Sunburn and Solitude

Fr Wayne and his lovely wife have arrived here at St. Johns suggesting that my time in this beautiful place is coming to a close. We enjoyed the beach today and Caroline and Chloe and Calum went back to see the sunrise on teh volcano this morning (at 4am). Now to do that tiwce, it has to be amazing and stunning....it really is. My mind is beginning to be filled with thoughts of Radford, vestry meetings, mission trips to New Orleans, and all things practical. Some days I am ready to come home....the children have expressed their readiness several times. Then on days like today my mind imagines being in a place where sitting on the beach is just as normal as a short drive to the park. It is nice to think that Maui life and the Maui pace can be normal. There is a certain holiness about slowing oneself down enough to see what really matters...and how you really feel about things. It has not been easy to spend four solid weeks, 24 hours a day, with six people in a small house, thirty minutes from the coast. We have had to work hard to make sure there is balance and happiness...and some days we did better than others. Perhaps one of the best things has been the opportunities to get to know folks from St. Johns. I think the children will never forget having holy communion with a beautiful cat sitting in the pew with them. I think Chloe will never forget her 11th birthday party. I will never believe that Brian the Senior Warden could bless me with a love for raw fish. I could have never imagined how beautiful the ocean could look beneath the waves on a coral reef. I could have never dreamed that learning to trust God all over again could happen in such a "cool" place. Driving home tonight I was blown away by my children singing....just singing......"This little light of mine"...."Do Lord"...."I'll Fly Away"...."O When the saints". They just sang in that car and then called Caroline and I to sing. We laughed and made music...and for just a moment there life was perfect. I pray for a moment like that to present itself to you this very day. For in these moments, we can discover the Grace and Peace of our Lord...who is perfection incarnate.

Yours in sunburn Grace. Kris+

Swimming under the waterfalls

We enjoyed our trip to Hana and a dip in the wonderful pools beneath the waterfalls there. It was a long day but a beautiful experience. K+

We survived the road to Hana

What a beautiful day of riding down a bending road to the East end of the island of Maui...to the little town of Hana. There were waterfalls and amazing views around every corner. We really enjoyed swimming in these "sacred" pools located 20 minutes further down the Hana hwy (just before Charles Lineburg's grave) followed by a long and tough hike literally up the mountain to see some spectacular waterfalls. Caroline, Calum, and Kiah made the 2 mile trek all the way to the 400 foot monster at the top. Chloe, Katherine, and I turned back about half way up....but we did see several wonderful sites. we left at 7am and returned to eat at McDonalds in Pukelani at 8pm. What a day. It is hard to believe that we are now in our last week here. It will be over before we know it.

On a parish note, I thoroughly enjoyed a birthday visit to parishioner Althea Cruze who lives at the Kula Hospital. I took Katherine, Calum, and Kiah and they enjoyed a Monday morning of activities which included lincolnlogs, bead sorting, and some good conversation with the older residents of the hospital. I think everyone had a blast. Heather's name came up with several of the staff who send their love and look forward to see her back here in Maui.

I will try and upload some photos of the trip to Hana tomorrow.

Aloha. Kris+

Another glorious Sunday in Maui

Worship was wonderful today at St. Johns with a playground dedication as well as some enjoyable guitar music with Paul (my new prophet!) at teh end of both services. Today has been a day to think about faith and following as we engaged the scripture...."deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me". Where is God leading us. I know I ask that question each day as the day of our move to Northern Virginia grows closer and the clarity of that new life has yet to take shape. It is all in God's hands and God's good time. Today is a day to reimbrace the posture of trusting. And how wonderful it is to trust and sing all of those fun songs...with that amazing view. God is good. How blessed I have been to be in this place if only for a few short weeks. Evensong this evening followed by the best sunset in the world...shared this evening with St. Johns folks on the lawn with wine and cheese. Aloha. Kris+

Grand "GRAND" Wailea

What a glorious day! Wonderful atmosphere to really relax today. I enjoyed a nap this afternoon and lots of hours in the pools today with the children. Lots of quality time with Katherine and Kiah. My favorite spot is the whirl pool about 30 yards from our room. Good place to soak....and meet some wonderful folks. Quickly you discover how small the world is when you connect the dots between people's lives. I have worked a little on my sermon this evening but I think it is writing itself. Off to enjoy another amazing sunset in an amazing place (Pictured to the right is yesterday's sunset). Aloha. Kris+

