Been back, and been sick. I blame the 11 hours on a plane or something. stupid sinuses. I think they are punishing me for ever leaving Hawaii. I certainly can't blame them.

I foolishly went to Unevent this weekend with

theblueleader, which was actually not so bad. The best part naturally is getting to hang out with friends, but I did miss my Alan who stayed home to work on projects. Curia was quick and painless, the MOL meetings were actually pretty good at giving me a better idea of Youth Combat procedures, and dinner was entertaining. On the way back, Kirsten and I stopped at the Covesville Store to look at antiques quickly which was fabulous. It netted in me taking home two perfect end tables to complete the blue guest room, and some yummy fresh canned goods. It was really fun to look around and come out with perfect solutions in under an hour. This also meant that I got to surprise Alan with new furniture upon my return, and I got a little puppy time when I picked up and then dropped off Kirsten from our road trip.

 

The rest of this week has been spent catching up at work and trying to sleep off this sickness. Lots of sleep. And yet not enough. And we got our first snow of the season today. I think we have about 3-4 inches on the ground here. It is very pretty, but instantly lowers drivers' IQ by 20 points, which gets a bit frustrating. 

Hawaii was a blast. I totally want to go back. I still have snorkeling, and hiking, and more stuff to do, including more relaxing and chilling on a beach or something.

 

So Wednesday was my last day in Hawaii. While I did not manage to hike Diamond Head crater, I did have a fun last day in the islands. Hawaii got one of its few driving rain and thunderstorms overnight and that morning. (Apparently thunderstorms are so rare the locals were freaked out and some didn't go to work.) Instead of getting up early and hiking, I slept in a little and decided to play around in Jinger's bay in one of their kayaks. It was still sprinkling a little, and I was too chicken to take the camera out over water, but I had a great time playing about in the kayak for 45 minutes, heading up to a local lagoon entrance and back.  My arms got quite the workout and it was fun playing around in the water some more.

Then Jing came and picked me up and we did lunch down in Waikiki at Lulu's before she headed back to work and I did some shopping. Needless to say I had a great time wandering around on the beach, shopping in some great stores, and snacking on some pineapple sorbet with macadamia nut pieces. Eventually Jinger came back to pick me up and we watched the sun set on Waikiki Beach near the pier before heading back to their place for me to shower and pack and go out to eat before boarding the plane.

I am home now, mostly unpacked, the last of the pictures have been uploaded, and I am really ready for bed now.

We did the North Shore again today, only I was tagging along with the older sister, nieces, dad and older brother-in-law. Mom stayed back at the house to hang out on the beach and play her ukulele, as Jing went to work and Josh back to school. But this time we took the reverse route from the one Jing and I took on Sunday. Roads in Honolulu are... um.. non-intuitive. There is an H201, but it is not on any map we had. And exits off the freeway do not necessarily have exits to return to the freeway. Sigh. Escaping Honolulu was more of a chore than it should have been.

But make it out we did. Eventually, after traveling up the relatively flatter middle of the island, we first hit the surfing competition on the North Shore. The waves were much bigger so the sites and feats were much more impressive. The nieces seemed to enjoy playing in the sand more than trying to watch the surfers, but oh well. We hung out there for at least half an hour if not more before we were dragged away from the lure of the surf. On the way out we saw Bethany Hamilton walk by, and thought to stop her and get a picture of her with our Bethany, but she looked on a mission so we didn't want to intrude.

After watching the surfing, we headed to Waimea Valley Audubon Park to hike the "quick and easy trail" to the Waimea Falls. Quick and easy is relative, and valid if you are planning on hiking Kilimanjaro, but it was a bit more than easy, and definitely not quick with my family looking at all the flowers everywhere. After 2 hours up to the falls and back, we eventually hopped back in the car to get shrimp. The hike was lovely and the falls quite powerful, but the little girls apparently aren't rated for 1.5 miles. We still had fun, even if the evil adults had to give the nieces piggy back rides down the hill.



Making it to lunch at Fumis shrimp truck again, we slid in during a pause in the rain. It picked back up when we were under shelter, but the food was good and the company entertaining. The girls ate their tempura shrimp, which I had as well, and I convinced Clint to try the ginger shrimp I had on Sunday which was so tasty. With some puddle jumping we were back in the van scooting down the Windward side of the island, noting the cool terrain, stopping to let some ill-tempered geese cross the road, gawk at the cool land features, stop at the Tropical Farms for more macadamia nut related merchandise and free samples, to finally make it home alive and in tact.

