Back Home, A Pele Present, Jet Lag

[Note: This is another blog based on my weekly emails to my family on the mainland.]

6/24/23

 

Aloha Folks:

 

Our bodies returned to Kona Tuesday around 11:30 am.  Our minds are finally just arriving.  We're gradually adjusting to the 12-hour time difference so that getting up at bedtime isn't so disorienting.  The trip back was a killer, and a lesson in the fact that the hardest thing about travel is the journey itself.  We were scheduled to return from Rome on Monday, flying non-stop to Chicago then on to LA for a night before the final leg to Kona.  However, the plane in Rome had some kind of never-explained mechanical issue and the flight was canceled after several hours of delays.  United put everyone up in a nice new hotel near Rome's new convention center and provided meals and transportation back to the airport.  However, we had to scramble to re-book and finally got on a flight from Rome to San Francisco the next afternoon and on a Kona flight the next morning.  These days planes fly nearly or completely full, so we were lucky to score two of the last four seats on the Rome to SF flight.  As you can imagine, these weren't the best seats on the plane -- we were separated of course, and I was in a middle seat, normally a BAD spot, but it turned out to be in an exit row, so at least I had lots of leg room.  Anyway, it was a mere 12.5 hour flight and then we got to rest overnight before the last 5 hours.  Fun times. 

Overall it was a very good trip -- lots of good food, quaint surroundings, and interesting sights.  We also really enjoyed getting together briefly with our two expat friends living in southern France. Italy was delightful, particularly the places we had not visited on earlier trips, such as the northwestern part near the alps and the cities of Turin and Genoa, and the Umbrian/Tuscany towns of Assisi, Orvieto, and Spello.  We were reminded, though, that traveling can be quite a workout.  We must have walked a thousand miles, often along steep streets with lots of stairs.  I also had to forgo many of my usual nap sessions, definitely a hardship!

 

From This.....

I joked in last month's final email before our trip that the volcano was probably going to erupt while we were gone -- the Sherman curse.  Sure enough, Kilauea woke up and for a while put on a good show at the summit, complete with multiple fountains and a resurfacing of the lava lake in the caldera.  Vog returned, of course, and the air quality along the Kona coast dropped.  We were anticipating returning home to this when Pele gave us a homecoming  present --

To This.

on Monday all activity stopped and the SO2 (which produces the Vog) dropped to almost zero, so that when we landed there was virtually no Vog at all.  Thanks, Pele.

 

Our unusual rain pattern has continued, and now one of our main tasks is to whack back the vegetation produced by all that moisture. Unfortunately this requires a fair amount of energy and alertness, something we're lacking until the jet lag wears off.  Yesterday we did manage a light workout at Planet Fitness, followed by a huli huli chicken beach picnic, some grocery shopping, and a lonnnggg nap.

Ok, that's enough for now.  We're off to farmers' market and to our beach breakfast.  Take care.