Category Archives: Food

Why aren’t we helping animals?

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Let’s Feed & Care for Shelter Animals Every Day!

Together we’ve donated more than $60 million to causes you care about!
Your clicks have funded the value of 776,693,063 bowls of food. Learn more

When you click, our sponsors fund food and supplies for shelter pets.

Sounds pretty good, right? But what I wonder is why before the pandemic the site showed 80,000-850000 clicks each day. Now when we are all handing on the internet looking for things to do click count is way down. It got as low as 49000. At least it seems to be heading back up. We funded the value of 66,085 bowls of food yesterday. 

Not into pets and animals? This site also counts clicks for hunger, breast cancer, veterans, diabetes, save the rainforest and more.  So when you’re surfing around the web, take a second to swing by and click. https://theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/clicktogive/ars/home

Will you Travel after the Pandemic?Red fox baby on Monday

I’ve been reading a lot about the state of the travel industry and projections after Covid 19. Predictions are more road trips and less flying.  Amazing incentives are expected to encourage the public to get back out there. I like the sound of the road trips. Long weekends exploring local attractions and maybe a longer road trip. A cross country drive maybe? Travel at my own pace. Stop and take pictures along the way? Its amazing what you can see from the road when you take your time.  I’ll have to turn in my leased car and buy a car. Otherwise that pesky mileage issue will come up.

Spring Baking Championship

Ok so being cooped up has had me searching for things to watch on TV. Most of my favorite shows are reruns because they can’t get out to film with the virus. They are shut down too but I happened to come across the Spring Baking Championship on Food Network. Its amazing what these bakers can do but that wasn’t why this episode stuck in my mind. One of the bakers was from Jackson Hole Wyoming. As soon as I heard that I was immediately transported back to my vacation in Jackson Hole. It was a very strange feeling. I remembered the feeling of being there, the smell of the air, the amazing mountains. The essence that I absorbed while visiting all came sweeping back to me. Maybe its time for a return trip once the pandemic is over. 

Moulton Barn with Tetons in the background

Road Trip to Hana- Again

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On the Road to Hana

I’m in Maui so that means a trip to Hana. The only way to get there is taking the “Road to Hana” also called the Hana Highway. Regular visitors to this site can attest to my experiences with the Hana Highway. I’ve had some close calls when I’ve attempted to make the drive on my own so this time I chose to take a tour. Let someone else do the driving. In case you are wondering about my cowardly decision the Road to Hana is considered the 5th most dangerous road In The World!

The Hana Rainforest & Waterfall Fun Tour

The concierge recommended Aloha Sunshine Tours for the trip to Hana. Pick up was in the lobby at Ka’anapali Beach Club at 6:10 am. I was advised to wear a bathing suit under my clothes and bring beach towels and sunscreen. Also recommended was bug repellent and Dramamine. This is not an inexpensive trip. I was receiving a discount but for those not members of a resort club or time share the cost of the tour was $161.45 per adult. The price includes lunch in Hana. In our case lunch was a sandwich wrap and a soft drink. I just didn’t want you to think it was an elaborate restaurant meal, it wasn’t. 

Lets Talk about The Road to Hana

The Hana Highway is dangerous because in a 30 mile stretch there are 620 curves and 59 single lane bridges. Unlike other places where one car goes then the other side goes, like at a stop sign, if you have a line of cars behind you  that gives you the right of way and the on coming cars all wait until the whole string of cars has passed. Some of the curves are blind curves. Our tour bus went around them with the horn blaring to let cars on the other side of the curve know we were coming. Two of the passengers got car sick. but thankfully managed to hold it until we could find a place to pull over. The drop offs can be dizzying when you look down.

The Hana Highway runs through a rainforest

The scenery is magnificent. We stopped to take a quick dip under a waterfall. You are traveling through an honest to goodness rainforest. Waterfalls abound, some dripping down onto the highway. There can be fog and limited visibility. The day we went it was sunny for the most part. Only patches of rain. One big change from my previous tour, when we got to Hana we turned around and came back. The tour did not take us on the back side of Haleakalā. Our driver said the unpaved road there was too rough on their vans. I’ll share some of the stops we made in the next post.

If You Go

If you get to Hana , whether on your own or by tour, be sure to pick up some banana bread. It is THE BEST! I’m told it’s made with the tiny bananas and that is what makes it so moist and sweet. I don’t know if that’s true but I’ve never had banana bread as good as this in my life. Its worth the scary ride on the Road to Hana.

 

 

 

Lunchtime Key Largo

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Lunchtime Key LargoLunchtime Key Largo

It’s lunchtime in Key Largo. There wasn’t any concession stand in John Pennekamp State Park but when you pay your entrance fee they give you a receipt that you can use for re-entry. I’d picked up some of the tourist guide magazines and seen ads for the Fish House Restaurant. It was less than a mile from the park. I figured I’d go there.

Outdoor Seating?Lunchtime Key Largo

I admit I was a little self conscious as my bathing suit was still damp  but the waitress told me not to worry. The seats were waterproof. There were a few tables outside so I thought I might sit there but table service was all inside. There were whimsical statues outside like a parrot, a frog, and even a fisherman.