Couple of days of splendor

It is day two in our little break from upcountry life. We are enjoying an "employee discount" on our two night stay in teh wonderful Grand Wailea Resort here on the South side of Maui thanks to a member of St Johns who is director of finance here. Our room has a waterfall (really!) outside the door and our lanai or terrace walks straight out to the first of teh eight pools which are all connected with slides. The kids love the pools and we literally did not play at teh beach at all yesterday even thought we were 100 yards from the edge of teh ocean. This really feels like a mini vacation within a vacation. Thanks to those who made it possible for us.

http://www.grandwailea.com/ Now I can see why Opra rented out 500 rooms for her staff here last year! Although nothing in the Spa Grande could compare with getting a Honey Mango Massage by my five year old last night.

Happiness to you all. Aloha. Kris+

One for the Altar Guild

The Altar guild folks allowed me to peek into their treasure trove of things and I wanted to share a photo with the folks back at Grace. The blue hangings are especially wonderful. It is great that almost all of the hangings have been hand made (as well as the vestments worn by the priest). I wish you could all come and take a look. God Bless. Kris+

Wonderful Ellen

Ellen and Kiah are pictured here at our dinner party. Ellen has become one of my favorite people in the world. I love her smile and could preach sermons to her seven days a week. I told her I was putting her smile on my blog for the world to see....so here she is! Kris+

Wonderful Dinner Party at the Gay's House

The Gay's hosted a wonderful dinner party which was a bring and share feast for the almost 30 folks who attended. We followed the good food with a hour+ of conversation about the state of affairs in teh Anglican Communion with particular thought to what is happening in Virginia and ended out time together with some wonderful dreams and vision of where some folks see St John's heading in the future. It was a beautiful time of sharing with beautiful. St. John's is a tremendous place with tremendous potential to minister...even to hard heads like myself. Aloha. Kris+

Calum and his lizard!

Look what we found this morning in teh driveway. Calum and I enjoyed seeing this beautiful fella....but then he got excited and we decided to let him carry on.

Still having a great adventure on Maui. Something new and exciting (and green) every day.

Kris+

LIZARDS!!!

Look what Calum found on the driveway this morning. He was happy to climb up on Calums stick for a photo. Not sure what sort of lizard he is with his three horns...but when he opened his mouth and hissed at us I knew it was time for him to go on his merry way. Thought you would all get a kick out of seeing such a wonderful creature from Maui. Kris+

Better Photo

For those of you who appreciate art, here is a photo of the playground that shows what a wonderful and creative artistic expression it all is. Lots of colors and mosaics everywhere. K+

Wonderful Playground

I mentioned a wonderful playground is yesterday's blog. This is a photo of Kalakupa which is located on the grounds of an old WW2 base. The children really loved it. K+

Monday in Maui

Great day today! I spent the morning enjoying the fine company of Janet, the parish secretary here at St Johns. We had lots of traffic through the office which gave me a chance to meet more people and enjoying hearing more stories. I especially enjoyed my time with the gardner who also serves as a massage therapist at the Grand Wailea Spa. Now he is a friend to have! Later in the day we had our morning dip in the Upcountry pool followed by some time in Makawao watching three people do wonderful things with glass. I think glass blowing is such a wonderful art. One of teh blowers came from Burnsville, NC and went to Mountain Heritage High School....just down the road from my home town of Mars Hill. It is a small world. We then enjoyed playing on this wonderful playground in Haiku and finished our day with a Costco hot dog and a walk on the North shore as the sun went down. Chloe and Calum even got in and snorkeled some and saw some fish and Calum was pinched by a crab.

God's love seems just around the corner here...every corner. I know my soul is refreshed by seeing the things I am seeing and being immersed in the real culture of Maui. Aloha! K+

Annother wonderful Sunday in Maui

Sacrificial Living and Sacrificial Giving were at the heart of our Sunday services today. I shared a lot about my journey of faith and find it wonderful to think that people here in Maui now know about dear Grover Angel from days of old. It is amazing how God inspires us throughout our lives. Sometimes it is by witnessing beautiful things and other times it is meeting beautiful people. At the moment we are meeting both...and finding the richness of God's Grace there.



