Oahu

Due to the events of yesterday it is a quiet day for us. We did go to Safeway and get a few things and had dinner here in the Condo. I really can't recall if we did anything else or not!!!

Steven and Saira

 Jeff Chillin'

 Our appetizer Sushi

 Shrimp Scampi made by Deb & Sam

Today...

Today was no typical day. The day started with a phone call that my Mom was headed to the hospital. She is weary and said she is "done" - Her heart, her kidneys, and her breathing are all in very poor condition. Why I am here in Hawaii instead of with her? I am here because she insisted that we continue with this planned trip. We went to Pearl Harbor today. I kept the morning phone call from most of the group so they could enjoy this longed for visit to such an important place.  Once we were all back from that trip I told all of them and then just a few hours later we got the call that my beloved Mother has passed to eternity. No photos of Pearl Harbor today. Just my Mother... I love you Mom. 

Lenore Zelda Brial Land 1943

I kissed her good-bye not long ago and told her we would be back to see her directly after the Hawaii trip. We won't be seeing her that soon after all I guess. I don't know when I will see my Mom again... but one day I will. I miss her already. It doesn't seem real to me. Thinking about my beloved Mom reunited with my other family members who have gone on before me. Death is part of life and we should be ready at any time, pressing forward for the goal that awaits us with Jesus. 

Honolulu Today

We had a great day! We lingered around, well not for as long as you would think but since we are on PST time it was still early when we headed out for Brunch Buffet at Duke's. John & I had never been there before but Deb & Sam had and gave us good reviews. For $17.pp you get an enormous buffet of delicious foods. I had a Kahlua Pork omelet and some Taro bread pudding, topped off with a Lilikoi Mimosa. There were multiple options and everyone had their fill before we departed. Most of us headed for the beach to walk back that way. Jeff, Sam, and Spencer went back directly by sidewalk because Spencer is still using the "boot" for his broken ankle. It is healing nicely but his leg is weak from being in a cast for so long. I did get my feet wet but Soren went all out and was out about 100 feet swimming and having a great time. We waited for him to become tired but that didn't seem to happen so John whistled for him and we headed back stopping at several shops along the way. When we got back it was time to gear up for Super Bowl. While they did that I managed to update this blog for the past few days. Sadly, Deb's team (which we were all rooting for) lost --- but we are in Hawai'i so who cares! This afternoon Sierra & Matt ventured out shopping. She got me a special Starbucks mug. I can't wait to drink coffee in it! After the game Julie, Spencer, and Soren went swimming in the Condo pool, that was a bit easier for Spencer than the trek to the beach including waves and sand to swim! We played cards and ate, then off to bed. Tomorrow we plan to take the bus to Pearl Harbor.

Duke's

Waikiki Beach

 Downtown Honolulu

 Relaxing

 Super Bowl Jell-o Shots

 A gift from Sierra

The Day Has Come!

The kids arrive today, we are happy and excited about that.  I am sorry it is sprinkling and very overcast today but we can't control the weather. Our first stop was back to Costco in Honolulu to try to get the rest of the things we need. Oh my, it was SO crowded but we did get all but a few things. After delivering them back to the Condo we headed to HNL. S&S were delayed in their flight so it ended up that they were arriving just 2 minutes before the DLPs and Jeff (1p). Therefore, John went to meet S&S and I waited for the DLPs & Jeff. Of course the locations were totally different parts of the airport.  Despite figuring that all our two groups got on two different shuttles to Dollar Car Rental and met there about the same time. Sam and Steven were added to the car and as I was calling for the King Shuttle Service to pick up the 7 of them, they drove up! This first group of arrivals are on their way to the Condo. Now John and I took the shuttle back to the airport to await the arrival of Sierra, Julie, and Matt. Their flight is on time (3:25p) and we are glad of that. Of course we probably parked in a poor location but there were not many places to choose from. We had to take the Wikiwiki shuttle to the other side of the airport to wait for their arrival and then back again to get to the car. It didn't take long and we were on our way, also the traffic was not near as bad as the other trip. The weather seems to be clearing a bit but there are wind warnings for tonight - up to 50 mph gusts. 

