Summer of 2007

Had some fun with the boys at a friend's lakehouse in Northern WI - more pics to follow...

Holiday Plans...

I've heard a few of you crazy peeps ask what everyone's plans are for the holidays, so I thought I’d TRY to simplify the process. Simplify is probably a bad choice in words when speaking to the Malia family, but thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

So let us know what you were thinking for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, Chanukah. Anyone heading to the boat?

Just post a comment so it's all in one place and save all of our in-boxes. That way we have it all in one place and no one will come to work to find 1,000 e-mail in their inbox.

Not that I don’t love hearing from you guys, but these topics generate and insane amount of back and forth as we all know.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Here's to looking better than ever after all these years :)

Riding Through the Wild West

I recently returned from an 11 state, 16 day, 4,600-mile odyssey. I rode west through Winterset, IA, i.e., the bridges of Madison County (Note: don’t bother), to Denver, Mt. Evans, to Steamboat Springs, to Aspen and the Maroon Bell Mountains, over Independence Pass to Salida, met up with some friends and rode west to Ouray, down the “Million Highway” to Durango, past the Four Corners, through Monument Valley to the Grand Canyon, Sedona and Santa Fe, from where I headed northeast through Taos and eventually back to Barrington. The following are a few thoughts on this trip:

Most Challenging Road, But Fun: Colorado Highway 550-the Million Dollar Highway- between Ouray and Silverton. The scenery is spectacular and the switchbacks are numerous. However the road is in good condition, well marked and adequately wide so the absence of guardrails is not that intimidating.

Most Challenging Road and Scary: The road to Mt. Evans, southwest of Denver, at 14, 240 ft., is allegedly the highest paved road in the world. To get to the summit, you must deal with a very narrow road with serious frost heaves, no guardrails, switchbacks that are so tight that first gear is too fast so you must be slipping the clutch while going through the turns yet ensure you are maintaining adequate momentum despite going up a steep grade. The road will likely be at least wet with perhaps a little snow and/or ice. As you are going up you are hoping—make that praying--that any on-coming traffic, of which there was plenty, is judiciously keeping in its appropriate lane. Plus the summit is way above the tree line, so once you get there, it is not all that scenic. And if all this was not bad enough, when I reached the summit a Park Ranger immediately told me the danger of lightning was so severe that I must either leave immediately or wait out the danger in the men’s room. My advice---Don’t even consider it unless the weather up top is dry and clear and then only if you are in need of some type of masochistic challenge.

Grandest Site: There were many such sites, but the grandest had to be the Grand Canyon. Neither words nor a camera can adequately capture its grandeur. Plus the coloring and shadows look very different as the sun moves across the horizon or you observe the canyon from different locations.

Good Advice: A sticker on a motorcycle that said: “Warning: Lower Feet Before Stopping”.

Road With the Most Stunning Scenery: There were many to pick from, but my vote would be highway 89A going through Oak Creek Canyon north of Sedona. The red rocks punctuated with green evergreens were simply stunning.

Most Confusing—what time it was in various parts of Arizona. The state is in the Mountain Time zone, EXCEPT they do not observe daylight savings time (thus at this time of the year, they are effectively on Pacific time). HOWEVER for those parts of the state that are on an Indian reservation (and it seem like this is at least half of the state), the Indian tribe gets to decide what time they will observe. Note: Cell phone time is typically not accurate nor is GPS time.

Most Disappointing Site: Despite low expectations, I would give the Four-Corners Monument this prize. However after further thought---it perhaps would have been even more disappointing if some government entity had made an even bigger deal, i.e., spent even more dollars, commemorating this site which is simply the point at which four states happen to meet.

