Sunday, February 28, 2010

Fourth Day - A New Adventure on the Big Island


The rain was pouring as we made our way to the airport. I was sad to say goodbye to Honolulu and O'ahu; but I was anxious for Don to experience another island. I knew the Big Island was going to show him a totally different Hawaii. And I was anxious to see how the Big Island had changed since I last visited 33 years ago.

The flight was uneventful, which is always a good start. Our pilot was VERY young which made me a little nervous, but I give him kudos for a wonderful landing a VERY strong wind. As we departed, I actually had to hold my glasses on my face. Don's first observation was "It looks like Palm Springs". I've never been to Palm Springs, but since I know it resembles a desert, I agreed. Nothing but rocks and more rocks as far as the eye could see. Nothing tropical so far - lol.

We rented our car. Don was a little disappointed as we ended up with a convertable Sebring and he really wanted a Mustang. Didn't really matter to me - a convertible is a convertible as far as I'm concerned - lol.

As we drove the ten miles or so to the condo, the scenery slowly changed from desert to tropical. Yep, this is what the Big Island is known for. We turned onto Ali'i Drive and made our way past some of the famous landmarks, finally triggering some of my memories. The stores along Ali'i Drive in Kailua Kona are very similar to the little surf communities in Southern California. I can't wait to start exploring them!

As for our condo, well, we were VERY pleasantly surprised. It is absolutely gorgeous, set in the 1880's Hawaian Bungalow theme. It's quite spacious; in fact, it's larger than Catrina and Jeremy's house that they just moved from! After unpacking we visited the pool and hot tub. The hot tub is fabulous, resembly a hot spring amongst lava rocks with a waterfall trickling down amongst the seats. Just what the doctor ordered :)

For dinner we opted for a local cafe called Bongo Ben's where we had Mahi Mahi fish and chips. It was wonderful, and I brought back a piece of macadamia nut pie for a midnight snack. Boy do I love Hawaii!

Third Day in Paradise

The telephone rings at 5:00 am. "Dude, they're going to evacuate. We gotta get out of here. Will pick you up in 20 minutes." Nathan, who was staying at Hale Koa Hotel about a block away from us, made the urgent call to Don. Half asleep we gathered some clothes, our flight information, computer and whatever else we thought we'd need in case we didn't make it back. Nathan's car was very small, so we only took the necessities. We'd left before the official evacuation took place. As we were driving to Scoffield Barracks where Nathan was stationed, we heard the tsunami alarms sounding throughout the city. They sounded just like in the war movies that sounded the air raid alarms. It was very unnerving. Roads, highways, stores and beaches were closed immediately after. Thank goodness we left early. The "wave" was expected to hit Waikiki at 11:30 am with a wave anywhere from 10' to 60'. Our condo was 1/2 block from the beach, so we thought it would be best to go to Nathan's house and wait it out. Our plans of spending a day at the beach and then a luau with Nathan, Laura and Jaycee vanished. We were, however, thankful we got to spend time with their family.

The evacuation was lifted by the afternoon. We had watched the news reports which said they miscalculated the intensity of the tsunami, which only got to 2.8 feet. On Coconut Island, however, it was reported the whole island was submerged. (For those of you who remember Gilligan's Island, Coconut Island is where it was filmed.)

We had dinner at a local pizza joint on North Shore which was great. I'm sure it wouldn't have compared to a luau, but it was still good nonetheless. Nathan then drove us back to the condo where we said goodbyes. I could tell it was quite emotional for father and son.

Don and I decided to walk down to the beach to see our last Waikiki sunset. Although the sky was full of clouds, the lights of the surrounding buildings made it a spectacular sight. We walked out on to the break and looking back at the beach we could actually see how high the tsunami "wave" had gone. 2.8' doesn't sound like a large amount of water, but if it had risen any higher, it would have surely gone into some of the hotels. We learned quite a bit about tsunamis. For instance, it's not a "wave" per se. It's more like "rivers" that run in and out, each gathering more force than the last. It was actually fascinating watching the live cams. It was something that we would have never experienced; and I'm glad we can say we survived a tsunami - lol.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Second Day in Paradise - Still in Oahu

