So after Debra logged a half day at work (I took the day off and spent it doing things like taking the Beast to get boarded for a week, and packing), we loaded up the car and headed north to the airport.
Recently I spent 11 hours waiting around in MCI for delayed/cancelled flights, so this wasn't too bad for me, just a couple hours waiting around for our flight.
The flight wasn't bad, it was just a shame that the Delta built-in tablet thingies in our row were basically nonworking. The kids would have loved it, and they worked everywhere else but our seats it seemed. Still, I killed an hour or so trying to troubleshoot to no avail, so I guess not all bad.
Pete asked seriously if this was "No Cigarettes" or "No Stinky Socks". I don't really understand/see the sock but it seems like a valid interpretation generally. Whooo my dogs are barking today!
We got to LAX with an unexceptional landing in decent time...got our luggage and caught a shuttle to the hotel. I was amused and horrified to notice an odd possible effect of my headware...in this case a Australian kangaroo leather bush hat. The nice gentleman driving the previously empty shuttle had been playing some south Asian or middle-eastern popular music. All of a sudden it was flipped to pop country. Initially I thought well that's not what I would have normally expected from a strongly accented, possible immigrant driving a OH MY GOD ITS MY HAT. Anyway even if it was a misreading of my tastes on his part it was well intended and I tipped better than usual (faint praise).
Then before checking in we got some Subway. I noted they did not offer $5 footlongs but I thought HEY WE'RE ON VACATION I can spring for a couple $7 sandwiches that we're going to share anyway.
Now to the hotel, but we're not making a long stay of it. Up at 3 something in the morning and back to the airport for the next leg of our journey.
Day Two: To the Islands
OK, got up at 3:30AM in Los Angeles. We had been stashed in the "Quiet Floor" of our nondescript airport hotel where ABSOLUTELY NO CHILDREN were to be allowed and either it was an oversight on the hotel's part, or I did something wrong when I reserved it. Anyway, we kept them quiet with merciless threatenings and swearings of oaths and such like, and snuck down to the lobby to catch a shuttle to LAX again.
The shuttle driver was an affable bilingual chap who definitely worked for his tips. Delta was malformed into "Del Taco" and dropping off for Hawaiian Airlines he worked in the requisite "mahalo" and morphed it into a mildly thematic "Mahalo Mango!" Then we made a fairly easy route through security and found our gate, with a departure at 7. Debra ran and got an extraordinarily costly (The Word of the Day is: Extraordinarily Costly!) breakfast bowl we all shared. I suppose our thinly-disguised destination is obvious at this point:
Part of our reasoning/justification was my obsession, err, fondness for classic Hawaiian music as a steel guitarist, and March 19th was the 100th birth anniversary of Alfred Apaka, who I can probably safely blame for hooking me on this music. Boarding the plane they had steel guitar playing and videos playing in seatback screens, and Debra and I were both put in mind of the Disney "Magical Express" buses they run in Walt Disney World. We got underway and they served a nice brunch meal of a breakfast sandwich (egg, cheese, and tomato), with POG being our complimentary beverage of choice, naturally. We consumed vast quantities of POG (the Passionfruit-Orange-Guava juice drink of various brands) on this trip.
The seatback entertainment was limited unless you plunked down your credit card, but it included Moana, so the rest of the family watched much of that movie. I noted they had Territorial Airwaves as a podcast so I listened to some good music there. But what really killed the time was Mah Jong Solitaire...Pete and I played a ton of this.
It was exciting when up from the clouds came Mauna Kea...not our destination...yet.
We saw Maui, probably Moloka'i too on the way. We were on the port side of the aircraft so we didn't see O'ahu until we swung round to make an eastbound landing at Honolulu International. The Wai'anae range of the western side of the island was first in view.
We descended and Pearl Harbor came into vision...with BB-63, the Mighty Mo, the Iowa-class battleship USS Missouri, proudly in residence on Battleship Row next to Ford Island.
We got our bags and were quaintly pleased by the airport. Nice garden in the center next to the famous "Aloha" control tower.
Next we rented a car, and it was about noon, although it felt later. Driving across Honolulu we stopped to see a couple quick sights. The Ali'iōlani Hale was the former seat of government for the Kingdom (and then Republic) of Hawai'i, and currently houses the state Supreme Court.
The famous statue of Kamehameha...conqueror, unifier, and first king of the islands.
We didn't tour 'Iolani Palace...the residence of the kings and queens of Hawaii before the territorial era. But we did stop to admire it on the remaining 12 minutes of borrowed parking meter time.
So the upper right should be McGarrett's office if I know my Hawaii Five-O. And I DO KNOW MY HAWAII FIVE-O. Chin get the car!
Across the street was the historic 1842 Kawaiaha'o Church, the one-time church of the royals here (and the seat of the state Church of Hawaii). I found out later my guitar teacher (whose father is the late Senator Daniel Akaka) is the nephew of the pastor here for most of the latter 20th century.
The traffic was a bit hard to get used to at first, and we took some wrong turns in...lower income neighborhoods (by which I mean, housing we could maybe afford). But we got to the Honolulu Zoo on the eastern side of Waikiki, and finally found a coveted parking spot.
The first, and relatively speaking, least impressive banyan tree we came across. But like the first tiny mesa you see in eastern New Mexico, it was still impressive to us at the time.
Some tortoises there...not a huge zoo (certainly not a cheap one, either) but beautiful surroundings.
Took a break to share a plate of chili cheese fries.
Peacocks were loose:
Quite tame.
The giraffes actually look like they belong here, given the vegetation.
First encounter with an aardvark...the animal that famously capitalized on an obscure Dutch Afrikaner spelling convention to ensure he was first in line during roll call at Noah's Ark.
Hairy headed elephant looks like a Disney character somehow...the young elephant from the Jungle Book?
This one was amusing to us as you don't usually think of them roosting in trees, but they are basically the flashy version of a turkey, so it makes sense. I think that's our hotel, as it happens, in the background.
Komodo Dragon...British OAP (old age pensioner) asked me what it was and when I told them he remarked something along the lines of "Oh by jove, I ran into one of them in Bali", like he used to happen across them in his tent during a colonial war with the Dragoon Guards.
We then went to grab some food...Da Ono Seafood just off of Waikiki in our basic neighborhood was the intent. Reputed quite authentic in proper Hawaiian food, and a relaxed, homey place. Noted the Hawaiian music albums on the wall:
We got an order of spicy poke, a platter with kalua pig, laulau, pipikaula, lomilomi salmon, rice, poi, chicken long rice, and haupia. Reaction to the food was mixed. I ended up eating most of the odd stuff over the next day or so, with the rest of the family happily focusing on the kalua pig and pipikaula which was excellent (like all of it) but in a more conventional way.
