Oahu, Hawaii 2001

Oahu (Hawaii) 2001 Introduction

Our trip to Hawaii started at 5:15a on Saturday, November 17 and ended around 12:30p on Sunday, November 25. We had a lot of fun and took a lot of pictures that don't do the beauty justice.

Google Earth image of France

Below is a list of the participants and their relation (in order of reference).

Name Relation
James James
Julie Julie
Eric James' college roommate who was serving in the Coast Guard when we visited.
Jim James' dad
Gayle James' mom
Jeff Julie's younger brother
Grubby Jeff's longtime friend
Surella Julie's mom
Gary Julie's dad
Jolene Julie's sister
Robby Jolene's then boyfriend



Saturday, 11/17/2001 – Fly to Hawaii

The cab company we called didn't record the request in their computers so no cab came to get us at 5:15a. Our flight was at 7:15, so at 5:30 we drove to the airport. While waiting to check our luggage, we left a message on our answering machine for the neighbor, who was taking care of Shadow, asking him to go get the car.

We made our flight ok and when we checked in at the Orlando airport, they told us we could move to an exit row on the flight from San Francisco to Hawaii; we gladly accepted. Our 5 hour flight to San Francisco was uneventful. Once we got to San Francisco, James called the afore mentioned neighbor to let him know about the car. We ate box lunches from the first flight in the San Francisco terminal and then boarded the plane for the 5 hour flight to Honolulu.

The "exit" row seats were actually the front row of the main cabin so we had lots of leg room, and were some of the first people off the plane. With about 45 minutes left in the flight, James moved to the window seat with the camera and got several pictures from the plane (images 1-3).

After we landed, our friend Eric picked us up at the airport and drove us to the hotel. When we got to the one where we had reservations, the bell hop told us we had been moved to an adjacent tower because of the low number of reservations. Of the four towers operated by the same company on the block, only one was in use. We ended up staying at the one pictured here (image 4).

It was a half block closer to the beach and taller than the one where we actually had reservations. We checked in and Eric came with us up to the room on the 19th floor. Eric thought it was really funny when our room had two single beds; Julie and James did not. We immediately went back to the front desk and got a room with a king size bed and a kitchenette (what we had reserved at the other hotel) on the second floor. As it turns out, James' parents were in the room adjoining the one on the 19th floor and we were given that room because they assumed we were young children and needed to be next to our parents.

James' parents actually arrived first, so our first evening in Hawaii ended with dinner at an Italian restaurant near the hotel and a walk down the beach with James, Julie, Eric, Jim, and Gayle. James did make a phone call to a co-worker leaving a voice-mail with the surf in the background.




Sunday, 11/18/2001 – Rest and Plan

Julie's parents did not actually arrive at the hotel until about 12:15a Sunday morning. They called to let us know they had arrived safely and we promptly went back to sleep. There was a 5 hour time difference. Julie adjusted right away, but James had a little more trouble. At 5a on Sunday, he couldn't go back to sleep, so he decided to walk down to the beach near our hotel and take some pictures of the sunrise and Diamond Head from a small pier (image). It would have been about 6:45a. This was one of the mornings a meteor shower was occurring so James got to see that as well.

James stopped at McDonald's for breakfast on the walk back to the hotel and woke Julie up about 7a. We turned on the TV and watched the beginning of the NASCAR race at Atlanta.

Sunday was spent resting from our travels and looking at what to do the rest of the week. James, Eric, Jeff, and Grubby spent part of the afternoon at the beach (and a bar near the beach). Julie, Gayle, and Surella went to a shopping area called the International Market Place. Gary and Jim took naps and watched TV. Jolene and Robby went shopping.

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Monday, 11/19/2001 – Happy Birthday Jolene

We met Julie's parents for breakfast and then tried to make reservations for a tour, but it was already full for the day. We proceeded to make the rest of our tour reservations for the week. Julie, James, and the parents then decided to spend the day shopping. We had several requests/ransom demands for items. We were able to find a specific brand of sandals for our neighbor so we could get our cat back.

The younger crowd had not gotten out of bed when we went to breakfast and had left by the time we returned. We discovered later they had walked to Diamond Head (3-4 miles), hiked the trail to the top (1 mile up), climbed back down (1 mile down), and caught a ride back to Waikiki. They complained about their feet the rest of the week.

Everyone, except Eric, went to dinner together to celebrate Jolene's 21st birthday. We had a wonderful dinner and then Jeff and Grubby took her to some of the local drinking establishments they had "researched" the night before.



