Oahu Exploration

After a good night’s sleep, I went to the post office. I had sent a box from Thailand to my friend Howie, but I wasn’t sure about sending a package from Indonesia, so I carried my purchases with me and from here sent off a nineteen-pound box to Howie. I also sent a box on to Martha for reorganizing/sending to others once I got to her house. And I still had heavy bags that were staying with me. I would have bought more in Southeast Asia had I not been constrained by space. Maybe just as well I was constrained! I’m trying to not have so much stuff! U.S. mail - A successful transaction. Another welcome home!



Another thing on my list from last time was the North Shore of Oahu – but I heard that the traffic was terrible, and it didn’t make sense to drive five hours each way when there were other parts of the island to explore – have to leave something for next time, after all (I just hope the next time is sooner than ten years from now!). Plenty of other things to see… unfortunately, heavy rain started, so it really wasn’t a day for exploration, but at least it wasn’t as windy as was predicted. On to the Punchbowl, an inactive volcano that holds the National Cemetery of the Pacific – quite a dramatic setting for our veterans to be buried, with the cone shape and ocean views. I stopped at Pali lookout – very green – and went on to Kailua Beach, a favorite of locals; quiet as opposed to the Waikiki backdrop of high-rise hotels. It was so wet that I got out of the car, had a look, and got back in the car. I drove around the windward side – too wet for a garden or lighthouse walk – so it might have to go back on the list for next time!



I found a web site that listed places frequented by Barack Obama, and that helped frame my exploration day. After all, I saw his house in Jakarta – why not see more Obama sites? Waikiki shops had a lot of T-shirts in anticipation of the inauguration. I went by one of the apartment buildings where he lived when he grew up and past the Baskin-Robbins where he worked as a teen. I stopped at Sandy, a favorite beach of his where he body-surfed. Then to the Blowhole – I didn’t see water blow through the hole, but I did see whales passing by, surfacing and waving their flippers. There are other Obama sites to see, but it was an Oahu exploration day, not an Obama exploration day; I did what fit in!



I drove around Diamond Head – interesting to see it from the side that’s not the postcard shot. Then I went to the Honolulu Academy of the Arts – a nice collection, and I especially enjoyed the art of Southeast Asia – that tied things together nicely! I’d have gone to Queen Emma’a summer palace, but it was closed due to the storm. When I got back to Waikiki, the rain had let up somewhat, so I went for a beach walk. Then on to California Pizza Kitchen, where I couldn’t finish the salad I had missed for so long. American portions are big!