I sit here this evening wishing I could share this wonderful sunset with Eleanor Ogg. She would love hearing Heather's wind chimes as the sun gently disappeared in teh Western Maui sky. I find it refreshing to think that Charles DeHart, Jimmy Gibson, Bunny Spiers, Kitty Irwin, Delma Bethea, Lois Goldsmith, Ursula Cluver, Jim Palmer, Bob Felch, and so many other saints of God are are part of the "great cloud of witnesses" who enjoy this with me.



Sunburn and happy. Aloha. Kris+

PS The image to the right is the largest Buddha outside of Japan is located in Lahaina and we made a visit...with special thoughts of dear Katherine Walker and her recent religious experiences. I think she would have loved to visit this mission in Maui...perhaps one day she will. I have placed the photo here with her in mind. I will share others with her when I get back to Virginia.

Wonderful Dinner at the Rectory in Lahaina

We were treated to a magnificent dinner behind the rectory for Holy Innocents church which sits right on the Lahaina coast facing West. We enjoyed playing in the waves before settling down to a nice meal with several wonderful Lahaina folks. What a glorious evening...and the children could not have done better with their own table...and the Disney channel on the big TV after dark! One final highlight of the evening was having a dear member of St. Johns join us to play beautiful violin music during our meal. It was just sheer luxury to hear Vivaldi in the presence of such beauty. God's splendor is radiant...and particularly in the hearts of good people breaking bread together. Hope your Sunday is wonderful. I am excited about my second Sunday at St. Johns. Can't wait to hear teh doxology again! Aloha. Kris+

Another Baptism Photo from Radford

This is another photo of Heather's baptism which she asked me to share. You can see her mom and dad as well as Mrs. Phariss. Sorry about the quality of the photo. Kris+

We are off to enjoy the Kamaehamaeha Parade this morning and a full day of activities culminating in a dinner party in Lahaina complete with a wonderful member of St. Johns named Leah playing the violin as we have dinner at the Rectory of Holy Innocents church with Bill and Mark and others. Hoping to do some surfing today! That's right. I am going to surf! Cool Dude!

Life is so full of blessings. I count Heather's coming into my life through her connection with Grace, and in particular her connection with Epsie (our 109 year old member), a significant blessing. I continue to pray that she and Rik are enjoying their stay in our home...playing with Toodles and Perry.

The time I am spending in the water here serves as a steady reminder of my Baptism and God's faithful love for me and my family. I pray that I can spend a little more intentional time next week getting to know more folks from St. John's and making some home visits.

Blessings to you all who are following this journey with us.

Kris+

Rev Heather's Baptism Day..in Radford

This is a photo of Rev Heather with Mrs. Phariss (sp?) in Radford many years ago on the day of her Baptism. Heather asked me to post this from a photo album in her home. Sorry about the quality of teh image. K+

Day(s) at the beach!

I enjoyed my first REAL boogie board experience today as the surf was up on teh South shore and I rode my first amazing wave. It was so fantastic it literally took my shorts to my ankles...that was an embarrasing moment as I washed up on the beach. But what a rush!!! Kiah just laughed and laughed! All the kids had a blast riding and we are sunburn red and tired tonight.

There are times in life when things seem to rub you the wrong way...even take your shorts...but the Holy Spirit has a way of lifting you up so that all of that power thrusts you in a positive direction. I am riding the wave at the moment. I feel blessed to have served such a wonderful little church in Radford for the past seven + years. I am beginning to pray in earnest for the person who will be called to serve at Grace after me. I also am praying daily about what exciting new thing God has in store for me. It is like bobing in the summer maui sunshine waiting for the next swell to take you....completely...

Hope such joy is a part of your life....wherever you are.

Aloha! Kris+

The Upcountry Swimming Pool

We have enjoyed the upcountry swimming pool several times in the town of Pukilani. It is a nice pool and a change from the salt water of the ocean. Today the water was particularly cold.

Kiah also got her fix of HULA DANCING. Pictured to the right is a show at the Wailea shops featuring music and lots of dancers. I think Kiah and Katherine were ready to jump right in.

We travelled this afternoon to see the needle or a 2500 foot tower of rock in the Iao valley on the other side of the island. It was beautiful with rushing water and waterfalls. I felt like we were on the set of Jurassic park. It is hard to really grasp the sheer beauty that exists here but I am trying to soak it all in. I find the warmth of God's love in each sunrise, sunset, and the beautiful rainbows that appear on the North side of the island as we drive back up to the upcountry.

