Oregon Living 2022 – Blog #33 – The Fun & Romance Continues!

 

Sunday, August 14^th., 2022……  Because we didn’t get our Hanauma Bay tickets, we had no structured plans for today. So, we slept in and showered and dressed and went down to the Kuhio Grill in the hotel for the most expensive brunch/buffet we have ever had together. $43. ea. plus drinks. With mimosas and tip, our bill was $120.00!  We got back to our room and changed into swim stuff. We got the car and headed to Electric Beach, which is a place told to us by some locals, that is next to an electric plant and has warm water and attracts a lot of pretty reef fish. But, on the way, we made the choice to go back to the north shore area instead. We stopped at the Banzai Pipeline (or rather just east of it) and snorkeled and swam. We had two blow up rings and masks and snorkels so we were ready. I had trouble with my snorkel plus had some problems with claustrophobia under the water, so I kept my time out there to a minimum, but still had some good swimming, fighting the current and the waves.  Cathye – aka the fish – however, went way out. She had a surfer instructor next to us paddle out to tell her the current was taking her too close to the rocky point and to turn around and work her way to the beach.

She made it with no issues (other than getting knocked off and losing her floatie) and we rested and dried off and then went back to the car. We continued up the coastline, stopping for stuff at the local shops. We found two watercolors that we both liked and got those for our bathroom. Here’s a few pics. after we hung them.

 

We got another fix of that pineapple drink from the fish taco food truck at Shark Cove and then continued on and went to the east side of the island and found Kailua Salsa and had more fish tacos and shrimp tacos. We tried their specialty pineapple salsa. Very good! We found the Pali Hwy and used that to get back to Waikiki. But we stopped at the Pali Hwy lookout first for a quick peak at the northeast side. We had no idea but managed to be there when the Blue Angels were out flying!  Not sure if they were doing an air show or just out practicing but they did a nice fly-by for us at the point. Cathye caught the last part on video and captured them just after they passed us.  We isolated one shot from the video and blew up one the image so you see their contrails as they were turning. They split up right after that and made their way to the Marine Corp Base Hawaii out on the point to the right of the pic.

 

So, while we were out for the day, Cathye booked us for dinner tonight at another one of the hotel restaurants. We were dining at Sansei Seafood and Sushi. 1^st. available seating wasn’t until 7:00pm but that worked out because of that taco lunch! Since this was going to be our ‘fancy’ dinner, we dressed up. Yeah – I wore long pants! But it was really cool to be able to go out dressed up and celebrate! Again, this was another pricey place, but, hey, it was a fun experience!  I chose lobster and blue crab ravioli and Cathye had Nobu-Style Miso Butterfish. We chose a sushi – seared ahi salad. Neither of us are sushi fans so this was a cultural shock for both of us – but we both really liked it!  She had a paradise mojito and I tried the sunset cocktail w/hibiscus flowers. They were both delicious.

For having no plans - we found we had a long day and when we walked back to the elevators, we both decided it would be an early night!        

Monday, August 15^th., 2022…… Last full day here. Boy, was it another full day!  Remember, we had double booked and had both the Pearl Harbor tour (w/the Arizona and Missouri tours) and the Polynesian Cultural Center. But we did not realize that when we booked the bus tour to Pearl that it also included a city tour!  That would get us into a time crunch but we just relaxed and settled in and hoped for the best.  We saw Punchbowl, the city buildings, and palaces, and other interesting ‘must see’ sites throughout the day.

We got off the bus at Pearl Harbor and went in for the intro video before boarding the launch to take us to the USS Arizona. I had been before so I knew this was a place of reverence. The had a docent that explained to the crowds gathered about the history and added more facts and info that wasn’t in the video.

We re-boarded the launch and went back to catch the shuttle over to the USS Missouri. I had never been before and was glad we did this one!  Big Mo, as she was known, is famous for many reasons. The reason she is here in Hawaii is because on her decks, the Japanese signed their surrender documents. So they docked the Missouri directly in line with the Arizona and pointed out that one was the start and one was the end of the war. I took in almost every room and section of the ship and got some great pics.

Once we got back on the bus, we were in a hurry to get back to our hotel and get to our car, so we could get to the PCC!  Guess what!  We were the last stop on the driver’s route!  We already had missed most of the day to see the different ‘villages’ (Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, Aotearoa, Tahiti, and Tonga). That would have been an all-day event. Our tickets also included lunch, a luau, and tickets to the see Ha: Breath of Life at the end of the day.  We immediately went to valet and got the car and got going. We made it there and got parked at went in at 5:10pm. That meant we were in time for the luau! Yes! The meal and entertainment were outstanding. We caught the last screening of a 20 minute movie called ‘Hawaiian Journey’, which was very similar to the Disney ride ‘Soaring’. It was so cool that Cathye went to the gift shop and bought the video!  We had plenty of time to get the Pacific Theater to get to our seats for Ha: Breath of Life. Now THAT was worth the price of admission!  No photos or videos allowed, but Cathye got one pic at the very end!

After getting out of the parking lot and on the road, we made the 45-minute drive back home with no worries and crawled into bed tired but happy.  If we had checked our schedule more carefully, we wouldn’t have made the mistake and double booked for today!  But, what the heck, it still was a fun day, crammed with tons of adventures and experiences! 

