Hawaii... then Home

The flight from Auckland went well and we arrived in Honolulu as scheduled. It took almost no time to clear immigration and customs and we were at the hotel long before the room was available.


The hotel was very accommodating about everything and we spent the morning lounging by the beach and the pool and strolling around for a few blocks. We stopped back by the desk around 11 a.m. to see if one of the "loaner" rooms was available for us to change into swim gear and found that our regular room was all set. So, we changed and headed downstairs for some lunch and a dip or two.

Our friends, Maria and Barry, had gotten in the previous evening and would join us in the afternoon. By the time we were through with lunch, they had arrived, gotten checked in and were on the beach with us.

We spent the afternoon doing nothing, as we would also do all of the next day.

On the second day, we rented a car and took a little tour of the island. We started out at the U.S.S. Arizona memorial.

We then headed up the middle of the island for a stop at the Dole pineapple plantation, a walk through the maze and a sample, of course.


Afterward we drove along the North Shore and came back toward Waikiki via the Windward Side. We crossed over the mountain range and drove through Honolulu for a stretch before crossing back via the Pali overlook and around by the eastern tip of the island. The weather was typical for Hawaii with occasional showers. Along with the showers, come these:


Before coming back to the hotel, we stopped at the location where I used to live. It is no longer an army post, but is now a community college. I think I found the location of the house based on the view. It looked mighty familiar.



The next morning, we checked out of the hotel, had lunch then went to the airport for the overnighter to Chicago and on to Atlanta. Here's the last look we had on the climb out:


The flight was pleasant enough and we arrived on time and easily made the connection home. Our neighbor, Tom, the United pilot, had once again made some contacts with the flight crew and we were presented with a nice bottle of wine from the captain. We arrived in Atlanta on schedule and ran into Tom at the gate, where he was waiting to take the return trip to Chicago and get started on a six day trip.

Mark and Braeden met us at baggage claim and got us to the house at about 10:30, dropping us off where we started from 61 days ago. It was a lovely trip and, as always, it is good to be home.