Hawaii

My Mom, Dad, sister Jenny, and her fiancé Tommy met us at the airport in Honolulu. In typical Hawaiian fashion they gave us leis as we arrived.

Getting “Leid” in Hawaii

We were in Hawaii for my Uncle Paul’s funeral service. For the first couple of days dave and I stayed in a hotel but after the service we moved in with my aunt near the eastern coast of O’ahu. We spent the next six or seven days hanging out with my aunt, doing odd jobs around their house and playing with their pooch Li’a.

Li’a
Eastern Coast of O’ahu Island Near Celest and Paul’s House
My aunt and uncle had a beautiful pool built in their backyard. As a special added touch, life-like turtles were added to the bottom of the pool. Black tiles surround the turtles so it looks as if the turtles really are swimming and their shadow is under them. The turtles look so real the gentleman who came to do the final inspection on the pool was going to write Celest and Paul up for having real sea turtles in their pool.

Their Backyard
jody Riding the Turtle
dave and I took a couple days for ourselves while we were in Hawaii. One day we took a driving tour to the North Shore of O’ahu. On our way to the North Shore we stopped at the Dole Pineapple Plantation for a short train ride into the pineapple fields. We learned pineapples are not native to Hawaii. In fact no one is completely sure when the first pineapple came to Hawaii but they may have originally come from a shipwrecked Spanish ship in 1527. It was Captain John Kidwell that is credited with founding Hawaii’s pineapple industry. In the 1880’s he experimented with a variety of different types of pineapples before finally deciding the Smooth Cayenne with its uniform texture and cylindrical form was the best. It is this variety that Jim Dole began planting at the Dole Plantations.

Dole Plantation
The pineapples at this plantation were not started from seed. Instead the top of the pineapple plant is sliced off and then hand planted into the ground. It takes this newly planted pineapple 18 months to produce it’s first fruit and another 13-14 months for it’s second fruit. They can harvest two crops in three years or three crops in four years before the field is knocked back down and a new pineapple top is planted. An amazing 27,000 to 33,000 pineapples can be planted per acre.

Pineapple Field
Baby Pineapple
As I’m sure most of you know, the North Shore is a popular surfing destination in the winter. Due to the island’s location, giant storm generated swells make their long trek across the Pacific Ocean to break on the island’s beaches and reefs. However, in the summer the water is perfectly flat and suitable for snorkeling. We didn’t go swimming in the ocean but we did enjoy the views we got along the coastline.

jody at Sunset Beach on the North Shore Although the surf was flat on the North Shore, Waikiki Beach is a consistent surf spot during the summer. Early one morning we rented a surf board and gave it a try. It was a lot of fun and quite a work out. We were both successful, however, the locals made it look much easier than it actually was.

Jody Paddling
dave Surfing
On our way to the airport we made a stop at a famous skateboarding spot called Wallows. Turns out it wasn’t too far from my aunt’s house. Wallows was made famous in a 1987 Bones Brigade video. Dave, of course, was very excited to check it out even if he didn’t have his skateboard with him.

Wallows