Woke up early at 5:00 am (7:00 am Calif time) - I was exhausted last night so I'm surprised I couldn't sleep in! The sunrise over Diamond head was beautful with the sun's orange streams of light only broken up by intermittent clouds. We had breakfast at Denny's as I wanted something quick and on the way to the beach! Afterall, Waikiki was waiting! We made it to the beach as did hundreds of other people. Didn't take too long to test the water which was so crystal clear you could see the schools of smaller fish. I did, however, have a hard time with my footing. The portion of beach we chose wasn't really protected from the waves, so every time I got hit by a wave I got disoriented and the memories of me almost being drown by the Hawaiian ocean undertoe that I experienced in my 3rd trip started to haunt me once again. I was determined that it wasn't going to beat me - especially after seeing a lot of people in their 70's out there - lol. So I just focussed on the older folks and before I knew it, I was out there swimming through the waves along side them. It was wonderful! But once again, the fear overtook me as I attempted to come to shore when the waves took me one way and the sand underfoot took me another. And what does my loving husband do? He grabs the camera and starts documenting my struggles - lol. And no, I don't think I'm going to post those!

After a nice "relaxing" day at the beach, we rested a while at the condo then took in a couple of stores I'd heard about where local crafters sold their wares. After visiting three stores (and making purchases in three stores), we were ready for dinner. Nathan, Laura Mae and Jaycee met us for dinner at a local hamburger joint that claims to have the best cheeseburgers and Mai Tais in Waikiki. And I have to admit, I think they actually do! Jaycee was real cute sitting in her high chair eating her chicken strips and ff, wearing the hooded Cinderella towel we brought her :)

Nathan and Laura stayed the night at the Hale Koa Military Hotel which is about a block from our condo, so after dinner we walked over there to see their room. The view was gorgeous from the 6th floor overlooking the ocean. It's nice to see they have such a beautiful facility for our military personnel!

Friday, February 26, 2010

We've Arrived - Our First Day in Paradise











We've arrived! The flight over was a little bumpy as we flew into 90 mph winds. Some of the passengers appeared to be unnerved by it, grabbing their armrests as the plane rocked. Not sure why it didn't bother me; apparently it didn't bother Don either as he slept almost the entire way -- lol








Once again it was amazing to finally get here. Personally I feel like I'm home. I absolutely love these islands - guess that's kind of obvious since this is my seventh trip! Don is also developing a love for them as well. I guess I'm rubbing off on him. The weather is perfect, exactly what you'd expect in paradise. We could tell it was in the 80's, and the first thing we did when we arrived - we changed into shorts. Our condo is beautiful. I can't believe we actually own a piece of Waikiki. (In fact, as I'm typing this, we are sitting on the lanai watching the sunrise over Diamond Head Friday morning.)








After we checked in we strolled on down to the International Market Place where I found a blouse and skirt outfit (FINALLY after going through just about every store!). Then we drug ourselves back to the condo and collapsed!








We met Nathan, Laura Mae and Jaycee for dinner at Red Lobster; it was so wonderful to see them! We had actually met them at the Hale Koa (military) Hotel which is only a block away from our condo. It's a beautiful facility and we sat and visited a while in the lobby where Jaycee opened all her "presents" that we had brought. I actually had 1/2 of my suitcase full of dresses and hats and "accessories" for her ... and her first children's Bible. She's such a little fashion plate that we knew she'd like everything! (Which she did.) We had a great dinner and the walk back to the condo was very pleasant with the trade winds softly blowing and the beautiful lights of Waikiki was the icing on the cake! By 9:30 we actually collapsed into bed (you have to remember it's really 11:30 pm our time). Gearing up for another Waikiki-kinda-day!








Sunday, February 14, 2010

Our Next Adventure

We are busy preparing for our next adventure - another trip to Hawaii! We leave in two weeks and I've been busy gathering things and adding to my "list" of things I don't want to forget. My wonderful husband bought me a mini-laptop with an air card so that I will be able to document every mile we travel. I plan on doing a lot of journaling! Our first stop is Honolulu for 3 days in which we will be staying at our "home" time share - a brand new building of condos right on Waikiki! Don's son, Nathan, is stationed near there so we are anxious to spend time with him and his wife and daughter. Little Jaycee is almost two, and even though we last saw her at Christmas, I'm sure she's grown. Then we're off to the Big Island and staying at a condo in Kailua Kona. It's been many, many years since I've been there - I can't remember too much about it, but I'm anxious to see if anything triggers my memories!

Honolulu (1/08)

Honolulu (1/08)
Yes, it really is a large city!