Good Times & Graduations!!

It is obviously the season for graduations, and so we find ourselves again on the gorgeous West Coast for another significant one. Ryan completed his rigorous PhD Program at Stanford, and we all joined him and Melissa to celebrate and watch him walk in the graduation ceremony! 🎓

Stacey, Emily and I arrived as scheduled on Saturday and enjoyed a pleasant drive from San Francisco to their home in Aptos. What a lovely place R&M have rented in this cute town near the sea. Ryan had smoked ribs and chicken for a spectacular meal with yummy grilled garlic beans thanks to Melissa! Sox set us up for a possible sweep of the Yanks with a win we were privileged to see most of as we enjoyed those AMAZING ribs! We were all VERY excited to watch Ryan receive his degree and hear Katie Ledecky as the guest speaker on The Farm!

The added bonus for me on Graduation Day was that it was also Father’s Day. My family treated me well, as they always do. But the real gift was two incredibly smart, kind, thoughtful, loving children in Emily and Ryan. They are exceptional people that I am fortunate to call my kids. I love you both very much. 😍 Emily got me this FANTASTIC gift from London! We named him AC, and he will accompany us to Hawaii!!

First, a day to celebrate Ryan with a graduation ceremony in Stanford Stadium. I was last here in November of 2001 when I brought Ryan to Notre Dame vs Stanford football! 🏈 I remember a VERY rainy day, and an Irish loss to the # 9 ranked Cardinal. We had a great time, driving up and back from our home in Monterey in the Mazda MPV while I attended the Naval Postgraduate School.

This time, we arrived on campus beneath abundant sunshine and a pleasant temperature of 70 degrees. Literal perfection. After dropping Ryan at the stadium, we parked near our later escape and enjoyed a really nice stroll across the iconic Stanford campus.

A treat for all of us was the “Wacky Walk” of Undergraduates as they marched into the stadium to receive their hard-earned degrees. The tradition for these undergrads is to wear crazy costumes and outfits, and the Class of 2025 left nothing behind! We saw some really good stuff – too much to cover it all! So, just a small example is provided below.

Katie Ledecky gave an incredibly down to earth address to all of the graduating class of 2025. It was heartfelt and sincere, and could only be given by a Stanford Alum. She is an INCREDIBLE woman with a contagious energy! Katie mesmerized the Stanford crowd under a glorious California sun.

It was a day of sunshine and happiness. We are so incredibly proud of Doctor Ryan O’Connor!

Our drive back to Aptos was shorter than I thought, and we arrived in time for the ladies to nap 🛌 while Ryan and I watched the last six holes of the US Open! That event got pretty crazy, with a five way tie for the lead at one point. The speed of the greens and the brutal rough created separation fairly quickly though! Ryan and I exclaimed a bit louder than we intended when JJ Spaun drained that 65 foot putt to win the Championship! The girls’ naps were instantly over! 😳 What an amazing US Open! ⛳️🇺🇸⛳️🇺🇸

Aptos is the lovely town R&M now call home, and it is a place you should most definitely add to your visit list. A very short drive of less than five minutes found us on the ocean where we had time for a nice walk before dinner at Venus, on the beach.

Here are a few pics of the lovely crew.

So, the sun set on a wonderful celebration of Ryan and Melissa. It remains, in my mind, a TEAM effort to accomplish what they accomplished together for Doctor O’Connor. A Father’s pride, is a biased pride – I know.

But it is real.

We found ourselves with a full day in California before leaving for the Big Island of Hawai’i on Tuesday. Ryan and I did what men do on those off-days – hit the links! 🏌️‍♂️🏌️‍♂️ Seascape Golf Club is almost spitting distance, literally, from their home. We had to go off on the back nine, which mattered none to two gentlemen thrilled to be playing golf together again on the West Coast! We found a lovely Marine Layer masking the horizon and welcoming us to a comfortable temp on that tenth tee.

I found the greens to be lightening fast, but the match remained close throughout. We were within 1-2 of each other the entire way. Clouds gave way to sun, as they always do in CA, on the back nine. This Lemonade stand by the small house off our 13th green (Hole # 4) was awfully inviting, but it was unmanned. Next time!!

