The NŸKAMP News December 2008 Volume XIV

Another year has passed and we all remain healthy and happy. Amy and John continue to work comfortably at their jobs and the girls are doing well in school. Eleanor is in eighth grade (officially, we are now parents of a teenager!!) and busy deciding on where she wants to go for high school. Her primary choices are between the ArtQuest program at Santa Rosa High and the local high school in Rohnert Park. ArtQuest, if she applies and gets accepted, would be a h i g h - s c h o o l curriculum that would have an emphasis on the arts (in her case, i n s t r u m e n t a l music). She is still studying Tae-Kwon-Do. She achieved the rank of Junior Black Belt—1st degree, in January 2008 and is working to achieve 2nd degree next April.

Rachel is breezing through third grade and having lots of fun with her friends. She is part of an active Girl Scout troop (led by Amy) and really enjoys the projects and activities they do. She is also still taking gymnastics and piano lessons.

In October, we added to our menagerie with the adoption of a baby guinea pig named Peanut. The cats, especially Angela, are not quite sure if Peanut should be classified as food or something else and it’s quite entertaining to watch.

This year, our family went on separate vacations. John and Amy went on their very first trip to Hawaii while Eleanor and Rachel traveled with their grandparents to the Eastern Sierras. Here are a couple of stories about our respective vacations.

Aloha from Hawaii

Neither of us had ever been to Hawaii before and when John’s parents invited Eleanor and Rachel to join them for a vacation trip this summer, we realized that we had an opportunity to take a wonderful trip together and be able to experience the people and places of the Hawaiian Islands.

For the first part of our trip, we rented a condo on the west coast of the island of Hawaii, in Kailua-Kona. The island is much less developed than places like Maui or Honolulu and was a great place to spend this part of our trip. Our condo was right on the coast and we could walk along the coastal roadway enjoying the sounds and sight of the ocean.

Some of the highlights of our time on the big island were:

A submarine cruise in Kailua Bay where we descended to a depth of 100 feet and had a narrated tour of much of the variety of sea life in the coral reefs around Kona. We even saw a Lauwiliwilinukunuku'oi'oi (Yellow Longnose Butterfly fish) which is the fish with the longest name in the Hawaiian language.

A helicopter tour of the volcanoes and waterfalls on the island. We took a “Doors Off” tour which means that the only thing between us and a long trip down without a parachute was our seatbelts (although we did have a life preserver belted to our waist in case we survived the fall and were lucky enough to end up in the water). It was great to have a large area to look out of and take pictures, but it was a bit disconcerting when the helicopter would bank and you were on the “downhill” side.

A sunset cruise down the coast where we were fed a delicious meal while being entertained by a local musician with very diverse musical talents. Besides seeing the

beautiful sunset, we were able to see do lphins surfing in the bow wake of the boat and, when we arrived at the mid

-point of the trip, we stopped at an area where manta rays feed and were able to look through the glass bottom viewing

areas of the boat and occasionally catch sight of one of these magnificent creatures.

I (John) went on a rafting/snorkeling adventure (Amy didn’t think she would like to go snorkeling). The trip started with the group taking the raft about three miles off the coast where I was able to see Short-finned Pilot Whales only a few feet away from the raft. We then went back to the coast and snorkeled in the coral reefs where I was able to take pictures of the coral, lots of fish and even a swimming sea turtle. I enjoyed the snorkeling so much that I convinced Amy to try it. We rented some s n o r k e l i n g equipment and went to the Honaunau Park where there is a protected coral reef that you can swim in. While we were there, we were lucky enough to swim with a pod of dolphins. A really wonderful experience.

In addition to the special tours/trips, we also drove around most of the island stopping to see tropical rain forests, waterfalls, giant sea turtles on Black Sands Beach, and a night trip across the lava fields to see the amazing glow from the lava as it entered the ocean.

For the last couple of days of the trip, we flew to Honolulu on the island of Kauai where we spent a day at the Pearl Harbor museum which was a very powerful experience—especially standing in the Pearl Harbor Memorial reading the names of all the people serving our country who perished on that day.

Our final day of the trip was spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center which is a tourist attraction run by the Mormon Church and gives visitors a feel of what life is like on the different Polynesian Islands. The “actors” for each island are natives of that island who are studying in Hawaii and working at the center to help subsidize their tuition. The show in the evening was phenomenal. Especially the fire dancers.

All said, it was a fabulous, unforgettable vacation and we hope to go back someday with the girls.

Meanwhile, Back in California

While John & Amy were in Hawaii, Eleanor and Rachel spent their time with their Oma and Opa traveling around the Eastern Sierras and learning about California’s history. They had sent the girls an itinerary a few months earlier so they could research the places that they were going to see and be prepared. Here’s what they thought of their trip.

Hi! It’s us. The Nykamp kids, Eleanor and Rachel. We’re here to tell you about our trip with our Oma and Opa. We went to Mono Lake, Bristlecone Pines, Bodie Ghost Town, the Alabama Hills, and Manzanar.

