Kaanapali Champions Skins Game....

Went to the Kaanapali Champions Skins game in Maui today! Wow.... it was free to get in and free to park. I have watched Jack Nicklaus since I was a little kid. My dad loved watching golf and I remember sitting and watching it with him. Today, I got to see all these pros I have seen on tv tourney after tourney. I took tons of photos.

Jack Nicklaus

Fred Couples

Today was a fun day in the sun, perfect weather and I am in Maui....PINCH ME!!!

COLD & HOT......

BELOW ZERO..... When calling home to check on things, the kids told us it is going to be -30 possible with windchill.... oh my.... The picture was the day we left for Hawaii, Jan. 12 early morning, Moline International Airport.

FLOWING LAVA...... Yesterday we visited a live lava flow. It had literally taken over the road....moving ever so slowly....

MANY MORE PHOTOS DOWNLOADED ON MY FACEBOOK... JUST GO TO LORI RICKETTS.

FIRSTS..... ON A VOLOCANO....

First time walking across a volcano!
This was a 4 mile walk,,,
.8 mile down in, 2.4 miles across, .8 back up out of the crater....
and I did it!! It took us 2 1/2 hours without much stopping...
The trip back up was a killer. The air is kinda thin up there.

First time ever golfing on a volocano!

Alan golfed as a single (not with anyone) and I got to ride along.

This was so enjoyable, we both got lots of sun, he had fun and I just got to enjoy the scenery.

First time ATV riding on a volocano! We went for a 3 hour ride through forests and over hills.

We went on private property and got a chance to see things

that a lot of the locals have never seen.

The views were absolutely stunning... and I had a blast!!!

Today is our 8th day here and we have kept ourselves busy each day!

There is alot to do and we have so many more things to see...

Tomorrow... we are heading to the other side of the island, 2 hour drive, to Kona...
Oh p.s. Kona is home to many little coffee farms...

THE BEST COFFEE IN THE WORLD!!!

If I could buy this in Illinois,,, whoa.... I would be one happy girl!!!

I love this coffee... gotta figure out a way to get this at home.....

HAWAII,,, cont...

The place we are calling home for a few weeks.

Sunrise out our door....


Day 3 - Went to Waimea and met some friends from home in Illinois.

We also went to the Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Plantation.

Day 4 - Saturday, We went to the Hilo Farmer's Market... huge,,, got some different fruits and picked up some souvenir t-shirts.

Korean pear, Rambutan, and apple bananas..... YUM!!!!

We also went to Akaka Falls.... This is quite close to where we are staying.

MORE IN A FEW DAYS.....

HAWAII

We got here on Big Island January 12th. Stayed one night at Hilo Hawaiian Hotel because we came in at 7:30pm and there is no way we would have been able to drive to our rental in the dark. We are staying on a 24 acre property outside of Hilo. We are here for 2 weeks. 14 miles to town, Hilo. It is beautiful here. Breath taking....

Day 2 - We couldn't check in until 3pm so we went to the Hawaii Botanical Garden that was on the way to the rental. It was a mile cemented walk through a beautiful forest of native growth. There were many orchids growing in the ground, planted there, but obviously growing on their own, unreal!!!

We drove to our rental.... wow..... is all I can say....

I can only post one picture at a time,,,, I will post more pics later!!

UGG... WHAT'S GOING ON???

I have been trying to download pictures on Blogspot for the past week with no luck!!!
Anyone having the same problem????
I go on some of my usual blog visits and you all have pictures.... so what am I doing wrong????
Any suggestions????

I'M SEEING STARS....

I have been "nose.to.the.grindstone" working on some Christmas gifts in glass. I saw these stars made on a show THAT'S CLEVER and thought I could figure them out.....

Well,,,,, THAT PATTERN DIDN'T WORK FOR ME,,,, This star is the pattern I got from the program. It was hard keeping all the pieces together. It just looked sloppy to me.

so I made my own pattern and I like them MUCH BETTER...

I used etching cream and my dremel to put a design on the glass before I cut it, then put a rounded edge on all sides and points with my glass grinder so the edges are nice and smooth. Each star has 50 passes on the grinder (that was the time consumer!) Then I used beading wire to hold the pieces together along with some decorative glass beads... These stars are 6"- 8" from point to point.

So this is the ornament of the year for me.

Maybe I will start a new tradition, annual ornament of the year....