From there to the hotel...some confusion about parking until I realized it was valet parking only. Which of course I kind of despise due to the awkwardness surrounding tipping rules and procedures, but hey that's the price you pay I suppose. I think we realized it would be less expensive to park in the zoo lot across the street with its costly per-hour rates than the $30 per day plus tipping we were sinking there, but ah well, Waikiki is for hemmorhaging money right?
The view was stunning, though, from the balcony of our room on the 16th floor. Zoo down below, a great view of Diamond Head, and Kuhio / Waikiki beach in walking distance. At one point we saw a huge USAF C-5 or C-17 come roaring over Diamond Head (first looking like an odd bird, then looking like an oversized shipping container improbably suspended in the sky) on its way to the air base.
After some time to recover, we headed down to the beach. It was a section protected from the waves, likely due to erosion concerns. But as a side benefit, Debra wasn't worried about the kids at all.
Pete commenced his building, which he did at basically every beach.
From there back to the hotel, which had an "Aloha Whip" stand built in for a quasi Dole Whip, that Debra claimed was not quite up to the Disney/Dole standard, but still good.
Day Three: Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay and Diamond Head Lu'au
We got up around 5, 5:30 in the morning (not a difficult thing to do with the westbound sort of jet lag) and had a quick breakfast of Hawaiian leftovers, me eating the chicken long rice (basically chicken noodle soup with a bit of ginger and transparent bean thread noodles) and the others working on the leftover pipikaula, rice, and kalua pig. We headed down to fetch our car...rather, to have a valet fetch our car, which I am still not used to, and I got a rather expensive Kona blend coffee for Debra and I to share. The drive was eerily pleasant...no traffic, and eastern O'ahu was quite beautiful at dawn. Then we arrived at Hanauma Bay:
We found out, quite by accident, that we didn't have to pay admission or parking because we arrived prior to 7. A friendly Hawaiian who -may- have been putting us on told us to rub a local leaf (which he found some of for us) with seawater on the inside of our goggles to prevent fogging...can't vouch for whether it works or not. It's one of the better (and busier) snorkeling spots on O'ahu, east of Diamond Head and made from an eroded volcanic tuff ring, where one of the walls eroded away to allow the sea in.
We saw our first (of many) mongoose here. They are essentially the squirrels of Hawaii. Introduced to combat rat problems, but with no such effect as they are diurnal instead of nocturnal, so the rats and mongooses don't occupy the same shift, and the mongoose population caused unintended harm to the native bird populations.
The benefits of arriving early are many...less traffic, easy parking, no fee, and plenty of room on the beach. However...without the sun up and in full operation, it was chilly. Debra and Peter opted for minimal swimming. Debra saw one fish and decided that was sufficient...
The palm trees here are lovely.
Peter taking note of the ubiquitous white pigeons all over this island.
I meant to take underwater pictures with my Poor Man's GoPro (GoAmateur), but had regrettably forgotten to charge it and it was completely dead. But Gretchen and I swam a bit around the reefs spotting plenty of fish, including quite a few humuhumunukunukuapua'a (reef or lagoon triggerfish). Also I think we spotted a sizeable parrotfish. The sun got up and people started filing in in greater numbers:
Pete adapted quickly to the cold water by starting a building project, as usual. He eventually enlisted Gretchen and had a separate "mixing section" where he would have water and sand mixed to his desired consistency before applying to his monolith or burial mound or whatever it was...
On our way back up:
Still not too busy down there. But a fun place, regardless.
Then we stopped off at the snack stand to get a couple hot dogs and an order of garlic fries...something I noted was common in the islands (less so here in Missouri). The garlic was mostly raw and pungent, but good. Koko Head in the background...a hike for another time, perhaps.
A parting shot before we hit the road again:
Then we decided, to save a bit of time and excessive use of valet services, to stop off at the nearby Diamond Head Memorial Park. As our visit was, in part, a bit of a musical pilgrimage for me, this had long been on the agenda for me, and the family just relaxed in a shady spot in the car. Interred in this park are a number of musical heroes of mine. The trick, I found, was actually finding them in a place with 30 thousand graves and very inconsistent plot number layouts.
I first found Billy Hew Len, one of the greatest steel guitarists of the last century. One of my favorites of his was Jack De Mello's "Steel Guitar Magic", released in the 70s, which paired him with another legendary steel player, Barney Isaacs. Billy Hew Len was a particularly amazing player because he lost his left hand in an accident when he was young, and then fought against that limitation, having a leather glove with a built-in steel bar made to allow him to learn to play steel guitar. It would be a great success story if he had gone on to become a reasonably good player with that disability, but quite remarkable that he became one of the greatest. I suppose like Django and his two fretting fingers, sometimes limitations can push you further than you'd otherwise go.
And of course, hard to miss this one. Alfred Apaka, the Golden Voice of the Islands, with his famous baritone conveying romantic ballads and hapa-haole tunes on the radio with Hawaii Calls and across many recorded albums. The inscription borrows from "Here in This Enchanted Place" which he sang on a couple recordings.
Then I started to get really frustrated canvassing the place time and time again and finding nothing. At that point Debra texted me saying the Boy was "seeking relief" of a "secondary nature" if you follow. So I hied hence and took them back to the Queen Kapiolani in Waikiki. I decided I needed to revisit my quest so I just dropped them off and headed back to the memorial park.
I found Randy Oness fairly quickly. He was a band leader, musician, and songwriter, and had a group with Alfred Apaka in the early days. His song "Haunani" is a favorite of mine, particularly as sung by Apaka; the early version in Hawaiian, the later version hapa-haoled into English.
Jules C. Ah See. C for "Cryles", and sometimes referred to as Jules Keliikuihonua Ah See. My favorite steel guitarist and greatest musical influence on the instrument. Also lost at a young age, like Alfred Apaka, and within the same year...a less observable loss to the public at large but a great one nonetheless. My tunings (C13, B11, E13) go back to his tunings primarily and he was a great influence on my teacher (Alan Akaka) and other great musicians like Basil Henriques who helped mentor and teach me in a unofficial sort of way (mahalo nui loa!).
A short aside from the musical examples...Kam Fong Chun, who played Chin Ho Kelly in Hawaii Five-O. Book 'em.
Quite pretty with the eponymous Diamond Head in the background. I spent at least 2 hours here searching.
