At Long Last

After having come home from vacation to find that my computer had crashed beyond all recognition (those last two posts I had written at work...shh, don't tell my boss), and also that Itchy had run away again, I have been in no mood to write any stories of substance about my fun and exciting time in Hawaii.

Since I've come home, I have gotten a new computer (yay!), recovered Itchy (I'll write about that in another post, I think), and started rehearsals for Grendel. So it's not like I've not been having adventures, it's just that I only have a small window of time with which to post anything. So I guess I'm going to stick with the Hawaii stories for now.

We arrived at the Honolulu airport after a grueling 11 hour nonstop flight from Newark. The good thing about the nonstop is that it really does cut down on the travel time. The bad thing is that the flight just keeps going on and on and on and on...

My mom met us at the airport with her partner, K., and after we got the rental car, we caravanned to the North Shore of Oahu, where we would be staying for the next week. My mom had rented a beautiful vacation apartment for us, but when we got there, we could care less how big or spacious or close to the ocean it was; all we wanted to do was sleep.

In the morning, however, we went outside and beheld the beauty of this vacation rental called Waimea Wonder. I cannot stress enough what a great time we had there. We were in a two bedroom apartment, complete with kitchen, living/dining room, and wrap-around porch. The apartment itself was its own house and stood with the landlord's house (also the same size) on the property.

When we walked to the yard behind the landlord's house, we realized that we were right on the ocean. The backyard opened out onto a rocky shore, and there were two coconut trees with a hammock strung between them (Ray's favorite part of the whole place). There were benches facing the ocean as well as a gazebo to take one's morning coffee, I would assume.

It was like we had our own private ocean. It was so peaceful, and while we were out there that first morning, a monarch butterfly kept flitting around the garden, reminding me of my plans to have a butterfly release for the wedding.

We spent the first day recuperating from jet lag. Actually, we spent the whole week recuperating from jet lag, which made it all the harder to get back on East Coast time when we returned, but it was worth it. Ray discovered (of course) that we had cable with our TV, so he loafed around watching the Discovery Channel while I puttered around making breakfast.

My mom had stocked the kitchen with everything one might need, including fresh papayas and mangoes and locally grown coffee. Ray, who eschews all vegetables and most fruits (especially the exotic ones), had bacon and eggs for breakfast, but that just meant more papaya for me.

My mom and K. came over around lunch time, and we went "into town" to Haleiwa, which is the most popular tourist destination on the North Shore. Most tourists (and hotels) are in Waikiki, which is on the southern part of Oahu, in Honolulu, so the North Shore is a little more country, and the locals like it that way. They get their share of tourists, especially surfers, but the bulk of the tourists stay in Waikiki, where the hotel deals are.

We ate at the famous Haleiwa Joe's and then walked around the rustic shopping area, where my mom pointed out an off-the-wall shop where the eccentric owner paints and carves old surfboard and other pieces of wood and displays them. There were large wooden painted birds hanging from the trees, angry-looking turtles painted as if they were coming out of the surfboard at us (perhaps some foreshadowing?): indeed, a whole garden of surfly delights. While we were touring the outside of the shop, we were approached by a very tall, friendly, black woman who either had purposely styled her hair into an Afro that stuck out almost ten inches around her head or, more likely, hadn't combed her hair in a week. I can't remember her name, but Ray called her Rastafarian Rita for the rest of the trip. She was very nice, although she clearly wanted to sell us some of the surfboard art, and she was the one who recommended that I buy a disposable underwater camera for snorkeling. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't have had those pictures of the fishies.

Well, now my time has run out, and my post has gotten way too long. So I shall say adieu until I have a little more time to show you more pictures and tell more stories.