Oddest Event: Two guys arrived at the Four-Corners Monument with a horse in their trailer. They promptly took the horse out and walked it up the ramp that was obviously intended for wheelchairs. Presumably their objective was to take a picture of their horse with each leg in a different state.
Most Intriguing Site- As your drive across New Mexico on Highway 60, it seems like you are in the middle of nowhere. Then you start to notice a few huge skyward pointing antennas in the distance and eventually you see more of them spread across the countryside. There are 27 such antennas that make up the Very Large Array (VLA) Radio Telescope Observatory-one of the world's premier astronomical radio observatories. I characterize this site as intriguing in that it is hard to even relate to what radio telescopes do. The site was featured in Jodie Foster’s Academy Award winning movie, “Contact”. Each antenna, weighing 230 tons with an 82-foot diameter, is mounted on one of three railroad tracks, each 13 miles long that radiate in a Y-shaped configuration from a common center. The radio telescopes are re-configured, every four months or so, in several different ways to combine their data into one uniform picture. The data from each antenna is combined electronically to give the resolution of an antenna 22 miles across, with the sensitivity of a dish 422 feet in diameter. The VLA is used primarily by astronomers from around the world. It is also occasionally used for atmospheric/weather studies, satellite tracking, and other miscellaneous science. My advice- it is worth a visit if it is on your way to somewhere else.
Saddest Site- The town of Greensburg, KS was near totally destroyed by an F5 tornado on May 4, 2007. The twelfth victim just died of injuries from this storm. As I approached the town over 4 months later, the first thing you notice is the Mash-style medical tents on the edge of town with the sign “Kiowa County Memorial Hospital”; next you notice the trees…now reduced to thick, short trunks with only a few green leaves on their tops. Eventually you notice the still remaining large piles of destroyed building materials and what looks almost like plowed fields in the heart of town, where they had dug out what remained of the foundations of the destroyed buildings. The post office and banks were operating out of house trailers; two gas stations had been re-built. But it was a beehive of activity as the town’s survivors are committed to rebuilding their community.
Most Poignant Site- A Vietnam Veterans Memorial located in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Angel Fire, NM. A local doctor started building this memorial 5-days after his son David Westphall, a Marine infantry officer, was killed in Vietnam in 1968, along with 12 other members of his Company. The Memorial is a white, sail-shaped building built into the mountainside. The setting and building are beautiful; but more importantly, the displays inside are very well done, well maintained and a very poignant reminder of all the men that sadly never returned from this war. In 2005 it became the nations first Vietnam Veterans Memorial state park.
Most Interesting Couple: We met Mike and Lydia from Dallas at the Durango Harley dealer (See the comment below on leaking fluids). They were in their 60’s and were on the 41st day of a 44 day, 8,000 mile trip. This was the 15th year they had taken such a 30+-day motorcycle trip together. You could tell by their jewelry, comments and demeanor that this was not a rough-and-ready biker couple. She was laughing about her “snooty” friends back home who didn’t like to get dirty or ever sweat and reveled in how much she would enjoying seeing the expression on their faces as she told them about how, after getting caught in a rain storm, she had to try to dry her hair in the hand-dryer at a truck-stop restroom.

Another Interesting Couple: At the Grand Canyon, we met a couple riding two-up on a Harley. We asked them where they were from and they responded, in the best English they could muster, that they were from Germany. They had rented this bike and were riding around the US West. Two years earlier they had rented a bike to tour the San Francisco bay area (riding two-up on a motorcycle through the hills of San Francisco is not real appealing to me, but they professed to have had a great time). They were enjoying this trip very much and when asked how their bike was running, the girl-who spoke the best English-got a huge smile on her face and responded "Vroom, Vroom”, i.e., she loved the sound of the Harley. Note: They have much more severe noise restrictions on motorcycles in Germany—so this was the sound of an American Harley!

