Travel Day

Trudy gave me a ride to the airport this morning; I am heading to western Washington for the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement Convention being held at the Tulalip Resort. Tulalip is in Snohomish County where I worked for a little over 30 years. We left the house a little early because there were warnings that TSA might be a little slower due to the Federal government shutdown; but it was OK.

Maybe 20 people ahead of me; I usually walk right up to TSA agent's desk, so it was a little bit slower.

The other purpose of this visit is to look at a mobile home for Kai. A friend texted about a month ago saying, "I'm presuming you're not interested in a mobile home? But I didn't want to assume then find out it could have been an option. No rush here." I texted back. "Depends on how much & whether Kai would be comfortable there. How are the neighbors?" I also asked, "How's the internet?" It turns out it is about 4 miles from where Kai used to live in Marysville, so he is familiar with the area & was comfortable with the general vibe. And his favorite bánh mì place is only 5 minutes away! Winner!

From Live In Everett blog.

Kai picked up the key yesterday so we could stay in it to see whether there were any noises or other things that might bother him. There was a lot of dust in the air because of it being cleaned up so we could stay there for a few days. He left after about 30 minutes of conversation & could feel discomfort in his lungs. 

This morning the sunrise indicated clear skies ahead. And for the Hawaiʻi portion of the trip it was. This morning I also took a photo out the cat room windows of the sun coming up through the ironwoods along the gulch. 

Fifteen minutes before sunrise.

Fifteen minutes after sunrise.

I ordered a hot lunch from Alaska to eat on the plane; it was the Pulled Pork & Bacon Sandwich. While it had a good flavor, I will not be ordering it again. The oil from the pulled pork & bacon was oozing through the wrapper & made for an oily mess! Not what I want to deal with in a confined space with limited access to facilities to clean up with.

As soon as I grabbed the sandwich I could feel the grease.

There was a bunch pooling in the wrapper.

And ultimately on napkin I strategically placed under sandwich. 

I had been introduced to the Alaska Airlines in-flight wi-fi on the return trip on September 1st when I had to fill out the agriculture declaration form online. This time I checked what else was accessible for free. Besides the flight path, there were a lot of free movies. I decided to watch The Descendants since it was about a family in Hawaiʻi. 

The sun was setting as we began to fly over Washington. The 1st area we flew over was the Olympic Peninsula; it was a patchwork of forested areas & cleared farmland. Then I saw the Moon just above the wing; I waited until I could get a photo of the Moon & Tahoma in the frame together. As we landed, the Olympic Mountains, that we had flown over earlier, were in the background. Because of the fading light, it was easier to see the planes coming in after us; it seemed that a plane landed about every minute or so, one after another. It would be a big mess if one of them screwed up a landing & remained on the runway!

Flying over the Olympic Peninsula.

Moon by the wing tip; Tahoma in the distance.

Olympic Mountains to right of wing tip.

Two lights on ground & 4 in the air are planes coming in for landing.

On the ride after he picked me up at the airport, we decided to buy dinner & eat it at the mobile home since there would be less dust floating around. We stopped at WinCo, a no frills, employee-owned grocery store on our way to the mobile home. It is Kai's favorite grocery store because it is employee-owned & has a great selection; he used to shop here when he lived in Marysville before. Prices are also reasonable. It's about 8 minutes away from the mobile home. We bought some sushi for dinner.

Look at that selection of stuff!

Why is Kai happy in the bulk foods section?

Kai only stayed to eat dinner since he was house, dog, & cat sitting in Everett. Good thing, too. After only about 15 minutes he could feel the discomfort starting again. He searched & found some mold, which he is very sensitive to. It was along the outside wall of the dining area & kitchen. Not sure how large an area will need to be treated or how much time & materials it will take to do that type of remediation.

They have now refined the prediction of the next episode for Kīlauea. They have narrowed it down from "likely about 2 weeks away" to some time between the 15th & the 20th.

Hau'oli lā Hānau e Lori & Karen!