Tuesday, August 16^th., 2022……  Our flight today wasn’t until 4:20pm (Hawaii time). For some reason, we were up at 6:30am!  We hung around the hotel and went down to Cheeseburgers in Paradise again for breakfast. Cathye wanted to hit the beach again and do some more snorkeling, but her body said, “No!”  We did walk the beach and get in up to our shorts.

We went back and checked out and drove around. I thought we needed to make a few stops. First up was the war memorial (turns out it was closed for remodeling). Then we hit Leonard’s Bakery. We had driven by there before and saw the lines, but our bus driver explained that it was a must-do thing while here. They are famous for their Malasada Puffs. These are special donuts which you can get many ways. We did the obligatory wait in line (20 min.) and chose a 4 pack (custard, dobash, macadamia, and peach). Wow! These things are absolutely delicious and addictive! 

I will be looking for them from here on out! (Portland has several places).  After wiping the sugar off of us and the car seats, we continued on to Hanauma Beach. Since we couldn’t go in, we wanted to do a drive-by there. The park is closed on Tuesdays so we couldn’t get to the beach. Bummer. But we continued and found some beaches we would definitely return to when we visit again!  Stunning! 

We eventually had to start to work our way back to the car return at the airport. I had a question about my rental contract with national emerald but they gave me the bill and it was exactly like it was supposed to be so we were happy. We shuttled over to the airport and boarded. Again, we had first class tickets so we knew the return trip would be comfortable. That we certainly true, but it started out very rocky. We boarded and left the gate and taxied out to the tarmac but, just short of the runway, we had to return to the terminal. Apparently, there was a warning light in the cockpit that needed to be investigated. Long story short, we were delayed almost three hours!  The flight that was due at 12:53am at PDX didn’t get there until 4:17am! We got our bags and called the hotel shuttle and had no issues from there and were on the road quickly and home by 6:30am. Cherrelyn had fed Rylee and left when she knew what time we would be home. Rylee met us with a lot of ‘waggy tail’! She was so happy we were back! Cathye went to bed and slept for a few hours. I guess I was wired from the drive and went in to my office and watched tv for a bit. I must have relaxed after that, because I woke up later when Cathye came in to tell me she was going to pick up Jama. Later, we did all of our unpacking and managed to also do some laundry but that was about it. Also, we had agreed to water the neighbor’s plants and that started today.  So, we went over and got that done and that was about it.  It will take some time to catch up on our sleep but it was definitely all worth it!  Thanks to Cherrelyn for taking care of Rylee. And Thanks to Misty and Lona and then Judy for looking after Jama. You are all stars to us!            

Wednesday, August 17^th., 2022……  In addition to the above hours, we slept in. There were no plans for today. We went over to Albany to give Jamie his money.  Of course we have more watering next door. They must have 30-40 potted plants in all sizes. That takes both of us 30-45 minutes to do. No worries, though, we are glad to help. Tonight, we went over later in the evening so we could water. We were able to use the spa but neither of us wanted to since we were still jet lagged. It was home to crash after that.  

Thursday, August 18^th., 2022……  We spent most of the day finishing up small chores and getting things back to normal here. We need to mow but that will have to wait until we have more energy. More watering today. We ate an early dinner then went over later in the evening to do our watering duties. But we also then could use the hot tub, which was very refreshing. Can’t wait to get ours in. More on that later….

Friday, August 19^th., 2022…… Today was a walk through with the contractor for the deck and patio cover. We are getting ever so closer and today they had numbers for us. Still waiting on others (engineers) to finalize, but at least we know what worst case scenario bucks will be. We can’t and won’t sign until we have a few more items priced and some other issues understood from both parties, but overall, it looks like we are going to go with this company.  Cathye wanted to pick blackberries to can for jelly before we leave next month for our trip to Calif., so we did that today. I needed to use the truckster to span the creek bed and got it backed in so she could reach the tall ones.

Meanwhile, I worked on cutting up some tree limbs to throw onto the burnpile.  Once we were done with that, we cleaned up and came in and rested for the day. Later, we went back over and worked on the watering next door. Tv until bedtime.

Saturday, August 20^th., 2022……  Rich and Linda were due back sometime today so we probably wouldn’t be needed over there anymore.  No worries. It was fun and we were glad to help out!

Today was volunteer work. Cathye had signed us up with SHEM to help distribute backpacks to school kids. They told us that SHEM has previously packed 500. These were loaded with school supplies and were designed to be given out to kids up through grade school. Up here, it’s through the 6^th grade. They also got a gross of backpacks for the junior high and high schoolers. These were empty because they will most likely get tablets or laptops from their schools. This distribution was done in conjunction with a kid’s fair, where the underprivileged could come and get clothes and shoes and other items to help. Cathye took up station in the van where all of the loaded backpacks were. Her job was to hand them out for the tables as needed. Meanwhile, I chose to work the older kid’s table. I took out all of the backpacks from the boxes and laid them out on the tables.

The families would get signed in and the littles would hit the one station while the older kids would come around with their tickets which they would turn in to me and got to pick their color. In the beginning, we had a few notebooks and file folders but they didn’t last long, so it was a backpack and pencils for each of them. We worked about 4 hours in total and when the crowd got thinner in the afternoon, we needed to leave so we headed back home to take care of the dogs. We relaxed and then went back over to the house to water since we didn’t see their car yet and thought we’d do one more day for them. I think we have gotten back into the routine and our clock has adjusted so we’re back in the zone here again!