Those of us that punish ourselves with good walks spoiled will appreciate this. After considering handicaps, Ryan gives me two strokes overall (yes, that still hurts). As we stood on the 18th tee, I was up by 1 stroke. Up at the green, Ryan was on with about a 45-foot, downhill putt for birdie. The greens were crazy fast, so it had 3-putt written all over it. I had about a 10-foot “putt” from the fringe for par. Ryan made an INCREDIBLE lag putt that stopped 2 inches from the hole. A tap-in par. Mine from the fringe was to win the match! I hit it solid, but just burned the edge, and left it an inch behind the hole! GRRR! 😞.

We PUSHED the match!

What a great game golf is!

An extremely early wake up call found us on our way together to Hawai’i! It was a real treat to have a direct flight from San Francisco to Kona on the Big Island. 🌺 Stacey and I brought the kids to Oahu when we were living in Monterey in 2001 and took advantage of Space Available flights out of Travis Air Force Base. That seems like both a long and short time ago! Our approach to Kona was lovely, and Emily captured our arrival beautifully from her window seat.

After getting our van and loading our gear, we had time to kill before we could settle in to our rental home for the week. We took a scenic drive around this gorgeous coastal town and stopped at the Kona Brew Pub 😋 for a delicious lunch. Of course, there was the obligatory group selfie, our first in Hawai’i! Rest assured, I guarantee it won’t be our last!

Our home for the week is gorgeous and cozy, and not a bad spot to watch the sun set into the Pacific from!

For our first full day on The Big Island, my brother Tim flew over from his home in Maui, and we planned a day at Volcanoes National Park! We finally found a spot that Tim had never been to! As we headed in to town to pick him up, we saw that a HUGE cruise ship had anchored in the harbor overnight. It was a good day to get out of Kona, as the crowds were rumored to be quite significant on cruise ship Wednesdays! The southern route to Volcano was chosen, and took us along that coast of the island. Tim suggested we pull off to sea the black sands of Punalu’u Beach, and it proved to be a SUPERB recommendation. Here we are before walking down to the water.

Almost immediately, we saw sea turtle “H95” swimming in a tide pool by the edge of the Pacific. The scenery was simply breathtaking.

It was a mesmerizing view that calmed the soul, and I wanted to share a bit of that here…

I’ve always wanted to see Volcanoes NP, maybe partially because it is so remote for those of us that live on the mainland of the US. It did not disappoint, with spectacular views from the edge of the recently active Kaluapele (Kilauea Caldera). Hawaiians respect and honor volcano Godesses, most notably Pele. They both fear and understandably revere the power of volcanic eruption. Pictures can’t do it justice, but you know I’ll share a few anyway!

We walked from one lookout point to another through a thick rain forest. The air was so clean and fresh, with a light mist in the air. Some of that mist was from the steam vents, while some was from a slowly building rain. There were beautiful native plants, including the ‘ohi’alehua that I just loved.

After a late lunch in the town of Volcano, where I enjoyed Loco Moco, Emily offered to drive back to Kona. 🚙 I accepted and settled in to the back seat with Stacey. We chose to take the Saddle road route, which afforded us with more incredible scenery. There were seemingly endless miles of black lava fields as we wound our way between the peaks of Mauna Kea to the north and Mauna Loa to the south. There were lush green fields where we saw wild goat and sheep eating an over abundance of shrubbery. It was fantastic to just stare out the window at this incredible ecosystem that is The Big Island. Thanks Em! We had another delicious meal at Umeke’s in Kona and brought ice cream back to the house. Getting a good night of sleep before zip-lining tomorrow!

Each of us was allowed to mention the one thing we really wanted to do In Hawai’i and Emily chose zip-lining. It was a very good choice! Tim joined us for another adventurous day and we headed towards Hilo. The old men were relegated to the far back seat while Emily and Melissa took over the front, to include DJ duties!

Hawaiian Zipline tours was just what we needed. There were 7 lines, each one graduating in length and speed, culminating in a 1/2 mile plunge over a gorgeous 250 foot waterfall that was 200 feet below when zipping by! The scenery was amazing, even when just walking from one point to another. Melissa was a true CHAMPION, as she left her comfort zone and checked off an Emily bucket list experience! 😍

That was an awesome experience! Thanks for choosing it Em. We ventured back into Hilo for lunch at Pineapples before taking a walk by the harbor to see the King Kamehameha statue. It was a cool place to soak in the culture and history of this spectacular island. We then bought some shaved ice and headed back across the Saddle Road to Kona, and home.

