geckos

Now remember that camera we went to buy? We did do a bit more diving every day! And although the clarity wasn't as great as the first day the fish were still there in great numbers, the water was still lovely and warm and we had managed to find easier and much safer ways to get the Apiarist into Shark's Cove. Of great interest to people with MS the time he spent in the water was neither really taxing physically, nor requires a lot of balance to swim or snorkel.And we even saw a Humuhumunukunukuapua'a. Look that up on Google!!!

Days at our North Shore house were basically spent relaxing and enjoying hearing about Melissa and Duane's Central American adventures and plans for Asia and their return to Australia later this year. Having a house right across the road from Shark's Cove and right on the beaches of Oahu's famed North Shore added to that relaxation! A glass of wine, an interesting beer, good conversation and a stunning sunset - it takes a lot to beat that life! We are lucky!!!

Well as they say all good things must come to an end and we have a lot of plans for other good things during the next few months, so it was back into the Dodge and back onto the road. This time we were heading east to the Windward Coast of Oahu. We chose a good day to be driving as it was cloudy with misty rain at times and we made it back to Honolulu airport in time for our flight to MAUI!!!