Isn't It About Time I Wrote About Hawaii?

So as you all know, my lady and I visited Hawaii recently, but I haven't written anything about it yet, other than the time I opted out of the Backscatter machine. I've been meaning to write more about Hawaii, though, so here goes.



We arrived in Honolulu first, on the island of Oahu. We spent a day there, seeing the sights. Waikiki Beach was beautiful. Just like on TV, it was full of good-looking people in swimsuits, tanning, swimming, and even lifting weights. It was my first time swimming in the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure that it helped that we were on Hawaii, but it was very different than the Atlantic. Much warmer for one thing, and with a nicer beach. We drove past Diamond Head, a famous crater. We also had shave ice, which is considered an essential part of the Hawaiian vacation.

I know that the public perception of Hawaii is of a beautiful, green place, where the sun is shining, palm trees abound, the ocean waves lap at the beach while majestic green mountains rise above. Well, as it turns out, actually being on Hawaii is pretty much just like that.

Then we flew to Kauai, which is the island where my in-laws live. Kauai is known as the Garden Island, and is considered the least developed and most beautiful of the major islands. It is so small that we were able to take a driving tour of the whole island in a day. The main stop on the trip was at a canyon island called Koke`e. It's amazing to think how such a small island can fit such a large canyon.

The tour was amazing. The highlight was when we were at an overpass looking down at a valley on the edge of the ocean, and the scene below us was covered in a cloud. As we watched, the cloud started to clear out. At first, we could see the vague outline of the valley below us, and then there it was. It was an awe-inspiring moment.

The other great thing about staying on Hawaii was the quiet time, when I could sit in the breezeway of my in-laws' house and read The Return of the King. Of course, it was also nice to spend time with my lady's parents, to meet her extended family and family friends, and to go down to the beach and walk on the sand.

I remember walking on the beach and looking out at the water. The waves were crashing a long way out from the shore, and as I watched the foam on them, I thought of King Haggard in The Last Unicorn, watching the ocean from his tower and seeing the unicorns in the foam. Standing there, I could almost believe that the foam looked like unicorns.

We were lucky that the weather was nice and stayed nice during our stay. There were storms the week before we arrived, and the water was still somewhat murky when we arrived. Still, the weather ranged from somewhat too warm to perfect. It was especially nicest when the sun was behind clouds.

I can't close this account without mentioning that, at night, any sign with a light shining on it would have several geckos climbing on it, catching the bugs that were attracted by the light.