DAY 7 HAWAII

This morning I woke up when the trash truck came to the hotel. For that one second when I woke up, I thought I was at home. 

I met my friend and a friend of his at Volcano National Park. It was pouring rain and very overcast. Once again I could not see the volcano. It just was not meant to be. We drove all around the park and saw lots of lava. We also went to an art show. 

We saw some nene. They are the national bird and are very protected. 

I had to return to the hotel to start packing. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 6 HAWAII

This morning the cat was outside my door. I spoke to the owners and it turns out my room is his favorite room for some strange reason. They felt bad it took me over an hour to remove him. I had to remove him because I am allergic. He wanted to sleep with me!! 

The hotel staff gave me ideas for today. First I went to a beach but it was super crowded and there was no parking. 

Then I went to the zoo. It was a sort of sad and tiny zoo. I didnt stay long. This peacock was the only animals not in a cage but of course it can't fly. 

I then drove to another beach where I sat and wrote in my journal. 

When I returned to the hotel I sat in the garden. 

I got takeout dinner and did one last bit of shopping. 

I love the sounds of Hawaii. The bugs, frogs, etc. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 5 HAWAI'I

I woke up early so I could go to the farmers market. I like to look at the crafts. This time I bought a ring. It is a stainless steel brushed silver ring with very thin rainbow colors along each edge. I had the word "resilience" engraved in it. I really like it. I also got my niece a birthday present. 

Then I went to the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve and Garden. It is very pretty. Jungle and flowers and ocean. 

I bought some vegan gelato before going to an outside space that with live music and dancing. 

When I got back to my hotel and opened my door, the hotel cat ran into my room. He would not leave. I tried ignoring him, using a cord to play with him, and feeding him. Nothing worked. It took over an hour to get him to leave. I used a paper bag! He wanted to climb in it. Once I got him out, he climbed up on a table outside my door and tried to knock over a vase. I told him to stop and then he laid outside my door and scratched it. 

It was a long night. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 4 HAWAI'I

Today was helicopter day at Blue Hawaiian Helicopter. My friend and I met at the airport to do our helicopter ride. It was lightly raining and overcast. For a few minutes we thought the ride would be cancelled. The pilot figured out a way to create a ride for us while skirting the storm. 

We took off and we went up the coast to see lava. There is no flowing lava. Since a storm was coming through the helicopter was shaking a lot. Towards the end I was having motion sickness. We got to see the southern coast and then we went to the Chain of Creators. We could not see the volcano because of the clouds with the storm. The pilot was very knowledgeable. 

After the helicopter ride, we went to a nice restaurant, Hilo Bay Restaurant for lunch. 

Then I went to Liliʻuokalani Gardens. The park's site was donated by Queen Liliʻuokalani. It has a beautiful pond with bridges and statues.

Until tomorrow...

HAWAII DAY 3

I woke up this morning early and headed over to Rainbow Falls. I was supposed to see a rainbow but I didn't. I did walk up the rock stairs to get to the top to see the hot pools. (I think that is what they are called). The walking down was a little slow. 

I came back and found out my friend's cat would not be seen at the vets until later in the day and our outing was postponed. I went shopping for items like t-shirts and a dream catcher. 

I came back to my room to eat lunch. I have a kitchen in my room so I can make my own food. 

After lunch I wrote out some postcards. I was smart to put them in the car because during my next trip, I went past a post office and was able to mail them.  I drove to another waterfall named 'Akaka. It was so pretty. 

Once I got there, the employee said I should take the short path. I hate it when people tell me what I should do, so I did the entire walk. It was 1/2 mile in total with lots of stairs. I took a detour to drive along the scenic route. 

I got back to my hotel room just in time to meditate with the other members.  Once I finished, I drove to a restaurant that had vegan food to get take out. 

Until tomorrow...

DAY 2 HAWAII

I woke up super early. I had a hard time sleeping. First it was a bit hot and the fan is really noisy but the biggest problems were 1) another guest was sort of snoring and 2) someone blared pop music at 3am. It was Judy one song but it woke me up. Now back to the snoring. All the quests have their windows open because it is hot and there is no air conditioning. A guest is snoring or snoring so loud that we can all hear it! It kept waking me up. It was loud! It sounded like someone going "ew". I don't know but I hope it is softer tonight. 

Then I drove to the farmers market and met my friend. It started to rain very hard. I never found my umbrella so all I had was my windbreaker. We walked around and saw all the little booths. I bought a Christmas present for someone. Then we got in our cars and went to other little market. Between the two markets I got ahead of lettuce a red pepper and a tomato so I can make sandwiches the only thing I don't have is vegan Mayo but I'll have to suffer through.

