Sunday, January 18th saw us rise long before the sun broke the horizon. We left the house at 3:30 AM for the airport. It was 10°F and before our travel day would end the outside temperature would be in the upper 70s.
Hawaii is the 50th and final state admitted to the United States (1959). It is also the last of the 50 states that Christine and I have visited.
Hawaii is four time zones west of Kansas City. It lies approximately 2000 miles west of the continental United States, is the furthest south of all the states, its 137 islands span 1500 miles from its eastern most island to its western most island, and has a population of approximately 1.5 million. It and Texas are the only two states that were previously recognized internationally as independent nations. It is our home for the next three weeks.
Our Road Scholar group numbers 27, including three group leaders. We will be visiting four islands with each day a dedicated learning experience about the geography, geology, flora, and fauna of this paradise. Today (Monday, January 19) included a brief nature walk, a program orientation, and a “meet and greet” dinner.
Our first impression is very positive. The participants are largely of our generation and stand out as intellectually curious retirees. Some pictures follow below.
Peace Everyone. Pete.
We are aboard Delta Airlines in Minneapolis. Christine is relaxing at the start of our nine hour flight.We landed in Honolulu and had to catch an island jet to Hilo. Not as luxurious as Delta, but the flight took only 55 minutes. We are flying over Honolulu as the sun is setting.The view from our room on Hilo Island. The trees are magnificent! This broad canopy is a monkey tree. It is not native to the island. Much of the flora and fauna are not. Hawaii’s native ecology is the most threatened in the world. This is a Banyan tree, also not native to Hawaii. To get an idea of its immense size those small specs in the lower left corner are people.Civil protest is alive and well in HawaiiProtest signs and refreshmentsThis Japanese garden park, a short walk from our hotel, is the largest of its kind outside of Japan. Members of our group listening to our group leader explain the history of the park.Freshwater is a rare commodity on Hilo. This park is a natural basin for freshwater and freshwater fish.A guava tree heavy with ripening fruit.
Since the holidays I have fielded several inquiries as to my health and wellbeing. Two occurred just today. I am touched by the thoughtfulness.
I am well, and this is a good time to give an update:
Upon our return from Norway in September I underwent surgery to remove the kidney stones that almost derailed the trip. The recovery was tolerable.
In late October we spent a relaxing week in New York City, lodged near Times Square.
We enjoyed a special “hardhat tour” of parts of Ellis Island not open to the general public,
This room was used for surgeries, autopsies, and served as the morgue. The medical care was first rate for the time.
Visited Liberty Island,
Attended Broadway performances of “The Book of Mormon”, “Wicked”, and La Boheme at the Met,
At “Wicked”
The “Wicked” stage
The “Book of Mormon” stage
At “The Book of Mormon”
The Metropolitan Opera, the “Met”
The Metropolitan Opera, the “Met”
The Metropolitan Opera, the “Met”
Spent an afternoon in Central Park watching the New York Marathon,
New York’s Central Park
The 2025 running of the New York Marathon
True courage, grit, and determination!
And of course there were museums to see, food to eat, and crazies to watch.
China Town
The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Museum of Natural History
Van Gogh at the Museum of Modern Art
Van Gogh at the Museum of Modern Art
Picasso at the Museum of Modern Art
Picasso at the Museum of Modern Art
Andrew Wyeth at the Museum of Modern Art
“Christina’s World” (1948), by Andrew Wyeth, has long been a favorite image for me. I had considered it a surreal portrayal of a peaceful life in contemplation. However, I had never seen the original. The closer examination revealed painful swollen and arthritic joints. hair turning grey, and an aspect of emotional pessimism with security beyond her reach. It is now even more a favorite.
Some of the Halloween craziness.
In the past I have not been an advocate for travel insurance, but the experience of suffering a back injury in Spain (2024) that necessitated an early return to the States and surgery, my age, and the kidney stone problems last September changed my perspective.
Christine and I purchased an annual “all trips” policy last year through Allianz Global Insurance. It was money well spent and compensated us for the extra costs incurred due to the kidney stone problem during the Norway trip. We have renewed the policy this year in anticipation of major travel ahead.
