Hawaii Trip

I am so sad that the Hawaii trip is over. It was AMAZING! I am going to attempt to log what we did each day while in Hawaii. It may take me a few days, maybe even weeks. It will also, I'm sure, be very boring to those reading. I am doing this for me since I am getting old and can barely remember what happened yesterday. I can not guarantee my spelling or grammar.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

This was not a very exciting day. Our Delta flight, DL1181, did not leave until 3:05 P.M. I spent a leisurely morning finishing up what needed to be done at home. While Wade went into work to finish up a few loose ends. We left for the airport around 1:10 p.m., courtesy of our neighbors father. Both Teena and I being harassed at how heavy our bags where. They both weighed less than the 50lb limit so we were just fine. Coming home was a different story. We will save that for later.

Nothing exciting at the airport, same old, same old. We flew from Salt Lake to Los Angeles and then from Los Angeles to Honolulu. After a 5 hour flight to Hawaii we arrived safe and sound and ready to get to the Hotel and to bed. It was 8:44 P.M. in Hawaii but 12:44 A.M. in Salt Lake. We needed to sleep.

Los Angeles Airport

Honolulu Airport

Friday, October 2, 2009

This was a very early morning. When looking for a cruise, Teena had found a package that included arriving two days early and staying at Waikiki Resort.

Also included was a Honolulu City Tour on Friday morning, very early. The instructions for the tour made it clear that the bus would depart promptly at 6:30 a.m. So we were in line to depart promptly at 6:30. You guessed, it did not leave promptly. I had forgotten to bring our vouchers for the tour that morning so it was good that I had time to go back to our room and retrieve them. Our tour began by heading to Pearl Harbor. Along the way we heard many informative facts about Hawaii. None that I remember, except where President Obama went to school. If I remember right, it was a very expensive school, around $17,000 a year to attend. If you have more than one child, good luck. Once we arrived at Pearl Harbor we had about 30 minutes to walk around the visitor center and museum before our tour would begin. It was such a humbling experience to read and see what actually happened on December 7, 1941. I am not a history buff so all the facts that I have learned over the years have not stuck with me. One thing that I had not remembered was that radar, in its primitive form, was being used. The Japanese aircraft's were spotted on the radar but the commander in charge said it was us returning from a training mission. You wonder what that commander was thinking afterwards. We then saw a short 20 minute presentation about what happened the morning of the 7th. Then we were shuttled to the Arizona Memorial which sits over the sunken USS Arizona. While at the memorial there is a very solemn feeling. Most everyone moves around quietly and speaks in whispers.

Arizona Memorial

Looking towards the stern of the ship

Also in front of the memorial wall, I did not get a picture, is a smaller wall that contains more names. Not knowing for sure what it was I asked. Those are the names of the survivors who have since passed away. The families of the service men/women have brought the ashes back to be buried with their ship mates. Divers take the urns with there ashes and place them on a shelf within the ship. I thought that was cool.

Memorial Wall

As we were at the memorial we could not see any oil coming from the ship. We were told that was a daily occurrence. As we were leaving is when we saw it. The survivors call it the Black Tears of those men and women who lost their lives that day.

Black Tears

On our way back from Pear Harbor we stopped at what is referred to as "The Punchbowl". It's official name is National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. It was designed and built into the Pu'owaina Crater which means Hill of Sacrifice. It is a memorial to those who perished from the attacks on Pearl Harbor as well as other wars. Our tour guide said that on Memorial Weekend every grave in this cemetery has a Lei put on it. It is a beautiful sight. This is where 33,230 service men and women from four wars are buried.

Punchbowl

We arrived back in time to have a quick lunch and then head off to our next adventure, The Polynesian Culture Center. This tour bus did arrive pretty much on time and we were on our way. Our tour guide was from Samoa and had family that had been killed by the Tsunami. He was very sad that he was not able to return home to their funerals.

Soon after we arrived we were watching the canoe pageant and dripping because of the heat and humidity. Once that ended we visited four of the Island Villages. At the Tahiti Village, Dennis was chosen to go on stage and dance. It was a riot to watch. Hopefully Teena will get a picture of it. All of mine were blurry, darn. We kept telling him we are going to put it in our ward newsletter.

Our ticket purchase had included the Luau and the new show, Ha-Breath Of Life. That was a very good show. It was a good day. I enjoyed it but probably needed more time to enjoy it fully. It felt rushed.

Wow, what a fun filled packed day. Back to the hotel for some sleep. Tomorrow morning we can sleep in a little.