Alaska to Maui,HI

Jan. 11, 2010
At the University for internet usage. The ground had a blanket of snow on it and it was windy and snowed nonstop most of the day.
After the university we headed to the store to pick up groceries for tonight and the next 2 days. I picked up 2 post cards, one to Mom and Dad and the other to Paula.
When I got back to the Shrine I read for awhile then went outside to call Tom. It was interesting trying to talk while the wind is hitting you. But I did find shelter enough to talk to him for awhile. Dinner today is vegetarian lasagna, salad and dessert is lava cake, which was delicious. We went exploring again tonight. It was fun to find more places in the area. The snow was deep in some places and came up to mid calf. I am glade I go out with the group to go do stuff. It was fun exploring in the snow at night.

Jan. 12, 2010
Today is a half free day. I slept in till 10am, which was very nice. Nicole said that she had seen whale blows so a group of us went to see if we could see them. While walking we saw the birds were taking mussels from the shore and droping them on the road making them break. They would then eat them. I was told that they only seem to do this in the winter, which must be cause food is scarcer so they turn to the sea.
It was high tide when we saw the whale blows. We went from the point down closer to the ocean near the rocks. The snow was past my ankles. The group that I was with headed back and I followed.
After eating lunch and relaxing David and Sigrid saw more whale blows. I have never gotten in my boots and coat so fast to go to the point to see the whales. With Denny’s binoculars I saw either a fin or a head of one of the whales. Denny said that the plumes were those of Humpback whales. It was getting cold so we headed back.
Around 2:30pm class started and David talked about the book Measuring the World. After that we had a break before the Biomes class would take place. I continued reading Night Thoughts of a Classic Physicist. Then class started and Denny talked about the Boreal Forest and the Continental Shelf biomes. We are going to see the continental shelf biome tomorrow. After class Mike and I talked a little bit about Maui and how we were looking forward to it. I cant wait for warm weather.
After dinner a group went out to play hide and go seek. Matt was the seek. I bundled up and head to one of the evergreen tree and lasted for quite awhile. Not everyone was found. On the second game I crawled in farther into the tree. Swafford crawled in too. He left after a long time waiting. I left and found Kaneko and Nicole. Unfortunately I was found by Tim. A few left so another game was not done. It wasn’t too cold out just got wet from sitting.

Jan.13, 2010
My phone it dead. It got wet yesterday but it seemed fine when I checked but the battery got too wet and died. .
So mom is sending me a cell phone to use. So God works in very many ways. Mom was thought something was wrong at first because she didn’t recognize the phone number I was using. I also have a sore throat which I hope to fight so I am not miserable in Maui.
Today we were at NOAA, National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. We had a variety of speakers. It was interesting to hear different people speak. My favorite speaker was a girl who SCUBA dived under the arctic ice. The pictures of her dives were so clear that it made me jealous. We ate lunch that was packed ahead of time. After lunch we toured the wet lab and the genetics lab with Sharon, who is a Hiram Alum.. It was cool to see the lab.
The talks were on a variety of subjects such as data gathering, different projects, Red king crab vs. Golden King crab, Nearshore fish assessments, and artic ice diving. During the king crab talk the power went out. So the speaker just finished it in the dark. It wasnt bad but I wasnt able to take notes because of lack of light. After that the final speaker came on. Because of the loss of power we did not get to do anything with the science on a sphere.
I headed back to the shrine in the small van and proceeded to back up and take a shower. When the rest of the group got back I was able to finally have cough drops. I guess I caught a cold.

Jan. 14, 2010
Yesterday we made our lunches for the long plane ride to Maui. We had to be up by 4am and I felt terrible since I am fighting a cold. We got everyone loaded with there bags into the vans and made it to the airport. When I got there I found out that when Alaska Airlines rebooked me on the flight to Alaska they had canceled my flight to Maui. Im still trying to figure that one out of how they could do that. It got fixed but I am not sitting by the group.
2:48pm Hawaii time
Finally after a 4 hour layover we are on our way to Hawaii. Caitlin and I got emergency exit seats but we gave them up to David and Sigrid since they would benefit more with a long flight having the leg room. I am kinda excited because I will get to make a meal when we are Maui. I figured since I haven’t helped very much with cooking it would be a good idea.
On the funnier side of things Becky, Brenna, Liz and I went walking through the airport and on the way back was walking in the opposite direction on the moving walkways. We did it about three times. We saw Matt doing it first and started doing it to harass him but it turned out to be lots of fun.
For dinner yesterday David made a delicious quiche. Also a lot of salad was left so everyone had lots of salad. On the table I was sitting at we were trying to get Jake to finish his second helping of salad. It was very funny. When we were eating ice cream Allen didn’t want sprinkles so Matt and John were trying to get some one to put sprinkles on Allens ice cream. So I did. I dont think they were expecting me to do that because they didnt think I would have, always fun to surprise people. Allen wouldn’t finish it so Becky finished it and Allen got a new bowel that I did not put sprinkles on.
After dinner a group cleaned and people packed up. It was nice because I got to visit with some of the girls.

Jan. 15, 2010
First full day in Maui. The place we are staying is called Maui Vista and are condos. I am staying with all the Hiram girls. So 7 in the condo. We have a partial ocean few in Kihei, Maui with only a 2 minute walk to the beach.
Lunch was in the condo that I am staying at. It was interesting trying to get 22 people in a 6 person condo. After that we had a talk about what the week is going to be like and what we were doing today.
We then proceeded to get snorkel gear for those who didnt have any and went to snorkel. On the way there I saw dolphins. I dont remember the name of the place but it was a good place to snorkel. I was the first in the water. I saw so many fish it is just amazing. I went back just to get my rashguard and then went back into the water. I went almost to the edge of the reef when I turned back because I didnt see anyone around me. When I went back a few of the guys had seen a sea turtle. So then Denny finally went out and I went out again. I never fully got out of the water in the first place.
So I swam with Jacob, Andrew, and Allen and we went pretty far out. We met up with Denny and the group he was with when we decided to turn around. I headed back and the my group noticed that the other group had seen something. It was a sea turtle! It was small but so amazing. We followed it then headed back. I really wanted to see a ray but maybe next time.
We then went to the store to get stuff for the week. I got most of the stuff for my meal but forgot the chicken so know I have to go back to the store after snorkel tomorrow.
I love Hawaii. I am trying not to compare Maui to Kauai. Maui has much more drier areas due to the mountains causing a rainshadow desert. So much is in store for me here and it is going to be so much fun.
I love and miss everyone and thank you for following me and commenting!