I think tonight will be movie night here at home with an early bedtime. We have been going at a pretty good pace now for 10 days....but it has been great.

Making plans now for a trip with Chloe and Calum to visit pearl harbor and O'ahu. Glad we still have lots of time left to enjoy this place.

Mahalo for the time away and to Heather and Rik for this beautiful home.

Kris+

Maui Film Festival

With executives from most of Hollywood's motion picture studios, we sat out beneath the stars to enjoy the opening night festivities of teh Maui Film Festival. There were several thousands people on hand for the opening movie which was the animated film SURF'S UP. The kids loved it. We especially enjoyed the tremendous hula show on the hill side prior to the movie. I had a moment where I imagined how much my dad would have loved to be in this place with all of these movie people. This evening at the movies (on the Wailea Golf Course...actually on the course!) was a fun way to end a great day of fun. We enjoyed walking on a lava flow and watched some amazing big waves for almost an hour. It was hypnotic. We then played in the sands behind the Grand Wailea and enjoyed doing our boogie board. It was terrific. Having fun but feeling a little tired from all of the running. Caroline took the Eucharist today at St. Johns and I think was a hit. The cat Leo is sitting next to me wanting some love...better go. Peace to all of you. Kris+

A visit to the top of the world!

We travelled this morning shortly after 4am on an hour long journey to the top of the large volcano on Maui (called Haleakala). Afther the long twisting road we arrived in the early dawn light on top...looking down the crater over the sea. You could see several islands around Maui and then on cue, the sun appeared out of a sea of cloud. There was a cold breeze blowing but the beauty created a warmth in my heart. It was a wonderful moment. The children were real troopers climbing to the top just in time for the show. I am so glad we did this. I am tired...but glad. I will try and upload some photos tomorrow of our time at the top of Maui. Hope life is shining beautifully on you wherever you are. And it was so fun to talk to the ranger in the shop at 10,000 feet who knew Rev. Heather. Small world to be sure. Hope she comes to St. Johns next Sunday. Aloha to all. Kris+

Better Photo of Calum

A better photo of the snorkle boy! What a fun day...read below. K+

Monday at the beach

We enjoyed a day which began with waffles and the Today show followed by a trip to Walmart for sunglasses and a diving mask and fins, followed by an afternoon of snorkeling at Makena Beach on the South side of the island. My first venture over the coral and I was greeted by several fish and two six foot gar looking fish (very long and thin). I loved it. Calum also found this exploration of the bottom of the bay a wonderful experience. We saw lots of colorful fish swimming with us as the waves gently tossed us around. There was even a large sea turtle near us...but we did not swim out that far to see him. But there will be other trips to snorle. We have only just begun this new hobbie.

We are off to bed early tonight so that we can drive at 4am to the top of the volcano for sunrise and breakfast.

Few other wonderful tid bits: We are planning a Wednesday evening program in a parishioner's home on the various perspective of the Episcopal church with Q&A on some of the things going on particularly in Virginia at the moment. We are also planning a sunset cruise on a yacht in Lahaina hopefully including some of our friends from Holy Innocents. Never a dull moment here in Hawaii.

Sending you all love and prayers....continuing to pray for Barbara Houston. Could someone e-mail me to let me know how she is doing. Mahalo.

Aloha. K+

First Sunday at St Johns Church

What an amazing welcome! St Johns is such a beautiful place with such beautiful people. They greeted my entire family with REAL purple flower leis. They were wonderful. The music for our worship included a pipe organ and a violinist who caught me off guard....I heard this wonderful sound and then realized we had a violin. What a treat! We enjoyed breaking bread together and we shared birthday joy over a terrific cake in the parish hall for Chloe who turned eleven today. Has it been that long! It has been a nice relaxing day here...a good sabboth! There is a new playground at St Johns thanks to some hard work today by a few really committeed members of teh church who worked all day. Kiah and Calum assure me that it is fun and everything works...and they are experts. Blessings to you all....and Happy King Kamahamaha day to you tomorrow. Aloha. K+

Way to go Bobcats part 2

I was standing under a the beautiful banyun tree in Lahaina when my phone rang...I was so thrilled to hear that the cats won both boys and girls soccer crowns. Way to go cats!





