Week 26

This last weekend I helped a friend clean a house on Tantalus Drive. For those of you unfamiliar with Tantalus Drive, it's where all the really wealthy people build their homes along an 11 mile road that winds through the mountains behind Honolulu. From the family's living room, this was the view of Honolulu in the distance. Plus, you can see how lush and green it is up on the mountain. It was raining on the other side of the house when I took this.

Week 25

This past Monday was a holiday here, King Kamehameha Day. We decided to visit the Hoomaluhia Botanical Garden with cousins Adam and Stef. We found many interesting plants and animals. There is a big lake in the middle where ducks and different birds hang out. There are also big orange fish that live in the lake. We only stayed a couple hours here and got half way around the lake, but it would be nice to come back and explore or have a picnic.

Week 24

Transit of Venus
Hawaii and Alaska were the only places in the US where the entire Transit of Venus was visible. Both Romney and I got to see it while at work. A coworker of mine had gotten a pair of sun-viewing glasses and gave it to me half way through the transit. I went outside and was able to see the tiny speck of Venus as it passed between the sun and Earth. It's pretty cool to think that I've seen another planet in our solar system with my own eyes during the day.

Here is what it would have looked like through a telescope. There was a live feed being shown by UH's observatory online and I took these still images.

The next Transit of Venus will be in 105 years, in 2117. Glad I got to see it this time around since I doubt I'll be around for the next one.

Week 23

Sorry we didn't do anything more fun than me going to a work event. I went to see the Hawaiian Airlines archives. They are the second oldest surviving airline in the world. Only Quantas Airlines has been operating longer than them and are still around. Here are some photos.