Funny Incident: When one is riding alone across the middle of nowhere, you come up with all kinds of things to think about. My second day out-while riding across Kansas- I noticed that the road I was on was particularly remote. I had let the GPS set the route in many cases, so I was simply following whatever road it suggested. But this road was not only a long way from any town; there were not even any farmhouses around. So I started giving some thought as to what I would have to do if -god forbid-I had bike trouble. Further, I began listening even more intently for any unusual sounds coming from my bike. I soon started hearing what sounded like a grinding noise. The faster I went, the louder the sound got. I was convinced it had to be a wheel bearing or something serious. Still everything was running great and with all the wind and road noise it was hard to really zero in on this particular noise. So I decided to simply keep going until I got to the next town. There I pulled over and shut off my bike; but fortunately, I happened to leave the ignition on. As I was looking over my bike expecting the worst, I heard this static noise and soon realized the source of my problem. While I was on the road, I was fumbling with my cruise control button and had inadvertently turned the radio on. It was not receiving any station, so all I was hearing was static. The audio volume automatically adjusts based on how fast you are going---so the grinding noise I heard was simply very loud static from the radio. I had a good laugh and took off, thankful I would have to find something else to worry about.

Free Advice:

Kansas motels: I guess I should not have been surprised, but…when you pay $47/night for a motel room in the middle of Kansas, you get what you pay for.

Gas gauge- When traveling out West, it is not a good idea to wait until your “low- fuel-light” goes on to start thinking about re-fueling. The stations are often very far apart, some are closed or out of high-octane gas …and you also have the risk of a lengthy detour. It is prudent to be looking to re-fuel after about 125 miles.

Leaking fluids- Don’t write this off as a normal Harley Davidson occurrence---bikes, even Harleys, are not supposed to be leaking fluids of any type. Were they to do so, is an indication of a problem that will likely only get worse and thus should be looked into.

Global Positioning Systems- I am becoming a bigger fan of these devices every day. They are admittedly complicated, hard to learn to use their total capability, sometimes very confusing and frustratingly wrong…but a great traveling companion, particularly if you are running alone. At any point, it can readily answer questions like:
·am I on the right road?
·where is my next turn?
·how many more miles to my destination?
·what time should I arrive? Note: you must tell the unit what time convention you will use, so the time it gives is only accurate locally if you know the right convention. See comment re: Arizona time.
·where is the closest gas station/restaurant/hotel?
·what if I take a different route?

Plus it is fun to design a route on your home computer, no matter how complicated, i.e., how many turns, and have the GPS readily take you through the route out on the road.

Things That Work For Me:

Ear plugs: If I will be running all day, I wear earplugs so my ears are not ringing at the end of the day. I have a fully molded pair, which I found too quieting and too hard to readily get in and out. So I wear a molded unit in one ear and a soft push-in type in the other ear so that I can readily take it out if I am trying to communicate with someone.

Packing list: I develop a typed packing list for each trip depending on which bike I will use and how long I will be gone. From prior lists, I readily know how much stuff I have the space to accommodate and which items I did or did not use on prior trips. Then I sort the list to reflect in which of the 12 different pockets/side cases etc. that I have on my Road Glide and T-Bag combination a particular item is stored. So if I cannot remember where I put something, I can readily check the list to know where to look for some little used item. Makes preparing for the next trip much easier and reduces the risk of not packing something that has proved useful in the past.

Lessons Learned/Re-Learned- at slow speeds, NEVER turn your handlebars and hit the front brakes at the same time. Never ceases to amaze me how much side torsion, i.e., tip- over-force, this exerts on your bike.

Why Is It That? —No matter how many speeds your bike has-mine has 6-it seems like you never have the right gear to go up a mountain. One gear is too low to go at the speed you want at a decent RPM; but, the next gear is too high to make it though the turns without lugging…as a result you are constantly shifting.

Why Doesn’t Someone Invent?---a luggage system for non-baggers that consists of a harness that is attached to your motorcycle for a trip and then your luggage, with one fastener, is firmly attached to this harness. This would make loading and unloading your bike each day a one-step maneuver and you wouldn’t have to be worrying each day whether you got the various straps on your T-bag appropriately fastened that day.

Conclusion- Is there anything more fun than riding a smooth-running Harley across the heartland of America?

Check Out the Little Ripper!

Four months old and Seamus is already ready to hit the slopes!

Bring On the Girls!!!

