Well…I have arrived back on the island.

I ended up pushing my flights back a few days to avoid the crappy weather. That was an expensive venture. But such is life. I made it back in one piece and my house was still standing, unscathed. 

Before I left, my family went to our favorite place: the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha (not to mention it’s the #1 zoo in the world as voted on by the public!).  I’ve always loved the zoo and it just keeps getting better.  We even recreated a few old photos from when I was little and visiting for one of the first times. 

They’ve added Stingray Beach in the year I’ve been away. Now you can fee stingrays in a pool and feel them. Really neat, although, we’ve done this at SeaWorld.

We even convinced my dad to get in a few photos (seriously, I have maybe a handful of photos with him in them–he hates his picture being taken). All in all it was a nice day trip with my family.  It was super packed though, and there were way too many rude/inconsiderate people.

After the zoo, we stopped at the new Nebraska Crossing Outlet Mall.  This place is a shopper’s paradise. If I wasn’t so strapped for funds (and had a bigger bag to bring back), I would have gone berserk. While my parents and the youngest were back-to-school shopping, the middle sister (I call her Sib–short for sibling) and I popped across I-80 and checked out the Holy Family Shrine.  This building is one we’ve driven by thousands of times and always thought it was so cool.  The walls are all glass and you can see inside from the interstate below.  Needless to stay, it is absolutely stunning up close.

This place was exactly what I needed after the really trying few weeks.  It was so peaceful and beautiful. I am so glad I stopped.

The day before I left, my uncle took me to the gun range. I wanted to try a few hand guns in hopes of maybe getting one of my grandpa’s. He’d shown me so many over the years, I figured I would ask to see if I had a chance at getting one. I shot a few different kinds and all were way more than I expected! Having only shot a BB gun and a pellet gun, it was a real experience.

Then I came back here. 

Now, it was really hard to leave. I really missed Nebraska and my family and friends. It was hard not to stay longer. But once, I got back, the Mister and I were able to take in some more sights. 

We missed our tour shuttle for our green lava flow tour, so we rescheduled for 13 September  and decided to go on the rainforest/waterfall/movie site tour 23 August. 

So…not wanting to waste our day in Honolulu, we decided to check out Iolani Palace.  Thanks to Blue Star Museums for making it a free day until 1 September! The Mister wasn’t very impressed, but being a history buff, I was really excited to check it out.

So much of native Hawaiian history has a very similar feel to my own Tsalagi heritage. It was neat to learn about a culture I’d previously never really studied. 

The following week was filled with some relatively exciting stuff. We finally caught our little stray! I took it to the vet and found out it’s a little girl.  She’s about 10 weeks old and is VERY healthy for being a street cat. No FLV and no fleas. So, she’s been allowed to roam the house while we socialize her in hopes of finding a good home for her.  Originally, we took her to the humane society, but the admissions gentlemen said if they couldn’t handle her, they’d put her down.  So we brought her back home to work with her.  She is still super shy, but she ADORES my Hina girl.  Hina isn’t a huge fan, but it’s really cute to see her rub against our fat girl. Jack absolutely hates her, so she leaves him be.

This past weekend, we went on our tour.  It ended up being a hike to Manoa Falls–another hike we had on our list already. We saw the area that the fog scene from Catching Fire was filmed and the area where the truck goes over the cliff in Jurassic Park.  Not to mention a few spots where Lost and Hawaii 5-0 were filmed. 

The best part, though, was the waterfall at the end. We got there relatively early so it was basically empty when we got to the base.  

While this week has barely gotten started, I am already planning our journey this coming weekend.  The Mister is lucky enough to get 4 days this weekend, so we will definitely be checking some more sights off the list. Saturday is the first college football Saturday of the season, so we’ll be enjoying some games then, but that still leaves 3 glorious days to fill!  I’m hoping for Lanikai Beach and possibly a few stops like Spitting Caves and China Walls on the way back.  If not, I definitely want to see the Wahiawa stretch of sights (Dole Plantation, Botanical Garden, and Birthing Stones).  Here’s to hoping the Mister is in the mood to run around!

Until next time,

Cheers!

-A. xoxo

 

It has been a harrowing few weeks. I had every intention of posting earlier, but certain things kept me from keeping up as I wanted to here.

A little over three weeks ago, my mother called me with devastating news. My grandpa was in the hospital. The doctors had found a mass in his gallbladder that they later found to be cancer.  Despite surgery to remove his gallbladder, the cancer had already spread. He was placed in hospice care with a grim 2 week – 2 month prognosis.  10 days later, my mother said he had passed peacefully with herself and my uncle in the room.  I’m not sure what my reaction was.  I had tried to mentally prepare after the first bit of bad news but it didn’t dampen the pain the second time around.