Sunday we depart for Hawaii. We have been to every US State and every Canadian Province (plus the Yukon Territory), except Hawaii. We will be there for a little over 3 weeks. In another departure from the typical for us we will be traveling in a small group with Road Scholar, formerly known as Elder Hostel. The trip will include 4 islands, with each day plotted out as an in-depth learning experience. How Christine and I will adapt to being told when to be up, where to go, what to see… getting along with the group, remains to be seen. People who have travelled with Road Scholar are typically very positive. If that is our experience then who knows, Egypt and even Antarctica might be in our future with Road Scholar.
In March I plan on taking 3 of the grandsons skiing for a week in Colorado. I plan to ski… not well, not fast, but free. Ski Monarch near Salida waves all fees for “super seniors”. I qualify.
Salida is a delightful western town with good lodging and dining options. Our two-room suite for the 4 of us is $150 a night which includes a simple breakfast.
The big trip on the calendar is a return to Spain for grandson Britton and me to complete our aborted 2024 Camino.
Me and Britton on the Camino in 2024
He and I will resume from Burgos and hike 300 miles to Santiago de Compostela. But that is not the half of it:
We will be joined on our departure flight by Christine and our daughter Alexis’ three children (the “Cook kids”), arriving in Madrid. The 6 of us will travel by train for a 3-night stay in Burgos. After sending Britton and me on “The Way” Christine and the “Cook kids” will return to Madrid where they will meet granddaughter Delaney (Britton’s “quad” sister) who will have just finished walking the Portuguese route of the Camino with her school group.
Christine with the 4 grandchildren in tow will then wander through France to Amsterdam where the three Cook kids will fly to meet their mom in New York. Christine and Delaney will continue together to Portugal where they will meet our daughter Renee and her other 2 children.
Finally, Christine, Renee, and the three grandchildren will be on hand in Santiago to welcome Britton and me at the end of our trek. 4 days later Renee will depart for travel with her children while Christine and I head for a couple of weeks in Paris, Brittany, and Normandy. Whew!!
Christine spent nearly 2 hours on the phone today with the airline representative coordinating the 5 separate flight itineraries.
Hawaii should provide some great pictures and a wealth of information. Stay tuned… and Thank You!
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. By design the Statue of Liberty is hollow. These words are still a part of “Lady Liberty” and were never meant to be hollow. My grandparent, 2 who were Germans from Russia (now Ukraine) and 2 who were Arabs from Lebanon, were welcomed to America through Ellis Island. How things have changed in a little more than a century.
“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me…”. From “The New Colossus”, the 1983 poem by Emma Lazarus.
September 20th we made a 2 hour stop in Stokmarknes, the 1893 birthplace of the Hurtigruten Norwegian Express.
From its beginnings as a consolidated shipping service that linked ports along Norway’s 60,000 mile coast, Hurtigruten has grown. It continues to serve its original mission at nearly 70 ports, 365 days a year, but its ocean going vessels now also serve the needs of tourism, and adventure tourism.
At Stokmarknes we were treated to a tour of the world’s largest “ship in a bottle”. A huge glass fronted building holds in display Hurtigruten’s 1956 ship, MS Finnmarken.
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Retired from service in 1993 this 266 foot long vessel could transport up to 585 passengers along with freight and mail. It is the centerpiece of the Hurtigruten Museum.
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Leaving Stokmarknes we embarked upon a cruise through some of Norway’s many fjords.
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Our ship, the MS Trollfjord, is 445 feet long with a 70 foot beam.
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The Captain piloted the ship through narrow cliff-walled passages with mere feet to spare.
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At one point we came to a dead end where the Captain caused the ship to turn on its axis for 15 minutes, thus allowing passengers a leisurely opportunity for pictures of the surrounding mountains.
We felt as if we could reach out and touch the cliffs.
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I am writing this post on September 21st. We are on the home stretch of this remarkable 15 day journey. Our final stop is the morning of the 23rd, Bergen, where it began.
I can safely say that in some respects this has been more of an adventure for me and Christine than for any other of the ship’s passengers. Thanks to the ship’s crew, health care professionals aboard and ashore, and accommodating locals who gave assistance to us, “our adventure” never became “our disaster”.
With Gratitude, Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. Earlier today we saw another “Eye of the Needle”, Torghatten Mountain.