Barney Isaacs, as previously mentioned. Between Jules, Billy, and Barney, three of the best Hawaiian steel guitarists here. Barney Isaacs (Alvin Isaacs Jr, known as Barney...his father Alvin Isaacs Sr. was also a great musician with the Royal Hawaiian Serenaders who wrote the songs "Nalani" and "Analani E") is a great steel guitarist who always played with lush, complex chords...a wonderful foil to Jules Ah See with whom he played frequently on Hawaii Calls albums in the 1950s.
A sad aside...Kam Fong Chun's first family is interred here. In 1944 two B-24s collided over O'ahu and the wreckage crashed onto his house, killing his wife and two small children.
Myrna "Haunani" Kahalewai, a deep sonorous alto who sang with the Hawaii Calls group. One of my favorites of hers is the song written by Martin Denny known as "Island of Dreams". You can find that on the late 50s Hawaii Calls album "Hawaii Calls: Waikiki!". I believe her sister Iwalani Kahalewai is also here, but I couldn't find her after tracing back and forth for quite a long time. She (Iwalani) is the female singer on the live Tapa Room Tapes that show Alfred Apaka, Jules Ah See and the rest of the Hawaiian Village Serenaders at their best. To round out the rest of the Tapa Room alumni here, I looked for Pauline Isaacs, the hula dancer that was married to Barney Isaacs, but I never found her either.
Once back to the hotel I showered the salt (from seawater and sweat) off and noted the iconic view out of the bathroom window:
The family had visited a pool in my absence. We had lunch (I worked on the laulau...pork steamed within taro leaves) and I made a quick pitstop to get a pair of overpriced shorts since I failed to pack more than one pair. Then on to the evening's planned event, the Diamond Head Lu'au. It's on location with the Waikiki Aquarium, so you get a quick free admission through there as well:
GIANT CLAM
Octopus, who somehow avoided inclusion in the local dish Luau Squid.
Jellyfish, which I was dismayed to learn are not a particularly appealing toast spread.
Tiger shark:
Some light entertainment with food and drinks before things got properly underway.
Everyone clustering around the fence to take pictures of the sunset. Pete still putting the food away. The food was great...poke, kalbi, hulihuli chicken, kalua pig from an imu, rice, curried vegetable stew, fruit and salad (I skipped the lomilomi salmon and poi). The appetizer was tortilla chips and hummus which struck me as odd...but tasty enough.
It was a good show.
Moon coming out. The show was themed for the various Polynesian / South Pacific island cultures so various dances and styles were represented...Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Hawaiian, Tahitian, etc.
I believe this was the NZ / Maori folks...well, it's all the same dancers, but they do very quick costume changes.
Family loved it.
The music was good, if not to my usual preferences with Hawaiian music...very "acoustic modern jazz" feel. I did hear one song I actually recognized, Sophisticated Hula. Talented band, and it seems to be the de rigueur style these days.
The finale, of course...fire knife dance.
Two at once...you'll put your eye out!
Obviously low light and fast motion rarely lead to good photography...but anyway, these guys did a good job with it.
We walked back along Kalakaua Avenue next to Kapi'olani Park. Hawaii is beautiful at night, even in the bright, wild atmosphere of Waikiki.
Day Four: Pearl Harbor, Royal Mausoleum, and the Hawaiian Village
So we got up pretty early...which was normal this whole trip, we were still slightly on Missouri time, which ended up making the transitions less painful...and checked out of our hotel (the Queen Kapiolani). Loaded up the rental car with our luggage and headed across Honolulu to visit Pearl Harbor.
We got there early, and Debra remarked that Pearl Harbor is a bit like my Disneyland (really, the whole state is)...it even has what is very nearly the "Rope Drop" of Disneyland. I had been planning to hit the USS Bowfin (WWII sub) museum first, then the USS Missouri and Ford Island air museum, and finally the USS Arizona memorial for which we had 14:30 tickets. We were kind of pleased as we walked in, they just handed us tickets to the USS Arizona tour at 07:30, so we could get that done kind of quickly and our schedule wouldn't have to center around a mid-afternoon event, necessarily. So we killed 10-15 minutes wandering around the exhibits...
Once onto the boat, which was active USN manned by sailors, we headed out into the harbor. Several moored destroyers out on the port side...DDG 110 (USS William P. Lawrence, an Arleigh Burke class) on the left. I wondered if they were mothballed but that one at least is only 8 years old and definitely still in commission.
BB-63, the Missouri. My second Iowa class to see up close. Wisconsin and New Jersey are still on my list.
The Arizona memorial itself was still closed as they make repairs to the dock. A somber place.
Gun turret rings still above water.
The Bowfin, our next stop, visible as we returned.
SLBMs, the last (and perhaps most effectively deterring) addition to our nuclear trident.
Deck gun of the Bowfin. Bofors in the background.
The museum attendant was an eccentric old auntie who insisted on taking our family picture with a variety of backgrounds on the top deck of the sub.
The bow torpedo room. Note the bunks...nothing says sleeping soundly by being inches from 650 lbs of Torpex. At least you know, if it goes off, you of all people will have no idea what happened.
Ummm hands off sailor.
The entire ship was beautifully preserved.
Debra sometimes complains about our kitchen's lack of counter space. Well, if they can cook for 80 enlisted men and officers in this, I can cook for our family of four I suppose.
Privacy, comfort, and personal space not a high priority with our wartime Navy, naturally.
...nor was peaceful slumber, no doubt, as right next door to those bunks is the engine room. Four V-16 diesel engines.
And the battery section of the engineering rooms.
Then we hopped on the bus and headed to the USS Missouri.
The Iowa, which we've toured numerous times, is basically the same, but parts of the ship are different or were restored to different levels. But she seems very familiar.
I didn't realize we were in for a guided tour. Our tour guide had a strangely sing-song delivery that Debra found soothing in a way. If I dared imitate it, I'm sure it would be offensive, so I'll just leave it at that. But she was a good guide (I just didn't want to spend all day slow walking from point to point).
The Surrender Deck...where the Japanese said, alright, you got us, it's a fair cop, we promise not to bomb Hawaii again, probably, please stop raining nuclear hellfire on us...
Surrender document facsimiles and I believe an original pen.
Then down below...the snack shop:
Rows of offices with ancient computers...it was like a proper office building in places.
A WWII era Japanese officer sword.
I can imagine just how sullen, slouching, and bored your average sailor would be in this classroom.
COMPUTER CENTER! Complete with trademark infringement! Honestly none of the ancient computers I saw were Apples. Not that I'm surprised by that.