Ryan and I both love to dive, so we wanted to dive the Kona Coast together on this trip. I went and got re-certified after over 30 years just to be safe and sure! The day broke with plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the mid 70s, and calm seas. Perfect. I brought my camera down in a protective case for the first dive, where we found 80 feet of visibility along a steep underwater cliff that dropped from 60 feet to well over 600 feet quite rapidly. The coral was stunning – everything was magical.

While we dove, the girls enjoyed a relaxing morning at the AirBnB, a pleasant walk to the beach and mimosas by the pool. What they enjoyed most was staying out of the car and simply breathing in the tropical air for the day.

A little down time was enjoyed by all back home before our Luau. The setting was truly gorgeous, with the Pacific Ocean at sunset as our background. Delicious food and plentiful beverages! We all enjoyed seeing traditional Hula, and hoping to absorb the deep meaning. I snuck aside for a picture of a stunning sunset.

Saturday was another morning of boys and girls doing separate things to start the day. Ryan and I set off to golf at Kona Country club while the girls set their sights on brunch and some shopping! As a bit of nostalgia… I took Ryan out for his very first round ever in 2001 at Mamala Bay Golf Course on Hickham Air Force Base near Pear Harbor.

This was our next round in Paradise!

The golf course was SPECTACULAR, though Ryan closed me out on 17 in our match. As we got to the first tee, we watched a fleet of small boats heading out to what looked like a fishing tournament. The views were simply gorgeous.

For Saturday evening, we scheduled a sunset sail onboard a catamaran a bit north of us in Anaehoomalu Bay. We drove the short 40 minute drive through more lava fields and arrived at a beautiful public beach. We joined a group of others on the beach where we removed our shoes and got on a power boat to bring us out to our sailboat at anchor. The weather was perfect and we all applauded Emily for being a complete trooper. She can get sea sick, and wasn’t feeling 100%. But she hung in there, mildly entertained by crew member Kyle, who was sweet to her, and really to all passengers.

Patience by the Captain paid off when the sun re-appeared beneath a cloud layer on the horizon before dipping out of sight into the Pacific.

Both Emily and Stacey were troopers again when Sunday rolled around. Melissa had discovered Kahalu’u Beach Park online. It boasted of easy access to a beautiful area to snorkel for anyone wanting to wade out from the beach. We gathered up beach and snorkel gear for everyone and made our way to Kahalu’u! After some simple instructions and tips, all of us were enjoying a stunning underwater world filled with gorgeous tropical fish as far as the eye could see! It was hard to pull myself away from this spectacular world just a few steps from the beach! I captured some of the sights with my phone using the case I had bought for our dive adventure. Ryan and Melissa even watched a sea turtle feed not ten feet from them! Unfortunately, I had the camera, so we didn’t get any pics of the turtle. But, Melissa and Ryan will forever have those images in their minds! 😍

Our afternoon was very relaxing, with an early dinner nearby and time just hanging out together back at the AirBnB for the evening.

Downtime at home included relaxing and painting in this watercolor book Stacey got for us all to enjoy. It was nice to focus on nothing else while painting a simple picture however you wanted.

On Monday morning, Stacey and I had time for a lovely walk of less than a mile down to the ocean after our coffee. The path ended at a salt water pool overlooking pretty lava rocks on the edge of the Pacific. It was a great stretch of the legs before heading out for more adventures.

Stacey wanted to see and tour a coffee plantation, so we made our way to Mountain Thunder Kona Coffee, about 20 minutes up into the hills. It is situated about 3,500 feet above the sea, but the climate is drastically different then down in town. The temperature dropped 12 degrees and a steady rain fell. We learned that these conditions are ideal for growing coffee. The plantation receives about 100 inches of rain per year, while only 10 inches fall per year down in town at sea level! Our tour guide was young and impressive, teaching us so much about growing premium coffee. We gained a wonderful appreciation for this labor of love, and sampled a few varieties before taking a nature walk that looked over lava tubes – underground tunnels formed by lava flow from eruptions many moons ago. It was another beautiful experience in the paradise of Hawai’i.