SO - finally we are all reunited at the condo and happy to be here. It is Jeff's birthday so after we are settled in we headed to Moose Mcgillycuddys for something to eat. Some people had just appetizers and some had a meal but we all had a GREAT time! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEFF! 

We did have a cake but everyone was too full to eat it. Maybe tomorrow for Super Bowl. We all exhaustively fell into our beds with winds that felt like hurricane winds outside! One of the doors blew closed so hard it broke off part of the door jam! Thankfully, the nails are still intact so we can put it back in place. We are CA people, we are not used to real "weather" issues too often! 

West of Honolulu

We finally met one of our hosts this morning. I woke up at 5a (still on PST) so I was on Facebook in my nightgown when he walked in...whoops! Oh well... He is a nice young man who works at the University of Hawaii in Research. Annie, the other host works nights at Nordstroms. He said they came in about 11:30p last night but we didn't hear them.

This morning we are headed to Hanauma Bay but the "Eash Factor" was in full swing and the beach itself was closed due to an electrical problem. We really weren't sure what that meant but we just walked around to some of the look out points and enjoyed the views. It does look like an amazing place to snorkel. There was a small but informative Visitor Center to see. If you are going to swim or snorkel there you have to watch a mandatory film before entering the water. I think that is wise as the coral is precious and should be preserved. 

Hanauma Bay

We continued along H72 and thought about a swim at Sandy Beach but the water was too rough so we ate our lunch there and continued on until we came to Waimanalo Beach Park. This part of the island is very peaceful and seemed like mostly locals around. I say that because they had ordinary beach supplies, not the type tourists typically have. We took a swim and enjoyed the pristine white sand. The water was a beautiful turquoise until the clouds rolled in and then it was almost sea-foam green in color, just beautiful.

Waimanalo Beach Park

We headed back toward Honolulu as we were to meet the VRBO person at 3pm. We probably spent too long enjoying this little side trip as we are tired and now we need to go to Wal-Mart and take the first wave of food to the Condo as well. After Wal-Mart I realized I didn't have the "binder" with me and that had all my check in information. I didn't even have the woman's phone number in my phone either. I have been distracted with my Mom not being well so I was definitely not as organized for this trip as some other trips. Soooo... it was back to the Airbnb and then calling the contact Sarah, then on to the Royal Kuhio. We waited an extra half hour for her but she finally showed up. She took us to the unit, it is not as nice as the pictures would have indicated, no surprise there. However, I will say she is very accommodating and got us everything we needed, including extra blow up mattresses since we are missing a sofa bed and bagged ice because the ice maker doesn't work. All these things are small inconveniences. It was next to impossible to find a place that held 12 people so we can't be too picky I guess. 

After dropping off the purchases so far we headed to a different Costco in Keahole (there are 3 on this island!) as we were told it is much less crowded. We got most things but we have found Wheat Thins are pretty allusive at Costco or the ABC Stores. We will make a trip to Safeway for those!

One of 3 trips up - This was the smallest trip!

We don't have everything on my carefully made list, but the rest will need to wait, exhaustion has set in. We did stay up long enough to see the fireworks from the Hilton displayed over Waikiki Bay. We are excited about tomorrow and the arrival of the kids!

