The Beach Walk Thing...

Late night flag installation by Craig makes it 15 now.

Thursday, February 24. hazy but hot, hardly any winds.

This is the signage at the foot of our resort complex. It can also be the start and finish of a rather lengthy walk from here to the far end of the beach/hotel area about two good miles down the coast. We often do it, or segments of it as a great way to get exercise, see whales, walk off our excesses, catch a swim, rest in unashamed luxury in the over-the-top hotels and also as a bit of a ritual while here.

My sister loves it and so did her late husband and my very good friend Ralph. Ralph looked forward to the free coffee at one of the hotels, Moe liked the walk. That is when I first heard the term power-walking! She was the Queen of power-walking.

The views of the ocean and distant islands are outstanding and there is always an excuse to stop watching and look for whales.

Of course we have to contend with some joggers, power walkers and strollers along the way but everybody is in good spirits on the Beach Walk.

A 'quiet area' in one of the hotels. Full access from the beach, guest or not, all welcome.

This is at the end of the walk. We call it The Dairy Queen because some of its Arab-like tower tops look like soft ice cream cones. Built about 15 years ago.

Any port in a storm. It can be skin-burning hot along the walk, so this is how we cool off.

Part of the decor inside a hotel.

Meanwhile, if you care for a quick dip and happen to have your suit on, as Fellette and I did......

Near the Maui Hill end of the walk the pavement surrenders to sand and then the beach itself for the remainder of the walk home.

Yesterday we four walked a portion of it in the morning. During the Canada/Russian hockey game I had to get away from the TV. For some reason felt quite emotional about the game. With all the hype that has been going on about how Canada was going to sweep the games the pressure on the competitors was enormous.

Canada is a very small country and one in which I am extremely proud to live in. We do not make a lot of headlines in the world, we have a very small armed force, but are well respected for our compassion and understanding and just plain common sense. Our medical system is the butt of untold American jokes but it looks after those that cannot or will not look after themselves. To me that is the right thing to do. Somehow we are now on the world stage during the Olympics and the only thing that seems to count is 'winning'. The Americans would have Bragging Rights for the next four years and that is just too much to bear!

The hype that has gone on on the American networks about the US win over Canada in an earlier game was unreal. You would have thought they had discovered the secret to eternal life or something. Then to have a game against the Russians who were touted to be the real contenders was too much stress for me to take. So I went on a two hour Beach Walk and got the scores from Wally and Craig via my Blackberry!

I apologize in advance to my American friends who are lovely people.

There is more to life than hockey and the Olympics. But you would not think so on the TV!!!