This from Wikipedia: “Torghatten (846 ft high) is a mountain located along the coastal area of northern Norway that features a distinctive natural tunnel passing completely through it. According to legend, the hole was made by the troll Hestmannen while he was chasing the beautiful woman Lekamøya. As the troll realized he would not overtake her, he released an arrow to kill her, but the troll-king of Sømna threw his hat into the arrow’s path to save her. The hat turned into the mountain with a hole in the middle.
The tunnel measures over 500 feet long, with an average width of nearly 60 feet and an average height of 130 feet, and sits about 350 feet above sea level at its midpoint.
September 19th. Our crossing of the Barents and North Seas was hell on earth. For 36 hours we endured winds gusting to 60 mph (100 kph) and waves that the Captain estimated reached over 30 feet. The ship and crew were more capable than most passengers. Yet, a number of experienced crew commented that yesterday was an extreme experience.
About 23 years ago I spent three days in similar conditions in the mid Atlantic on a 45 foot sailboat. That experience felt more life-threatening. Yesterday‘s experience was more physically threatening in that there was such a great risk of being catapulted from one side of a large room or space to the other side, accelerating and crashing into a wall, furnishings, or fixtures. Conditions finally relented in yesterday’s late evening hours. Today was the calm after the storm. No drama (except for the Northern Lights!)
We were invited to join the Captain on the ship’s bridge.
We made a brief commercial port of call, (no passenger time ashore)…
… and our final final port of call for the day was in the small community of Torsken (pop 200), situated in a fjord on the shore of Senja, the second largest island in Norway.
Here are some pictures from the day, just pictures:
...Like a REALLY BIG video game..For good luck?..Two ships berthed between mobile dry docks........
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. It’s a bit past midnight and there was an announcement onboard our ship. The Northern Lights are visible!
We have reached Ny-Alesund, Norway, the apex of this journey and the northern limit of civilization.
At the 79th parallel we are 750 miles from the North Pole.
One can say that civilization’s limits extend no further north considering that this is the northernmost settlement with a year round population (35 over Winter and 120 in Summer) and the northernmost post office in the world.
Christine sending postcards home. The Post Office
Our 5 hour ship’s visit briefly doubled or even tripled the local population.
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Not everyone left the ship to brave the bone chilling cold.
Ny-Alesund was founded in 1917 after previous explorations had determined that rich coal deposits could be mined here.
The coal transfer portA mine entrance atop the mountain, now a research instrument location..The coal train, now a memorial.In the small museum is an exhibit of the coal company, physician’s tools. These included a transport basket, dental chair, and a straight jacket!
In spite of the harsh conditions mining was pursued until 1962 when a mine disaster claimed the lives of 21 miners.
The town is also well known as a launching point for polar exploration.
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A 12 room hotel was built here in 1936 and still stands, although it is not currently in use.
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Famously, Roald Amundsen set off for the North Pole from here in the airship Norge, and became the first person to reach the South Pole (1911) and North Pole (1926). He is also credited as having been the first to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage (1909). He disappeared without a trace while conducting an Arctic rescue mission in 1928.
...Our obligatory, armed escort.
The mast from which Norge was launched and a bust of Amundsen remain as testament to the man and his achievements.
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Arctic research gained a foothold in Ny-Alesund in the mid 20th Century. It remains the driving force of the settlement today. 18 research institutes from 11 countries have permanently established facilities. 5 are manned year round.
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Because of the sensitivity of the scientific instruments a 12 mile exclusion zone exists within which the use of mobile devices, WiFi, Bluetooth, and similar technologies is prohibited.
Polar Bears are a constant concern. Locking exterior doors is forbidden in order to afford an escape route in the event of pursuit by a bear. One is also not allowed to leave the town center unless armed or accompanied by an armed escort.
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There was a bear in the vicinity the day before our visit.
Christine and I agree that Ny-Alesund is “otherworldly”… “a nice place to visit but I wouldn’t want to live here!”
.......Evening, as we would soon find out, the calm before the storm.
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. On our return south from Ny-Alesund a shipboard announcement was given: For the next 24 hours high winds and waves are to be expected. Services aboard ship will be limited. Objects are to be secured and passengers are recommended to exercise caution in their movements.
Prophetic words. Wind gusts are near 60 miles per hour and waves are crashing over the ship’s bow. “Climatologically Interesting”
The following day the Captain advised that the waves had reached over 30 feet (10 m).
