Lakehouse: first visit to Hawaii

Years ago, Absher Construction did many projects in Hawaii. But the bad economy made them unable to get jobs for several years. But, they recently won a bid, and Stephen selfishly volunteered to relocate to a tropical paradise. Stephen traveled to the island of O'ahu for some planning meetings in August. Ginger got to tag along!

We met Stephen's new QC (Quality Control) Manager, Steve. Steve came to Hawaii for college as an international student from Korea. He married another Korean international student, and they've raised their two children on the Big Island. Steve wants to relocate to Washington after this project is complete. He's familiar with local companies.

We had a fun team dinner with Absher and their architects, WJA Design Collaborative. They also designed the project Stephen worked on in Rhode Island.

We visited Pearl Harbor. There are a variety of ships and museums to see there. For this trip, we chose a submarine, which went on a revenge mission after Pearl Harbor.

Exploring the USS Bowfin submarine.

 

We visited the beautiful memorial built on top of the sunken USS Arizona. This memorial is free to visit, although you do need to schedule a time. Groups leave on a boat together to access the memorial. We are reminded to be respectful; we are standing in a graveyard. 

 

There were historical markers telling about the Arizona. We were moved by the story of the survivors who have chosen to have their cremains returned to the ship with their fellow crewman. 

Another good place to visit with some history is the Diamond Head Crater trail. It's just 3/4 of a mile long, though some parts are steep! The main challenge was the heat of the day. 

Amazing view from the top.

The trail includes several old military lookouts,

A section of this spiral staircase was incorporated in to the hike.

Of course, we tried to spend lots of time at the beach. Although Stephen will be working in Kanehoe (on the other side of the island) we stayed in Waikiki, where most of the hotels cater to tourists. It's a short walk to the beach. We liked this path where surfers store their boards.

Several catamarans go out for evening cruises.

Ginger loves all the tropical flowers, especially hibiscus.

Our favorite tree in the banyan, which send out roots from its high branches to connect to ground again and again.

Sunset on the beach.

We are excited to move here!

Lakehouse: Kapalka visit + Victoria BC

Victoria BC

Ron and Nancy came to visit in July 2016. A bit unpatriotically, we spent Forth of July weekend in Canada! Ginger has always wanted to visit there, after her family's 1998 trip there (in sixth grade).

We took the ferry from Port Angeles.

The best place in Victoria is the Butchart Gardens.

We walked all over downtown Victoria, including China Town.

On the ferry, we bought tickets to tour Craigdarroch Castle. It reminded us of our many house tours in Newport. One unique aspect of this tour was the multi-level focus on the different lives of the house- a family home for a coal baron, a hospital during the World Wars, and a small University. They decorated different rooms to represent different times, and had a large collection of anecdotes from the house's history. 

We ate at the Fisherman's Wharf, and got to see seals close up!

 Back in the US, we drove up to Hurricane Ridge, part of the Olympic Mountains.

Seattle WA

Nancy has family in Seattle, her cousins and their family. Cynthia and Jim and their daughters Brynn and Michaela. Cynthia's twin sister Marilyn.

We visited the Boeing Factory- the largest building we've ever been inside!

(You can't take photos inside the factory, but the small museum next door has a green screen photo area.)

Marilyn lives right in the rainforest! Nancy and Ginger enjoyed a walk near her house.

A day in Seattle

We even made time for one house project- painting the marigold yellow laundry room with some cool greys.

Stephen even treated the concert floor with acid to repaint it.

Our last Tacoma tour was the Food Forest, a different kind of community garden where Theresa does her Master Gardener work. This pile of logs will become a hugulculture garden bed, where new plants grow out of burned wood.

Lakehouse: Jenna's Wedding + Dallas TX

Dallas TX

Ginger flew to Dallas in June 2016 for Jenna's wedding! Along the way, she got to catch up with several friends. Michelle, Ian and Evelyn toured the Dallas World Aquarium.

Michelle loves teaching her daughter to love all the different creatures.

We got together with our Ft. Worth friends. Andy and Nathaniel are roommates now. Ginger got to meet Nathaniel's girlfriend Rebekah (center) and Patrick and his girlfriend Jessica (right).

Ginger had dinner with Tracy and her wonderful family, Jose, Mona, Sandra and Katherine. Last time we saw them, Sandra was just a few days old in Pennyslvannia. Soon after, Tracy and Joe came home to Texas. They have been building a small family farm, with chickens, goats, and hopefully soon longhorns. Joe also runs a tree cutting business with the goal of hiring veterans and paying them well.

Ginger stayed with Bid and Bill. Bill has been growing a huge aero-garden with fresh tomatoes!

Jenna & Matt's Wedding

Ginger made a simple wedding cake for Jenna- she prepared three tiers of plain white cake. Michelle came along for the wedding (in Jacksboro, TX) and helped assemble the cake and arrange real flowers on it. Jenna's wedding had the most amazing flowers every- their family friend Ms. Grace is a professional florist.

Both families praised the new spouses, saying they "If we could have picked the perfect husband for our daughter, we couldn't have made someone as good as Matt" and the same for Jenna.

The other highlight of the wedding was a surprise- the Tarantolas drove from Lubbock! We hadn't seen Chris and Lauren since graduation, and got to meet their son Peter for the first time.

Here's a more accurate view of our friendship! (Thanks to Chris for both group photos)