Family drove to my friend's house. Is my first time seeing it in person and it is magnificent. It's the kind of house I would love to live in. He's doing some construction, building an addition, but he gave me the full tour. We sat out for a couple of hours on his Lanai and talked.

Then I drove back to Hilo where I stopped at a vegan restaurant to get a sandwich. It started to rain very hard and I want to eat outside so I took my sandwich back to my hotel room. Since it was already almost 4:00 in the afternoon that is both my lunch and my dinner. I'm so tired anyway and I'm not going to be up very late tonight.

Until tomorrow...

HAWAII DAY 1

Well my start to my trip to Hawaii definitely began with the bang. First I got up early and got to the airport in plenty of time. I had a wonderful cab driver who was very sweet and he brought me and my luggage inside the airport lobby and got me a wheelchair. I was so early that I beat the people that pushed the wheelchairs to your gate. So I had to sit for about a half an hour and wait for someone to come and push me to my gate.

Getting through TSA was a lesson in patience. Because I was in a wheelchair I was wheeled right up to the front of the line but then I had to wait for a female TSA worker to check my boot. My boot had to be taken off and run through the X-ray machine and then my sock had to be inspected. I offered to take my sock off and they can run it to the X-ray machine but they declined and instead felt all around on my foot. Seemed rather silly. That whole process took about another 45 minutes.

My flight was very nice. I sat next to two very nice women who both wore masks the whole time and we're super helpful when we landed. In Hawaii the plane lands right on the tarmac and you have to walk down a flight of stairs. The two women carried my backpack and my medicine bag so I could hold on to the handrail.

Once I got my luggage I waited in a long line to get the shuttle to the rental car place. Then when I got to the rental car place I went up to the Fast Track thinking I would get my rental car but alas they claimed I didn't have my fast track on this reservation. So I had to go get him another long line to get my rental car. Luckily there were some very nice people in line who kept my place while I sat down for a little bit. It was very hot and I have been standing for a long time.

Finally I get to the front of line and get my rent a car. I happily drove off and went to the supermarket to get food. I went only 20 miles down the road and it was clear, there was something wrong with the car. Every time I drove over 40 miles an hour there was a flapping noise as if someone was in the trunk banging. After stopping a few times to see if I could see what the problem was, I called road assistance. That was an incredibly useless phone call because the man kept asking me where I was but I just knew I was on some highway in the middle of nowhere in Hawaii. So I ended up turning around and going back to the airport.

Once back at the rental car company at the airport I saw the same service person that I'd already talked to twice. I called him over and told him what happened and he rushed my new car along. 

When the car came around I had some very nice people help me with my bags and groceries. This time the car was wonderful. I got to the hotel and the nice lady at the front desk helped me with my bags and groceries. 

Just to give you an idea, I landed at 11:30am and got to the hotel at 6 pm. It took 6.5 hours to get off the plane, get my luggage, get to the rental place, get car #1, then food shop and drive 20 miles and then drive back and get car #2 then drive 2 hours to the hotel. It was a lot of standing around. Let's see what my feet feel like tomorrow.  Oh yeah, I was too late to get dinner so I ate snacks. 

Until tomorrow...

PACKING FOR HAWAII

Months ago I made a plan to visit a friend in Hawaii. This was all before I fell and hurt my feet. After having the doctor give me the okay, I decided to go to Hawaii. So all day today I've been packing, cleaning, and delivering animals to their respective boarding places.

Yes, I drove my car a short distance to drop off the bird and then drove it a bit more to charge up the battery. I'm not sure I mentioned before that my battery was almost dead a few days ago. I needed to charge it up before I went away for a week. They're driving was okay but still a little painful.

The dog was picked up towards the end of the day by the dog sitter. I now have the house to myself but I have to be up at the crack of dawn to catch my plane.

Until tomorrow...

DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

Day of the Dead! It is a tribute to the afterlife, a day meant to honor those who have died and keep their memory alive. Unlike Halloween, which historically was a day to ward off evil spirits, Day of the Dead is more about paying respects to loved ones who have died.

I got this in Sedona during the Day of the Dead celebration.

Until tomorrow...

ALL SAINTS DAY

I am so happy to be part of my meditation group. It is only three women but we are so supportive of each other. I had a frustrating day and they listened to me for a few minutes. When others have a bad day, we all listen and try to offer solutions. Then we meditate together. 

Until tomorrow...