Everyday Life in Honolulu

Alan and Linda at the Lookout near "From Here to Eternity Beach"

On Thursday we messed around in town and stopped at The Bike Shop for Rich to check on renting a bike to do a ride on Saturday. On the way back we ended up back in Hawaii Kai for Peking Duck at a local restaurant. Rich and I had never had it before - it was outrageously decadent. Super crispy skin wedged into little steamed buns with plum sauce and scallions. Yum.

Then we continued around to one of our favorite sites - Sandy Beach - and stopped at the lookout on the way to watch for whales. Beautiful spot - we saw a couple of whale "sprays."

Linda and Rich enjoying the view

Of course, no trip to Honolulu is complete without several trips to Safeway and Costco. We've already been to Safeway twice and have only been here a few days. Alan has already informed me that we are going to have to "do another double" (go to both Safeway and Costco) tomorrow.

"What wine goes with Flank-n-greens?"

Alan and Linda looking for the greens

We ended up going to a wine bar - Formaggio's - for a dinner of shared small plates and wine. It was a dark, intimate setting and very nice. We came home and crashed. I think jet lag finally caught up with us.

FRIDAY

Par 3 - I am sure my shot was on the green and I birdied the hole. . .

Gorgeous views - Rich knocked this drive about 350 yards. . .

On Saturday Rich and I went to breakfast at a local restaurant that is a favorite of Mom and Dad's - Jacks Restaurant. I had a fish omelet - wonderful piece of mahi-mahi tucked into a cheese omelet. Then we went to the Hawaii Kai Golf Course. Long story - but the course was VERY muni - low rent. They really don't care for tourists. Never again. Views were good, rental clubs were crappy and the golfing was so-so. Oh well.

Friday evening Rich and I cooked Flank and Greens for Alan and we hung out at home eating a laughing. A great evening.

SATURDAY

We got up very early today to take Rich and his rented bike to Kapiolani Park to meet with a group of riders from The Bike Shop. They are set to do a 30-40 mile ride towards Sandy Beach and back. I drop him off and head to Starbucks. Rich had a great ride and came home pumped up.

Meet me at the fountain in Kapiloani Park

Rarin' to go

Plans for the rest of the day are to take the bike back, go over the Pali Hwy to check out our golf destination for Monday (Ko'olau) and maybe go to Kailua for a flu shot (!) since Janel has probably had the flu. Sounds like fun. . .

Morio's Sushi tonight. Since I chose the spot word is that I am responsible if it is bad. We are already thinking it is going to be "Italian" sushi with a name like Morio's. We'll see.

Aloha!

We made it to Hawaii last evening. Flights were long, but thankfully uneventful. We picked up our car and then made our way to the traffic jam on the H1. We finally arrived at Alan's house around 6pm - just in time for happy hour.
It is COLD here (low 70's. . .). We had to borrow a blanket from Gina next door. Alan's house looks great and the cats (Huck and Chalice) are getting used to seeing us. We went out to dinner at the Shack - nice and low key. It reminded us of when Alan, Janel, Johnny and us went there years ago and played the Quiz Game as "Gumby, Jumby, Dumby, Spam and Canned Ham."
We made it an early night due to the time change and had a good night's sleep.

Rich is enjoying straight chillin' this morning. Notice the can of Hawaiian coffee.

This morning we are straight chillin'. Quite a drastic change from our hectic lifestyle in Arizona. . .

Views from our bedroom lanai are spectacular:
No real plans for today, but I am sure they will evolve and revolve around where and what to eat.

Oh - Nellie has been really sick - probably some kind of flu. She is getting better and is finally able to get out of bed. Please send her your love.

Packing

I should be packing, but instead I am playing around with this blog. Anything to procrastinate.

This is what the floor of our closet looks like while I am trying to decide which items "make the cut." Our clothes for 5 weeks are supposed to fit into a carry-on.

This is the HUGE suitcase of items for Janel!

And here is Rich trying to show that he is freezing here in our house in AZ (where today's temp is 75). He should be very happy in Thailand at 95 with 95% humidity!

Ok - back to the task at hand. Off to Hawaii in the morning. I'll try to blog from there if Alan doesn't run me ragged.

Do I Know How to Do This???

Ok - I am trying to set up a blog so y'all can follow us on our travels. Let's see if this works (I have my doubts).