Tuesday, 11/20/2001 – Visiting Local Landmarks

Tuesday was the only day Eric had to work, so we decided we would go on the Pearl Harbor Tour as it was the only thing everyone wanted to do. The tour included the USS Arizona Memorial, The USS Missouri, and the Honolulu Civic Center. Our driver made a slight detour and took us through Punchbowl, The National Cemetery of the Pacific.

Before catching the boat to the actual memorial (image 1), we stopped at the visitor's center where we took pictures (images 2-3), bought souvenirs, grabbed a snack, looked at exhibits about the attack, and looked at a memorial for those who died during the attack that were not on the Arizona. The Arizona Memorial itself only has the names of the men who were on board. After watching a short film about the attack, we boarded a small boat that took us out to the memorial (image 4). There was a great deal of emotion in the air at the memorial. If you have heard that there is still oil leaking from the ship, it was true in 2001; we saw some. The memorial also offers a great view from the harbor back toward the hills (image 5).

After leaving the USS Arizona Memorial, we took a trolley to where the USS Missouri is now docked (image 6). They have it next to the Arizona to symbolize the beginning and end of WWII for the United States. There are both guided and self tours of the ship. We enjoyed walking around on our own and listening in to the tour guide whenever we were close enough. There is also a gift shop on board as well as a snack bar in the galley. Watch out for the chili cheese nachos.

After the Missouri, our guide took us on the detour to Punchbowl. Along the way, we passed by Aloha Stadium, past home of the NFL Pro-Bowl (image 7). Punchbowl is basically the Arlington National Cemetery for those who lived in the Pacific area (image 8). One of the Challenger Astronauts is buried there as well as a famous WWII war correspondent. Only spouses of those there are still being buried in the cemetery. A second cemetery is now in use on the other side of the island. Punchbowl is actually a crater of an old volcano and is considered to be the sister of Diamond Head. They stand like two sentinels on either side of Honolulu.

After we left Punchbowl, we drove to the civic area of Honolulu. We saw the only royal palace on US soil as well as the statue of King Kamehameha. This statue is often seen with huge leis on it on days of celebration.

James did not do too well with the nachos so after returning to the hotel, we decided to catch a small bite to eat and then went to see Eric's apartment (image 9). This ended our Tuesday. A very emotional day.




Wednesday, 11/21/03 – Visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center

On Wednesday, James, Julie, Jim, and Gayle went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. This was another tour as a group but it didn't leave until about 11a. The drive across the island took us over the hills on the Likelike highway. (Note: it is not the like-like highway, it is pronounced Le-ka-le-ka with all the vowels being long.) The drive over the mountains with the low clouds was beautiful (images 1-3).

We got to the center about 1p after the bus ride and a short stop at a tourist trap. The Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) is actually run by Brigham Young University Hawaii. Most of the performers and park people are students. The admission fees and such help pay their tuition. There are seven different island groups represented: Samoa, Fiji, Hawaii, Marquesas, Tonga, Tahiti, and New Zealand. Each group has different cultural exhibits and presentations.

Samoa was the best performance as the chief was a big ham; he really knew how to play the crowd (image 4). There was also a "long canoe pageant" where each country had dancers on canoes doing traditional dances (image 5). Each country also had interactive things to do. You could weave headbands in Tahiti, or get temporary tattoos in Marquesas (image 6).

After our buffet dinner, there was a show with large group dances from all the island groups (image 7). The last part of the show is the chief from Samoa and some others playing with fire (image 8). The show ended around 9p so it was 10:30p before we got back to the hotel. We all went straight to bed and slept quite soundly.




Thursday 11/22/2001 – Thanksgiving Island Style

Thursday was another day we all did what we wanted. Julie and Surella got up early to go snorkeling. Eric came over to take them to Hanauma Bay and then he and James drove around. It was an amazingly clear day. Eric even commented that he couldn't remember the peaks of the mountains all being as visible as they were. The clouds started to form over the cones and it was quite picturesque (images 1-2).

The rest of the day was spent shopping and resting. We all went to a nearby restaurant and had an old fashioned turkey dinner. Julie, James, and Eric then hit some more tourist trap shops before turning in for the night.




Friday, 11/23/2001 – Hiking and Packing

Friday started fairly early again as James, Julie, Eric, Jim, and Surella hiked Diamond Head. The crater used to be a military base with mortars in the middle aimed out to sea. There was an old winch station that looked out into the crater about 3/4 of the way up (image 1). Some of those buildings are still used for storage by the army. There was a firing control station at the rim that looked out over the Southeast corner of the island (image 2). The hike is up to a firing control station (images 3-4).

