Kauai

I'm still working on getting the pictures posted in some sort of order but I think you can tell what's what.

Kauai: Our flight was smooth, it took a while to get the rental car and then we made a few wrong turns but finally made it to the Sheraton.  It is beautiful here, buildings can not be taller than the palm trees so everything is 4 stories or under.  Because the buildings are short, there are a lot of them in a complex here.  We are in a building in the back, our balcony overlooks the “garden” pool.  There is another pool near the beach.  There is a big construction project going on so the main restaurant is closed, we got settled, had a snack at the beach bar and relaxed for a while.  Next morning we scheduled our tours and set off to explore the local shopping center.  There is a store that sells clothing and bedding made from bamboo.  There is a ban on plastic shopping bags here, recycling bins everywhere as well as solar panels.  90% of the island is still undeveloped and they work to keep it natural.  We had Puka dogs for lunch, I saw Bordain eat one while he was here so had to try it.  Pretty good, it’s a smoked sausage but they add all types of tropical sauces.  After shopping we took a little ride to a town called Ele Ele, on the western side of the island.  I wanted to go to the Red Dirt Shirt factory, my man Mike Rowe was there and I wanted to see it for myself.  Later, my cousin Betsy and her husband Gary took us to a Bubba Burger for dinner.  So much for healthy eating in Hawaii. 

Next morning we had the breakfast buffet at our hotel.  It’s in a lovely open air room, we saw a strange black bird sitting on the roof, looking at the koi in the pond.  The waitress said it was a black crane, they watch and if you throw bread in for the koi, they swoop down and get one.  All god’s children gotta eat.  After breakfast it was time for our helicopter ride.  WOW.  This place is cool from the ground but seeing it from the air was spectacular.  They fly around the coast line and then through the interior and into the Waimea canyon.  There is an area here that gets the world’s 2^nd most rainfall annually, so there are huge areas of rainforest.  All sorts of movies have been shot here including Descendants and the last Pirates of the Caribbean.  After the helicopter ride we spent the day around the pool.  The pace of life is much slower here and it’s nice once you get used to it. 

Today we went on a tour up the east side of the island.  There’s a spot called Spouting Horn where the lava formed a fistula that creates a water spout when the waves come in.  There’s also a hissing noise and the Hawaiians used to believe there was a giant lizard underground.  The place we stopped had quite a few wild chickens, their ancestors got loose during the 1992 hurricane and now they are all over the island.  They eat the insects and the stupid roosters crow all day.  We saw several groups of mamas with babies, one had 10 chicks.  We then headed out to the Waimea Canyon lookout.  Getting up the mountain requires negotiating steep inclines and many switchbacks.  But the view is fantastic.  This evening we had dinner with Betsy and Gary at the Plantation Gardens.  When it was a plantation the owner’s wife planted orchids, cacti, and various types of bromeliads.  It was all so lush and beautiful. 

I’m off to dive in the morning.  The picture of the hotel towel made in Pakistan is for Joe.

Pearl Harbour

These are photos from our balcony in Honolulu and our Pearl Harbor/city tour.