We continue to enjoy life in Maui and are happy to be able to keep in touch with things back home. We enjoyed some shopping and looking around today as well as a wonderful visit with the priest from Lahaina at Holy Innocents church (pictured to right - no side walls!). I believe Heather was right and the rectory is the most beautiful in teh Episcopal church. You can even surf in the back yard just off shore...that is right. The house sits on the water. We are planning to go back next week and learn to surf...the waves there are really gentle and in fact this is where most of the surfing schools there teach. We also have found some really neat coral places to snorkle and we hope to do this next week also.





Met the AA folks at the church tonight. Really great bunch of guys. The world seems small sometimes and ordinary and then God surprises you with wonderful things. Tomorrow we celebrate Chloe's 11th birthday and we purchased a big cake to serve after the service at St. Johns.





Hope you are all well and so sorry to hear that Suzy had a fall and broke her shoulder. I will pray for her tomorrow in church.

I will tell you about the UPCOUNTRY FAIR we went to today perhaps in another post. Good music and great food...and lots of animals. See the photo album with new pictures now available at http://picasaweb.google.com/frkris

Aloha. Kris+

Way to go Bobcats!

We were delighted to hear of the Friday success of the RHS teams. I hope Saturday will be filled with victories for all of our teams. I heard the good news here in Maui.

Another fun day of beach activities (and a trip to the mall....and we said this morning we needed a break from the beach. We just cannot get enough. We went to a gentle beach with roped off swimming area. I took a nap...my favorite beach activity.

Tomorrow we are gong to check out the Maui Swap Meet (flea market) followed by the Upcountry Fair which is a sort of local fair up here in the mountains. At some point I am going to have to think about my sermon although it seems to be writing itself here in this beautiful place.

Blessings to you all.

K+

Contribution to the God of the sea!

Had a blast yesterday evening boogie boarding on the North Shore just off the road to Hana. The waves were coming from right to left and each of the children was able to ride a wave. It was a safer experience....left you are worried about us being wreckless. The only stupid thing was that I did not realize I had my glasses on when I was in the water. I had worn my contacts the day before. You guessed it. Katherine had jumped on my back as we rode a little wave together and then it happened.....my new, wonderful, glasses were sucked into the depths of the sea. It was an unpleasant end to a great evening on the beach. I am thankful for contacts and I have several sets here just in case. Eyesight is something we take for granted. Being in a place which is so beautiful and not being able to really see it...even for only a couple of hours, is so frustrating.

Met our next door neighbor yesterday. She seems wonderful (and loaned us the boogie board).

We are looking forward to going to the Maui Film Festival and especially the opening event which is a new surfing penguin animated movie "surf's up!" set in Hawaii. I think they are to have a large screen on the Wailea golf course for the showing. Hope the kids get to see some movie stars....that would be fun.

Today the volcano is surrounded by clear blue sky. It is amazingly beautiful...and today is the first day there have been no clouds over the top. I will try and send another post with links to some web cams and other sites of interest.

Hope all is well back in Radford. Thinking about the Bobcats as they compete for Tennis and Soccer titles this weekend. This will be the first Jubilee I have missed in seven years! I hope the one I miss is the one we win!

Go Bobcats!

Kris+

Funeral went well

A wonderful light rain fell on us as we prayed for our friend Willie Poepoe...a wonderful Maui Cowboy. I understand that this is a sign of blessing here in Hawaii. We were certainly blessed. His son Donald said such touching words at the service. What an amazing and sacred event...saying goodbye to a father, husband, and friend. Thanks to Heather for allowing me this privaledge.

God bless Mr. Poepoe

Today I will bury a Maui Cowboy. He was a world war two veteran and spent most of his life with Jean here in the upcountry of Maui working with horses and cows. I understand he will receive a full military burial with 21 guns, etc. What a blessing....

Yesterday I celebrated Holy Communion here at St. Johns. It was a lovely and simple liturgy and we prayed for many Radford folks. There was anointing for healing in the middle of the service and we lifted up Barbara Houston in particular who was having surgery...so far away. I hope she felt our prayers and is on her way to health.

The afternoon we enjoyed driving to the South shore for a picnic on the lava flow (very interesting to see) followed by some time at two different beaches. The first one had wonderful big waves which you could really ride (little scarey though when I big eight foot one would crash in and all of the surfers would ride. We decided to opt for another beach around the corner from BIG BEACH and this was in the spectacular Wailea bay. perhaps you have seen the many fancy resorts there. There is a public beach access place where you can park and walk right behind the hotels. The sea was fun but not so dangerous. The kids enjoyed splashing and we enjoyed sitting and watching for a while.