Immediately, I was living my nightmare again. Being 4000+ miles away from the people I love most and no way to be there for the funeral. I broke down with sobs that rocked my body.

 In the years just prior to leaving for Hawaii, I had been a constant visitor. I worked right up the road and would stop at least a few days of week to sit and talk and watch westerns with him. I learned stories from his Army days, talked hand guns (he was a gun dealer for a lot of years), and poked fun at my uncle. 

Grandpa was a rough man on the outside. He had the gravelly voice from years of smoking and a no-nonsense attitude that hid his genuine care for people. I looked forward to our visits and saying goodbye a few days before I left was one of my harder goodbyes–as he was one of the few remaining grandparents who could still remember me and function highly. We always talked about how much he loved my bright yellow Neon. He never cared for the car, but the color was something he fixated on.  He loved classic cars–owning two restorations that are beautiful.  No matter the time I’d show up, he never failed to ask me if I “wanted a pop” from the big cooler by the fridge.

A favorite story to tell was his return from Europe with the Army.  The plane ride was supposed to take a couple of days and the train a few more.  There ended up being issues with the plane so they had to turn back instead of flying on after already having made it half way.  Then they wanted him to take another plane once he reached the states.  He refused after the debacle previously. So he got a train ticket. The train ride was less eventful. But when going through a dry state, he made sure to buy a case of beer to enjoy on his way through. He eventually made it home, but he has never liked long trips again.

He got a job with the railroad after he returned home and that encompassed his life from then on.  His walls are lined with trains and memorabilia. I remember his huge key ring with what seemed like hundreds of keys he used to carry on his belt. When we moved from Missouri to Iowa, we asked him to watch our dog Lucky while we got things settled.  A week or two later, we realized we’d never be able to ask for Lucky back.  He was his faithful (and SPOILED) companion until kidney failure forced Grandpa to put him down.  He was heartbroken and swore he’d never have another dog.  But my family knew he was missing his little furry buddy. So my mom and I started looking at various humane societies and rescue groups looking for a new buddy. I found a small dog similar to Lucky at the humane society I volunteered at in high school.  They insisted he was 9 years old.  A trip to the vet confirmed our suspicions, he was barely 2 years old. We fell in love with this pooch.  He has a hilarious quirk–if you stop petting him, he will nudge you with his butt and make this growling Chewbacca noise as if to say “you’re not done yet!”.  We had to fabricate a story so Grandpa would keep him.  Turns out we didn’t need to. We told him I had rescued him because he was set to be put down (the humane society wasn’t a kill shelter) and that we were going to give him to my uncle.  Grandpa had smiled and said “I thought you brought him for me.” And thus, history was made and Jake remained his constant companion until the end.  That poor dog is struggling now–he misses his buddy too.  Jake was even listed in the obituary, even before the children.

Remember how I said I was living my nightmare by not being able to come home? My uncle called me at about 3am his time and offered to pay my flights to and from Hawaii so I could come to the service.  So….I am posting from my small Nebraska hometown. The service was last Wednesday–complete with Jake in tow.

Despite the rotten circumstances, we did manage to go out the weekend prior to my flight. The Mister and I finally went on some short hikes. We took Audie out and he was exhausted by the end of the day, but he was loving being outside with us. 

We took on the Judd Loop Trail first.

The Cook pines were the neatest part of the trail. These babies tower over you by hundreds of feet. They have such unique rings around them too.

We lost the trail a few times, but eventually, we figured it out. Only took an hour–even with the my constant stopping to snap photos (much to Audie’s annoyance).

Then we drove up the Pali a bit and found the Kaniakapupu Ruins.

This was the summer palace of King Kamehameha III.  In 1847, it is said that 10,000 people attended a luau here.  This site is technically kapu to visit (it’s on BWS land and is a sacred spot).  But since we respected the place, we didn’t have any issues with authorities.

After the ruins, we went to the tourist attraction at the Pali Lookout. It’s here where Kamehameha forced the warriors of Oahu over the cliff face and effectively united the Hawaiian Islands.  Now it’s just a cool scenic overlook where you can follow the old trail around the mountain to a waterfall (we will likely do that trail another day).

Now that I’m back in Nebraska until Sunday, we’ve had to put a few plans on hold. We have a green lava flow tour and a rainforest/waterfall/movie tour coming up on the 16th (assuming the hurricane and tropical storm coming through doesn’t mess things up too bad). I’m just hoping my flight from Seattle to Honolulu doesn’t get canceled. I’d rather be stuck at home here, than in the airport in Seattle.

Going to be an adjustment going back and getting used to things again, but I do have a phone interview for a job on post tonight so maybe it will work out. We’ll see!

Hopefully things will not be as eventful before my next post.

Cheers!

-A.xoxo