Waikiki, first impression is Vegas minus the casinos and plus a beach.  The hotel we stayed in was right on the main road that follows along the beach, a four lane, one way, constant stream of traffic.  All along the sidewalks were shops ranging from Cartier and Ferrari to the cheapest tourist junk you can imagine.  The street is lined with sky scrapers and people stream along the sidewalks all day and night.  There are people trying to push flyers for all kinds of stuff into your hand and booths for tours and shows everywhere.  At night the street performers come out, the caricature artists, the guys who make amazing pictures with spray paint, the balloon twisters, the lady who will let you take a picture with her parrots for $10., and my favorite…….the street mimes.  The first night we saw a guy who looked sort of Michael Jacksonish, the second night we saw a guy all dressed in a suit made from newsprint.  He had cool sunglasses that were made from the crossword puzzles.  Our hotel was nice, we were on the 25^th floor, with a wonderful view of the beach and Diamond head.  We faced east so could see the sky change color as the sun rose and as the sun went down the lights of the houses going up the hillside were beautiful.    Wednesday we had a tour of the city and Pearl Harbor.  On our way to Pearl Harbor the guide pointed out the hospital where the President was born, several places where he lived and went to school, and the Baskin Robbins where he had his first job.  We learned that Obama’s tuti (grandmother) was the first woman in Hawaii to become a vice president of a bank.  Pearl Harbor is very impressive.  The grounds are well kept up, there are still military ships as well as commercial ships in various areas.  They show a film of what lead up to the bombing which includes a lot of actual footage, it was interesting to see events progress from the Japanese viewpoint and to learn that the radar operators detected the Japanese planes coming in but were expecting US forces from California that day so did not sound the alarm until it was too late.  Someone in charge had decided that the safest way to dock the battleships was stem to stern in rows of 2.  This made the torpedoing of ships very easy.  There were monuments listing the names of the men who died, it makes what happened very real.  We also learned that all but 3 of the battleships were eventually repaired and returned to service during the war.  We boarded a small ferry to go out to the place where the Arizona was sunk.  There is a platform with windows over the site and many features of the ship’s deck are visible.  A very touching experience.  Back on land at the visitor’s center are 4 men who were at Pearl Harbor that day and survived the air raid.  They talk to folks and sign souvenirs.  On the way back our tour took us through the city, we saw a couple of the old palaces and some other historic areas.  We also saw a protest at a church that is exhuming remains from an old cemetery to make room for construction of a new facility.  I asked about the men in skirts I had seen and found out that it is traditional attire for men from Tonga and a few other islands.  They wear these black wrap around skirts, usually knee length or a little longer.  I wonder if they don’t wear what the Scotsmen don’t wear under their kilts.  Hang loose???  After the tour we ate at “Dukes” a restaurant founded by a famous surfer, it is open air, facing the beach and was very pleasant except for the pigeons.  Pigeons are a nuisance everywhere but having them run over your feet while you eat is a little disconcerting.  After lunch I convinced my mom to walk out to the beach and go toward our hotel by walking at the water’s edge.  When we came back out to the street, I couldn’t see the hotel and was not sure which direction we should go.  I hailed a cab, and it turned out we were only about a block and a half away, but who knew?  I tipped the driver well and we were all happy.  After a bit of a lie down and clean up we headed out to dinner.  We had seen an Italian bistro on our afternoon stroll and were able to get back there.  I had roasted beets, red and golden, and an eggplant and zucchini soufflé.  YUMMMMM.  We strolled just a little after that, back to the hotel to get ready for our flight to Kauai in the morning.

Aloha from Waikiki

Our journey started in San Francisco, our cousin Jerry has lived there for 40 years and tho we don't see him often he is still part of the family. He was a great host and took us to dinner at a great Italian place on Sunday night. Monday AM, I ran around on my own, went to Biztech, a great fabric store, looked around in Chinatown and rode the cable car to Fisherman's wharf. Near the fabric store was a clothing shop that had rows of old sewing machines in all its windows. VERY COOL. Then back to the Fairmont, a wonderful old hotel, where Jerry picked us up for some sightseeing. He drove us all over, including over the Golden Gate bridge to Sausilito where we had tea in a place with a view across the bay to San Fran. Then we went to Coit tower, went to the top to the lookout and after that I walked down the steps on the backside of Coit Tower. It's where the wild parrots used to live. I didn't see any parrots but the terraced gardens are beautiful and there were some cool mosaic art pieces. Jerry and my Mom picked me up at the bottom of the hill and we ended up at Millenium for dinner. Jerry says it's the premier vegan restaurant in the country and he eats there about twice a week. The waitress called him the Mayor of Millenium. We didn't even use the menu. they just brought us things they thought we would like. It was okay but I liked the polenta and rissotto at the italian place better. We said goodnight and headed back to the Fairmont.


Our flight today from SFO to Honalulu was 5 hours, long but smooth. We are in a nice Holiday Inn just across the main street from the beach. It's pretty touristy here. I walked out on the beach, sat in the shade, had a shave ice and did some primo people watching. Ain't it grand to so superior you can judge everybody else??? The weather is warm, the beach is beautiful, there are palm trees everywhere. Pretty nice. Tomorrow we have a city tour and a visit to Pearl Harbor. Bare with me folks, the format is very messy and I have no idea how part of the text got underlined. But I haven't done this since Alaska so hopefully as the days go by I'll get better at posting the pictures in chrono order, maybe even some captions. Aloha for now.

From Alaska to Hawaii

Well gang, it's time to hit the road again. As most of you know, my Dad died shortly after I got back from Alaska in 2010. My Mom has been doing pretty well adjusting to being alone after almost 60 years of marriage. I don't remember exactly when she first mentioned she wanted to return to Hawaii (she and my dad were there some years ago) but it's a place I've always wanted to see, so we started talking about it seriously. Now it's all settled, we're leaving Feb 12th, will spend 2 nights in San Francisco to break up the flights and visit with our cousin Jerry, then on to Honalulu for 2 nights followed by 5 nights each on Kauai and Maui. I'm hoping to keep up with my blog as we go along, so check back for updates.