Janet has a really nice bike but is still isn’t totally easy to get into the car. Here is one that certainly fits the bill however. Just pack it up into it’s pouch and carry it off. The saddle looks pretty uncomfortable however. Also a bit pricey at $4000 with the pouch. Wallpaper Magazine Fold-up Bike.
If anyone is going to be in the vicinity of Los Alamos, NM in the near future, could you please pick me up one of these? You can get them at the Black Hole of Los Alamos. I am all out of Atomic Bomb Detonator Cables and they don’t have any at the local Home Depot. Go figure.
I was reading Maximum PC online when a picture on the right side caught my eye. Amazingly enough it turned out to be Dustin and Chiemi. On Maximum PC… Makes a father proud!
Dustin & Chiemi on Maximum PC
I thought we were on Oahu but from the look of Hal’s arms we must have been on Molokai.
That's where the leper colony was.
How can one week have gone by so quickly? I was so sad when Saturday came but Hal was ready to go home. He was worn out from having so much fun.
We got up at the crack of dawn because today was Hanauma Bay day which EVERYONE has raved about and rightly so. IT WAS AMAZING. We got there before 7 am. We got great parking and got in for free because the ticket booth wasn’t open. The tide was out, the water was warm enough to just walk in and the sun was just coming up. It was like swimming in an aquarium. The fish were so close and unconcerned about us being there. We saw so many different kinds of fish. Jennie took many great pictures and 2 great videos. To see her photos, go to Fazjizj Forum. I loved, loved, loved snorkeling here. The deepest spot was only about 6 feet deep.
See how I blend in...the fish will think I'm one of them.
The first video is a white fish who was digging like a dog for his breakfast.
Hal saw this bank of fish and got Jennie to come see it. She videoed it with spectacular results. This captures how gorgeous the bay is and mind-blowing it is to swim with the fish. ( We did see some puffer fish but they weren’t blown up.)
We stayed in the water until our fingers got cold and raisin-y and we saw more people than fish. We paid $1 each to ride the tram up the steep hill to the parking lot. Best $1 we spent all week. As we left there was a line waiting to get in – they had to wait until someone left before they could go in.
Hanauma Bay from the top
The dark spots are the coral. Look at the BEAUTIFUL color of the water. If any one needs a tour guide, I am so there for you. I am not kidding!
On our way back to the hotel, we stopped at Leonard’s for Malasadas which are a variation of doughnuts and are still soft and gooey on the inside. They are voted the best bakery in Honolulu by the locals. Yum.
Jennie at Leonard's
We checked out of the hotel then went shopping at the Ala Moana mall for Mu’umu’us – Hawaiian dresses and ate at the Curry House Coco Ichibanya for the SECOND time. Jennie and I love curry and this little little fast food place was delicious. We still had time to kill before our flight so we drove out to Ko Olina which is where the new 4-tower Disney resort is going up. They built several lagoons there and the locals have access but there are only about 15 parking places so that limits how many non-hotel guests go there. There wasn’t much to do there so we left.
We ate dinner at Sam Choy’s Breakfast Lunch and Crab. I ordered ribs and Hal ordered fish. When a different waiter brought the food, he started to give the ribs to Hal and the fish to me because it was a full rack which is way more than I can eat so I only ate the good part with the sauce on it. Jennie said Tom would give me a hard time about wasting the ribs if he was there but I couldn’t possibly eat it all and we couldn’t take it with us. Then to Hilo Hattie’s for last second souvenirs.
We hung out at the airport after turning in the car. The plane was delayed because a gauge wasn’t working so we left 30 minutes late on the red-eye at 10:30 pm and got into LAX at 7:30 am California time. Thanks, Vicki for picking us up. I was able to nap on the plane but not Hal so I made it to church.
Prior to going to Hawaii we were at my parents house while they were watching a show call “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives”. There was a place call Rainbow Drive-in that they had on the show that Jennie and Janet remembered is in Honolulu. So, naturally, we had to go there. Janet had a small Loco Moco. I had Spam & eggs and Jennie had fried rice with Spam. A very Hawaiian breakfast.
Janet & Jennie @ Rainbow Drive-in
We drove up to the north shore for a new adventure after breakfast. We stopped briefly at the Dole plantation on the way up and back. Janet got a pineapple ice cream. We saw a demonstration on how to cut up a pineapple. We skipped the other activities there. It is really geared for kids.
Our adventure for the day was to go out by boat 3 miles off the north shore and get into a shark cage to watch sharks in the wild. (Given that we were the ones caged, perhaps they were watching us!) When we first got there it was just like being in a movie. There were many sharks visible in the water circling our boat ominously. They had to split the people on the boat into two groups and asked who wanted to go first. Janet, Jennie and I immediately raised our hands. Amazingly enough, nobody else did. Apparently people don’t like to be first into the shark cages, except us! Jennie had the camera and got some great shots as the sharks circled around and under us. These are Galapagos Sharks. From what I have read they don’t attack people very often, but when they do they don’t back off. They are very large. The ones we saw were around 5 – 10 ft easy. The water was a beautiful clear blue. It was pretty choppy on the surface, bumping us around making it all the more amazing that Jennie got some great pictures. Janet bought me a tee-shirt to show I was insane fearless while in Hawaii.