If you need teeth ripped out, no longer do you have to report to the boatswain to beg them to find an appropriate sized wrench! Ocean-going dentistry!
The officer's wardroom was nicely preserved.
I believe this was the dent from a kamikaze attack in WWII.
The wife and daughter were bored/hot/hungry so I let them go ahead to find a snack or two and the Boy and I climbed up to the CIC:
More in the CIC:
From the outdoor top deck:
Then we headed over, via bus ride, to the air museum. A Zero here in excellent condition:
SBD Dauntless:
Hellcat and Warhawk:
Then we had a quick lunch in the cafe where Debra was introduced to "plate lunch"...the only time she ever seems to get macaroni salad. We got the teriyaki beef one and shared it...and something else I've forgotten but it was enough for us to share. Then back outside...helicopters, with the skinny AH-1 almost disappearing next to its slightly more corpulent brothers.
Peter insisted this was the Pepsi sign, which is reasonable. Also, General Kim Too Man sounds like he is overcompensating.
B-52 cockpit, a Mig, an F-16, an F-15, and others...
A crashed and recently recovered (from Australia or somewhere in the southwest Pacific I believe) B-17.
Then we headed out, and at my request we went to an obscure spot, the Royal Mausoleum up towards the valleys in the north.
The grounds were completely deserted and serenely beautiful.
The central Kalakaua crypt was closed off. Edited to add later: I learned much later what kapu balls are, shown here. Mea culpa.
Amazing to see the line all the way back to Kamehameha II here.
Another crypt...not pictured was Charles Bishop's grave here, as well.
I discreetly slipped down quietly and quickly to the entrance of the Kalakaua crypt (again, edited to add later, something I probably should not have done without permission in hindsight and given the kapu balls I did not recognize)...the gate still shut so I did not open it, but I took a few pictures. King David Kalakaua and his Queen, Kapiolani.
Various princes, princesses and other ali'i on the left.
Same to the right...the last Queen, Liliuokalani and her husband, and Princess Ka'iulani. I quickly withdrew.
Then we excused ourselves (this being officially Hawaiian land...it was exempted from American lands specifically and is one of few places where the Hawaiian flag may fly unaccompanied by the American flag) and headed back to Waikiki. This time to check into the Hilton Hawaiian Village, a wild zoo of a resort but a fun place nonetheless. The kids waited for our room to be ready watching this crane hunting fish patiently.
Gretchen met a few parrots she quite took to.
Another one...
I wandered the grounds and came across Alfred in the Tapa Tower. This is the reason we chose to stay here...this was his home base in the 1950s, playing every night in the Tapa Room for Henry Kaiser's Hawaiian Village hotel. A lot of history here even if so much of it is generally forgotten.
Then we finally got our room, at the Ali'i tower, which I thought was the fancy one and not for people like me trying to get the cheapest rate possible. The view, which I expected to be of a slab of concrete or the parking garage, was actually decent.
We went to one of the elaborate and complex pools (multiple levels, waterfalls, and slides)...and from there we went to the saltwater lagoon which was simpler and a bit more fun to swim in.
After that I hit up one of the ubiquitous ABC stores and we got a variety of foods...fresh fruit, breakfast foods, loco moco, spam musubi, sandwiches, and some sushi. Nice relaxed dinner. We rented a movie and got a bit into it but we were ready for bed soon, it was a long day. Lovely view at sunset though.
Day Five: Diamond Head, Kailua, and Waikiki
We got up early, as usual, and had a quick breakfast of bananas and macadamia nut muffins. The resort was (like Honolulu in general) calmer and more pleasant in the wee hours.
We drove across Waikiki to get to Diamond Head, driving through the tunnel to the parking lot within the crater. Barely got a spot, arriving at 0630.
It was a busy spot, definitely. An easy but well trafficked hike.
As we ascended the views became more impressive, even while still in the crater.
Weather was cool and dry, so we were comfortable.
Then we came to the stairs to the bunker area.
These were built around 100 years ago. The main bunker at the top was an observation station for coastal batteries known as the Fire Control Station.
Commands a nice view...Diamond Head is also known as Kaimana Hila (possibly a transliteration of the English; the Hawaiian name is Le'ahi), and a song by that name is a favorite of mine. It references seeing Kapi'olani Paka (Queen Kapiolani Park) and there it is down below.
Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana lā
'Ike i ka nani Kaimana Hila lā
Kau mai i luna
The inside of the crater, and Koko Head and Hanauma Bay in the distance.
We went up a bit further but the top was packed. Bunkers along the ridge.
Good view of Honolulu from here...
Then we started descending.
A hornbill had escaped from the zoo and the notice seeking his recapture amused us. Gretchen was unsure of whether to be happy or sad in the photo (Peter had no such uncertainty).
We drove from there to Chinatown just west of downtown. We parked at the Chinatown Cultural Plaza. Folks doing tai chi or something similar there.
I was there hunting for a red carnation lei, to put on the Alfred Apaka statue at the Hawaiian Village. There are lei shops stacked upon lei shops here, and I asked at each one I came across but it generally was something that had to be special ordered. We got to Cindy's Lei Shop and they didn't have the red carnation lei, but a mixed lei with some red carnations was there so we bought it.
Then we crossed the street and visited a Chinese bakery. We didn't end up getting sweets (sweet bean paste not probably an easy sell) but I got a "Hot Dog Bun" and a "Char Siu Bun". The "Hot Dog Bun" was funny because technically, in a purely English context, it would be precisely that, a hot dog bun, with no hot dog. Thankfully it was not a literal description, either. Char siu was good (but we got some better later).
While I was ordering Debra inquired at the neighboring lei shop and they said they could make a red carnation lei. It wasn't cheap, but Alfred Apaka's 100th birthday only comes around once, eh?
Fruit market...
We were still peckish so we stopped at the Char Siu House and got a half pound of char siu to share.
Back at the resort I saw this up on the wall somewhere. Jules and Alfred et al, in the original Tapa Room.
Since no one else at the resort was doing anything for the occasion, I took it upon myself..donned my aloha shirt and kukui nut lei and headed to the Tapa Tower. I put both leis on the statue without 1.) falling into the fountain or 2.) getting detained by hotel management.
Then I took out my steel guitar and battery powered amplifier and played an assortment of tunes. Dahil Sa Iyo, South Sea Island Magic, Aloha 'Oe, Beyond the Reef, Haunani, 'Akaka Falls, probably others I've forgotten. I chatted with a couple guys, one an employee and musician who heard the sound of a steel guitar and had to follow it. The other guy wanted to argue that I was playing slack-key guitar...eventually I said "yeah OK!"
Then I had to zip out quickly to get up to Kailua to meet with my teacher. The kids and Debra went to a pool. The Pali highway was closed so I went around the west side on H-3, which was beautiful, and afforded an unheard-of 60MPH speed limit.
The Tetsuo Harano tunnels had a sign saying, in effect, "Explosives Prohibited in Tunnel". What was funny about that is that there is an added sign right below it, seemingly an afterthought, saying "Military Exempt".
Bad pics, but the Kaneohe/Kailua area is quite pretty, on the windward side.
The Pali:
I got to meet my teacher, Alan Akaka. Great steel guitarist and founder of Ke Kula Mele, where he teaches steel guitar as well as guitar, bass, and 'ukulele. We did some work on the E13 tuning, which was helpful. He also taught me a new tune in D9 tuning...Waikiki, which was written by Andy Cummings.
He's got a nice collection of guitars. I'm now kicking myself because I didn't ask to see his Magnatone that was once owned by Jules Ah See.
I went the other way around the island on my return, around Makapu'u Point towards Koko Head.
That took me past the memorial park again so I stopped and left a couple flowers there.
And another salute to the legacy of my favorite steel player:
Then back to the hotel...we watched a movie, and then as we got towards the evening, out to Waikiki Beach.
I swam a bit but not too far out as I did not really want to heighten -someone's- anxiety. Kids had a grand old time though.
Peter, as is typical, quickly shifted activity from aquatic recreation to terrestrial construction.
Then we switched over to the lagoon.
Pete found a dead fish on the shore and I told him, "sushi dinner!".
We noted the odd-shaped hotel tower in the background...the Ilikai! Zoom in enough and you'll see McGarrett swing round dramatically on the top floor!
I happened to find another Apaka placard on a wall in the Tapa Tower, later, when I did a run for food from the ABC store there:
Once back we had a nice varied dinner of Hawaiian convenience food. "Gas station sushi" is one of those joke punchlines but that's basically what I lived off of.
Day Six: The Big Island
Up early at the resort as usal...quick getting ready, breakfast, and packing, and then off to Honolulu airport to return our car and catch our flight to the big island.
At the food court, noted several framed sheet music covers as wall decorations. Aloha Oe, the classic tune from Queen Lili'uokalani, and Lovely Hula Hands, the classic written by R. Alex Anderson and one of the first Alfred Apaka songs I recall hearing.
As we were taxiing, saw a couple planes in hangars over in the military section with the C-whatever cargo planes...the angled dual tailfins made me think...F-22s, obscured from satellites. Maybe they are old hat by now but I was impressed!
The plane was an inter-island commuter type plane, but decent size, and full of an elementary school class on a field trip. A coughing kid sat next to me and I suspect might have played a role in the cold I developed over the next couple days. I'm pretty sure this was Lanai, the "Pineapple Island".
Then the Big Island hove into view, and we were at, or very nearly at, the altitude of the higher peaks...Mauna Kea breaches 13,000 feet, to the left of the frame. Mauna Loa, the "spreading" mountain, more broadly featured further south, and Hualālai at the right, next to Kona. The elder Kohala in front, with its fantastic contrast between leeward and windward sides.
You could see the observatories on Mauna Kea gleaming in white better with the naked eye than with the camera.
Along the North Hilo district coast we saw lots of valleys and bays...many of which we'd be driving past later.
Hilo airport was adorable, simple, and easy. So far my favorite airport. Once into our rental (a delightfully simple process at this airport) we headed to the Lili'uokalani Park and Gardens, a hundred year old Edo-style Japanese garden park by Hilo Bay. Weather was cool and mostly cloudy. We generally tried not to think about the special tsunami vulnerability of Hilo Bay.
It was a nice park, and a last minute addition to our schedule. We had looked into a couple options to burn some time since we had the afternoon before being able to check into our AirBNB.
A very large banyan tree.
Note Peter for scale:
The kids enjoyed playing and climbing around it, with a few other local kids. Debra and I chatted with their mother, a friendly kama'aina (I would say, is there any other kind? but I suppose exceptions prove the rule) who gave us some advice on things to do. Gretchen saw another mongoose, which quickly became not a very notable occurrence.
An ancient Hawaiian toilet?
Anyway it was a pretty place to relax after the (short) flight.
Then time to go grab some lunch...Debra's newfound love of plate lunch sent us to L&L Hawaiian BBQ, a well known chain.
Fried fish, shrimp, salad, teriyaki BBQ beef, rice, and macaroni salad. Good stuff!
Moving in "mauka" from Hilo to Rainbow Falls. Another banyan tree.
The falls were nice albeit with cloud cover, no rainbow to speak of.
Also, with 'Akaka and Hi'ilawe on the agenda, somewhat outmatched in grandeur, but it was a good pit stop.
Then to 'Akaka Falls, somewhat inland again from the belt road.
Passed a large section of bamboo on the short hike down to the falls.
Flowers and songbirds abounded here. On the windward side still, so lots of rain ensures the lush vegetation.
Malihini ku'u 'ike 'ana
Kahi wailele 'o 'Akaka
Kau maila i luna
Lele hunehune maila i nā pali
Lele hunehune maila i nā pali
Spotted an odd green bird on the way back but it quickly disappeared into the vegetation.
We stopped at a roadside fruit stand. Bought a fresh young coconut to drink, fresh sliced pineapple and sugarcane. Peter of course found the dogs to be of primary interest.
And Gretchen found some feral chickens.
Quite a few of them on the island.
We stopped in Honoka'a to get some groceries before alighting at our destination. The Malama market there was pleasant enough...not too suprisingly, the only thing that wasn't about 200% the usual mainland cost was pineapple, which was a buck fifty not even on sale. I saw both taro root (for poi) and taro leaf (for laulau) for sale there but I was the only one with any fondness, or in the case of poi, tolerance, for either so we left it.
We had to navigate to the house we had rented the old fashioned way, looking at street signs and watching for landmarks, since there was no cell service. I figured if we hadn't fallen into Waipi'o Valley yet but could still see the coast, we weren't too far off. We arrived around 3.
The place was a bit ludicrous but delightful...bamboo everywhere, it was like a tiki bar scaled up to a house level, without the kitschiness so much. I had the kids take me on a tour:
The entryway...yeah, yeah, I see that Om sign, you hippies. Maybe if I brought my sitar I could have gotten a discount?
