let it snow

two weeks into october now
and the first snows have hit
actually,
it started snowing here 2 days ago
so plenty of time
in advance prep
for hallowe'en
for those that don't know edmonton
it's a tradition
that there will be snow
on hallowe'en
in edmonton
:)
tho one year
it was a close call
with the first snow of the season
falling on hallowe'en day itself
there's been snow here
as far as i can remember
(i figure that's about... 18 years or so now?)
and thus
... tradition
this year,
it's been a heavy wet snow
something more like i'd expect
in ontario around the great lakes
(where i grew up as a kid)
and tho it slowed on sunday
it's been coming down consistently
all day
today
yup, edmonton is such an exciting city
so exciting
that i'm here blogging about the weather
go figure :P

[photo] kit's beach photo

so after a couple weeks of travel
and alot of visits to beaches
we didn't really have any beach PHOTOs
so before we caught our flight off big island
we managed to find
a beach
take some photos
and leave
before the "free time limit" parking expired
and get to the airport in time
to sweat for a long long time
ok,
i sweat;
my darling lil sis
(remember the trenchcoat?)
does not
*envy*


on a beach in kona - right before take-off

[photo] south point

yup,
that there is the southernmost point of the united states
we arrived there
after taking the luxury car
down a one lane partially paved road
(often driving on the grass beside the road
to let on-coming cars pass by),
past some eerie mitsubishi wind generators
in need of dire repair
(the sound they made
when we rolled the windows down to listen
was like something out of a futuristic sci fi movie
- you know the after-nuclear-holocaust-type sound)
and meeting some locals
at the "information center"
that had a weird chained god in front of it
(no photos of that tho, sowwy!)


"south point" the furthest point south in all the united states - cool eh?

[photo] thurston lava tube

here's a couple of photos
from our lil adventure into the thurston lava tubes
(in volcano national park)
the first area had bridges and walkways
and was also lit up quite nicely
the second part had a fence gate
with a big warning sign
saying there was no light inside
to watch your head
to watch for rocks
falling and otherwise
...you get the idea
kit and i actually walked in a ways
with no light at all
but then another couple came along
("ah-bray" and judith)
with a VERY weak flashlight
and started moving slowly inwards
being the bright persons that we are
we asked to join them
so there we were
4 people walking through
a super neat lava tube
with one piddly lil flashlight
(which made some of the rougher areas of the tube
...interesting to say the least)
and ah-bray (don't know how to spell his name)
kept going further and further
there wasn't anything super dangerous...
no holes dropping away or anything like that
tho there were ledges to climb up and down
and rock piles to avoid
and the low ceiling at times
in any case,
we made it in and out again
and it was like an eerie adventure
where i kept thinking...
how deep is this guy going to go
and
i hope the batteries don't run out :P
hehehe
anyways
it wasn't anything you could really photograph
if you really want to know what it feels like
you'll just have to experience it for yourself
just remember
VERY weak flashlight
*grin*


start of the Thurston Lava Tube

from inside the warning fence at the start of the "dangerous" area of the T. Lava Tube

back into the thick of things

well,
it's friday
i've been back for about 4 days
tho my mind keeps telling me it's only been two and a half
prolly because
i slept for 18 hours the first night back
aside from that
had some nasty tummy problems
the very afternoon i did get back
(was it airline food or the mexican stuff i had in MN?)
in any case,
i haven't really been sleeping well
or eating
and that's bound to distort one's sense of time
despite all that
some how managed to get up this morning
to go swim with my kids
(different set of kids
tho there are some neat overlaps
that came as a pleasant surprise
when i went to coach yesterday)
gearing up to do scuba stuff
even more stuff with the swim team this year
(equipment-wise)
and taichi stuff coming on full force again
tho i told myself
i'd take it easy till after the weekend
it's hard not to really get going
especially after the relaxing time in hawaii
(yes,
i do find getting up at 5am to dive
very relaxing *smile*)
guess the only thing holding me back
was the tummy thing
anyways,
back into the thick of things now
and it feels good
effortless in a way
but with a sense of "ALOT" of stuff to do
i'll post a couple more pics from hawaii
and maybe explore this digital camera thing
a tiny bit more
in my copious amounts of free time
*wink*