Hawaii -- March 18 and 19, 2016

                                   View of Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head.


Jim and Teri are on the road, spending a week in Waikiki. Anthea and Regina are gainfully employed in Seattle, and for a variety of reasons couldn't join us, but we will see them for a few days at the end of the trip.

A surfer with his board paying homage to Duke Kahanamoku, the original surfer dude.

We left Anchorage on Thursday afternoon of St. Patrick's day, with gray skies and temperatures in the mid-30s after a little snowfall the evening before.

               People admiring Mt. Susitna and the Alaska Range at sunset on March 16.

We arrived in Honolulu about six hours later, plus a two-hour time difference because Hawaii-- sensibly -- does not use daylight savings time. Not much opportunity for getting out and about on Thursday evening, but we settled into our studio apartment at the Kuhio Banyan (mostly time-share condos) and slept well.

Friday morning dawned, in true Hawaii fashion, sunny with a breeze. It's been cool here, by Hawaii standards -- low 70s. We put on our walking shoes and set out for the zoo, about a mile east of our hotel, and one of our favorite places. They have flamingos.

         Flamingos at the Honolulu Zoo.

And then . .  the sun was bright, but not too bright, and breezes were sweet, and we thought -- what a great day to walk to the top of Diamond Head. So we did.

An egret along the way to Diamond Head. A friend who lives here says that they are considered pests.

Up to the peak and back to the parking lot (we had to get back to the hotel to meet a guy about a parking place, so took a cab home) got us about 8 1/2 miles of walking.

 Jim and Teri on Diamond Head (honest, Jim wore his hat almost all of the time).

                                  Evening surfing, just before sunset.

A somewhat impromptu hula class on the beach near sunset.

In the evening we went to Duke's at the Outrigger Waikiki for dinner, and to watch the sun set -- along with several thousand other people. I remarked a couple of weeks ago that there were more cameras at the start of the Iditarod 1,049-mile dog-sled race from Anchorage to Nome than dogs (1,500) and people (couple of thousand?) combined. Waikiki Beach at sunset beats that easily.

                       The last bit of sunset at Waikiki Beach.



Today we walked, mostly along the beach, to Ala Moana Mall, about two miles from the hotel.

The Sheraton's infinity pool -- the heads visible just above the water's edge are people walking along a path just below.

Morning beach time, for people and pigeons alike.

                            A child at the lagoon, making "X's" at the water's edge. 


The purpose was to meet Alaska friends (Stellavera Kilcher and her friend Mike) for lunch, and see what the biggest shopping mall for a few thousand miles had to offer.

We didn't find much to buy at the Mall, except good breads at a French bakery, St. Germaine;  and water lilies.

This evening, we chanced upon a farmers' market.

Rambutans, fruits about the size of strawberries. The red is  husk, and the fruit is inside. Here's a link to how to eat them:   http://casualkitchen.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-prepare-and-eat-rambutan-fruit.html

Riding the surf in an outrigger, near sunset.

A rainbow over by Diamond Head.

Man carving turtles from blocks of wood at one of the hotels.

Hula dancers at the Royal Hawaiian Center.


 By the end of the evening (after checking out the beach scene, watching a local wood carver, chancing upon a Saturday Market and seeing some hula dancing), we have walked more than eight miles. So we are accomplishing one of our goals -- walk a lot, in the sunshine and by the ocean. Meanwhile, in Anchorage five to eight inches of snow have been falling today (Saturday), causing a thirty-car pileup along Seward Highway near the middle of town, and dozens of other accidents. We are thankful to be here.

Tomorrow we plan to explore the supermarkets, having exhausted our supply of things that we brought with us, and a few leftovers (the studio has a full kitchen).

Beach time with another statue of Duke Kahanamou.


On some of the sidewalks at the corners are stones carved with words in the Hawaiian language: