Circle Island Highlights

I just returned from Sam’s Club where I purchased jugs of pre-mixed margarita and coconut flavored rum. Bill’s arriving tomorrow, so it’s a good excuse to start sampling. I still haven’t kicked this cold. Wherever I go I hear the sounds of coughs and sniffles, so I’m not alone. Maybe the booze will help; maybe it won’t…can’t hurt. Before going to Sam’s I listened to a college baseball game via internet audio feed. It worked great using my GeoWireless connection. Go figure. The game was the first of the season for the North Dakota State Bison baseball team. Our nephew, Colby, is a junior at North Dakota State, and on the pitching roster. Today, the Bison played Wichita State. The Bison lost, by two runs, but gave the Shockers a run for it. Two more games in the series this weekend. Colby is scheduled to pitch on Sunday at 1:00 CST. You can listen to the game through audio feed if you go to GoShockers.com. Use the browser feed. In support of the team, I promised Colby that I would post pictures of beautiful girls at the beach. Please don’t think I’m a pervert for taking, and posting pictures of girls in beachwear. I’m doing it for a cause. After all, the “Bison Boys” are from Fargo, where seldom is a bosom or leg exposed. They have no cheerleaders. This is what I call “a stimulus package”… and it won’t raise your taxes. Okay … enough of that … The trip yesterday began in Waikiki. I crossed the Ala Wai and followed signs to Hawaii H-1 East. This freeway will take you quickly past Waikiki and Diamond Head toward Hanauma Bay, Koko head, the Blowhole, Sandy Beach, and Sea Life Park. At Sea Life Park, you turn north to Kailua and Kane’ohe Bay. You’ll pass tons of beaches and places to hike along the way. North of Kane’ohe is several botanical gardens and more beach parks. At Kahana you will find the Kahana State Park, and the Crouching Lion, a restaurant that came highly recommended from our friend John Feeley, who dined there years ago. Sadly, John is no longer with us, but the Crouching Lion is still open, so I think we’ll give it a try in his honor. John always enjoyed good food and drink! Moving yet further north, you will pass the Polynesian Cultural Center, Brigham Young University Hawaii, and the Mormon Temple. The Polynesian Cultural Center is a huge tourist attraction. Many who visit Oahu say it was a highpoint for them during their visit. We haven’t done it, so no comment. The Mormon religion has had a huge missionary and economic influence on the Islands. So have many other religious groups, including the Roman Catholics, Baptists, and Eastern sects. No shortage of places to worship here. The northernmost point on Oahu is a bit further, near Kahuku. As you turn south, Turtle Bay and Turtle Bay Resort are the first areas of interest. Those who golf will enjoy Turtle Bay. As you move south from Turtle Bay you drive along beachfront known worldwide, as the North Shore. This area has some of the largest and most dangerous surf in the world. It is very beautiful, but only expert swimmers and surfers should enter the water when conditions are extreme. Those who walk or relax near the water must be very aware of wind, surge, and rogue waves. Many people have drowned in this area after being “snatched” from the shore by a wave. Always face the ocean. On the north Shore you will find Sunset Beach, Banzai Beach, and Waimea Bay beach Park. These are great places to watch the experts surf, kite surf, wind surf, and boogie board. On Thursday, there were several kite surfers at Sunset and Waimea. The kite surf and boogie board photos are from Waimea. There are several more beaches after Waimea, so just explore and have fun. One of my favorite spots is the village of Hale’iwa. It’s kind of touristy, but a nice little place with several good places to dine. Rosie’s, Cholo’s, and Hale’iwa Joes are three that come to mind. After you leave Hale’iwa you are still 45-60 minutes out of Waikiki depending on traffic. It’s very difficult to get lost, so just follow the signs, drive reasonably and be courteous to others. Hurrying or getting upset will not get you to your destination any faster.

