Two Tickets to Paradise

Chuck and I just returned from 10 days in Hawaii, visiting both O'ahu and the Kona coast of the big Island of Hawaii.  10 days of sunshine, blue skies and warm water- in the middle of January!!

 

Chuck needed to go to Hawaii to work a convention of Allergists and I got to tag along and pretty much entertain myself during the days while he was working, which was easy for me to do.  Just give me a book and a lounge chair on the beach and I am in hog heaven. We did get to spend time together in the evenings having wonderful dinners, sometimes by ourselves and sometimes with friends. We were there over two Sundays, so we had the adventure of finding different local chapels to attend for church. One such adventure took us to the darling little town of Hawi (pronounced Haw vee) which is on the northern most tip of the big island.

 

The last trip Chuck and I made to Kona was on our 10th anniversary 17 years ago.  I remember two very distinct things about that trip- the first was going to the Sheraton Hotel and standing on their back patio on a cliff overlooking the rocky shore in the evening watching the manta rays swim by.  The hotel has large searchlights that shine into the water to attract small fish and insects and it draws the huge manta rays who feed on them.  The second thing I remember is that although we did a ton of snorkeling that trip and saw amzing fish, I never got to see any turtles, which everyone said were so plentiful.  This trip we got the reverse side of the coin, although we went back to the Sheraton and the lights off the cliff were still shining, we (along with a large crowd of spectators) never saw any manta rays.  However, my turtle wish was fulfilled- abundantly!  We saw turtles in the water, we saw turtles snoozing on the shore, we even had a turtle come out of the water right up to where we were laying on the beach.

 

 I have realized that even though I have lived in the northwest for 27 years, I am still a southern California girl at heart.  I am drawn to the ocean at a very fundamental level (a sunny warm ocean, that is..). Not just to lie by it, or walk along the shore, or wade in the shallows, but I am compelled by some force of nature to actually get out in the breaking waves and swim, float over the swells on my back or try to body surf this plump old body to the shore. There is something about being in the crashing waves that is nourishing to my soul.

 

My third favorite thing to do after swimming and sunning, is shopping. Ahh, the alliteration of of my preferred pastimes (again, alliteration). The last two days of our trip were spent in Honolulu, were Chuck was working with one of his employees all day. So having never been there before, I got to explore by myself.  The morning was overcast and drizzily so I spent it shopping in Waikiki looking for souveniers for my kids and grandkids.  I went leisurely from store to store just browsing.  I even bought myself a new swimsuit! Which was an almost pleasant experience. I find when shopping for a swimsuit, it is best to keep expectations low. The afternoon turned sunny, so I took my treasures back to the hotel and put on that new suit and headed to the beach to swim, read and people watch. I ended up having the perfect day.