The lower floor bathroom. With windows open, as they usually were, the sounds of birds, frogs, and the rushing stream just beyond the window combined to make an exceptionally relaxing blend of white noise.
Downstairs bedroom and what I used as an office.
That's a lot of bamboo...stairway area to upstairs.
Gretchen claimed this as her room.
Slightly humorous changing panels, or whatever they are called...and easy access to the second floor lanai from all the rooms upstairs.
Kind of a cool (and large) bathroom and shower.
The other upstairs bedroom....
And the side lanai facing the stream.
More of the lanai.
The backyard had a variety of plants...I couldn't find all of the ones they had mentioned (such as coffee and pineapple...unless that berry bush was actually a young coffee tree) but there was bananas, jackfruit, lemons, and coconuts.
Only the lemons were ripe, I found out the hard way. Maybe the coconuts were too but I wasn't about to shimmy up the tree.
The house looked really nice on the inside and out.
Then after a bit of rest I roused the family to go the extra half mile up to the Waipi'o Valley lookout. One of the great sights on the island.
There was an assortment of feral cats here that fascinated the kids, of course. Probably riddled with 'uku...
Then we got back and I started working on dinner. I fried up some hot dogs for Debra and the kids as well as pork gyoza which I always seem to screw up (but Gretchen voraciously consumed them, regardless of ripped or charred wrapper). I noted some apparently Japanese guests had left behind furikake seasoning and Japanese "Golden Curry" seasoning, so I got a bit more creative for myself. Leaving aside the furikake seasoning because it smells like low tide on a hot day, I tried to make a curry, thinking I would use jackfruit harvested from the tree outside. But it turns out it was incredibly unripe and would not slice without some sort of reciprocating saw, so I gave up on that and used the coconut meat from the young coconut we purchased as well as some serrano chiles to make a coconut/chile curry, and I paired that with some shoyu ahi poke bought from the market. Had a dinner in the "office" with sounds of the birds chirping and the stream rushing by.
Day Seven: Waipi'o Valley
Up earlier than usual...waking at 3 to 4, but getting up around 5. Then we enjoyed a long relaxing morning waiting for our 9AM booked shuttle tour of Waipi'o Valley. We ate breakfast with some expensive canned Kona coffee (at the market we weren't sure if the AirBNB would have a normal drip coffeemaker or one of those Keurig monstrosities). We watched morning television in Hawaii and were delighted with the, "eh, good enough" attitude they have chucking this guy on to the statewide morning show. Not criticizing him by any stretch of the imagination...he's sort of my hero!
I practiced my new song, Waikiki, out on the lanai. Alan arranged it in D9. The song was written by Andy Cummings when he was travelling the mainland, homesick and longing for Waikiki. I started to feel some poignancy about missing it myself and then I realized I was acting out that scene in Zoolander where Derek claims he's getting the black lung ("you were down there one day, Derek, talk to me in thirty years!"). Still, I can tell I will miss the islands.
A bit later, we walked the quarter mile up the road to the tour company. I was amused to find at least one recognizable Hawaiian tune (Andy Iona's "How'd Ya Do") playing in the background there. When 9AM rolled around, Doug, our guide, rolled up with the 4X4 van and we loaded up.
The valley from the top...
We very quickly realized that we had made the correct decision to contract out the drive down to the valley floor to the 4x4 shuttle company. There is a reason the tour company asks if anyone in the party is pregnant or has back problems. Incredibly steep, bumpy, and narrow, with tight tolerances and tired hikers to dodge the whole way down. Our original plan was to walk it...a road sometimes at a 45 degree grade. We've hiked mountains in Colorado so that would have been unpleasant but I (at least) welcomed the challenge...however, the safety concerns with kids walking on that somewhat treacherous road shared with vehicles just barely under control made us spend the money to get the shuttle. Here we are halfway down the road into the valley.
At the floor we started driving around the county road (most land down here is private) and this was the tour guide's cousin's land, with plenty of coconuts on hand and fish in the stream. Taro farming is common here.
We stopped to disembark and gaze at Hi'ilawe Falls at the back of the valley. A 1450 foot drop...we can't get any closer because it is mostly private land down here (despite many warnings and pleadings, idiot tourists still end up causing trouble trespassing).
Kūmaka ka 'ikena iā Hi'ilawe
Ka papa lohi mai a'o Maukele
Pakele mai au i ka nui manu
Hau wala'au nei puni Waipi'o
Ha'ina 'ia mai ana ka puana
Kūmaka ka 'ikena iā Hi'ilawe
Painted eucalyptus tree, and the Official Waipi'o Valley Coconut Weather Station.
Fording one of many streams. This was in a van, not a boat.
Deeper down the other leg of the valley...taro farms everywhere. The proper Hawaiian name for taro is kalo (as Douglas, our guide, informed us). He also found a ripe noni fruit to offer to everyone...apparently known for its health benefits among people who talk about health benefits of obscure things on the internet (you know who you are!), it smells...ripe. Sort of like a pungent cheese, but not in such a way that anyone would want to put it on pasta or a quesadilla.
We paid a bit extra so that they would drop us off and pick us up with a later tour. They ascended, and we started down a path to the beach. Came upon what could only be a type of heiau.
Then one of the main reasons we wanted to come down here...true wild horses.
This one was almost standing asleep. He let us pass without batting an eye.
His compadres were up on the hill...an odd place to see horses but these aren't really your domestic variety.
Closing in on the beach, huge stands of coniferous trees, the sort of which I haven't yet identified...
There, the black sand beach of Waipi'o.
The beach is long with a freshwater stream feeding into the ocean that people tend to ford across. Our awareness of leptospirosis and general attitude of risk avoidance meant that we were not fording the river.
The south side cliffs (whence we came).
The waves were impressive, and the couple of surfers out there were having mixed degrees of success.
The kids enjoyed getting their feet wet, and occasionally more when we misjudged the next wave.
Playing in the sand, as well, a bit.
One of the more consummately gorgeous locations I've ever been to, and it's not even a state park, much less National Park...but I'm sure the locals prefer it that way, understandably. Tourism is probably as thick here as they would want, and park status (as well as the wrenching away of privately held land to the government) would make this place a zoo.
The sand is fine-grained, dark charcoal gray, and not at all unpleasant to walk in. (FORESHADOWING!)
Wind-swept pines (or whatever they are) along the coast. Debra had little interest in getting into the water here...it was cool, and intermittently sprinkling.
These interesting birds are red-cowled cardinals (actually a member of the tanager family). Quite a few of them about at the beach.