Galapagos Shark
Galapagos Shark
Galapagos Shark
Janet with Shark Cage
After we got back in to the dock, yes, we survived with life and limb, we were ready for lunch. We were told about the best shrimp scampi on the island. It was found in a lunch truck called Giovanis. We had to ask at the post office where to find the truck. It was parked with three other lunch trucks in a spot with a few picnic tables. It was the only one with customers. A lot of customers! The truck was covering in signatures. For $13 per person we had the best shrimp scampi and rice ever! It was truly amazing. If you go to Oahu it is worth the drive up to the north shore just to get this for lunch!
Giovanis Shrimp Truck
After lunch we headed over to Waimea Falls. After a beautiful hike of .7 miles Janet and Jennie went for a little swim.
Janet at Waimea Falls
Another fun day of adventures over. Only one to go!
When we were snorkeling I was frustrated because I couldn’t get close to the fish. I tried diving down but over the years my body has developed the ability to float due to a strict seefood diet – “if you see food, eat it.” So I decided that we needed to go scuba diving. The problem with this idea was that even though Hal and I had been certified, our certifications had expired many years ago and Jennie had never even thought about scuba diving. But in the advertisements I had looked at, some of the dive ads specifically said “no experience necessary”. So I called one of the dive companies up and said one of us has never had any experience and the other two probably had forgotten everything they knew. He asked when we wanted to go and I said we were free today. His boat was full but he worked something out with another dive master. We also set up plans for Friday (more on that later). We got our stuff together and met the dive master by the tour bus stop behind the hotel.
His name was Alex. He was tall and British and complained non-stop about everything. He was newly married and complained about nagging wives. I said I never nag Hal and Hal agreed with me but Alex said women are genetically programmed to nag. He complained that Americans only wanted the cheapest price and weren’t concerned with quality – we are Americans (he had recently fired his website designer because it was too expensive and was trying to do it himself.) He said he hated beginning divers – us. I said I had gone to a hula-aerobics class and learned a dance to “I want to go back to my little grass shack in something something Hawaii.”
Hula at the Hilton
(I went to the class and asked if the people that had gathered were waiting for hula class and a guy said “yes. Are you the instructor?” How odd.)
Back to Alex, when I said I had learned hula, he called me a sheep tourist. Then while on the boat, he said I was a “princess” and explained what that meant and it wasn’t complimentary. After all this, I told him, “you keep calling me names” and he said, “Yeah, that’s funny, right?”
We are so happy and excited to be on our way
Anyways, in spite of his people skills, it was great going diving.
So cool it freaks me out.
The first dive was off Waikiki Beach by boat. The water was murky and we had to descend by using the anchor rope. It was worth it and I felt like I was on the Discovery Channel. It was a turtle cleaning spot.
Hal watching the fish at work.
A turtle swam up and a bunch of fish starting eating off the shell. Then it swam off and the next turtle swam up and fish started to clean it off! Wahoo. So neat.
This should be our Christmas photo.
Jennie with a sea urchin
The urchin was alive and it started to suction onto us and wave its spines around. Jennie was a natural diver, she wasn’t nervous or anything.
Waiting to get in the water
We went to another site where the water was clear and saw two 5-foot white tipped reef sharks under a ledge.
They were shy.
This is us watching the sharks,
There were only us three on the dive with Alex. Awesome!
I found this little eel and I called him squishy and he is mine.
Red Coral - I don't know why it's so shiny.
Humuhumunukunukuapua'a - Hawaii's state fish
The black urchins have poison that is VERY painful if you touch them (and they told me that a way to reduce the sting is to pee on the wound). So for multiple reasons I avoided these.
A Hawaiian sea cucumber
This is where the name “Hawaii” came from. Isn’t that amazing that it looks like English letters? Hang loose.
We were swimming along and Alex pointed this out to us.
A fuzz-covered lumpy rock
He picked it up and turned it over.
Surprise - a big conch shell
Then to top off the day we celebrated Hal and my 30th wedding anniversary by going to dinner at the best restaurant at the Hilton – Bali’s By the Sea. It was a gorgeous restaurant right on Waikiki beach.
The windows were open and a sweet ocean breeze kept us cool.
Thirty years went by so fast. It has been wonderful to be married to this handsome guy.
Kiss kiss
Jennie went too.
A new Hawaiian dress for the occasion
The rolls looked like the sea urchins we had been posing with underwater.
My fancy hair-do (At least I combed it.)
Another amazing day. Doing this post is making me home-sick for Hawaii.
The Netherworld 