Everyone loves to pick up a souvenir or two while traveling, and we certainly got our fair share as well. But on rare occasion, you have the opportunity to get something incredibly special, and we had just such a chance on Hawai’i. After many years of asking and coaxing, Emily convinced Stacey that it would be incredibly meaningful for all of us to celebrate this fantastic trip together with tattoos. This would be Stacey’s first one ever! Each of us decided on our own design, with no pressure or judgement from the others on size, placement, theme or anything else. Stacey chose a beautiful depiction of the Hawaiian Pulmeria flower, symbolizing love and grace. It was perfectly sized and done quickly. After finishing, the artist Meria started to tell us about herself. We were shocked to learn that she went to Northeastern University in Boston, just like Stacey did! What a truly small world!

Here are Emily and Stacey showing off their new ink! 🌺🐚🌺

It was special to do this together. Emily got a beautiful seashell, while Melissa chose a pretty sunset. Ryan has a whale’ fin dipping beneath the sea. I chose a sea turtle, and added the initials of each of my family members that shared the experience and this wonderful trip with me.

Hawai’i has truly been an exceptional experience. I would now place the Big Island ahead of Oahu. Far less touristy with a wide range of diverse things to see and do. Age bias probably matters, as we were pretty poor when we took our free flights and stayed in DoD facilities back in 2001. You appreciate these celebrations more as you get older, realizing they don’t come to realization as often as you dream or hope. Our last dinner here was at Papa Kona’s as the sun was setting on another day in paradise. I’m so thankful to my family traveling companions for a surreal vacation with the very best of folk. Of course, it isn’t quite over yet, as we stop in San Francisco for two nights on our way home to Virginia!

An afternoon flight out of Kona allowed for an early lunch on the water as we bid farewell to this amazing spot on the earth. Mahalo!

Our final day of vacation would be spent in San Francisco, as a wonderful place to break up the long journey home to Virginia. After sleeping in, we headed towards the ferry out to Alcatraz Island! Unfortunately, Melissa had to work and she headed towards her office in SF while we remained happy tourists for another day. There was a fairly thick fog in the air, with temperatures in the upper 50s – a considerable change after a week on the Big Island! Ryan and I had visited Alcatraz before with Melissa, but this was the first trip there for Em & Stace. The “sail” was a quick 15 minutes from dock to dock through the misty San Francisco Bay.

There are things to know about Alcatraz, and we learned a lot. The island is a bird sanctuary, as a lack of four-legged predators makes it a safe haven for seagulls and cormorants. We literally saw, and smelled, hundreds of them. The audio tour of the old cell building is free, and well worth your time. Al Capone was one of several famous prisoners incarcerated in what became the most expensive US Prison to run before it was shut down in 1963 by Robert F. Kennedy, primarily because of those high costs. There were never any female prisoners or guards on the island, making the wives and children of guards the only females to ever live on the island. While the cells were a tiny 5X7 feet, prisoners never shared those spaces.

During our visit, one of two known living men once incarcerated on Alcatraz, William G. Baker, was there to sign a book he wrote about 10 years ago. He is 92 now, and we met him in the bookstore. I look forward to reading his book!

One of the things we found fascinating was the plethora of pretty gardens. The wives of guards lobbied to plant and maintain them, and volunteers continue to keep them pretty today.

When living in Monterey over two decades ago, I remember believing that anyone could predict the weather. Every day, the Weatherman said the same thing – “clouds give way to sun, high of 71”. The first part came true for our ferry ride back to SF, but the temp topped out at 65.

After our Alcatraz excursion, we walked down to Fisherman’s Wharf for another tasty meal and some people watching. Next up, on to Union square for some shopping that was WAY out of my league. They say you learn something new every day. What I learned on this day was that Neiman Marcus is a ridiculous store that does not need to exist. I went into one for the first and last time in my life.

I also learned that there sure are A-LOT of WAYMO driverless cars for hire here. They are all Jaguars, and they are EVERYWHERE! I think I missed the boat on a solid investment opportunity… again.

Melissa got through her first day back to work after vacation, so she is ahead of the rest of us! We all met for our final dinner together at The Brixton in the Pacific Heights section of San Francisco. It was a fabulous way to end an epic vacation together. We will miss you Ryan and Melissa! ❤️😍❤️

And so an incredible time with my favorite people came to an end. Cherish these experiences with the ones you love. I sure do! ❤️