Paradise Found

Hapuna Beach- Tame and touristy, but without a doubt one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever enjoyed in our well-traveled lives. And one of very few sand beaches here on the Big Island. A perfect place to play "Beached Whale." The Hapuna Beach Hotel- the perfect place to lick our wounds and recover from massive disappointment.

Impermanence Actualized

Yesterday was one of the saddest days of my life. After whole days and days of agonizing preparation for travel, changes in tickets, etc., etc., etc. I was all ready to make the big trek to Japan. Got to the airport, and found that I did not have the correct passport. Could not go. Dejection of immeasurable depths abounded. Drove home, cried, sunk into bed.

Today I awake, the sun is shining for the first time since we got here to the island. Beaches await, and soon, the family will arrive. We will spend the day exploring beaches. Japan will wait for another day.

Amidst the Turtles and Taro

This is what I see as I sit. Among the treetops aside the huge and undulant deep blue-green taro leaves, having nearly stepped on a magnificent sea turtle while wending my way along black lava effluent on the oceanside yesterday, I find myself spectactularly lacking a need to intellectually wank.

Las Vegas-Always a Lesson

The casino win made a night's stay in Las Vegas irresistible. We really needed it to get the fleas off from last night's sorry motel. Found a new off-strip casino- natural minimalist decor, great beds, fabulous bathtub, the best pool ever, the best buffet ever.

I really thought this would be the time we would find Vegas fun for more than one day. We ran around like teenagers doing all the cool stuff.

But it wasn't to be. No manner of decadence will stay fun in Las Vegas for more than one day. When you have done it all, it's over. We will go to sleep in our feather beds with 800 thread-count sheets and be out of here tomorrow morning.

Two Days, Four Biomes

To drive across the U.S. is to experience firsthand the great diversity of environments in our country. Friday, we awoke in the dark, and on our perch above Agate beach, we watched the last of the fullish moon over the ocean, reflecting brightly on the water- a perfectly clear night sky above. We drove down the Oregon coast until we just could not assimilate any more wild rugged beauty: the waves in high wind smashing against the many rock outcrops was humbling and breathtaking. We turned eastword just north of Coos Bay for biome number two: the most incredible drive up a river valley toward just south of Eugene. Along this drive, despite the beach winds, we encountered mirror-like river waters reflecting the autumn leaves along the edge, and at one place, a lone fisherman barely making ripples with his line.

Biome number three began after we crossed Interstate 5 in northern California. Here, we drove many hours through evergreen mountains, and saw the most unusual (and sad, to us) dry lake beds. We could not tell if they had been that way for years, or if this was the result of a recent drought. We lasted until Susanville, just west of Reno, then dropped about ten minutes after we checked in to our motel.

Biome four was the stark desert landscapes we encountered in Nevada as we trudged along southward toward Las Vegas, passing through some towns with a wild character way exceeding Bisbee.

Smoke hung over the mountains to the west of us, reminding us of the California wildfires, still ablaze, and we wondered as we grew more tired, if we would find lodging in Las Vegas, or if everyone who could, would- get out of town. It seems they did, because there was not one single room in all of Las Vegas, save a $700 suite at the Bellagio. We were close to panic due to exhaustion, but managed to find a modest room just beyond Vegas. I won my obligatory several hundred dollars at a nearby local casino ($700 to be precise- in the usual way- with less than 20 minutes of wheel of fortune).

That's it for day number three. Of our trip; of the world series, of THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA (essay to come on that- oh my gosh!!!)

Join us on our trip south

We hope you'll join us on our trip south with our blog diary and pix on the way.
Departure: 5:30 a.m. First stop to collect rocks on the beautiful Oregon coastline: 9:30 a.m. The Tillamock Cheese Factory: 11:30 (a little less wonderful after listening to the first three chapters of THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA. We read every label in the company store. Everything has corn syrup in it except the cheese). 2:30 Uncle! A motel perched on a cliff overlooking beautiful Agate Beach in Newport.

Lack of Wanderlust

I am having a familiar experience today. Have surfed the web many hours trying to find a place to stay while exploring the Big Island on a family trip. With cost as no object, I cannot find any place I would rather be than where I am right now, or where I will be next week.

Hungry for adventure in my youth, I went everywhere and did everything. I was the very antithesis of satisfied-definitely NOT zen. I've turned over all the rocks! The blessing of that is lack of desire now. Herein lies a big conundrum: Can we get to enlightenment/revelation without the desire/suffering that led us to seek it? The Buddha did not. So where in the practice/process is the doctrine of knocking your head against the wall? Is religion always an antidote? Can faith arise without trial?

I am grateful for not wanting to be somewhere else. I am, however, not free of wanting to pursue the spiritual conundrums. This is my life- faith, doubt, perseverance.