Mom, Dad, Clint, blondemuse, and the girls are now on a plane home after a flury of packing and pizza for dinner before returning the rental and finding the airport. It was good to see them all, but I am glad I have one more day. I plan to hitch a ride into town with Jinger so I can hike Diamond Head in the morning and do some shopping and hanging out in Waikiki afterward. Should be fun. Then I have to pack all my stuff to catch a plane home myself tomorrow night.

Only the love I have for my Alan and the wonderful friends at home will be able to lure me onto that plane home. We'll really need to plan to come back sometime soon.

Very relaxed today. Jinger was back to work and Josh was back to school, and the rest of the folks didn't get off the boat and here until around noon. So, this morning I spent sleeping in, enjoying breakfast of a fresh orange with the morning breeze, decided to go for a swim/walk/float, and got a bit of sun while reading a tad. The water is very shallow right out from Jing's place, so it is around 3 ft deep or less with lots of seaweed for quite a ways until the reef drops off. So while I didn't reach nice open swimable waters, I did get to swim and float a bit out beyond the peninsula in between walks in the water. Still, better than getting up and going to work.

When the folks arrived off the boat, Mom and I got the girls while Jodi, Clint and Dad went to find the B&B for tonight, check-in and bring back lunch. Meanwhile the girls and I walked some on the beach and I got to show them the cute little sand crabs that were running from us, as well as the fish jumping in the shallow waters. Then it was time to take a shower, freshen up, write a few postcards, and head out to Paradise Cove on the leeward side of the island for the Lu'au.
 

We were handed drinks and leis upon walking in, got assigned seats, and explored the activities and shopping. They had areas for the Kekeis (kids) where you could throw a spear, play a horseshoes like game, get a "Polynesian Tattoo" aka: like face painting on the arms etc., make bracelets from ti leaves and flowers, just flowers, or a headband from palm leaves and flowers. Everyone seemed to have a good time before the other festivities such as the blowing of the conch to signal the end of day, opening a coconut, the shower of flowers from the tallest coconut tree, the bringing in of the fishing nets, and the kalua pua (pig) extraction from the cooking pit. The food was great, the dancing entertaining, and the company fun.

Little Trinity volunteered to do anything they asked for volunteers for. She got to help crack the coconut, dance around the floor with the dancers, and go up on stage to learn the hula. Josh had the best quote of the day as Trin was grabbed for the second activity. "She has a face that wants to be on a milk carton." Had us in stitches. Reminded me of Greg and Dianne's Gareth when he was younger and his mom's worries that he was so friendly and talkative to strangers he might just wander off and never be seen again. I swear, when she gets older, she's either going to be on a milk carton or on stage, the ham.

The luau wound down and we took our tired selves home to soon crash in bed, hopefully with the fragrance of plumeria on my pillow. Tomorrow looks to be a busy day as I take the rest of the family up to the North Shore, which they haven't seen yet. Should be interesting.

And Congrats to Travis and Christine on the birth of Noah! I'm glad I checked in to read that much e-mail. Hooray! 

Very tired, quick post tonight. Jinger took me on a wonderful driving tour up the windward coast to the North Shore and back home again. We saw:

• Hanauma Bay quickly,
  
• stopped at the Haloa Blow Hole overlook to see a cool cove, the Haloa Blow Hole, and Sandy Beach,
  
• drove over to Kailua Beach where we decided to stay a while, swim and watch the kite surfers,
  
• drove around to see the Chinaman's Hat from Kualoa Beach,
  
• drove into the island a bit to find the Tropical Farms Macadamia Nut farm with free sample coffee, samples of the various flavors of maca-nuts, lovely plants to look at and lovely pearls to purchase,
  
• then up to Kahuku on the Northern point for lunch at Fumis Shrimp Truck, which was delicious,
  
• over to Sunset Beach to watch a little bit of surfing in the relatively smaller waves on the North Shore this afternoon,
  
• down to a super cool rocky cove of the forgotten name which is a haven for hanging out as well as scuba diving too, (EDIT: iz named Shark Cove, duh...)
  
