Friday, December 31, 2004

Trip to Hawai'i, part 5 (the end)

Well, all good things must come to an end. My dad insisted that we leave 3 hours before flight time, and it's a good thing we did. There was a terrible accident on the main highway, and we had to take a detour, along with thousands of other people. It took over two hours to drive 30 miles because of the heavy traffic. We got to the airport about 1/2 hour before flight time, but they sent us to the head of the line to check our bags and we made it. I like the Kona airport - even in this age of heightened security, it seems small and friendly.

It was overcast in Kona, and raining by the time we touched down in Maui 15 minutes later. We got to Honolulu with just enough time to get to our next flight, which was uneventful. As we approached LAX, we could see lightning down below us in the clouds, which looked really interesting. We arrived at LAX just before 11:00 pm, got to our car at midnight, and made it home before 2:00 am.

Trip to Hawai'i, part 4

Christmas Eve was a bit more relaxed. Brian and I took the kids down to the Waikoloa Beach resort area, where we finished up our Christmas shopping. After that, we checked out the Hilton, where they have a dolphin training center. Parents pay over $100 for their children to get in the water and play with the dolphins for a little while. Jacob took lots of pictures there for his girlfriend, who loves dolphins.

My folks met us at 'Anaeho'omalu Bay (the locals call it "A" Bay for short) where Brian and the kids went snorkeling. Unfortunately, they weren't able to see much, probably because there were so many people there. The weather was beautiful - about 80F, as it was for most of our stay in Hawai'i. We had lasagna for dinner out on the lanai at my dad's house, then Brian and Jacob practiced the music for the Christmas service at the Catholic church.

On Christmas morning we left for church at 8:30 so the musicians would have time to practice together for the 10:00 service. Brian played his flute, my dad alternated between his guitar and mandolin, the cantor's wife played the keyboard, and the rest of us sang behind them. The flute was a real treat for the congregation, apparently, as Brian got lots of comments after the service. We went back home and opened the presents after lunch, then goofed around the rest of the day.

We walked 3/4 mile to the local Baptist church on Sunday morning. It was a pleasant change from the Catholic church, but, of course, not like being in our own church. The members were very friendly and made us feel welcome there, and both Brian and Jacob were praised for their fine singing voices. I noticed that very few of the congregation at the Catholic church actually sang, even though most of it was Christmas music. I guess people just don't think they can sing anymore. We stayed and helped put the chairs away after the service, then walked back home to have lunch. On the way home, we talked to Ernst Seiler, who lives across the street from my dad, and confirmed our dinner appointment for that night.

At 5:30, we walked over to Ernst's house, bringing our contributions of apple pie and sparkling cider. Kazuko, Ernst, and their 21 year old son Oto put on quite a feast, with appetizers like poke and goose liver on crackers, and a fine dinner consisting of stuffed roast goose, potatoes, and vegetables. After dinner we moved to the living room for a jam session - Oto and Jacob on guitar, Dad on the mandolin, me on the uke, and Brian on the flute. Ernst joined us on the piano for one song, which was quite a treat. Jacob sang a couple of pieces, and I sang one. All in all, it was quite a pleasant evening. Jacob and Oto had a lot in common and got along quite well - Jacob had someone his age to practice his Japanese on, and Rachel had a great time listening to the music and drawing, which she does incessantly.

Thursday, December 30, 2004

Trip to Hawai'i, part 3

Thursday was our longest day. We had no evening plans, so we didn't have to hurry back. We drove along the northeast coast, which we had had to hurry past the day before. We stopped in Honoka'a and looked in the shops, then continued on to Hilo, where I bought a beautiful Lehua tenor ukulele. We had lunch at Burger King, then visited the lava tree park and the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm. The lava tree park was beautiful - everything was so lush and green, unlike our home in the Mojave desert.

