2019 Hawaii

In the late morning when it seemed the rain was stopping for a while, we drove to the nearby botanical garden which was constructed in conjunction with a flood-prevention reservoir after devastating floods in the 1960s that destroyed many homes and killed 2 people. There is a small but interesting visitor center that describes some of the native trees and shrubs. There are 4 different section of the garden with vegetation native to South America, Hawaii, Africa and Polynesia. A cement path leads from the visitor center through the South American vegetation which is well-marked. At the Hawaiian section, there was no path and the ground was very soggy, muddy and slippery from the recent rain which left our shoes caked in mud. It was surprising that the Hawaiian plants were not around the visitor center. We then went to a Buddhist temple nearby that was constructed at the edge of a large cemetery in the 1960s. It is a replica of a famous 900 year-old temple in Japan and has a large be...

We made a reservation for the Kualoa Ranch "Jeep Jungle Expedition" tour that winds its way up through the steep forested mountain of Kualoa Ranch. Kualoa Ranch is a 4000 acre ranch purchased by Dr. Gerrit Judd from King Kamehameha III in 1850. Sugar cane was grown and processed here until the owner's son died tragically by falling into the boiling sugar. Cattle are still raised here although the main business is tourism. Kualoa Ranch has also been used for many movies, including Jurassic World, Jumanji, King Kong and others. The visitor center has photos of many of the actors who have been in movies filmed here. Our Jeep tour was interesting and had beautiful scenery looking down toward the ocean. It is a pretty bumpy ride and not recommended for pregnant women or people with bad backs - coming down was a bit like being on a roller coaster. We were very lucky that it was sunny during most of the tour. As we were coming down, we could see rain approaching and the tour...

At 3am and 5am we received loud reverse-911 alerts on our cell phone that there was a flash flood warning for the next 3 hours. There were strong thunderstorms in the morning. When we left around 9:30, there were deep puddles on the road but not enough to be a problem. The tour of Shangri La starts at the Honolulu Art Museum with a shuttle back and forth. There is public parking only a block from the museum but it took us 30 minutes to get there due to a major accident blocking one road, many one-way streets and no left turn signs. The GPS told at one point told us to make a u-turn on a 6-lane highway in the center of Honolulu but miraculously, I managed to do it. Shangri La was created as a second home for Doris Duke, the only heir of the Duke tobacco fortune. She was married and divorced twice and had no children so she decided to leave it as an Islamic art museum. On her honeymoon in 1934, she traveled extensively in Asia and the orient, going through Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran...

We had planned to leave early in the morning to go snorkeling at Hanauma Preserve which is supposed to be one of the best places for snorkeling in Oahu. At 6am we had a downpour and the forecast was for more rain so we decided not to go out. By mid-morning, the sun came out and Carmen and I walked down to Lanikai Beach. I went swimming but it was a bit chilly so we didn't stay there too long. A little before noon it was sunny and we all decided to head over to Hanauma Bay. We took the top off Dave's rental Jeep so we could pretend to be young people out for a ride but before long it started to sprinkle. We thought it would stop soon but it continued gently for the next 30 minutes or so. It mostly went over Dave and Betty in the front seat but we couldn't avoid it in the back. Fortunately, it stopped by the time we got to Hanauma Bay and the sun came out. Before going down to the beach, we had to watch a video on the history of the bay and protecting the coral, fish ...

Carmen and I spent the day driving around by ourselves. Like many urban areas, the roads are unable to handle the growth in rush-hour traffic commuting into Honolulu. They have a device that moves the concrete "Jersey" barriers to increase the number of lanes into the city in the morning and the number of lanes going out in the afternoon - it is quite a machine to see. Fortunately, we were traveling after rush hour so it wasn't a problem. The Dole Plantation is a huge tourist attraction with tour buses bringing people in from Honolulu. We took the "Pineapple Express" train, a mini-train that runs through the pineapple fields and a narrator who gave a history of Dole which was quite interesting. James Dole came here in 1899 after graduating from Harvard with a degree in agriculture and recognized that pineapple was one of the few crops that would grow well in the iron-rich volcanic soil. His original 60 acres has grown to 6000 acres. There is also a garden sh...

After a relaxing morning having coffee, breakfast and reading the paper, Carmen and I walked down to the Lanikai beach and found a spot above the water edge. Even though it was low tide, there isn't much room between the water and the hedges separating the houses from the beach. Betty came a bit later and Dave stopped at a deli to get sandwiches and drinks for lunch on the beach. The water was a beautiful pale blue green with heavy surf at the reef about half a mile out that protects the bay. Lunch at Lanikai Beach

A slightly cool 62 degrees and partly sunny. Carmen noticed that there was a rainbow stretching from the ocean to the mountain behind us. A few minutes later we had a heavy rain which continued off and on for an hour. The rain stopped and the sun came out so we walked a few blocks down to the Lanikai Beach with azure-blue waters inside the reef. I was sorry I hadn't worn my bathing suit as the water was beautiful. On the way to the beach we saw the beautiful egret below on top of a hedge. We were at the beach for about half an hour when the sky turned dark to the north and we decided to head back although a few minutes too late. The sky opened up and poured - we walked back, covering our heads with the beach mats which weren't especially effective. By the time we got back to the apartment, the rain stopped and the sun was starting to come out again. When it seemed that it might stay dry for a while, Dave took us on a small sightseeing drive around the area and alon...

We got up at 5am in order to get a hotel shuttle around 6 to the Alaska Airlines terminal for our 7:30am flight. When we check luggage and just have small bags that can go under the seat in front of us, we usually wait until the end of the boarding process to get on, even if we have priority boarding. The flight left on time with a longer than expected flight time of 6 1/2 hours due to the strong westerly jet stream at 130 mph. It was so strong, that the plane needed to make an unplanned stop in Denver to refuel which resulted in our arriving in LA two hours late. Fortunately, we had 4 hours between flight so it was not a problem and we had time to have lunch at the airport. The flight from LA to Honolulu was delayed as they were waiting for passengers on other delayed flights. Due to overbooking, they were offering $850 to travel on a flight 3 hours later but it wasn't worth it to us. Again, due to strong headwinds, the flight arrived an hour late. Aside from being a bit bumpy...

An amazingly warm day in Woodstock, 52 degrees and sunny. Temperature is quickly going down in the afternoon. We left the house at 5pm, stopping at the Majestic Diner on Rt 17 near Paramus. This is our "go to" restaurant when traveling to Newark airport for an evening flight or staying at the Airport Marriott for an early morning flight. The food and the price is reasonable, especially compared with eating at the Marriott or at the airport. On our recent trips, we've been using the SNAP parking near the airport. It is covered valet parking and the price is reasonable. The parking shuttle drivers will drop us off at the Marriott which is very convenient. Carmen brought some wine which we enjoyed in the room. The rooms are surprisingly quiet for being next to the airport.