Rachel: Can I type something? Eleanor: In a second…

Anyway, as I was saying…our first day, we went to a trailer park by Mono Lake and then the next day, we went to the lake at 5:00 a.m. to see the sunrise. It was beautiful, the sky was a glorious red color and the way it reflected off the water… Ahh. After that, we went to another part of Mono Lake where we took tons of pictures of the tufa sculptures that were all over the place. (Tufa is a limestone that h a s b e e n molded into shapes by the salty water.) Mono Lake has two times more salt than the ocean and that is what caused tufa. They are called tufa sand castles. They had great designs, but it would take too long to show it all.

Rachel: My turn! Eleanor: OK, OK!

After we left Mono Lake, our next stop was the Bristlecone Pines. We had to get up really, really, really early to go to see the trees at sunrise. Oma and Opa sure like doing things at sunrise and sunset. The

road up to the park was bumpy and steep. We went on a hike on the Discovery Trail. Eleanor got altitude sickness and had a hard time on the hike.

We saw Methuselah, a tree that is 7,000 years old.

Eleanor: Actually the tree that is 7,000 years old is dead. The oldest living tree is only 4,767 years old. Rachel: No it isn’t. Eleanor: Yes it is. I looked it up. Anyway, it’s my turn again.

The next really neat place we went to was Bodie. Bodie is an interesting place because of its history as a gold mine. It is now a ghost town, for the people that lived there abandoned it long ago. We learned many interesting things, such as what the town was like when people lived there. The most interesting thing was a story about a

3-year-old girl. She was leaning over her balcony with her father, watching an Indian digging with a pick. The pick slipped and the girl was cut on the back of the neck, she died instantly and her grave has an angel. It is placed so that it looks like it is watching over the town of Bodie.

The last place we went to was Manzanar...

Rachel: Can I tell this last part? Eleanor: Yes, but only because you asked nicely. Rachel: Actually, Manzanar wasn’t the last place; we went there before Bodie, re-member? Eleanor: Oh well, you can tell it now anyway.

Manzanar was a town where Japanese-Americans were sent to during World War II because the Japanese had attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor. (Ironically, John & Amy were at Pearl Harbor the same day that Eleanor and R a c h e l w e r e a t Manzanar.) The people living at Manzanar were living in wooden barracks and two thirds of them were kids. One of the women in the camp was a teacher so she started teaching the kids even though they were in the camp. There isn’t very much left of the camp except for a few buildings, a cemetery and garden, and the visitor’s center.

We didn’t argue (too much) and we loved being with our grandparents. We had such a good time that we even have forgiven our parents for going off to Hawaii WITHOUT us!

(We just found out that Rachel won first place with this picture of a sunset at Mono Lake in a school photography contest! The photo will now automatically be entered in the national PTA contest.)

Run from the Hand!!!

By Peanut (as translated by Eleanor Nÿkamp)

My name is Peanut, or so I am told. I am evidently a guinea pig, whatever that is. I was born in a metal giant. My mother had two other babies, Hazelnut and I can’t remember my other sister’s name because we were separated at birth. After I was born, this big pointy thing reached into our cage. I ran for the other side, but it was too fast and it caught me under my belly. The thing took me to another metal giant, I missed my mom and sister, but I couldn’t do a thing about it. Later the thing brought another thing into our house; I then learned the things’ names. The one that had picked me up was Nora and the other was Eleanor.

Nora took me out of the metal giant that they called a cage took me into a big room and I was amazed at the sheer size of it. They talked in this weird language that I couldn’t understand, but I caught bits like, “…take it home.” Or, “carrots…” Eleanor put me on her lap and started to pet me with her pointy things. It felt good, but I knew it wouldn’t last, so I enjoyed it while I could. Eventually, Eleanor went home. My name was Oakley back then, Nora called me Oakley Pokily. I was sad when Eleanor left because I wanted to be petted some more. Nora petted me, but I was empty inside.

Yay! Eleanor came again today; I also met her mother and father, which were called Amy and John. They lifted my cage up and took me into a moving cage. They called it a car, it was blue and sparkly. I was surprised when the car started moving. I was in between a small thing and Eleanor. I got used to it after a while and learned the small thing was named Rachel. Eventually the car stopped moving and Eleanor took my cage out. I was happy when I was finally put in a place where they thought I was safe. When people stuck sharp things into my cage, I thought that they were carrots and nibbled it. When it was pulled away, Eleanor told me they were fingers. I was traumatized when a furry monster came up to my cage and sniffed me. I learned that it was a cat and they had another one. It didn’t hurt me, but still, would you like it if something with sharp teeth sniffed you like you were food. No? Didn’t think so, anyway…

A few days later, I was moved…again. I was evidently safer where I was moved to. I finally got used to the other animals and Eleanor thought I had settled in quite nicely. I was taken out more often too. I didn’t like it when they had to clean my cage; they put me in a box. I was put back in my cage after they were done and I was much happier with my new cage, it was colorful too! Today they took me out while they were watching the color box and I didn’t like the loud noises. They put me back in and gave me a carrot. I wonder what will happen later…hmmm. Bye!

We are looking forward to more adventures in 2009 and hope to see many of you this coming year if we are anywhere near where you may live. Please keep in t o u c h b y w r i t i n g , e m a i l i n g (family@nykamp.us) or calling anytime.

Love from,

John, Amy, Eleanor, Rachel

and our pets: Q, Angela, and Peanut

December 2008 Page 2 Volume XIV