Kevin and Sarah just found out they'll be having a baby girl!!! We're all ecstatic! Finally the Malia's are growing in girl power! I'm sure Fiona will be thrilled to have a buddy to take on the boys with. It's still 2-4, but the girls are catching up :)

Congratulations guys! Can't wait to meet her! January 9th will be here before you know it!

Check Out My New Do!

He's HERE!

Little Seamus Malia popped out today in Steamboat, can't wait to meet him Gav.

Congratulations guys, he's a gorgeous little dude and we're all anxiously awaiting more and more pictures of him.

See the first pictures of him here

Look Who Made Today's Paper!

Steamboat's most famous kindergarten teacher.

We Are Family

I was just digging through my pictures last night with Mom and came across these gems from Kev's cruiser party last year. These really, really should have been printed and sent out as a family Christmas card or something.

It's Official: Kevin & Sarah are Heading Back to Badger Town!

Kevin & Sarah just bought a sweet little three bedroom bungalow in Madison, WI.

Congratulations guys!!!!!!!

CHRISTMAS 2006

When your Mom came up with her Christmas charity notion, we did not have any preconceived notion of what it would lead to, but we certainly thought it was worth trying. Your enthusiasm for the project from the outset was certainly encouraging. However the unique ideas that you each came up with, the research, the sensitive thinking behind each project (I particularly liked the rationale for giving homeless people cash vs. a more practical alternative---it is Christmas after all) and even the effort to write an interesting summary of your experience (Thanks Brigid for setting up the web-site), absolutely blew us away. So for Christmas 2006, we celebrated with Sean/Marjorie and their kids on the 21st, we met our new Granddaughter Fiona on the 23rd, we celebrated with Kevin/Sarah, Ryan/Ariel, Brigid and of course Fiona in Portland on the 25th, we celebrated with Brendan, Darren and Roxanne in Steamboat on the 26th, we celebrated again on the 31st with Gavin and the now “obviously pregnant” Cristen and through it all we had your incredible postings of true Christmas giving to enjoy.

Thank you all for the donation to NISRA—that was a great idea. And thank you all for being you. As you have heard us say many times, we cannot think of a more rewarding experience than to watch our children grow into adults that we are so proud of. This project has certainly reinforced that experience. Thank you all for a great Christmas 2006.

Having said all this, I must admit the process introduced a saddening element as well. In that it brought into focus how incredibly fortunate we are as a family and how much need there is in the world---certainly far away, but even right in our neighborhoods with people that perhaps we interact with frequently. We hope that you will all keep in touch with your 2006 projects and keep an eye out for other meaningful opportunities that we might be able to make a contribution of some nature to.

Happy New Year.

Love you--- Mom and Dad

Happy Birthday Darren!!!!

Nothing says Happy Birthday more than a little Rocket Man from one William Shatner, enjoy!

Heifer International

My first inclination when I heard about the gift giving idea was to try to do something locally here in Denver. I also wanted to do something that would have a lasting impact rather than just a random donation to a cause that looked interesting. Because I am new to this city, I had a difficult time finding something that I could feel connected to. When I talked to Roxanne about this great opportunity, she brought up Heifer International. Also, when she mentioned the gift idea to some of her colleagues, the name Heifer International kept coming up, so I decided to give it a look.
Heifer International is an organization that provides a sustainable income for starving families across the world through the gift of livestock. What they do is provide extensive training for a family on how to raise their given livestock in a sustainable manner. They teach them how to build shelters and also how to process food from the animals they are given. What really drew me to this is that HI doesn't just make a one-time gift, but rather provides a lifetime income for these families and communities. The idea is that a couple of families will provide offspring for their neighbors in order to create a community that can provide for itself. Although the gift is symbolic, $500 represents one heifer and the necessary training to go along with it for one family. I would encourage everyone to check out the web site at www.heifer.org to learn more about this organization.
Thank-you Mom and Dad for this great opportunity to give something back to rest of the world. Researching this has really shed some light on some of the problems in the world, and it feels good to make even a little difference.

