Saturday, Oct. 9 "Iron Man," "YWAM Base," "New Friends," Our Home and Room & a Famous artist "The Crazy Mural Lady"



Supporting his wife, the triathlete, with his two sons




Ed, the retired Pastor and my construction partner and his wife Ruth, on our night out. The are from Vancouver




This is Ron and Sharon, on our night out, they also are from Vancouver, funny couple





Sunset from our seaside restaurant, on our Mission Builders night out...




Finishing the Iron Man, wow, was this fun to watch




Finishing the race...amazing to watch, music, lights, the roar of the crowd, family yelling, priceless.

 Kona, Oct. 8 Day One “Traveling”

We started packing for our two month trip around 10:00 A.M. this morning, which was freaking out Aimee. Julie picked us up at 2:00 for LAX, we allowed more time because it was Friday afternoon traffic, it took less than an hour, plenty of time to start my reading. I brought six books to read, but saved the ”The Accidental Billionaires,” for the flight, it is the true story of the current move “The Social Network,” which is about the 20 year old billionaire who started “Facebook.” Interesting read, I finished the 256 page book 20 minutes before landing in Kona.

I’m trying to read more great authors to help me understand the rhythm of good writing, beside the social network book, I’ve brought Ernest Hemingway’s classic “A Movable Feast,” about his thoughts as he lived in Paris in 1921, it’s my first time to read Hemingway, who is considered one of America’s great authors, I will read Christine Houser’s  retirement party gift book, “The Book Thief,” it’s the New York Times #1 bestseller, about a German girl  who steels a book during Hitler’s book burning paranoia, I’ve also got “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” another New York best seller, a true story of how doctors stole this black women’s DNA cells and turned it into a billion dollar industry, all without her knowledge.

Kona, Oct. 9, Day Two “The Race, People, and Place”

Walking everywhere, it’s 1:11 P.M. and we have already logged 10 miles, another 4 to go to the movies, and then another 4 back, plus we will need to find diner, another mile or two.

We split a wonderful lunch, a huge plate of local fruit, and a egg and cheese burrito, had an amazingly interesting talk with a journalist from Germany who has come to the Iron Man 12 times and he covers them all over the world, had a wonderful talk with some Mission Builders, and we had a wonderful time with our dorm mates.

Carol will be serving in the mail room all day, I will be working on a huge construction project, all day, every day, and my work will be called “the leaning tower of WAM.” Well, God knows what he’s doing.  We are gearing up for a massive walk to the movies, I’m writing, Buckwheat is napping.

Our Street



A kiss for good luck



Standing room only

A beauty amidst the beautiful

Paradise, a little park by The Rock coffee shop

A real fisherman

Our Home

Some of our  new friends, and my construction boss John (the bearded one, red shirt)



The famous artist "The Crazy Mural Lady"



Our little home



Our little refrigerator



Our little table




The ever present boss, the Gecko