Hawaii 2007

I believe the right side navigation column shows up correctly if viewed in Mozilla Firefox. Sometimes if viewing in Internet Explorer, especially if you aren’t using 7.0, you have to scroll down to the bottom of the page to see the navigation.

Also, you may vote on the pictures and rate them on baldheadedgeek.com by clicking on the stars. As most of you have seen, you can also leave comments in addition to rating the pictures, but you can do each individually.

We disembarked the ship on Sunday, rented a car, and spent the day in Honolulu before our late flight home. We went over to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. They had nuts, pineapple and other fresh fruit. There was also shop after shop of hisbiscus and plumeria flowers for your hair, kukui nut leis, silk flower leis, tiki statues, wall decor, jewelry, hawaiian backpacks, pocketbooks, luggage, beach towels, hawaiian shirts and dresses. They had some really neat things, some even hand made in Hawaii. This swap meet was very similar to the open air market we went to in Kona where we tried the spam sushi, except for it spanned around the large stadium with so many vendors. This was a neat place to shop, however we also liked shopping at the ABC stores that were all over Hawaii and sold similar items such as water, juice, milk, macadamia nuts, calendars, mugs, beach towels, jewelry, t-shirts, kukui nut leis, silk flower leis, plumeria hair clips, tiki statues, etc. (Note: The hisbiscus is the state flower and the plumeria are used for leis.) The ABC store was much like Wings at the beach and on just about every other street corner. Chad loved the macadamia nuts and purcased a pack every time we stopped to get a bottle of water. The bottled water was only about $1 for a big bottle and it was very good! After we finished up at the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet, we went to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. We went on a 75-minute program that consisted of the film and boat to the Memorial. The Memorial is considered a cemetary, a place for people to take flowers and visit a grandparent, etc. that may have died in the attack on December 7, 1941. It is also a place for any American to pay tribute to the American soldiers who have given their lives for our country.

Against All Odds
(Tribute to William G. Turner, Private United States Marine Corps Ewa Marine Corps Air Station) The Marines at Ewa fought back with any weapon they could find. Private Turner and Master Sergeant Peters jumped into a rear cockpit of an aircraft parked on the runway and used the rear machine gun to fire at attacking Japanese planes. Both men were wounded but managed to shoot down one of the attackers. Private Turner died as a result of his wounds on December 12, 1941. He received the Bronze Star for his extaordinary bravery under fire.

Angel of Mercy
(Tribute to Anna Urda Busby, Second Lieutenant U.S. Army Nurse Corps Tripler General Hospital)

In 1939, Anna Busby joined the United States Army Nurse Corps. On December 7th, she had just finished breakfast when she heard a terrible noise. Running outside, she saw black smoke spiraling into the sky. She got word that the Japanese were bombing Pearl Harbor. Anna put her uniform on and reported for duty at Tripler General Hospital. The corridors were overflowing with the wounded from Pearl Harbor. Anna tended to hundreds of patients that day. She got little rest and worked through the night. On that day, Anna was typical of the dedication of nurses and doctors throughout the island of Oahu.

They were only two of the men and women who have served and sacrificed for the United States of America. Their stories were on our two admission tickets to go through the program and go out to the USS Arizona Memorial. I just thought I would share these with you. I think it is nice and I assume there is a different one on each admission since mine and Chad’s was different.

After we left the Memorial, we went to the Ala Moana Shopping Center to get a bite to eat and take advantage of their free parking. Then we left there and went back to Waikiki Beach to rest a little under the palms before our long flight. It was nice; we sat out there on a bench in front of the ocean. We got some good pics of the sunset over the beach and have posted them. We are also posting some miscellaneous pics that we didn’t take time to post since we had limited internet connections while on the trip. Enjoy! If you have commented on pictures that we have posted, we are not sure how to answer back at this time. We enjoyed your comments and just wanted you to know that we saw them.

We woke up at the Lahaina Inn and posted pictures and descriptions. Then we had to check out and give up the Internet connection, so that is why I am posting now. This was a fun day. We went back out to Black Rock again. Chad snorkeled again and I stayed on the beach with our laptops and other valuables that we were scared to leave alone. The water was more choppy today but he had a good time. We then left and went back to the Lahaina Inn parking and walked around Front Street in Maui some more. Front Street lines the ocean and is very beautiful, much like Waikiki Beach. We got took some pictures of the Lahaina Inn and on Front Street. We also went to Bubba Gump’s to eat lunch. It was a nice view as we ate right on the ocean. The food was delicious and we ordered the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sundae. Chad is including a picture for you—It was heavenly. (No dieting on VACATION!!)

