UFO's over Kansas City?

In March a UFO was spotted by several college professors in St. Joseph, Missouri, who viewed the object through a telescope. Two of the witnesses made drawings of the object, which were large orange fireballs in a tear-drop shape. The UFO moved away and disappeared. In late May a large oval object was spotted traveling from South to North from the UMKC campus in Kansas City, and in June a large cigar-shaped silver UFO was witnessed in Sedalia by 20 people standing in an Applebee’s parking lot. On June 17 a large bright craft was viewed for over an hour, then multiple planes and helicopters searched the area in Lenexa.

I haven't seen any. But I haven't been looking, either. The Truth Is Out There. (Cue X-Files music . . .)

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Eleven

(Remember to click "read more" if you're looking at this from the main medary.com page to get the whole article!)

(Yes, Snookums finally finished up the writing, and Filbert finally has gotten around to posting the exciting conclusion to our Hawaii trip. Yee hah.

January 20 (Tuesday, Day 16, Ensenada, Mexico)

At 4 AM we were woken by the fog horn. It was still going off every two minutes at 8:30 when we really got up. We turned on CNN to see the inauguration activities. We decided that we are probably one of a very few number of people that were guests on a cruise during the election as well as during the inauguration. After watching the festivities, we went to breakfast. Snookums was thrilled since for the second time on this cruise, chocolate chip pancakes were served. They are delicious since the chocolate chips are ooey and gooey and all melty. Next to Regent’s raisin French toast, this is Snookums’s favorite cruise breakfast. It was a perfect start to an action-packed day.

Mexico in the evening twilight

More after the jump . . .

Collected all in one handy location for your reading pleasure, our posts from the recently completed Holland America Hawaii Circle Cruise.

Part 1, San Diego, CA
Part 2, at sea
Part 3, at sea
Part 4, Kona, HI
Part 5, Nawiliwili, HI
Part 6, Lahaina, HI
Part 7, Honolulu, HI
Part 8, Hilo, HI
Part 9, at sea
Part 10, at sea
Part 11, Ensenada, Mexico, San Diego, and home

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Ten

(Remember to click "read more" if you're looking at this from the main medary.com page to get the whole article!)

January 18 (Sunday, Day 14, At sea)

Filbert woke up, showered and ate breakfast before Snookums even woke up. Dad went to the Veterans Get-Together. Mom and Judy went to their invitation-only suite lunch buffet and enjoyed it very much. (Dad ate at the taco bar and the grill chef helped him carry his tray.) Snookums and Filbert ate lunch with Eva and Stanley for 2 ½ hours before going to the 30-minute “How to Host a Hawaiian Party” event. We didn’t learn much but did learn that the proper way to cut a pineapple takes four days. (Shave the bottom off, put the pineapple on a towel on the counter for three days. Twist the top off and turn it upside down for another day. Cut and serve.)

Sunset on the 19th

More after the jump . . .

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Nine

(Remember to click "read more" if you're looking at this from the main medary.com page to get the whole article!)

January 15 (Thursday, Day 11, Hilo, Hawaii, continued)

Filbert spent most of the early evening on the verandah listening to his radio. He heard a Honolulu radio station telling of the University of Hawaii-Honolulu’s closure on Friday due to high winds.

On the verandah

More after the jump . . .

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Eight

(Remember to click "read more" if you're looking at this from the main medary.com page to get the whole article!)

January 15 (Thursday, Day 11, Hilo, Hawaii)

Everyone was up at 6 AM for a light breakfast in Mom and Dad’s big cabin in order to see the Kilauea’s lava flows. It was spectacular in the dark. With binoculars you could easily see the volcanic eruption and the lava being ejected into the air. The air smelled of sulfur and the smoke was easily seen. The ship was not in the path of the smoke or else it probably would have been ashy and very stinky. The lava flows were out of sight by around 6:30 AM and everyone went back to bed prior to the 10 AM docking.

Kilauea lava flow pictures:

More after the jump . . .

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Seven

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January 14 (Wednesday, Day 10, Honolulu, Oahu)

Filbert and Snookums woke at 7 AM and not to watch the docking process. Rather, we wanted to get off the ship as soon as it docked in order to use the free WiFi next door at Aloha Tower. We managed to do that and while we were sitting in the open air mall, a bird pooped on Filbert’s left shoulder. He said it’s supposed to be good luck and he was also happy it didn’t land on his keyboard. (So, I guess it was good luck!)

Aloha Tower

More after the jump . . .

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Six

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January 13 (Tuesday, Day 9, Lahaina, Maui)

Today started with a bang. Actually it started with six short blasts of the ship’s horn around 5 AM!! Filbert woke up a few seconds prior to the ship’s horn since his sleep apnea machine lost power. He realized that the ship had no power and that’s when the ship’s horn went off. The captain came on the PA a few minutes later (yes, a few minutes – someone should have come on the PA within seconds of the six short blasts!) and said that we were without power and that he would keep us informed. About 15 minutes later he came on again to say that there was no fire anywhere and that they were still looking into the cause of the power loss. Around 15 minutes later he came on the PA and announced that the engineers knew the problem and were fixing it. Finally the power came back around 7 AM and the captain said that we would get to Maui around one hour late.

Calm sea, dead ship

More after the jump . . .

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Five

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January 12 (Monday, Day 8, Nawiliwili, Kauai)

Today dawned bright and sunny and a perfect day for using the minivan we rented. Filbert and I took the rental car shuttle from the pier to the airport and got the car and then came back to the pier and picked up the other three. Everyone had their bottles of water bottles and Dad had his black coffee from McDonald’s so the adventure could start. It was 9:30 AM.

The plan was to drive north on 56 and then west on 560 until it dead-ended at pretty much due north Kauai. Yep, you can not drive around the island of Kauai because there are no roads on the Na Pali coast. Our first “detour” was Lydgate State Park. We didn’t get out but drove around its small parking area and two roads and saw a nice beach with people camping on it.

Our first real stop was at the Kealia Scenic Overlook. We stayed there for a good thirty minutes and not only enjoyed the great ocean view, but managed to see several pods of whales in the distance as well as a pod of 20 or 30 dolphins feeding on a huge school of fish. The dolphins were so busy eating that they didn’t bother performing any dolphin “tricks” for us, but it was still a neat thing to see. We also saw four Hawaiian monk seals swimming very close to the edge of the water. It was a beautiful place to spend some time in the sun and after this stop, everyone put sunscreen on for the rest of the day.

At the scenic overlook

More after the jump . . .

The 2009 Circle Hawaii Cruise - Holland America Zaandam, January 5-21, 2009

Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert

Part Four

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January 11 (Sunday, Day 7, Kona, Hawaii)

The day started a little cool and cloudy, but we signed up for the Zodiac snorkel adventure so the three of us got to the lounge by 7:45 AM with the rest of our adventure snorkelers. We were put on the first tender to shore and met up with the two Zodiac captains. We boarded the second Zodiac and hung on tight (and kept a foot under the taut rope running along the floor of the Zodiac at all times so as to not fall out). The captain was radioed about the first Zodiac seeing a whale about 20 yards away. We weren’t that lucky and didn’t see any. We missed the whale by about 5 minutes!

The Zaandam peeking through the palm trees

More after the jump . . .