Hawaii

Our Trip to Hawaii
by J. B. Jones

I have just spent the last 7 days on the beautiful islands of Hawaii. I am even more in complete admiration of the glorious touch of God's hand on this earth. Not only were the surroundings and weather perfect, it was so great to "escape" with my family. I threatened to move there several times. I think my family thinks I have lost it! Yes, it is expensive, but there is no real reason I mean why not! I will work on Brian. Speaking of Brian, one of the most fascinating things about him that I love is his love of travel. I know that doesn't sound very fascinating but it is the whole process. From the inception of where we will go, actually making the reservations, and the planning, are always entertaining. He usually agonizes over where will go and once that is decided what will we do there, where will we stay, etc. My only concern is the hotel. I know I have a special case of OCD that I will not go into and we could save lots of money if I could stand it, but I can't so I have to pick the nicest hotel. Even then, it is never good enough. Next step for Brian is the purchase of travel books. From our honeymoon, I learned my first thing about him that he loves to consult the travel books. It was so bad on our honeymoon in Hawaii that we started referring to the book as the Kauai bible! Every trip is the same and this one was no different except he has developed a complete trust on these books that we can't do anything "they" don't recommend or eat anywhere "they" don't like. So, we had the Oahu bible this time. This got me to thinking one night about how much we rely on these books to help us go to the best places, eat at the best restaurants, etc. It is like the Holy Bible, but unfortunately we don't always do what it says. It is funny really how we work. The Holy Bible is God's word to us, but I am so guilty of not studying it thoroughly or truly knowing what I should do, where I should go, etc. I found that an interesting comparison of our complete ignorance at times. I have challenged myself to study the true word of God to guide me on my journey through life so I can know what is God's way to do life!

For now, I thought I would share some stories and pictures of our trip. We stayed in Honolulu which is great for people watching might I add. Lots of great shopping, very good restaurants and all within walking distance. We did take the bus several times to Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Ala Moana center, etc. There is so much to do in Honolulu, but some of the beauty is obscured with all the commercialism. But, no rental car - who can beat that! We did travel to Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii! We rented a jeep and were so excited to drive around. Of course, the weather couldn't have been worse - as you can tell from my plastic wear. To begin our trip, we ate at a McDonald's where a man prayed before his meal all by himself. I don't see that very much even here in the Bible belt. That image stuck with me the rest of the day - I knew I really liked the Big Island! It was very neat to drive through the Hawai'i Volcanos. A little disturbing sign when you enter - VISITOR ALERT: High amounts of dangerous sulphur dioxide gas are present in areas of the park. At times, it was like driving on another planet where the lava flows from years past on either side of the road. The black and gray formations were flanked by beautiful vegetation. The steam vents were neat too. It was so cold at about 3500 feet and the steam vents helped warm me up and I am sure were good for opening my pores. We didn't take a lot of pictures because of the weather. We did walk through our first rain forest to get to a lava tube formation. The drive down to the coast was interesting, but some of the most beautiful sites. There was a path to watch the lava flowing into the ocean, but we were all too chicken. We just walked around breathing in poisonous sulfur dioxide gas. I really wish the weather could have been better. We would have loved to hike some of the trails around the volcano. After our Volcano tour, we just drove around with the top completely secure on our "fun" jeep. Hilo has a really neat downtown. It is a very quaint little place without many "tourists". Most of the tourists stay in Kona where the weather is better. Our journey in Hilo took us to several waterfalls. And...The perfect ending to our time in Hilo came as we walked back from seeing our last waterfall and up at the top of the mountain was a hand made cross. A very beautiful island - I can't wait to move there!

Back in Honolulu... All I can say is Roy's! Hands down the best food on the planet! So good, that on our honeymoon almost 13 years ago, we ate at a Roy's in Kauai and have never stopped thinking about it. Not to mention, we ate there twice this trip! Butterfish and molten chocolate cake!!! Too good, there are no words. One of the most moving experiences I thought was our trip to Pearl Harbor. We toured the USS Bowfish (submarine), Battleship Missouri, and of course, the Arizona memorial. The park service begins the tour of the Arizona with a great 25 minute video about the events leading up to our involvement in WWII and then the events at Pearl Harbor - December 7, 1941. It was good to give the whole picture of what happened and why it happened. But, nothing could prepare me for the actual memorial. You ride a small boat operated by the Navy to get to the memorial. Once inside the white structure we are all familiar with seeing from TV and pictures, you can still see oil seeping from the ship. As you make your way through the memorial, you come to a door leading to a wall of all the names of the men who are entombed inside the ship. It hit me hard. Just seeing all the names seemed so much more than hearing the number that died that day on this ship. The picture doesn't even do it justice! It was neat that several survivors have chosen to make the ship there final resting place as well. Another interesting image at the memorial came from a man and his son leaning over the area inside looking into the bowel of the ship (I think that is what is called) praying. It brought tears to my eyes as they stood arm in arm praying! The Battleship Missouri was neat. I think guys would appreciate it more than us girls. After looking at the sleeping arrangements, I would definitely have to be an officer. They practically slept on top of each other - 4 sometimes 5 beds high. I was just freaking out about the sharing the toilet thing, but yuk! Brian loved watching a destroyer and submarine come into the harbor. And.. the huge aircraft carrier docked there.

One of the hardest things we did was climbing Diamond Head. It was hot and a little claustrophobic in the old tunnels inside the hill getting to the top and the stairs - goodness - very steep, but the view was incredible. Olivia did really well with all the climbing. It was well worth the effort as you can see.
The next saga began on a Catamaran. I will never ride on any type of boat again. Brian still makes fun of me for puking on our honeymoon when we went deep sea fishing. I agreed to ride this stupid thing thinking surely I would be okay. Olivia was terrified - at first! By the end of the ride, she had her legs dangling off the side and I was turning green staring at the horizon hoping I would not hurl all over everyone! Let's see...did I mention Roy's - yeah.. And the people... lots of interesting people. Very different from little ol' Senatobia. Olivia finally liked the beach the last day. She was so scared of the ocean water. The ways we screw up our children. I know it is because she has heard me say I don't like getting in the ocean because of all the critters swimming around. She is so like me it is scary. However, even the last day she wouldn't venture out very far. I am so thankful that she was able to enjoy her first trip to Hawaii. After the beginning of this summer, I didn't know what might happen next. We made sure she had tons of sunscreen on at all times and she wore her signature rash guard and shorts. We had to protect the burns! We all had such a good time after all in the rainbow state! "I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth." Exodus 9:13.

God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called the seas; and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:10