We walked around some of the shops on Front Street and then headed back to our car to drive back to the ship. We got on the ship and went to a magician show and ate a nice dinner in the ship’s dining room. We had to pack up for our dismebarkation the next morning. The luggage had to be outside our door by midnight.

Does going to McDonald’s at 1:30 a.m. mean we have jetlag?

Just checking the site from the Apple store. Can’t upload any pics or anything. Just killing time till the flight out tonight. Went to the biggest swap meet we’ve ever seen at the Aloha Stadium this morning, and then went to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor this afternoon. We’ll post the rest of the pics when we get home. Aloha.

We picked up our rental car and headed for Lahaina, Maui. We checked into the Lahaina Inn. There are two words to describe this “boutique” inn, comfortable and cozy. Though, it is bigger than our cruise ship room and we can get free internet from the room! Lahaina is a small beach side town with roads hardly big enough to drive in your lane. However, it is very charming and beautiful!! We went to tbe Black Rock area of Kaanapali Beach in front of the Sheraton Resort to lay out and snorkel. Chad went out and around the black rock to snorkel a good way from the shore. Then he came back and told me he had seen sea turtles and so many fish, so I decided to go out. I held his hand and he drug me out to see the beautiful schools of tropical, colorful fish and then I saw three sea turtles swimming. They would come to the surface and stick their heads out. It was like a dream when I saw two that had surfaced diving back to the bottom—in the same field of vision through my snorkel goggles. I also saw two of the yellow fish like Nemo. They were such a beautiful bold yellow. Chad and I would point underwater when we saw interesting fish, which were all around us. This has to be the best place I have ever snorkeled. Hawaii, has the best snorkeling and we have been snorkeling in the Carribean. Chad said he cannot believe they even call that snorkeling in the Carribean, after snorkeling in Hawaii. I am glad that Chad convinced me I wanted to snorkel at Black Rock because it was the most beautiful. On our way back from the beach, we had to walk through Whaler’s Village Shopping Center, which is also where we parked. I sat in on a lei making class so I could learn how the flower leis are made. I made a yellow and white plumeria headband to wear to the luau tonight. The nice instructor taught me how to measure the thread and feed the flowers through the needle and thread. Mom, you would have loved this. I was envied by all the ladies at the luau and several of them even commented on my beautiful flowers.

I went into a store outside the place near the luau and bought a beautiful purse made of bamboo and sea shells. I used this to carry our camera and camcorder around during the luau. I guess a new pocketbook can accomadate a lady as soon as she buys it. LOL

This is what I have been waiting for— The Feast at LeLe. The tables and stage were set up ocean front on the sand and we were front row center. It pays to make your reservation 4 months in advance. We had cuisine from Hawaii, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Samoa. We were served four courses, one from each island, and then an awesome dessert plate with tropical fruit, a truffle, and a macadamia nut tart. In between each course, there were performances from each island. The fire dancer, from Samoa, was the last performance. I loved the red dragon fruit. I thought it tasted like strawberry melon. This was the night I had been waiting for and it even exceeded my expectations. We are posting pictures from the luau, sharks, kayaking, and all of the snorkeling because we got the underwater camera developed today. Aloha.

We got off the ship by tendering into the pier. Once we got on the island, we looked around the shops for a little while and then caught a shuttle to a beach we had read about that was supposed to be one of the top snorkel spots. Kona doesn’t have any sand beaches and the one we went to was mostly lava rock and tiny pieces of rock and shell. It was hard on the feet but once you got out in the water the snorkeling was great. Saw some of the same fish we saw in Honolulu, and then saw a sea turtle come up to the edge to eat. We got on the shuttle to go back to the ship, but we got the driver to let us off a little further up in town. We went to an outdoor market and tried some spam sushi and macadamia nut cook for a snack. Actually, the Spam sushi was very good–just a piece of spam with rice underneath and wrapped in seaweed. Spam is a special treat in Hawaii and fifty years ago or so, they depended so much on it for food because it was a non-perishable item and easily imported. We got back to the ship early and got to supper and the shows.

