I'm listening to some Dean Martin, totally gets you in the blog writing mood...right? Okay, maybe I should try the Hawaiian station- wait...okay, there. Now I'm feeling the palm tree vibe (as opposed to the mobster- Italian vibe).
Some of Sam's coworkers invited us out to Kaena Point last Saturday. Kaena point is at the northern/western-most point of the island. It looks something like this:
Obviously, I didn't take this picture myself- thanks to google!
The road ends about two miles before you reach the point, so you have to hike on out. We had grills and coolers, so we didn't make the hike, but set up camp along the beach on the northern side. The beach wasn't very boogie board friendly because of a strong shore break, so we tried snorkeling. There wasn't anything to see, so I don't recommend this spot for snorkeling, but it was fun to get into the water and swim around. I got so much water in my ears here! I tried the rubbing alcohol/vinegar trick, but no luck. I definitely have an ear infection, but it's not too bad, so I'm waiting it out.
"King of the rock, and there's nuttin' you girls can do about it."
;) Name that movie!
Showing off the Dole plantation shirt. Chris W, I know you want one!
There wasn't anything in the tide pools- Oregon totally has better tide pools!
I wish I'd taken a picture, but some of the guys brought fish spears (the three pronged kind). Our hunter/warriors shot some tropical fish for us, but since they were about 3x3 inches big and tropical they threw them back. I don't think "catch and release" works when you use a spear. It's more like "I just eviscerated your innards, but here you go fishy! Go be food for the sharks."
The Air Force had the Friday before Memorial Day and Memorial Day off, so Sam had a four day weekend. On Monday we joined up with our friends Dave and Amber Washer (I don't have a picture of them, sorry!) to the Pearl Harbor Memorial.We'd been to the USS Bowfin, but hadn't been to the Arizona yet.
The flags at half mast.
For anyone wanting to visit the Arizona, walk in tickets were free. I showed up at 8 am the day of and got 4 tickets for the 9:45 tour. It's a self guided tour, so if you want a little extra they offer an audio tour for $7.50 a piece. Sam and I paid for the audio tour, but I didn't find it very informative. They show a 20 minute video before they take you out to the memorial and I found that much more informational and moving, so I would save your money and not bother with the audio. That being said, if you go on the Bowfin, you definitely want the audio tour because it's good (oh, and if they tell you to play the "100s", play the "200s" instead. They "200s" are better- you'll know what I mean if you go).
The Arizona was busy and so distracted from some of the somberness of the memorial. Still worth seeing if just to see the video before. I would like to take Ralph out to see it if he hasn't already.
Coming off the boat to the Arizona Memorial.
A piece of the Arizona sticking up out of the water.
It's deteriorating significantly because of the salt water.
I really like this picture. Looking through the cieling of the memorial at Old Glory.
1,177 men died on the Arizona. 900 men are still entombed below.
This lighted opening looks out onto the water and is called the "Tree of Life".
A marine stands guard.
It's hard to see, but the black stuff in the water is oil seeping from the Arizona. They don't clean up the oil because to do so would desecrate the site. Some people refer to the oil as the Arizona's tears.
Playing on manly machine...stuff.
On the USS Bowfin.
And finally, about Hawaiian fruits. The base has tons of fruit trees if you know where to look. Our fruit hunt started when we discovered that the tree in our back yard is a macademia nut tree.
Next, we found our first mango tree. After finding this tree, we found an alley we've affectionately named "Mango alley" for its abundance of mangos.
We made mango lassi drinks. Lassi is an Indian drink made of mango, 1 cup yogurt (I used Chobani), 1/2 c milk, 2-3 T sugar, and lemon zest/1/2 squeezed lemon. I topped it with homemade whipped cream and lemon zest. I also put left over mango at the bottom of one of the glasses to eat whole. Yummy in my tummy!
Later Sam found out it's a pomelo tree. A pomelo is a type of grapefruit. I learned that pomelos are mated (right word?) with tangerines to make tangelos. We didn't get to taste it because it wasn't ripe yet. When it's ripe it should look like this:
Ours looked like this:
And because this cracked me up.
And only Frank Sinatra could use "asbestos" in a song and make it work. Geesh.
I Won't Dance
"When you dance, you're charming and you're gentle
'specially when you do the Continental
But this feeling isn't purely mental
For, heaven rest us, I am not asbestos"
'specially when you do the Continental
But this feeling isn't purely mental
For, heaven rest us, I am not asbestos"
Maybe I should stick with the Hawaiian station afterall :)
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