Jetlag is difficult today for everyone...the third day. Perhaps today is the day to relax and take is easy. We have a birthday cake to pick up at the grocery store for Chloe...they will celebrate her birthday at St. Johns on Sunday.

Hope you are all well.

Kris+
PS I was disappointed to here about the reopening of Norris for offices and labs. Surely the families should be consulted about this...perhaps they have been. I just know the dream of the Lebrescue Peace center with memorials in the specific rooms where lives were lost would be a great tribute to everyone who died on that day. Transforming a symbol of pain and loss into a symbol of life and hope....hope for a better more peaceful world....where peace, justice, and nonviolence is studied.

Make sure you check out the photos

I have placed some photos of the Luau, Heather's first day at Grace, and our first day on Maui on an online photo album (three of them I believe). Feel free to enjoy them and share with others who might like to see them.

http://www.picasaweb.google.com/frkris

Hope you sunrise was as wonderful as mine! K+

First Day is wonderful...

With sand in my toes I am sitting here on the deck watching the sun slowly fall from the Western sky into the Pacific. It is majestic. I wish I could put this feeling I feel in my bag and bring it back to share with you all. Life has moments like this...where things just slow down and feel good. I am glad to be feeling this right now.

We enjoyed a visit to the North shore today...who could resist the beach on our first day. The kids enjoyed swimming and I fell asleep on the beach. Bliss! We stocked up at Cosco and I was delighted to meet a guy named Sean who worked there. He was stacking the shelves and saw my VT hat. I realized that this local event for me had reverberated right here in Maui. Amazing. The people here have been so loving and friendly so far. I saw my first "shaka" when a person allowed another to cut in front of our traffic lane....really seems silly, but it was so cool to experience that. I listened to my Hawaiian CD in our car as we enjoyed our afternoon drive home. The music really goes with the scenery. Laid back, relaxing, and peaceful. God bless us all as we prepare for another day that will be filled with blessings...including an 8:30am Healing Eucharist service at St. Johns. There I will tell people about a friend of mine named Henry and his courage. In fact I found myself watching the windsurfers on the North shore flying through the water and found myself thinking about Michigan and how the Spirit is continuing to fill the sails of the seventh floor of the children's hospital. God is wonderful. It is hard to imagine someone living in this world without the ability to find God's pleasure in creation...and in the love of others. On that note I shall simply say Aloha...until next time.

We're here...in paradise!

We made it! We were greeted at the airport by two wonderful members of St. Johns church and then drove to Kula (30 minutes) in our rental car. The trip was long and we enjoyed the nice break in Seattle, WA. The children were real troopers to go that long on airplanes with no entertainment. Thanks be to God for that wonderful lady who gave us that deck of cards. We also had a lady hand us a voucher out of teh blue in Detroit which essentially piad for a McGriddle at McDonalds for everyone. She walked passed us and I think...upon seeing all of our children....said "use this...I earned it". She must have been delayed over night.

The house is wonderful and we awoke this morning to the sounds of roosters crowing and birds singing. There are tropical fruit trees everywhere and things we are eager to explore. We are off today to visit the church, put our feet in the Pacific, and of course visit Cosco for our food supplies.

It was wonderful to call my grandmother from the deck this morning and tell her about the sunrise over the island I was enjoying. I know how much she loves birds and thoughts of tropical beauty. Told her how much I wished she could be standing here with me enjoying this great cup of coffee. That is my wish for you all...that you could experience this wonderful part of God's creation.

Hope the blog helps you to at least get a sense of what it is like.

I will upload some photos every day or so....and the ones of teh Luau are terrific. What an incredible send off that was. Thanks to everyone who made that party so terrific...and especially Bill Kovarick for setting up the huge video projection screen that made the video so enjoyable.

God bless you all....Mahalo!

Aloha.

Fr Kris

Welcome to Rik and Heather

We are delighted that Rik and Heather arrived safely and are enjoying Virginia hospitality already. We had a nice meal on our deck (prepared by Heather!) this evening and look forward to a wonderful celebration tomorrow which culminates in my departure from the Luau tomorrow evening at 6:45pm....Then its next stop Hawaii !!!!! That just makes me want to shout out my new favorite word....Shaka!!!!! (which is roughly transplated Right On!) More after we get on our way.