The rest of the day was spent shopping for last minute items and packing. Gary, Surella, Jolene, Robby, Jeff, and Grubby all had to leave late Friday evening. For our last dinner together, everyone except Eric got McDonalds and went to the beach to watch the sun set (images 5-6).

After dinner, we went back and helped Julie's family pack their belongings. They left for the airport about 7:30p. Eric came back to the hotel and the rest of us played cards until about 10:30p. We then went to bed for the last time in Hawaii.




Saturday, 11/24/2001 – Trying to get back home

Saturday morning James, Julie, Jim, and Gayle met for breakfast and then finished packing. Eric picked Julie and James up at the hotel about 10:30a and took them to the airport. We checked in and the fun began.

Friday night, we had called to double check departure times, gates, and such. We also asked if we could get seat assignments closer to the front of the plane from Honolulu to Los Angeles. There was only an hour and thirty minutes between our flights. We were told we couldn't as the plane was full but they would make a note of our concern. When we checked in on Saturday, the ticketing agent asked which one of us would be needing the wheelchair in LA. We said that neither of us needed one and explained about the call on Friday. She said ok and proceeded to cancel the wheelchair.

We said goodbye to Eric and went to the gates. We grabbed a quick bite to eat and waited. The plane we were to board was about 20 minutes late getting to Honolulu. We were seated in row 45 out of 53 on a very large plane. The crew in Honolulu actually did a very good job of boarding the plane. From the time they called for first class passengers, until the last of the 350 people was seated with carry-ons stowed, was only 20 minutes. Our spirits rose. We then pulled away from the gate and sat on the tarmac for about 20 minutes. We took off right at one hour late; 2/3 of our layover. Our hopes fell. The flight was pretty good, we were hoping the pilot would make up some time. He didn't and there were a lot of people in the same boat or worse than ours. We finally landed in LA and started to deplane. The flight crew had asked those who weren't trying to make connecting flights to wait until those who were had gotten off the plane. Yeah right. We finally got off the plane 10 minutes before our flight to Washington Dulles was supposed to start boarding. We ran from one terminal to the next and got to our gate right as the plane was to be boarding.

It wasn't. In fact a large number of people were in line at the gate desk. We had been standing there for a while when they announced there had been an equipment change and there were more people booked on the flight than the smaller plane could hold. We didn't worry though because we had checked in at Honolulu and already had our boarding passes. We waited patiently off to the side until they started boarding. We even watched as two people had to come back off the plane as they had gotten on with boarding passes for rows that didn't exist. They called our row number and we went to board. Our assignments were for row 8. We gave our passes to the agent and were halfway down the jetway when they called us back. We figured we'd been randomly selected to have our bags searched. No, apparently our boarding passes were canceled in Hawaii and they had given our seats away. We were less than pleased by this. We were fortunate enough, however that a couple behind us agreed to give up their seats so we could make our connection. We then got to go to our seats in row 13. As it turned out, row 8 wasn't an exit row, but the exit door was right next to it so it only had 2 seats and extra legroom. Row 13 happened to be in front of a family traveling with an infant. Somehow, they let the couple put their infant in a car seat on the plane that was positioned so Julie couldn't put her seat back. We could have switched, but then she wouldn't have had the window to lean against. The last bit of news for this flight was the plane had not been prepared for an overnight flight and did not have any blankets or pillows. The crew did, however, agree to leave the AC a little warmer than usual for those who didn't have a blanket.

Our flight finally left LA about 45 minutes late, around 11p. The infant in the seat behind us slept almost the entire flight so besides the carrier, that wasn't too bad. Julie was able to sleep for a while, but James couldn't. He ended up watching a Woody Allen film; the first one he'd ever bothered to sit through.





Sunday, 11/25/2001 – Finally back home

Our flight got into Washington about 6a. We had a 3 hour layover before boarding our flight to Orlando. As soon as the counter at the gate opened, James double checked our boarding passes were good. They were so we decided our passes in LA had gotten canceled with the wheelchair.

The flight to Orlando was on time and we got all of our luggage. That had been another concern; if they didn't have us on the flight in LA, had they caught our luggage and held it there? A friend from James' work met us and drove us back to the house. Our car was safe in the garage and our cat was very happy to see us. We spent the rest of the day unpacking and resting. We got all our film to Target for developing, 8 rolls, in time to have it back Monday evening. We had both taken Monday off to rest and run errands so we had pictures by the time we returned to work.

All in all, we had a great time there and are looking forward to going back. We highly recommend the trip.