North Shore Oahu

We weren't sure what to do today, that's how it seems to us when we are waiting for others to arrive! We decided to go to Costco and see if we could find the Oahu Revealed book. We have used these on other islands in Hawaii and really liked them. We weren't disappointed in this little book (and it was much cheaper at Costco!) We headed across the island on Hwy 63 and then switched to Hwy 83. We passed the Macadamia nut place Sierra wants to visit and stopped shortly thereafter at a nice park called Kualoa Regional Park on the beach. We walked around and liked the simple place a lot. Great views, picnic tables, restrooms with showers, etc. from there we continued north making several stops along the way to admire the views. One of the best views was La'ie Point where a Tsunami made a big hole in this rock in one single day on April Fools Day 1946. I love the look of volcanic rock all about us. We passed by the Polynesian Cultural Center, one day we would like to visit again but not today.We also stopped at Malaekahana State Recreation Area park. It was even nicer because there was more beach area, fire pits, fish cleaning stations, outdoor showers, along with the bathrooms and indoor showers.I  might add, both parks had campgrounds available! Too bad we can't haul our Casita here...well we could but can you imagine the cost? It is so nice to be away from the crowds of Honolulu and Waikiki, although they are charming as well. 

Kualoa Regional Park

La'ie Point

Malaekahana State Recreation Area

(a fun tree for kids - or John!) 

Onward we went north...and low and behold we found Giovannis Shrimp Truck, we really hadn't even tried to find it yet. We immediately stopped and go in line. I thought it was nice there were only 3-4 groups ahead of us - I was right because before we left there was at least 40 people in line! The shrimp were fabulous and the garlic smothered rice was darn good as well. If I go again, I will as for MORE garlic too!

Just a half Order!

Now we are really in North Shore. It has become pretty crowded and we did stop a few places to watch the waves before turning into the valley and onto Hwy 99, certainly different than the 99 we are used to!  

North Shore is Beautiful

Heading back into Honoluly on H2 and H1 we were back in the traffic. We decided to drive up to the Diamond Head parking lot but we didn't really stay as it is only open 6a-6p and it was almost time for them to lock the gate. We made a quick stop at Safeway to buy some dinner ($8.99 per lb) and headed back to our room at the Airbnb. We still haven't seen our hosts but they freshened things up for us so they were here at some point. Another lovely day in Paradise!

Honolulu is not Kihei in Maui! LOL

Made It!

Steven picked us up at 5:30a and off to the airport we went. It was surprisingly calm and uncrowded at FYI (FAT), even the Starbucks line was almost nonexistent! Our flight was on time and we went to the same Alaska Airline terminal we expected. For once the restaurants were not crowded when we arrived. We ordered a mediocre breakfast and then waited for our flight. We found a few seats that had outlets in them so it was nice to be sure our phones were fully charged for the trip. It didn't take long and they called for boarding. We usually board now when they ask people to board who need extra time. We are slower than we used to be and don't want to hold others up. However, there are some young and energetic people who go pretty darn slow in putting up their bags in the overhead compartment. It was nice they had Hawaiian music playing as we boarded, makes you really in the mood for vacation. Our seats each had a power outlet, really nice considering they charge for a TV viewing tablet. Our flight was uneventful, a bit of turbulence but not much. I did dose off, was it because I had just 3 hours sleep last night or the Dramamine I took? Who knows, anyway it makes the time go faster and we even landed early! We had a complementary Mai Tai with the last beverage service, so now we are in full vacation mode! We left home in 33 degrees and it is 84 degrees here in Oahu with a breeze! So nice! Off to Dollar Car Rental and on to the Airbnb where we will spend a couple of nights. The owners are not home but they sent a really neat little welcome video showing us where and how to check in. Since I am a visual learner I really appreciated that! We did relax on the comfortable bed for a little while, then we knew we better get out and get some food or we would not be eating tonight. We drove past the Royal Kuhio where we will check in on Friday afternoon, then on to Foodland grocery store. We got a few deli items (we will pass on the fish tempura cakes next time - too gelatinous) but the pasta salad and greens were good. A glass of wine and we are set for the night. We aren't exactly sure what we will do tomorrow, we are contemplating a couple of options. For sure it WILL NOT include driving anywhere around Honolulu for very long! Crazy traffic! My pictures are not great but it is always exciting to fly into a place and see it from the sky. Eager for the rest of the family to arrive!

Flying Into Oahu

Pearl Harbor

Our View From Our Airbnb Room