The drive out was utilitarian, so we took the freeways as much as we could. However, even avoiding the scenic route, there is a point where all you have is two lane roads. Right about that time the view gets ridiculously beautiful. There is a pineapple farm on the left and a coffee farm on the right. The vast expanse of the Pacific is down the hill before you.
It truly is paradise.
We got some dinner at Cholo's Mexican Restaurant, and then stopped at the grocery store on the way to the house. While waiting to turn left, and yielding to oncoming traffic, we were rear-ended. Gratefully we were all completely fine, as we drive a tank.
The other gal was fine, too, but her car was totaled. All we got was a slightly damaged bumper with a permanent imprint of the Volkswagen symbol. Yaye SUVs!
The next day was the last leg of the North Shore Swim Series: The North Shore Challenge. It is a 2.3 mile rough water swim from Ehukai beach to Waimea Bay. In the winter, the waves are very large and the current is swift. However, in the summer, there are usually small if any waves and the swim would be with the gentler current. Well, the ocean is a wild place, and on Saturday there was 5+ foot surf. Additionally, the current was moving in a winter direction, meaning the swim would be against the current and in surf.
Girl-A-Thon (GAT) wasn't intimidated one bit. I was at a category 1 on the worried mom scale. Dad-A-Thon (DAT) was his encouraging self, and Boy-A-Thon (BAT) was at the beach!
Back at the finish line, we heard the start of the race over the timer's radio. They started about 10 minutes late, so I adjusted my mental time of when I should see GAT and her bright pink goggles. (She had practiced this race on Monday, and had finished in an hour, with her group stopping once.)
After an hour and twenty minutes, I upgraded to a category 2. When I began to see people with whom she usually finishes, I was on the high end of, but still at a category 2. By an hour and half, I had upgraded to a category 3 worried mom.
DAT was at the water's edge for still photos and I was at the "chute" to get video of her running through to finish. I began texting DAT that something was wrong--she should be here by now. DAT reassured me that all was well.
I began to notice the finishers. They were not well. In the previous races, they were tired but smiling. No smiles in the chute today. In fact, there was vomiting, and varying stages of consciousness. As it all began to sink in--she's way overdue, others are ill--I blew past 4 and went straight to a category 5.
I had almost reached my limit of waiting, and began to text DAT again, when he hollered my name and pointed to the lifeguard on a waverunner. GAT had been pulled from the water and driven to the end of the race. I could see she was OK, and she swam about another 200 yards, so I knew she wasn't hurt. I took a deep breath and tried not to over react.
Praise the Lord she was completely fine, though extremely pale and had no energy. She wasn't feeling bad about being pulled out at all. She said, "Mom, I would have been in real trouble if I had stayed in." I told her I was proud that she did the safe thing. We got her a Jamba Juice and Tropilicious Sorbet(they were sponsors) to give her blood sugar a boost, and rested in the shade.
As I sat with my baby girl, she had her sugary treats, her color came back, and she began to breathe normally again. I said many prayers of thanks under my breath, and hugged her enough that she finally asked me to stop. It's a wild ride watching your beloved progeny come into their own...
It's a funny thing this life. I hope our family's excitement always ends so well.
Aloha
And your husband is taking you out for a freshie after all of this...right?
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