So it is finally Wednesday and we are in Hilo, time to see the volcano. We got off the ship promptly at 9:00 am and caught the Thrifty shuttle to the airport and picked up our car. For a pleasant surprise we were upgraded to a nice brand new Dodge Magnum. It had cruise control, power windows and keyless entry. It was nothing like our little Toyota Yaris in Honolulu. We found out from the shuttle driver and from the rangers at the park that the eruption had shifted about two weeks ago and to go to the where the lava is dumping into the ocean is now a 9 mile round trip hike. Even then you only get to see steam during the day. You can’t see the color of the flowing lava till dusk or later. Also there were no surface breaches from the summit to the ocean, which means no lava flowing on the surface of the lava fields. We were a little disappointed that we wouldn’t be hiking to flowing lava, but still enjoyed the Volcano National Park. First we stopped at the visitor’s center and looked at al the exhibits and information about the volcano. Then we headed straight for the Chain of Craters Road that leads to the lava fields. Along the way we stopped at some steam vents and crater sites, but most of the craters were too big to get a good picture of. The road ends where lava overtook it. We parked and headed out across the lava. There were a couple of marked paths that lead to lookouts where you can see the steam from the lava dumping into the ocean. We hiked out past the paths on our own and ate a picnic lunch there on some lava rocks. We had ordered two room service turkey club sandwiches first thing that morning and packed them with some drinks in a cooler bag. It was really amazing walking around on some of the newest land on the planet. The North side of the island is about a million years old and the south part that we were on is about a year old. After we got back to our car from the hike, we decided that we really needed to see some eruption activity. Since the lava flow had shifted, you could barely even see the steam plumes anymore. It was pretty quiet out on the lava fields. So as soon as we got a cell phone signal, Pam started calling around to see if it was too late to grab a helicopter tour. It was 2:40 and the last company Pam called could put us on their 3:30. We had to be back on board the ship by 5:30 so that was the only time we could do it. We also had a 45 minute drive back to the airport from the park. We finally checked in with the helicopter company at 3:25. The pilot was great and pointed out all kinds of land marks along the way back to the volcano. We saw several waterfalls and our ship from the helicopter. The view was awesome once we got to the summit. There was smoke pouring out of some craters with glowing red lava visible inside the craters. As we flew over the lava fields he pointed out where some hot spots were, the silver colored parts were still too hot to walk on, but there was no lava visible on the surface. After we circled the summit a couple of times we headed for the coast. That is where the lava is pouring into the ocean. It was a much more dramatic sight up close than it was from the ground back at the end of Chain of Craters Road. There were streams of red lava dripping into the water and exploding when it hit. Throughout the day we took lots of pictures and video, at the park and in the helicopter. The last part of the day was around 9:30 that night when the ship sailed by volcano. It glowed bright red from miles off and as we drew closer you could see the lava actually dripping into the ocean and of course the steam coming off it. The ship passed as close as it could and then did a full 360 so that it was visible to all decks. We stayed out on the deck for about 2 hours watching the volcano approach, then recede.

We’ve heard that some people have posted comments and none of them are showing up.�? Must be something we are doing wrong or this blogging software is buggy.�? Either way, just know we haven’t deleted any comments and we’re sorry they aren’t showing up.

�? Update*****�? Fixed the comments.�? It was our fault.�? We read them all but don’t have time to respond.�? Gotta catch the shuttle back to the ship.

Then we got off of the ship and got onto a free shuttle to Anchor Cove shopping center. We went over to Kalapaki Beach Marriott resort right beside Anchor Cove. The palm trees here were on a beautiful grassy area where we could put our towels down and no sand. Then you could walk right out onto the beach after the grass. We rented a two person kayak and went out into the bay.

We went to see a comedian onboard and then we went to Kahili, the fancy Italian restaurant onboard the ship. This was a long, fun day. We were impressed with how nice the beach was and we went to the beach again the next day since we hadn’t planned any tours for this stop. We are sitting under palm trees on Kalapaki Beach right now while we type this. Chad just took a single kayak out onto the ocean again. This time he took the water proof camera where he could get a view of where our cruise ship was docked and take some pictures. He had fun and on his way out there a wave broke on him and just about flipped the kayak over. We are going to lay on this beach and finish our posts, post them, and then board the ship that sets sail for Hilo at 1:00 p.m. This afternoon we sail by the Napali Coast Line which is supposed to be some of the most beautiful beach in Hawaii.

So far, we have not paid for internet access at all. We are getting some free access right now on this beach. We decided to try it and there was an open connection. We have been lucky!!�? Tomorrow, we get to walk onto the lava fields at Volcano National Park. Stay tuned, in case we get to post again. Aloha.