It rained a bit here and there but not too bad....we sheltered near a pine (me walking barefoot, and cursing the little spiky cones of the still-unidentified trees). Then it passed and the kids went back out to play in the sand.
Pete built something, of course. If he'd have made it a bit tighter and done it in the stream instead of the beach he'd have had a workable fish trap perhaps!
Saw the horses (five of them in total) back up on the hill as we walked back to meet up with the tour shuttle van.
Also, an ancient burned-out hulk of a car....right below the cliff. Drivers beware.
We arrived at the meeting point way too early of course. Saw a interesting duck or goose, and also a couple mongoose/mongeese. Douglas came back and got us for the raucous uphill climb.
Once we got back, I picked some lemons and made lemonade, we had lunch, and everyone relaxed a bit. I played guitar on the lanai til I was about ready to drop off myself.
Then I went back into Honoka'a to pick up the groceries we still needed. While driving I was amused by the multiple Jawaiian stations. Not my musical preference perhaps, but could be worse I suppose.
I bought some carrots and grass-fed island beef to make a Japanese style beef curry, along with some garlic naan. Nice thing about having a kitchen when on vacation...
Day Eight: Hawai'i Belt Road Tour (Māmalahoa Highway)
It was a misty, rainy day on the windward side as we drove down to Hilo along the Hamakua coast. Gretchen was starting to feel sick, so we decided to take a pit stop there at a McDonalds. The menu was localised, so we got a platter of portuguese sausage, egg, and rice, a haupia pie, and a few normal McDonalds things to share. The portuguese sausage was a huge hit. The locals (obviously perceiving we were...not) were welcoming and friendly, as usual.
Then further south towards Volcano, and Kilauea (Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park). Much of it was closed due to all the recent "excitement". The volcano itself was in a bit of a slumber, Pele having overextended herself last year and needing a bit of a lie-down. No lava or lava glow visible within the park, which they had to continuously point out to disappointed visitors. We headed to the steam vents closer to the rim.
Hard to see in still pictures but steam was belching out everywhere.
The caldera was vast.
More steam filtering through the 'ōhi'a, which are everywhere where new lava seems to be, here.
The flower of the 'ōhi'a tree is known as lehua.
Mauna Loa is a good example of a shield volcano...vast and wide.
We drove around to Kilauea Iki crater on the eastern side of the main caldera.
The 1959 eruption included lava fountains that helped create the huge Pu'u Pua'i hill there.
Pu'u Pua'i again:
Hanohano Hawai'i
Sweet lei ka lehua
From there we headed southwest into the Ka'u district. Lehua everywhere.
The windshield obscures the color, but the red lehua along this stretch of road leading down to the coast were beautiful.
We arrived at our next destination, Punalu'u Beach, a black sand beach where green sea turtles were said to congregate.
Coconut palms everywhere.
A pond just in from the beach.
And there they were! We were advised to stay back and the lifeguards had put traffic cones around them to keep the tourists at bay (but many did not heed such warnings).
Spotting another 3 or 4:
They don't exactly move around great on land. Given the performance I'm likely to turn in at the upcoming 5K I got roped into, the same could be said for me.
We had to cross the beach to get to the restrooms, but Debra and the kids were wearing sandals and I was told the sand felt like little shards of hot glass. It wasn't fine-grained like the sand at Waipi'o, which is likely much older...this is fresh sand, relatively, and it hasn't been worn smooth just yet. So we tried to traverse mostly on the rocks.
Spotting crabs occasionally in the lava flows.
The lava patterns were fascinating.
You can see the ropey pahoehoe patterns everywhere.
This poor chap trying to work his way out of a little channel in the rocks.
Then back to play to the beach section:
Kids enjoyed playing in the surf...I didn't find the sand that bad, but I'm sure the wet sand was at least much cooler than the sun-baked hot glass stuff. Does feel like it'd do a good job "exfoliating" or "dethatching" or whatever it is when you're trying to shave off dead skin (I am closer to being a cosmonaut than a cosmetologist).
Closeup of the sand:
We headed out and on our way spotted one of the few Hawaiian animals Gretchen had looked for but not yet found, the Nēnē or Hawaiian goose, under what I believe to be a koa tree.
Koa trees produce beautiful wood, a sort of golden figured mahogany type wood that is an excellent tone wood. I've made a couple basses (for others, not myself sadly) using this wood with a light tung oil finish.
After that we drove a bit further south to get lunch at the southernmost bakery in the United States, Punalu'u Bake Shop. They had malasadas, sweetbread, and plate lunches there. Placed our order and got the malasadas straight away so I sent Debra and the kids to find a nice spot on the grounds to work on those (a lilikoi glazed one and a strawberry filled one).
They were over in this quiet section of the gardens while I was in the busy shop waiting forever for the plate lunch we ordered, but it came eventually.
Shoyu pork was what we ordered and the pork was tender and savory. Debra is now in love with the plate lunch concept as it is the only way she tends to get the mayonnaise monstrosity that is macaroni salad made for her.
Geckos pretty common here.
Seeing unripe pineapples was kind of odd...like tiny versions of the real thing, just look out of place, or like some kind of optical illusion to me.
But we hit the road and started to head up north into South Kona. Just like most places on the big island there were vast stretches of lava, I think in this area a lot more 'a'a, the craggy sharp sort as compared to the smoother, ropey pahoehoe.
A perhaps over-ambitious panorama, as most of mine tend to be.
Then we arrived at Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau, the place of refuge that is a National Historical Park. A designation that basically means, you have to pay to get in, versus state parks. But an interesting archaeological place.
A thatched hale reconstruction on the Royal Grounds.
Was a bit warm in the sun...leeward side, I know.
The reconstructed Hale o Keawe, where the bones of ancient chiefs (and it was thought, their "mana" or power) were preserved. Kamehameha's great grandfather was placed here. It was deconstructed in the early 1800s and the bones removed to nearby cliffs, and later moved to the Royal Mausoleum which we visited earlier. This is a reconstruction from the 1960s.
Sorry, I didn't really notice Peter starting to climb on everything, apparently. You're supposed to be a bit more reverent here.
Carved wooden ki'i.
The wall was I believe a few hundred years old, which I started to explain as if it were impressive, and Debra makes the point that it's not THAT old. Well, yes, fine.
The royal fish ponds, filled with fish.
Outrigger canoes in this hale.
And reconstructions of tools and kitchen implements over in this one, including calabashes used for carrying fresh water on long voyages.