We then traveled to the town of Volcano, and drove along the rim of the caldera, stopping to check out the steam vents, which are still quite active. The view into the caldera and crater was eerie and alien, with very little vegetation and steam rising from the floor. After sunset, we made our way down Chain of Craters Rd. to the end, where we could see glowing lava in the distance. We couldn't hike the 3 miles to the lava flow because of Rachel's foot. After that, we headed back to Waikoloa, this time taking the road along the southern and western coastline, though it was dark. I think we just wanted to be able to say we drove around the whole island in one day (a little over 200 miles). We had a really hard time finding a gas station open, and the only restaurant open was the Denny's in Kailua. One look at the menu, though, and we headed for home. There was no way we would pay over $50.00 for dinner at Denny's! Fortunately for us, dinner was keeping warm in the oven when we reached my dad's house at 11:00.

Trip to Hawai'i, part 2

On the 22nd of Dec. my dad took us to Hilo via the saddle road. I wasn't impressed with the road or the scenery, which was mostly lava. It got better as we neared Hilo, where I went to a yarn shop to look for the yarn I needed to finish a project I've been working on. I was amazed to find the same brand of yarn there - it's rather unusual. We ate lunch at Pizza Hut, then drove to Rainbow Falls, where we climbed a banyan tree. It was huge! It took a while to get my family out of the tree so we could continue on to Boiling Pots and Pe'epe'e Falls just up the road. We climbed down a steep rocky trail to the river, where we met a local boy who was diving into the pools. He showed the kids around while Brian and I explored upriver. When we came back, we were met by the boy, who told us that Rachel had broken her toe. Brian and Jacob helped her up the trail, and we spent the next hour-and-a-half at Kaiser while they x-rayed her and patched her up.

We hurried back to Waikoloa, where my dad lives, because we were expecting guests for dinner. My dad's neighbor, Greg, is a guitarist and singer, and frequently comes over for jam sessions with my dad, who plays mandolin, guitar, and banjo, among other instruments. I had my uke, Brian had his flute, Jacob played guitar and piano, and we all sang and had a great time.

Trip to Hawai'i, part 1

Our plane left LAX at 8:30 am on Dec. 15, which meant we had to leave the house at 4:30 to arrive at the airport by 6:30. I don't do mornings, so this was rather painful for me. And of course, we gained two hours going there, which made the day seem even longer. Brian (my husband) and I went to bed right after dinner. Not much sightseeing that day.

Over the next several days, we did some shopping and sightseeing in the northern part of the big island. There's a lot of beautiful forest and farmland in that area, and the valleys on the northeast coast are spectacular. Brian especially liked the town of Waimea, but we could never afford to live there.

On the 19th, we visited my parents' Catholic church. We're Baptists, so that's a big change for us. When we got there, the cantor asked us if we could sing, as he had laryngitis and wouldn't be able to lead the music. Brian is the music director at our small church, and we both sing at the community college, so we agreed, and after about 30 minutes of practice ( we didn't know much of the music) the service started. Apparently, we did okay - they didn't throw us out :)

The next day, we picked up our 19 year old daughter Rachel and 21 year old son Jacob at the airport, then stopped at a little music shop in Kailua, where I bought a case for my baritone ukulele and a folk song fake book. Then we picked up some groceries and headed for home, where we planned our major sightseeing trips for the rest of the week.

On Tuesday, we went down to Kailua-Kona to do some shopping (I've used that word a lot, haven't I?), then visited a painted church, a coffee plantation, and a neat little antique shop, where I bought my dad some false teeth as a joke (he's been wearing the same ones since 1963). We sampled some Kona coffee and bought a few bags to share with friends at work, then Jacob sang a few bars of "O Holy Night" for the proprietors, which sent their little dog into a tizzy. He's got quite a voice, as you can hear if you check out his blog.

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

I'm back!

Well, I'd practically forgotten about this blog. Here I am, back at work after a 12-day trip to Hawaii to visit my father and stepmother. It was really beautiful, and it was hard to go back to work. I'll write more about it later, after work.