 

 

The Menu looked Great

They had everything…conch, shrimp, scallops, oysters. They even had New England Clam Chowder! I was stumped as to what to order until I saw Florida Lobster. That was it. I knew what I wanted. The waitress said the lunch portion was smaller than the dinner portion and that was fine with me. I didn’t need a huge lunch. I placed my order and settled back to wait.

Lunchtime Key LargoThe Decor

Waiting for Lobster to cook gave me chance to look around. The ceiling was covered with strings of fish lights. Any thing under the sea was included. They even had a jelly fish lamp hanging from the ceiling. Lunchtime in Key Largo, at least at the Fish House, was a fun and colorful affair. After I finished staring at the ceiling I looked around at the walls. There were paintings and artwork of all kinds all glorifying the sea. Lunchtime Key Largo

 

 

Lunchtime!

The lobster arrived! It looked scrumptious and it turned out that it was as good as it looked. I made short work of it. That should have been enough but I’m in the Keys! You have to have Key Lime Pie when you are in the keys.  A true Key lime pie is not green. Its a very pale yellow custard. Usually it’s topped with a whipped topping but the Key Lime Pie at the Fish House was topped with meringue. So yummy! I am definitely going to come back here again before my vacation is over! Lunchtime Key Largo

 

 

 

Another Saturday Weigh In

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It’s Weigh In day

It’s time for another Saturday weigh in. I bet you were all hoping I’d forget. Or maybe I’ve gotten sick of this weight loss stuff. Chalked it up to another failed attempt at the impossible but Noooo. I’m still plugging along. I’ll admit that this week was discouraging. I am faithfully logging my food. I’m weighing and measuring. I am making sure its healthy and low carb but my daily weigh in’s weren’t too promising. The scale and therefore my weight  has been up and down all week. Of course the only weigh in that counts is today.  Depending on what the scales tell me this morning I may have to cut out the fruit. I dropped grapes last week…too much sugar in them. That leaves apples. They have been  my go-to snack all week. I don’t think my body liked that. I figured it was better than candy but we’ll see. Here goes nothing!

Saturday Weigh in Results

Come on scale you are breaking my heart. Yesterday I was down another .4 lbs (Celebrate!) but this morning you’re back up .4 so in other words- No Change. Maybe it’s water weight. I ate fish yesterday and fish like the water right? Ok maybe that’s a stretch but this is really frustrating. Good Bye Apples. I’m going to have to give you up for now. Maybe I can bring you back next year. What can I put in for snacks to take the place of the apples? Maybe rice cakes? They worked before but they are all carbs. Dried fruit is all sugar. Ugh Got to think about this.

Next Week’s Weigh  in  is Canceled

Next Saturday you can feel safe to come by. No weigh in next week. I am going on vacation so I won’t have my scale to weigh in on. I firmly believe that weigh ins only count when they are done on the same scale.  Since I won’t be here to use my scale no weigh in will count even if I have access to another one somewhere else. Thanks for letting me vent. I’d go kick the scale but then I might break it or my toe and I don’t need to do either. 

No Change!

 

Dinner in Volcano

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Kilauea Lodge is in Volcano HI

How would you like to live in a place called Volcano? Seems like I’d be asking for “it”.  But just outside the park is a little town called Volcano. Tourists stop at the post office to mail cards and letters so they can have a postmark “Volcano”. Also in Volcano is the Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant. That’s where we were headed for dinner. We’d turned in our dinner choices when we made our reservations for the tour. Dusk was falling and everyone was kind of laid back after our full morning and afternoon.

Nene Spotting

That’s when I spotted the Nene. It was on the left side of the road. The rain had started again and we had on headlights and windshield wipers. I said Nene and pointed . Zane said Where? But by that time we’d gone past it and I expect it had disappeared into the woods. I think Zane was skeptical but told me if I had seen a Nene I was very lucky because they were so rare. I was certain that was what I’d seen. Next time I’ll make sure to get a photo for proof!

 

The Restaurant at Kilauea Lodge

Surrounded by tropical gardens, this cozy, low-key lodge in a restored summer camp is a mile from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, 4 miles from the Thurston Lava Tube and 5 miles from the observatory on the rim of the Kilauea Volcano. We did run into a few problems with our handicapped guest. The lift on the stairs wasn’t working so Zane had to carry the wheel chair up to the porch while our guest had to slowly climb the stairs herself. Once in the restaurant the wheel chair didn’t fit in the restroom. After much maneuvering we did finally get it around the sharp corner and into the bathroom.

 

 

As for the meal, it was touted as gourmet at its finest. I guess I have a plebeian palette because I was not impressed. The steak was tough and the asparagus (one of my favorite vegetables) wasn’t just cooked al dente, it was hard and stringy. The vegetarian folks simply pushed their food around but didn’t eat it. The folks with the fish are the only ones to “clean their plates” They said the fish was excellent.

If You Go

Check out the International Fireplace of Friendship. The moment you walk into the Lodge restaurant, one of the first things that many notice is the fireplace. Centered in the dining room with a couch placed in front, you will notice this fireplace is not like most.Follow the link for the full story  https://kilauealodge.com/blog/2016/08/international-fireplace/