Our Hawaii Trip

We went to Hawaii on November 1 to visit Eric and family in Pearl City. We stayed with them for ten days. It was good to see Owen, 6-1/2; Hannah, 3-1/2, and Alexandra, 16 months then and now known as Lexi. We had fun with the kids. Owen is in first grade and is a good brother to his sisters. Hannah goes to pre-school every day and loves it. She is taking hula and ballet lessons at school. Lexi stays home with Leah. She is a sweet little girl. A very deep thinker. Knows who she is and what she wants. Eric is the Executive Ofiicer (second in command) on the USS Chicago, SSN-721. Leah is busy, to say the least. She is the daughter I always wanted.

On November 10 we flew to Maui to stay at a timeshare for a week thanks to the generosity of friends from our church. We stayed at Maui Hill in Kihei. We did most of the touristy things. Drove the Road to Hana with 617 curves and 54 one lane bridges. We went to Haleakala to see the sunrise but it was raining and covered in clouds. Haleakala is 10,023 feet high and is a volcano that hasn't erupted since about 1790, so is considered an active volcano. We also took a one day trip on a ferry to the island of Molokai. The trip took 95 minutes under very rough sea conditions. The island is most famous for the leper colony that was there and still is. There are several old lepers still there and the youngest is in his sixties. When the last one dies the colony will be turned over to the state. The story of Father Damien on that island is very fascinating. He became a leper and died at the age of 49.

New Pump and Burning the Brush

Kathie and I went up to Squaw Valley on Tuesday, October 26, to check out the new pump that was installed by Curtis McGowan of McGowan Pump Company about two weeks before. The pump is rated at 16 GPM and 60 pounds of pressure. The pressure tank holds 119 gallons or 450 liters. The only thing left for him to put in is the 30 foot utility pole which will go in near the well. After that, PG&E and Verizon will come to put their lines in from across the street. From the pump and pole everything will go underground to the house.

While we were there I burned the biggest pile of brush after getting a burning permit at the local fire station. It had rained the previous week so the brush was pretty wet. I poured about two gallons of diesel fuel on it and that was enough to get it burning. The heat was tremendous once it got going. It burned for about an hour and half when we decided to go home and let it go out by itself. Not to worry, it started raining and hailing and in no time at all the fire was mostly out. It rained heavily almost all the way home to San Dimas (Mudsprings). If you don't know, San Dimas was known as Mudsprings about a hundred years ago. That's why I have used the name Mudsprings for various things such as this Blog and my screen name on the gas station watch. I also have a Yahoo e-mail, mudsprings@yahoo.com. I might name our little ranch "Mudsprings" because of the spring that we have on the land.

Our New Home in Squaw Valley

You might not know it yet, but we're moving to Squaw Valley soon. We bought a 5.4 acre piece of land on June 7, 2004. It has an absolutely beautiful view of the Sierras. It is at the 3200 foot level, so we'll get some snow in the Winter. The land is graded, the septic is in and the well is drilled. It produces 20 GPM. That's almost 30,000 gallons in 24 hours. More than we'll ever use and need. We're building a 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. This ahould all be finished by June or July of 2005.

Peter and Kathie

Peter and Kathie
Originally uploaded by Mudsprings.

Kathie is my best friend. The Godly woman that I prayed for.

This is me

This is me
Originally uploaded by Mudsprings.

The one and only Peter Woelper. Old "Mole Nose."

Wow!

this is it! My first attempt at a BLOG. Be patient and I will tell you more about me.