Back in the Midwest

I flew to Ohio on Monday to go to my Grandfather's Funeral. I landed Tuesday morning in Columbus, rented a car and headed north. On the way I stopped at an old friend Esther's house to take a shower and change clothes for the visitation. She was at work so I didn't get to see her but her daughter let me in. While I was there my friend Clay (Esther's Ex) called. He lived about 20 minutes south of her house. I still had some time so I drove down for a visit. It was nice seeing him after so many years. We reminised about the crazy things we did as kids. I took a picture of him and his new wife:

Ohio is such a contrast to Hawaii. There are tons of lightly traveled roads running through acreas of farm land. I snapped pictures of the towns and farms along the way.

Sad News

At 5 am Friday I received a call from my parents informing me that my Grandfather "Red" passed away. I always enjoyed spending time with Red because he loved the outdoors. He was an avid hunter and fisherman. He had a great collection of guns. He gave me my first air rifle, target rifle, deer rifle and slug gun. We went walleye fishing on Lake Erie and pheasant hunting in South Dakota. Red was a man of many talents. With only an 8th grade education he survived the great depression, served in the Navy during WWII, built a successful business and raised 4 extremely successful children. An electrician by trade, he also mastered watch making and wood working. He could take a block of wood and and create an intricately carved gun stock. He was one of those people who could accomplish anything he wanted too.

Growing up, we never call him grandpa, he was always "Red". I am not sure if the Red came from his red hair or his hot temper but it fit him either way.

The Hawaiians would say he could really "Talk Story" as he was very good at telling stories from his past. I remember listening to his vivid descriptions of WWII serving as a SEA BEE in the Pacific. I wish he could have come for a visit while we were stationed here so he could tell us about Pearl Harbor where he served shortly after the bombing.

On Monday, I head to Ohio for the funeral. I am going to wear my uniform as I know he would have liked that. It will be nice seeing all my relatives again. Unfortunately as with most families, the only time we get together is for funerals.

10000 feet of climbing

Thursday 20 Mar 08, the HACC took its annual pilgrimage to Maui to climb Haleakula. http://www.nps.gov/hale/ Haleakula is a dormant volcano that extends from sea level to 10000 ft elevation in 36 miles. It is probably one fo the very few places in the World with climbs of this magnitude. We got up at 4 am and headed to the Honolulu Airport with our bikes wrapped up for the 37 minute flight to Maui.

Once we arrived at Maui, we changed in the Airport, unwrapped our bikes and

headed out about 0730. Ben met us at the Airport with a van full of water, Gatorade, cookies and sandwiches to give us the energy for the climb. We tooled out for a 10 mile gently rising cruise to a little town where we stopped to refuel. There was a sharp climb out of the town then a unmarked right turn. As I started up the hill, I realized my rear tire was low so I turned around and replaced the tube. Jim Cain and his friend were also experiencing mechanical difficulties as bolt holding his friends seat on broke. I fixed the flat and headed up the hill. I road right through the turn and kept climbing until the road came to a dead end 7 miles and 2000 feet of altitude gain later. Luckily I had a cell phone signal and was able to call John for help. He had Ben head my way to meet me and bring me back to the group. By the time we caught up, the group had spread out. I rode with Jim Phillips until we got to the ranger station where we met up with Gil. The three of headed up together. We stayed together until the 9000 ft mark where Jim we spread out. Grampa Gil showed us young whippersnappers up as he completed the climb about 200 yrds ahead of me. Jim was pretty close behind me. The big thing is we all made it to the top. We stayed up top for about 40 minutes, changed in to warm clothing as it was in the 40's before heading back down. The down hill started out quite fun as John, Bryant and myself flew down the hill about 40 plus mph. about 8000 ft we hit fog and rain which lasted for the next 3000 ft of decent. We flew the rest of the way down averaging over 45 mph. We were rewarded at the bottom at a really nice Italian restaurant.

I replenished my glycogen stores with chicken Parmigiana and a cold Kona Pale ale. We stopped for Krispy Creme donut which I brought home for the family. We arrived back home about 9pm then I headed to church for eucharistic adoration from 11pm-12am. I was sooo tired. Check out Ben's Blog for more pics: http://bensambrano.blogspot.com/

Sunday night in the Islands

Tonight we headed west with Ben to the Ko'olina Resort where Ben's Aunt was singing at one of the outside Bars. It was the second time I had been in the area and the first for Chris. The area is beautiful. It is a very fancy resort area that doesn't have the crowds like Waikiki. Our table faced west so we got to watch a beautiful sunset behind where Ben's Aunt was singing. It was kind of funny because Ben's mom and a few of her friends were also there as well as Ben's cousin who was visiting from San Diego.

The kids: Ben, his cousin, Chris and I sat at one table while Ben's Mom's friends sat at the big table. We enjoyed listening to Ben's aunt and talking about everything from kids to guitar hero. I think I will try to talk my folks into swapping one of their time shares for a week at Ko'olina.

New Wheelset

Today my new wheels came in. I did a lot of research on wheels and found these to be the best deal for the money. I added the ceramic bearings but they haven't arrived yet. Even with out the better bearings, these wheels are so smooth. Look out Ben and Casey, I am coming for you. You can check out the specks at http://www.neuvationcycling.com/wheel/r28sl3/r28sl3.html I will let you know how they perform for me.

Google Analytics, Beer, Nacho's, Skinsuits and My Hero Ben Sambrano.

The Great Sambrano in his skinsuit

I installed Google Analytics on my blog to track how many people read my blog. Unfortunately, my readership has been well below that of the Great Sambrano's. In an effort to increase readership I have decided to jazz it up a bit with some spicier subject areas. This is my first attempt. Hopefully when all of Ben's fan club catches wind of this, my stats will hit the roof.

Nacho and Beer Night at Jr Rockers

Casey and Ben sharing a warm embrace. Aren't they cute.

Courtney's Band Concerts

Courtney has had two Band Concerts the last two weekends. The first was at Moanalua HS. It featured the High School and Jr High bands from 3 of the local schools. All the bands were very impressive. Courtney's Jr High Band sounded better than many High School bands. The Moanalua High School Band was extremely good. Courtney said she had heard they were one of the top 10 bands in the US. I wouldn't be a bit surprised.

Tonight Courtney participated in the Honor Band Concert. This Concert featured the best 7th, 8th and HS musicians from all over west central Oahu. They have been practicing since January. The concert featured guest conductors from the UH and University of Washington. I thought the 8th graders sounded as good as the High School. We are very proud of Courtney's musical talent.