Circle Island Drive

I took the bus to the airport last night and picked up our rental car, a Ford Explorer. Bill arrives on Saturday, so we'll make good use of it. I decided to give the Explorer the "test" today by doing the Waikiki-Waikiki Circle Island drive. It takes about 6 hours when you drive East-North-West-Waikiki, if you only stop to take take a few photos and eat lunch. However, you could spend an entire week covering the same ground, if you hiked, snorkeled, shopped, ate, drank, and otherwise enjoyed yourselves. When the others arrive, we'll be doing some of that, and I'll provide the details as we go about our fun. For now, here are are few photos from the day. Update: This is a late post due to problems with the wireless at the condo. After feeling pretty good about GeoWireless and their service, I'm giving them a thumbs down as I've had too much trouble getting a signal. I'm guessing some of this may be due to interference from other carriers. Whatever the problem, they need to get it figured out before they charge folks for this service! Stay away from them, for now. I'm posting at a free location today. It's a short walk, but dependable, and faster than GeoWireless.

Wednesday P.M.

I'm back from my morning jaunt...About 30 minutes ago I spoke with Dale from Geowireless.net, the local internet service provider I signed up with on Oahu. I've been encountering some difficulty with signal strength at varying times throughout the day, so I wrote tech support a note expressing some frustration, and asking for assistance. The response was quick and courteous. Dale, from tech support emailed me and asked for my phone number. He called within ten minutes! That's what I call service. Dale gave me the lowdown on the best times to be logged on, and also let me know that I was in a pretty decent spot for signal reception. The signal at this time is quite good. It wasn't the best yesterday or early this morning. Dale let me know that competing traffic early in the morning and early in the evening will likely slow things down a bit. Being that I send a large amount of data out with photos, I'm sure that I'm hogging my share of the bandwidth. Geowireless is a good deal at $35 a month, and you don't need to go in search of free WiFi, or pay $5 an hour at an internet cafe. Geowireless has several access points in the Waikiki area, so you might want to check with them at support@geowireless.net or 1-800-277-6012 if you're planning a trip to Oahu.

Downtown

I went downtown today on Bus Number 2. I boarded the bus about two blocks from the Wialana, on Kalakaua Avenue. I got off at the State Capitol Building. The State Capitol was busy today. One current activity of note is HB 444, a legislative initiative in support of gay marriage. There were supporters for both sides outside the capitol building. I’ve posted a few photos of the folks gathered on the street. From the Capitol, I then walked a few blocks to the downtown Union Mall area. Once there, I turned toward the ocean and the Aloha Tower Marketplace. At the Aloha Tower I took some photos of the marketplace, tourists, and a cruise ship. After a bit,I walked back downtown. On the way, I was stopped on a street corner by a young lady wearing a Greenpeace t-shirt. She was holding a binder with a photo of a polar bear and the words “Global Warming” printed on the cover. She asked if I had “a few minutes for the environment”. I said, “Yes” and politely listened to her sales pitch for Greenpeace membership and donation, before saying “No Thanks.” She was surprised when I told her I was from Alaska. When I let her know I spent part of each year in the land of the polar bear, she looked a little perplexed,worried, or something. I’m guessing she had a previous“run-in” with one of my more abrasive brothers from the North. I decided to go easy. Although I’m quite sure my views on global warming and the survival of polar bears are somewhat different than this young lady’s, she was pleasant and not overly idealistic, so we had a good conversation, and I listened to her point of view. Global warming is for real, but I'm quite sure that the Bush administration, was not the sole cause of our problems, so let's get on with it, and fix things. I spent the remainder of the day in and around the condo. It's now raining lightly. "Cool and cloudy" continues....lost my signal last night, so this is a late post.

More Photos

These are photos from my walk this morning.

Monday Morning

It's a beautiful morning in Honolulu! I went for my morning walk through, and around, Ala Moana Park. I'll post a few of those photos later. Here are some from yesterday. The pics are from the "neighborhood". The Irish Rose Saloon is supposed to be a hotspot. They were cooking up $2 hotdogs and $3 burgers yesterday. I'll wait for Bill to arrive this weekend before I go upstairs for a beer.