Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

Hawai'i has a lot of cool plant and animal life. Coral, dolphins, whales, turtles, Banyan trees, etc, thank you volcanic soil. It wasn't whaling or dolphin-ing season, but I did get to see and swim with turtles. Two, to be specific. At different beaches. Unfortunately, I had a much greater knack at locating crabs. I found so many that my friend's family (who I was staying with) nick-named me the crab whisperer. I named it Betty Don't remember this guy's name see below for enlarged image Herman. I later found a hermit crab, and named him Herman II  I also saw several sand crabs, but they were super fast and hard to capture on camera, since they blended pretty well with the sand. Movement was the only giveaway. This was a big guy. I didn't touch him See below for zoomed image He's so cute. Whoever he is Then there was the large pink-and-blue-spotted crab we found when snorkeling. I didn't invest in an underwater camera (...

Surprise, surprise, I took a random trip to Hawai'i with people I didn't know very well (but that sure changed quick) and won the 'lightest packer' award. It comes in handy because over my career of travelling, I tend to stay with people I know on a casual basis, and it sure improves things if my junk isn't in their way. I packed four swimsuits, and despite my best efforts, got burned in 4 different patterns on my shoulders. It's  nice that I can tell what swimsuit I wore last just by looking at my back. thick-to-thin strap burns crossed strap-in-the-back burn wide shoulder burn There's a black swimsuit on underneath. Just believe me. I got tired of burns. And then add some sand for a coarse exfoliation everywhere. Every time I reapplied sunscreen, I would inevitably rub sand in, too. I hope my skin cell turnover is really high, because what with the sun killing them and the sand rubbing skin cells off, I think I lost a couple layers...