Merry Christmas,

Darren

Holiday Giving

Sorry for taking so long to get my post up and running. The minute that Mom and Dad told me about their plans for our X-mas giving I immediately knew what I wanted to do. This is something that I like many others have wanted to do but just never get around to. I thought it would be best to split my money up between and International and a Local cause. I find them equally important but I thought it best to do something locally because during the holiday season you see so many in need. Quite some time ago I learned of an International program called KIVA- www.kiva.org. My local project was through the post office's "ELF" Program.

Here's a link to the story of how KIVA began
http://www.kiva.org/app.php?page=about&action=story

The program is very similar to the Grameen Bank that Muhammad Yunus started and recently won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. Essentially what KIVA does is connect you with micro finance institutions throughout the entire developing world. Once you make a loan your money is transferred to the micro finance institutions loan officer and then dispersed to the individual(s) that you have chosen to sponsor. This is one of the greatest features of this program. This allows you to communicate with the individual that you have lent your money to. Most loans are repaid between 12-18 months. Periodically the individual or the loan officer will contact you via e-mail for updates on the business. With a success rate of +95% of loans being paid in full- at the end of your 12-18 months you have the opportunity to help more individuals by re-investing that money back into the program whether its the same individual or another on a different continent.

Here is a description of the individuals I chose to loan my money to:

Abibatou DROMANN ia married with 3 children and lives in Tsevie, TOGO. It is here that she supports her family by running her restaurant, Cafe d'Or. With my loan she will be able to stock up on more food, cartons of milk, glasses, egg trays, and other cafeteria items.
http://www.kiva.org/image.php?id=10360&isMain=true&size=fullsize

Narish Shirinova(44) is married with 2 children and live in Khirdalan Town, Azerbaijan. Her family are all Internally Displaced Persons (IDP). They were displaced from the Armenian-occupied territory of Azerbaijan Jabrail Region. My loan to Narish will help her open her own perfumery where townspeople can buy all kinds of soap and corner market things.
http://www.kiva.org/image.php?id=9728&isMain=true&size=fullsize

Petko Todorov is married and lives in Silistra, Bulgaria. After driving taxis for many years he started his own company in 1992 named Pierita and currently has 2 cars. My loan to him will allow him to Repair the vehicles he already has and help to possibly get another one in the future.
http://www.kiva.org/image.php?id=8601&isMain=true&size=fullsize

The second half of my money was donated through the ELF program- directed by any local United states Post Office. As all of you remember you used to write letters to the Santa in the North Pole. Well The ELF Program answers these letter for the kids and or families that are in need. I originally wanted to do just one family or one individual but in the end thought that I should spread my donations out. The first letter broke my heart so I spent most of my money on him-
Tim Jones is 11 years old and and has many health problems. He has endured several stomach and bowel surgeries and has several more to go. He loved Urlacher and the Bears. He is often made fun of in the neighborhood or at school because he cant tell when he needs to go to the bathroom. As a result he wears a diaper and is never invited to other homes to play. I got Tim an Urlacher jersey and a fleece Bears blanket. If he gets tired of watching the Bears choke then he can play with the remote control Monster Truck that I got him. I also got him a handful of pants and shirts as well as some pajamas.

Marvin Porter is an 8 year old and like most wanted a Playstation 3 and some Air Jordans. He told me that his father left his home a long time ago and his mother is currently unemployed. His true passion is school and basketball so I got him a basketball and a couple books to read.

Kymia Brooks is 5 years old and is being cared for by a distant family friend because her mother was not able to care for her. Her new mother has 3 grown children and is having a hard time this year making ends meet. I got Kymia a big Dora the Explorer Doll and well as practically every book there is out there on this Dora girl whoever she is. I also threw in a couple classics from our day like Little Mermaid and that one with the puppies. To finish it off I got her some pajamas that she can enjoy while her new Mom reads her to bed at night.

This experience has been amazing. I thank you soo much Mom and Dad. Its been so nice to touch so many in need at years end as well as take a step back and realize how fortunate we really are.
Best of Luck in the New Year
Brendan

Mercy Corps

We both really liked the idea of a Christmas gift that required us to give to someone else.It sparked some good discussions between the two us as to which causes are most deserving and how to ever make a difference, and for that we thank you both.