From there we went just a bit further north...hoping to get a shot of Kealakekua Bay and the Captain Cook monument. The directions took us into a very tiny little community with 5mph speed limits and very narrow, basically 1 way streets. It was obvious that they had not taken the "let's become a tourist destination!" concept to heart, understandably so. So instead of clogging their streets I took a quick shot through the windshield and we absented ourselves from there.
We drove further north past Kailua and Kona and took the saddle road inland towards Mauna Kea. We passed the rolling hills on the flank of Hualālai under a misty overcast. Then as we ascended (our little Chevy rental doing its best) we eventually entered into the clouds themselves, and finally emerged just under 10,000 feet, at the Mauna Kea Visitor Information Station. The clouds were pretty far down below.
There isn't too much to do up here, and given the age of our kids and the lack of four wheel drive, continuing to the summit was not allowed or recommended, but we did decide to a short hike to a promontory across the road.
The others were still wearing sandals so Debra and Gretchen opted to bail on the hike. Peter and I kept going up a bit further.
The wide spreading shape of Mauna Loa apparent from near the top.
Pete wanted to go all the way to the top despite his flip-flops not being ideal.
I'm sure the view is even better from the summit but it was an expansive view definitely.
We had to trot down in a bit of a hurry as I was sure given the 10 minutes or so that had elapsed that Debra would likely be worrying about something (us falling, us getting lost were good guesses but those of you who had money on "Pete getting sunburned" win the pool!).
Back down the mountain...I realized near the end of the descent that there was a way to adjust low gear to something usable (instead of one basically unusable low gear). Then north to Kohala and through Waimea with thick fog:
Then we got back at "base camp" finally. I decided to get the dust off of me using their outdoor shower below the house. The jungle is thick and there is no immediate neighbor on the stream side of the house, but still, a somewhat strange experience, especially when I got down there and realized the stream-facing section was completely open:
Also, semi-humorously, I found out that it takes a very, very long time for the hot water to make it to the shower head. Which I unfortunately discovered -after- going "au naturel". Anyway, after hastily dressing / reassembling my dignity, we had a nice evening in, ate leftovers for dinner and generally relaxed given how much we had done that day.
Day Nine: Kona, and Then Home
Our last day in the islands, we started off cleaning and picking up the rental to a point where I started to second guess who should be collecting the tip we left, us or the housekeeper, but better to err on the side of unnecessary cleaning than leaving it a mess. We'll miss this place, it was a great place to stay:
We drove up the road to take another glance at Waipi'o.
Gretchen of course was fascinated by the resident feral cats up there.
They all seemed to cluster around up there by the lookout. We started to call it Catpi'o, which of course opened the door to juvenile jokes about feline urine.
From there we retraced our steps through Waimea towards Southern Kohala / North Kona. We stopped at the Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, the temple Kamehameha I built when he consolidated his power over Hawai'i and prepared to conquer the other islands.
The Kona coast is arid and reminiscent of California.
The reconstructed lele (offering tower) at the heiau.
This is as close as they allow the general public. Further in is "kapu". Kamehameha killed and sacrificed his cousin Keōua here, completing his conquest of the island.
The lower Mailekini Heiau, which Kamehameha had fitted with cannon and used more as coastal fortification than a temple.
Ancient (probably reconstructed) Hawaiian weapons. In a land where metals were basically non-existent, implements of war were more "organic" you could say...bone, wood, shark teeth...
We still had some time to kill before a 3:30 flight so I picked a beach, Mahai'ula, that looked nice. Great idea Nic! Turns out it is two miles from the highway, but two miles of the worst "road" through relatively recent lava flows I've ever driven on. It really requires a four wheel drive, even though they don't mention it on the sign. We got probably half way, at a crawling pace, but not knowing how much further it was, we turned back for fear of a flat tire or other car damage that likely would -not- be covered in our rental agreement.
We kept seeing these signs around the island. While I realize for the victims, there is nothing funny about tsunamis, the running man seems, well, a little funny on the sign.
Kids were disappointed. We got gas and saw signs (with proper roads) for another beach park just south of the airport. Ooma Beach, it looked like.
We didn't get in the surf but explored the lava rock and tidepools.
A sea cucumber! (We think.) Slice it thinly on buttered white bread with watercress and you have sea cucumber sandwiches (Editor: please don't do that).
More exploration of the tidepools...we didn't stay too long. Flight to catch!
Piles and piles of discarded opihi shells. Not sure if humans harvesting or animals.
Just south of the airport, which given Kona's reputation as the "tourist district" of the big island, has a fair amount of traffic.
Out further on the rocks by the water, the opihi were more abundant. A type of sea snail that is a traditional food source in Hawaii, I had meant to get some in an opihi poke had we gotten over to Helena's Hawaiian Foods in Honolulu, but we didn't this time.
Then to the airport to first return our rental and then check our bags...thankfully they checked our carryons too. We headed across the street and had a quick meal of orange chicken and shrimp pad thai at "Kona's Best Snacks". Was good for airport food (damning with faint praise perhaps).
It's a pleasant outdoor airport.
Waiting to board...Pete eating Cinnamon Toast Crunch by the handful apparently. A USAF cargo plane taxiing in the background.
Not sure what the military planes are here to support, there are relatively fewer bases here than on O'ahu. There are some facilities in the central island near Mauna Kea that we saw.
Boarding outside on the tarmac! Not something I've done before.
Looks like Maui and Haleakala, perhaps, in the distance?
And then we got underway, the kids mostly watching a shared tablet for the duration of the flight to Los Angeles. I have my secret travel "hack" which I use on all flights...that I should guard jealously, but I'll share it with you! I ask for tonic water. It's free, and most times the flight attendants know I will be the -only- one to ask for tonic water, so they just give me the can rather than having to pour out the whole thing. Thus I get THE FULL 12 OUNCES OF FREE BEVERAGE. I quietly crowed my triumph to Debra across the aisle, who I'm sure rolled her eyes.
We got into LAX at midnight and the rest is mostly a blur of boring travel nonsense...shuttle to the hotel, getting everyone to bed immediately for a few hours rest, up at 5am or so to get back to the airport...and then a morning flight back to Kansas City which was simple and uneventful. Kids liked the games available on the Delta flight seatback monitors:
It was a little unnerving to be back on mainland highways (laughably double what Hawaiian highways have for speed limits in some parts) but I got used to it. It was a great trip for everyone, and I'm afraid it has done nothing but make us fall a bit more in love with the islands (people, culture, geology, climate, food, language, history, the whole thing). A hearty "a hui hou" to Hawaii...we'll meet again I hope!