Last two days in Hawaii

Sunday, May 16
Awoke to our special chorus and had breakfast at the house. Decided that today was the day for my swim. We had been so busy doing so much that I had not been into Hawaii's warm waters yet. Today was the day.

We dressed in our suits and drove back to Richardson's Beach . . . in the pouring rain. It had rained all night and there were puddles on the roads and in the parking lots. Not very many people at any of the beaches, although we did see a few cars. Saw one group getting diving gear together, along with fishing gear. Guess they were going to gather their Sunday dinner.

Finally said, what the heck, we were already wet . . . might as well take a dip. So, down to the beach we trod - the tide was out - way out from the steps Art and the divers had used the day before, so we walked over to the beach itself. I waded in, while Art stood on shore. The surf was a bit rough there and he is unsteady on his feet sometimes (not like I can tease him about THAT, now, right?)

At his encouragement, I went out far enough to get totally wet and totally salty - and to feel the black sand and white coral pieces mix around my ankles and get down into my surf shoes. It was lovely. The rain was cool, the water was warm (compared to Alaska's waters), and we were there all by ourselves.

That last is important to the eyes of Hawaii's residents, you see. For I am as white as white can be - "beached whale belly" white - we don't do much outdoor tanning in Alaska and I don't go to the salons because my skin can't take the UV rays in such concentration. (it's NOT a pretty picture)

So, yes, Hawaii was protected, by virtue of a glorious rain shower. And, I had gotten my feet into the black sandy bottom of Richardson's Beach.

We got back into our "dry(er)" clothes and decided to call Ali to see if she and Tom could meet us for lunch. He was at work still, and not feeling too well, so that did not work out. We were sorry not to get to visit with them again.

On our way back to our little house we passed another Farmer's Market. So, we went home, got dried off and into other clothes, then came back for a walk-through. Had my first taste of lychee, and bought about 1/4 pound. That was more than we could eat before we left, sadly, and some had to be tossed. Yummy stuff, though. (We could not bring them home due to the agricultural ban on certain things coming into or leaving Hawaii.)

Art picked up some trinkets for his buds back home, and we enjoyed wandering around and talking with some of Pahoa's more colorful characters.

Drove back to Hilo - back to Hilo Hatties and WalMart and then home to finish packing for our return to "reality".

Monday, May 17
Our last morning in Hawaii and the durned rooster slept in until 5 a.m.! We both got up and stripped the bed - got the last load of laundry started - while I took a shower. Extremely muggy this day - there had been trouble with the trade winds all week, according to the weather man. Something about them being stalled which caused no winds to break up the heat.

While the sheets dried, we drove into Pahoa Town for our last breakfast and to take the last load of trash to the dumpster. And, then it was time to turn off the power, and the water, and to close up the house in the way the owners like it left. A final check and we were off to Hilo.

Stopped at the Hawaii Print Shop and met the production foreman who showed us around the plant. It is very large - lots of equipment, some of which he tried (is trying) to sell to us for our shop here. We told him that he should just move to Alaska and buy our shop! No takers yet.

At the Hilo airport Art forgot to take off his watch and his belt, so he beeped going through the security. Because we were traveling together, that meant BOTH of us were patted down and had the wand run over our (bare) feet and bodies. So glad we had listened and gone two hours early.

This is not to say that the TSA people were not kind - we actually enjoyed talking with them. Thankfully, we did NOT have to go behind the screened area for a more thorough (cavity) search. We were told that was the last time we would have to go through this, but we knew better, as we were going on the outside at Honolulu in order to meet Linky.

As soon as the flight before ours departed the attendant put up our flight information and allowed the line to begin. This still tickles me - no seat assignments - stand in line for an hour or so - get on and take your seat wherever you like. It tickles me because it works so well. Nobody was seen to complain. You could tell the folks who were more experienced at doing this - they were at the head of the line. If there was more than one person in the party, turns were taken standing in the line while the other(s) played cards or took care of necessary trips. It works - amazingly well.

Eventually we boarded and said goodbye to the Big Island and headed to Oahu. I had called Linky the night before and let him know what we would be wearing and we had decided on where to meet. Somehow, we circled each other until he finally ran into Art while I was off taking a loop through the baggage area. Now, I had been sitting there at the curb for awhile, while Art had done the circling and it was at HIS suggestion that I took the loop - just so you know, Linky. LOL

He found Art and they were talking away like old friends when I came up with the Purple Moose and Big Red at the ready for a meet and greet. We all walked several miles (okay, not really) to the parking lot and his car and headed for Honolulu proper.

We had lunch at Anna Miller's which is sort of a Pennsylvania Dutch restaurant in decor and uniforms. Oh, and the pies . . . but we passed those up.