We chose to donate our money to Mercy Corps, an international aid organization based in Portland that focuses on long-term solutions to hunger and poverty instead of short-term relief. They have a great track record for efficiency in actually getting the most out of donations and I was impressed by their claim that for every dollar donated they're able to "secure $20.89 in donated food and other critical supplies".

We ultimately decided that education is one of the most crucial and empowering form of aid, and also one of the most expensive, so our donation will be used to support classrooms and education.

Merry Christmas,
Ryan & Ariel

Holiday Giving Near & Far

We were so excited to have the opportunity to make such a large impact on so many people and organizations this holiday season—thanks Mom and Dad for the help and the gentle nudge to move us in that direction. When deciding where we most wanted to help, a number of different organizations and people came to mind. There was one cause and organization that was particularly important to us this year, and other opportunities to give back that allowed us to give in ways we'd always wanted to give, but hadn't actually followed through.

We decided to make two donations to TEB's Troops, the organization set up by friends of Tricia E. Black ("TEB"), Sarah's friend and former colleague who passed away in July after a courageous battle with melanoma. During her illness, TEB researched grassroots and established organizations that support melanoma research and provide financial assistance to individuals who qualify for the types of experimental treatments that TEB was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to participate in as part of her treatment. It was TEB’s wish that TEB’s Troops would continue to raise funds for these organizations regardless of the outcome of TEB’s personal battle, and TEB's Troops has done so in an incredibly smart and commendable way (www.tebstroops.com). Our two donations to TEB’s Troops were made in honor of Joel Johnson and in honor of TEB herself. Through these two donations, we hope we have done at least a little bit to honor two people who were amazing beyond description, the loss of whom this year touched us both so deeply. We learned so much from Joel and TEB and their memories remind us every day to value the people we love and live everyday to the fullest.

Our next donation was made to Nothing But Nets (www.nothingbutnets.net). Nothing But Nets is an organization Kevin learned about after reading a column by Rick Reilly on the back page of Sports Illustrated. The original column Kevin read was written some months ago, and it was kind of shocking in it's simplicity. Essentially, millions of kids in Africa die each year from malaria. This can be prevented by providing the kids, and their families, with mosquito nets, and teaching them how to use them. That easy! For whatever reason, as moved as Kevin was at reading about this, nothing was done to contribute to the effort until this opportunity presented itself, which just happened to coincide with another column by Reilly asking for contributions. It really hit home how much we in civilized society take for granted and how such a relatively small contribution on our part can have such a profound and meaningful effect on those truly in need.

Finally, we gave $20 gifts to five of the homeless men and women that Sarah encounters regularly on her walk from the train to her office downtown. We originally considered giving McDonald’s gift cards, but on our way to McDonald’s to pick them up, we decided that we simply preferred to give cash. We know that it’s always possible that one or all of them took the money and bought a bottle of booze or cigarettes, or something else that our first instinct told us would be a waste of money…but after discussing it we decided that the purpose of the gift was not to impose our morals on these people, (especially because neither of us can pretend to have any idea what would be the most appreciated gift by each of these people), rather, the reason we wanted to make the gift was to, even if just momentarily, lift the spirits of folks who don’t seem to have much to look forward to during the holiday season. Ultimately, we decided to let each of these people decide how best to spend their money. Whether that was on something they "needed" or just "wanted." In whatever form that came for each of them, we hope it made the day a little easier and happier than it otherwise would have been.

Thanks again so much for the opportunity to make such a difference this year and for reminding us during the holiday of how fulfilled we are. Spending the holidays in Portland & Steamboat we feel SO blessed to have the family & friends around us that we do. We will continue to seek out opportunities to help others experience a fraction of the love and support that we are lucky to experience ourselves.
Happy Holidays!

Love,

Kevin & Sarah

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MARY/MOTHER/GRANDMA MALIA

Greetings from the 'Boat!