We love your messages! Dad you are too funny. Yes our fish are much better trained back home. Maybe they can train the ones down here. Ha Ha Thanks for the words of encouragement Mom. You are very right... it is nice to be on vacation time... it does beat getting up at 5:15am and driving to Poulsbo. We just need to get a direction. The kiteboarding thing isn't panning out quite like we had thought it would.. but that is all apart of the adventure. We have had lots of laughs already and are sure enjoying the water time and warm weather.

I would just like to say that when question of your fishing technique comes up, you just proudly tell them.....

You are from the Vaughnanickiimoonamagentribe..... accoriding to the local dialect that's pronouced "Vaughnanickiimoonamagentribe"

and you're from WA the evergreen state and here in the
US of A. the fish are much better trained and literally don't need no stinky bait fish to be caught...simply using one of your special hand made lures, a tradition of your people, usually does the trick. Sometimes when the moon is right you can energetically swish your fishing pole in the water, and the fish actually jump right into the frying pan which is much more efficient! As for your shore hike, have you not mastered the call of the local birds? You did just fine with the seagulls here...... you must practice harder, but you have time and I expect a progress report on your next blog.:) I am glad you took your Taj Mahal tent with you, but Magen I feel the need to address your claustrobia issue..I ask you, "How can you feel crowded when you can close your eyes, and dream that you are in a four star resort with a queen size feather bed, jaccuzzi shower and room service?" and keep in mind your eye lids are pretty close to your face ha ha! Really enjoy your stories....keep them coming.

Love Larry/Dad

That last sentence didn't make a bit a sense...I was rushed on my editing with the call to breakfast.....what I meant to say was
Did I mention that you are not missing a thing?......and you truly are not and just think the work week starts all over again for us on Monday....your travels are much more an exciting and different something else....enjoy it and keep an open mind......:)

Checking in this cool sunday morning and glad we had our first laughs for the day compliments of your great story telling adventures.....so glad you are learning, laughing and seeing a new world:) You are moving right along and it's a good thing you had the "road to Hana" experience this last spring.....maybe our DOT isn't so bad afterall......in recapping our riveting weekend agenda I can tell you we accomplished resetting the dock...like you Magen, I "guided" Larry also and offered lots of moral support from the dock while he courageously slid into the frigid water to reattach the dock to the anchor line. Larry thinks there might be a little tear for you Nick....but when his fingers turned blue, that's when he thinks he has the edge over you ha...do I sense the beginnings of a pity party? ha! We went to check the Brettt's boat in Home, then I detangled Brandon's kite line and then we had dinner and went to Pat's Little Red Barn for Music .....and "local entertainment" the highlights being Paul playing the electric guitar with a sock on his fingering hand, skinny long haired Chris sat on the sidelines playing his "jowls", the 40 something trio singing bebop singles written from their days in high school and then there was Julllieann......all 6'6 inches of he/she dressed in drag, I mean tight black spandex scooped neck dress with dark nylons and a cute pair of pumps in a size 14. He/she was drinking straight shots of Mac , on glass 4 when we noticed and it was still an hour before he/she turn.......then it was time and he/she takes the stage with a nice electric bass....are you picturing this? Now for vocals....whispery falsetto that kept changing with the excitement of the music best describes how Route 66,the first of three songs sounded...he/she laid down some grest bass....we just sat in our corner and went with it......you gotta be open and just appeciate the moment :) I expect we'll see more of Jullianne in the coming months since he/she was well received......and then it was 10:00PM and time to go home......now Larry has just finished breakfast hash and we're going to do a few more projects, head to the guitar shop to buy that amp and finish the day at Engine House 9 with music by Billy Farmer. Did I mention you are missing a think back here at home? Anyway, love hearing from you...miss you too and think of you both often. Love you both! Hugs around!

Love Cheryl/Mom

Two week top 5.

We thought it would be fun to put together a list of the top 5 things we have expierenced or lessons we have learned every so often... so here is the first set.