Steve then drove us up the hill towards his house and a great view of Pearl Harbor. Thanks for that, Steve. Sadly my camera was in the luggage - in his trunk. Next time. ;-)

From there we drove to yet another Harley Davidson shop - Art had been picking up tee-shirts for one of his buddies. We had gotten them at Hilo's shop and Kona's shop, so decided we should try for Honolulu also. Linky maneuvered through the streets and into a tight little parking space and we went looking - they didn't have a very big supply, and that still surprises me. Tee-shirts are a BIG item at every HD store, so for them to just not have many . . . well. We found one that suited and Steve practically fainted at the price - we just laughed and said that is what HD stands for - hundred dollah. (no, it didn't cost THAT much - just very nearly)

side note: that friend was quite tickled with all of his shirts - he gives them out to his friends and so the gifts continue on.

Sitting out in the lot of the shop was a boxed motorcycle with SCOTT in black marker on its side. Now, we have a friend named Scott, who loves HD, so, of course our pics needed to be taken in front of that box for him. (Scott no longer rides HD - he built and rides a Boss Hoss and is the ONLY man I know who could hold up that huge bike)

Linky gave me permission to share these photos - thanks, friend. On the left you will see Art and the Linkmeister. On the right you find me with the Linkmeister.

Our Hawaii vacation was now complete. We headed back to the airport, bought a case of pineapples for friends and family to share, and waited for our flights home to begin. I reminded Art to take off both watch and belt and we made it through security just fine this time. Yay.

The trip from Hilo to Honolulu had been a 59 minute flight (after a 2 hour wait) and we had 9 hours in Honolulu (which is why we could take time to visit with Steve). From there we flew to LA, about 5 hours I think, followed supposedly by a two hour layover, but oh my goodness - I have no clue who laid out that security system - we had to take a shuttle from one terminal to the next - only it didn't take us all the way there. It took us to a half-way point and then we waited for another shuttle - it took us to the proper terminal and we had to wait for a security officer to lead us up the back stairs into the terminal. On our way TO Hawaii, we had walked between the terminals, but decided not to do that this time as we would have had to go through security yet again and just did not have that kind of time. We got to our gate with about half an hour to spare.

Then it was off to Seattle where we again landed a terminal that requred shuttling to our departure terminal. Seattle has a subway, though, and someone told us which stop to look for, so that worked out okay. They checked for boarding passes everywhere, too.

We got to our gate with about an hour to spare, so had something to drink and a quick breakfast (ugh - all of the airports seem to have BK and Cinnabon now) - a potty stop and a wait for our flight. Suddenly the attendant at the podium called hubby's name.

He went up and she said he could go ahead and board - and I was allowed to board with him. Even the first class passengers had not been allowed to board yet. Back in January when I made the reservations his feet had not been doing too well (due to his diabetes) so I had mentioned that he might need assistance between gates. We had been turning down wheelchair assistance the whole trip because he is doing fine right now. She laughed and said - go on, you can board anyway. And, so we did.

I managed to sleep on some of the flights - a bit anyway - Art spent the trip between Seattle and Anchorage standing in the back galley talking with the flight attendants. But he said he was rested. Okaaaaayyy.

We took a taxi from Anc. airport to our friend's house ($7.25 for less than 3 miles!) to pick up our car. Broke open the pineapples and left one for him and gave one to the neighbor who was holding the key for us. Then we hit the road for home. I started driving, but was having trouble staying awake.

Suddenly I noticed some black dots out in Turnagain Arm . . . look, I said, that looks like people out there in the water. Art didn't see them, but he said "bore tide." What? Where? Behind us. So, I pulled over to a turnout spot and we parked and watched the bore tide - and these folks who were out there SURFING the bore tide - in Alaska's very cold waters.

We have lived here for almost 26 years, and this is the first time I have seen the bore tide. Wow! One person rode the wave for at least 1/4 mile - the others just lay on their boards and rode it. I was tickled that we could have seen that on our first night back home.

But, I turned over the keys to Art at that point and snoozed while he drove to Cooper Landing, after a potty stop at Girdwood. Then I was refreshed enough to drive the rest of the way to Kenai. We were ever so glad to hit our own bed that night.

There you have it, friends. Our nine days in Hawaii and the getting home part, too. Tomorrow it is back to normal for us. Just the everyday, humdrum life of a Kenai resident. Who knows what experience lies just around the corner? I certainly don't, but I'll be waiting.

'night, friends.

p.s. I called Ali to wish her a happy birthday and have permission to post pics of us with her and her hubby, Tom. Check out the birthday greeting page (previous entry) for a peek. They are well - very busy - she will try to post something soon.

Posted by Purplemoose at May 30, 2004 11:30 PM