• and finally past Waimea Beach before heading back to home base.

It was a jam-packed morning and early afternoon. For dinner we went to Jinger and Josh's friends' Gabe and Michelle's place for a BBQ with some yummy steak, sausage, orzo salad, poke, and apple pie for dessert. It was nice to hang out with some locals and just chill in the setting sun. A few more pictures have been added to the Hawaii set on my flickr page.

Pictures of my first scuba experience and some fireworks from the booze cruise are now uploaded.


Today was a day of remembrance and honoring those who serve. Jinger and Josh took me to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, Visitor's Center and museum this morning. We even got to shake the hand of a Pearl Harbor Survivor named Alan who volunteers to greet visitors as we wait in line to get tickets.


After a break for a very tasty lunch, we visited the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in "Punchbowl" crater. Designed back in the 40's to host the remains of the many fallen known and unknown in WWII, it now cradles the remains of soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and unknowns from Korea and other Pacific campaigns. The Honolulu Memorial stands to honor those missing in action in the conflicts, as well as maps the Pacific encounters and hosts a chapel for remembrance. It was a lovely, touching and solemn day.


I ended the day with a walk on the beach, a mosey out into the low tide to snap a few pictures of the views from my wonderful accommodations, and yummy Greek food with my fabulous hosts.
 

Got to try scuba today. It was so much fun. First we did an intro on the boat, then skill trials under water and then some swimming around and seeing the sites. Jinger and her friends/dive instructors Gabe and Max took us to Turtle Canyon and then for a longer dive on Horseshoe Reef. I got to see a turtle swim right over my head, a white tipped reef shark, two nudibranches (golden lace and margin), some trumpet fish, a pillow starfish, banded sea urchins, three small spotted moray eels, a parrot fish, a fish like Gil from Finding Nemo, and of course quite a few of the unofficial state fish of Hawaii, the Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (a geometric patterned trigger fish.) I had an absolute blast, and was even able to calm down and chill and enjoy the entire experience. Jing was an excellent dive buddy, and Gabe was a fabulous instructor. Jing took pictures with her underwater camera, so I'll try to upload those soon. I told her that it was the best birthday present ever!

This evening we took a Booze Cruise with some of Josh and Jinger's friends to go see the fireworks on Waikiki from the water. Their friends are very entertaining and the views of the shore were amazing. The almost full moon rose over Koko Crater, and lit the way ahead very well. Great vistas, fun folks, and a relaxing atmosphere was a great way to end an exciting day. Had even more fun hanging out with some of them at The Shack, a burger joint where I enjoyed a a yummy Island Burger with teriyaki sauce, pineapple etc. Very tasty and the floor show continued from the boat. 

Awesome time. I'm beat, time for bed. Don't miss the pictures from Maui that I loaded onto flickr for yesterday's post.

(BTW, I'm staying in the same room as the computer which is why I am able to update to easily, then crash in bed. w00t.)

The trip so far...

Landed in Maui on Tuesday, checked bag didn't make it until Wednesday, picked up lil' sis at airport later on Tues night and went to K-Mart to get clothes for Wednesday. Wednesday we went to Waihilea, the Maui Tropical Plantation, back to the airport to pick up Josh, to Iao Valley to see the needle rock formation, and out to Mama's Fish house for dinner. Awesome food. Did a lot of driving on Wed.



Thursday we began my birthday early with a trip to Haleakala Crater to watch the breath-taking sunrise, then out to Lahaina for a bit, and then to Manny's sister's place for a fine Thanksgiving meal of both traditional American and Hawaiian foods on the table. I tried kalua pork, poi, poke, lomi lomi, tako, and a spicy papaya salad. Wonderful view, excellent food, better company.



I have now landed in Honolulu with Josh and Jing, staying at their place with high-speed internet for free. Hooray! Haz started upload of some pictures to Flickr already. Am very tired after adjusting myself to local time and then changing the schedule by waking up at 3:15 AM to get to the Crater on time.yawn, need sleep. 

 In ~15 hours I'll be on a plane to Hawaii. yay!


A view of sunrise over Hanauma Bay, not far from my little sister's place in Hawaii.

So ready, just have to pack everything I've already laid out. :)