5.) There lots of cows here.. not sure I need to see another

4.) Always stay on the left side of the road.. which can be confusing given the amount of people that seem to always be passing us.

3.) If it says 100km per hour it doesn't mean that it's actually possible.. especially in a minivan... "The Kiwi"

2.) Magen doesn't like small spaces.. when sleeping in the van a window must be open or bad things happen.

1.) It sure looks an awful lot like Maui. So glad we flew to the other side of the world to find colder water. Not so much.... next stop Hawaii

Ok so I have my book , Touring the Natural Wonders of New Zealand and I am on the route.....I actually found the destination points noted in your blog....good to know.....so according to the book you won't want to miss these amazing sights so be on the look out for the following: enjoy those three lakes apparently they rely entirely on rain to maintain their levels so I guess you can be glad you've had some of that lately! Trounson Kauri Park which features 450 hectacres of Kauri forest, kiwi and the giant kaui snail. I hope you find them on the 45 minute loop walk, at Waipoua Forest look for a tree with a 16.5 meter girth! On the at Opononi Wharf travel to the sandhills and tell me are they really that big? What's it like to walk on a board walk through a Avicenna marina mangrove at Rawene and lastly there is a Millennium Nocturnal Park in Kaitaia where there is a glow worm grotto...now that I would like to see! Can't wait to hear your stories and see some photos from this amazing area! Have fun and love ya lots! Hugs around!

Love, Cheryl/Mom

Good Morning,

Just thought I'd get a quick note off to you today. Will be heading in for treatment....I have been feeling pretty good and having sunshine during the day makes everything better.

Tucker is at UW and they started classes on Wed. He has had some challenges with his room but he rolls with it. the ceiling was peeling and has a leak. The computer chair was missing some bolts and fell apart, and his roommate is into dragons.....all over! Sounds like an initiation process. He will go to IKEA and pick up some furniture this weekend and other than that he said the classes are good.

Penny is visiting for a month ....she is house sitting for Olga. Interesting.

Glad to hear about your adventures and have a safe trip up north.

Love and prayers,

Mom and Dad

Sure eat our clams and then you have to go all the way to New Zealand and eat theirs :)....sounds like the weather is alot like here and the water temp about the same too......glad to know that it is still wet and salty.....it is comforting to know that some things don't change...ha! And I still say a good day on the water beats any day I have to work! Isn't it amazing that Sunday and Wednesday are pretty much the same in nature....when you're on "retirement time" the days of the work week don't really exist..you are on nature's time....you gotta love that....Enjoy every minute. Forge onward brave nomads!

Love you both!

Larry

We're off and heading north! Today is a bit of a rainy day so good for traveling. We are heading north with KeriKeri peninsula/Doubtless bay being our target destination. We will keep everyone up to date as the adventure unravels.Hope everyone is doing well back home.

Cheers!

I just love reading your blog! Did you put out an all points bulletin warning to all NZ before you started clam digging? I mean with your "appetite" for those tasty little morsels......it could mean extinction for the clam population ha! Hope you have more epic kiteboarding days.....good to hear your tricks are progressing. Love ya lots! Hugs around!

Cheryl/Mom

Good Afternoon WA! We are officially organized and getting ready to head out. We even tested out sleeping in the van last night. Super comfy! Not so sure about working with the power tools... they are 208V.. but I couldn't tell the difference. Ha Ha The biggest thing is that you have to turn the switch on.. meaning that on every plug outlet there is a button that either turns the power on or power off to the cord. They have the common brands like mikita here.. but I haven't seen any Snap-on. :( We are ready to get exploring... too much stress and work.. ha ha The wind is suppose to be comming in this next week up in the North so that's where we are headed to see some more scenery and get in some kiting.

Howdy....like the new van look.....so what you are going to do with the seats? How did you like working with the power tools ......are they all 208V instead of 110? What brands...any Snap on ha ha? Isn't it amazing the multiple ways you can have fun? Good Job...:)

Larry/Dad