Return from Paradise

We got back from our trip on Wednesday evening. Robert met us at the airport, and we went to dinner at IHOP (Adam and a friend joined us there). I started on South Beach yesterday, because I need to lose the 8 pounds I gained on the trip. I had purchased a pair of white capris for the trip, and they were lined. I should have worn them the first week, because when I tried them on the second week, they were a bit too snug and I was worried about tearing the lining, which would not be good.

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip. Holland America does a terrific job with their food and service. The stewards and waiters were so pleasant and attentive. We were really pampered. Ed had been so stressed before we left, that he got two cold sores the day we left (he gets them when he's stressed). With his handyman work, his hands get really hammered, and he had several fingers with splits by the nails. While we were gone his hands completely healed. The real question is how long that will last.

I'm going to make a movie of the whole trip, but following are some pictures highlighting our stops:

Kona -

We were scheduled to go on a snorkeling/sailing excursion, but a sudden squall came up and they had to cancel it for safety purposes. It got so bad for a while that they had to shut down transportation back and forth from the ship. Oh, well. It gives us an excuse to go again! =D



We did a little sightseeing around the city and bought some souvenirs for kids and grandkids. Ed was wearing his Vietnam Vet hat, and he got his first expression of gratitude for his service that he's ever received. It made him cry.

Nawiliwili, Kauai



In Nawiliwili, we saw the Grand Canyon of the Pacific:



I think this was my favorite of the islands. I love the landscape, but it's also still small enough that it doesn't have the big city feel you get on Maui or Oahu.

Lahaina, Maui

Here we did an excursion that took us from the Ocean (the Aquarium) to the spire--a mountain peek overseeing the battle where the Maui king lost to King Kamehemehe, who was battling to unite the islands under one ruler.



I must confess that I found out where Dumbledore has continued his great adventure--Maui! =D



Oahu

This was a bit of coming home for me. I spent the summer I was 16 here, staying with family friends stationed at Pearl Harbor. Their oldest daughter was 20, and Dottie and I did all kinds of fun stuff that summer. Dean and Lona, my hosts, were so very gracious.

It was fun to share some of my experiences with Ed, and now we have some of our own memories there. We visited the Arizona Memorial and the Missouri (where the surrender of the Japanese took place in 1945), where one of Ed's ancestors (probably an uncle) was a crewmember at the time of the signing of the documents. The tour of the Arizona is very different from the way it was conducted in 1971--it's very big and organized now. They have a visitor's center with a movie even.





My uncle was stationed at Pearl Harbor the day it was bombed. It's not something he's been willing to talk about.

Hilo

We went volcano hunting on Hilo. We started at 6 a.m. when the ship came close to erupting Kilauea. The voice you hear in the background is of our Hawaiian shipboard authority saying a prayer to the Hawaiian Volcano Goddess, Pele.



Unfortunately, it was a bit rainy that day, and when you mix the heat of the volcano crater with moisture, you get a thing they call Vog. Totally ruins the view. You'll have to take my word for it that there's a volcano crater behind the mist. =D



We did get to walk through a huge lava tube though. Ed thought that experience was worth it.



Ensenada

This was a very short stop, as we didn't dock until about 7 p.m. Our excursion there was to the cultural museum to see a show and learn a little about the history of Baja California. It was a little funny to me because there was a bar in the museum, and the Margarita was included as part of the tour. =D For nondrinkers there were sodas, but at that hour I didn't want caffeine to keep me awake, since we had to get up early the next morning to catch our plane home (to cold, foggy haze).



For our next cruise we'd like to go to Alaska.