This is actually written by my girlfriend Frankie; while I did do some minor editing on it I'm too lazy to re-write it!
Thanksgiving 1996
Ray and I arrive in Honolulu HI. It is 102 degrees warmer than when we stepped on the plane in Fairbanks Alaska. When we left it was -20. When we arrived it was 82. We checked into a hotel and went to the beach.
November 30
Went to the beach for a morning swim. It was great! The innkeeper gave us a pair of bus passes because it is so close to the end of the month she probably couldn't sell them to anyone. On them is the Hawiian word for November, Novemapa. We used them this afternoon to go out to Hanamau Bay, where we went snorkeling. There were lots of schools of colorful fish near the coral reef. We even saw a pair of turtles. We went to the theater and watched Star Trek 1st Contact. The theater is the largest one in Waikiki.
December 1
Went for another morning swim before calling around to different hostels to move into. We found one not too far from where we are now called Seaside Hostel for $10/person if you have a flyer from the airport. Most of the others were from $15-20; still not expensive but more than our budget could handle after staying in a $60 room for 2 days. We spent most of the afternoon moving into the hostel. Went to see Ransom tonight.
December 2
Went to look for bikes to rent. We plan to bike around the island, taking our time to sight see. That should be lots of fun. Ray found one he liked, but I didn't. The bike shop will get another women's bike in tomorrow so we will come back to look at it. We walked downtown to get camping permits for our trip. Ray's cousin and her husband live in Honolulu so we went to their apartment for dinner. They will be keeping the things we don't want to carry around with us on the bike trip at their place.
December 3
That other women's bike was what I ended up using. After renting the bikes, we went back to the hostel to pack them up. We finally rode out of Honolulu at about 2:30 this afternoon. We rode from Waikiki to Waimanalo Beach, 19 miles. We walked up Hanauma Bay hill. We stopped at Halona Blow Hole to rest and take a few pictures. Lots of sand and waves at Sandy Beach. I was exhausted at the end of the day.
December 4
Waimanalo Beach to He'eia State Park, 13 miles. We spent most of the day walking up a long hill. I HATE hills, especially at the beginning of a trip. We saw Coconut Island where Giligan's Island was filmed. We found a park in a town, but decided not to stay there.
December 5
He'eia State Park to Kahana Beach, 14 miles. Kahana Beach is a nice beach to swim in 2-3 foot waves and not get rolled. We bought a fresh pineapple form a road-side stand for $2 to have for dinner. Ray got a flat tire that took 45 minutes to fix because it was in a bad spot. We fixed the flat at a bus stop under a banana tree that had bananas on it.
December 6
Kahana Beach to Hau'ula, 4.5 miles. Today was a short day of riding. We swam and ate the remainder of the pineapple before leaving this morning. The county camp ground we were supposed to stay at was very run down and in a bad part of town. We found a nice city park to stay in but didn't because some guy lent us his back yard to stay in. We spent the afternoon doing ISECCo postcards.
December 7
Hau'ula to a Dole pineapple field, 26 miles. It was fast riding along the North Shore. We were up early. We stopped at Kahuka Sugar Mill shopping center to finish the ISECCo postcards. We mailed 29 of them from the post office there. We saw the Bonzai Pipeline where surfing championships are held. At Pupukea we stopped for water and pictures. There were big waves crashing against a ledge just offshore. We rode out to Waimea (expensive tourist trap) but there was no place to leave our bikes with all the gear on them so we left. We tried to go swimming but the waves were to high for the lifeguards to let anyone in the water this afternoon. We had lunch and greased my bike chain in Haleiwa. Here we decided to go to the Dole center and see the pineapple fields. On the way we saw coffee plants. The place was interesting, although the store was another tourist trap. We spent a wet, rainy night in a pineapple field because there was no other place to camp.
December 8
Pinapple field to Mokule'ia Beach across from Dillingham airport, 14 miles. It was still raining this morning and the tent bottom was covered with red mud. We had roast chicken and rice for lunch at Waialua. While we were eating the sun came out. The beach had a nice campground. Across the road was a squatter camp and they were noisy all night. I dried our stuff out while Ray went rode back into town for food (pizza!), a 14 mile round trip.
December 9
Mokule'ia Beach to Kea'au Beach, 14 miles. We rounded Ka'eana Point. It is a very pretty area closed to all vehicles because it is a nature preserve. We saw an Albatross in its nest and followed a ring-neck pheasant until he left the path. It is a very rock path except on the very tip of the point where it is sand. At one area there was a rocky cliff we had to carry the bikes over. My camera fell out of the pack it was in and tumbled down the cliff, but was ok because it has a padded case. We went swimming and snorkeling at a beach near the point. Of the 55 campsites in this campground, our campsite was one of the few that weren't covered by a foot of grass. The bathrooms were filthy and all the trashcans were overflowing. It was the worst campground we have seen so far. I washed my hair at one of the outside showers.
December 10
Kea'au Beach to Kahe Beach, 12 miles. We stopped for breakfast at a McDonalds in Waianae where Ray's jacket was stolen out of the bag. We called the police and filed a report. We were thinking of going all the way back into Honolulu today, but it took to long with the police to ride back before it got dark.
December 11
Kahe Beach to Honolulu, 22 miles. We got an early start because today was mostly city riding. I fell and landed on my left wrist just before we found the bike path. It was good riding most of the rest of the way to Honolulu on this path. We checked back into Seaside Hostel, unloaded and returned the bikes.
December 12
We bought tickets to go to the big island today and arranged to rent a car once over there. Went swimming and to the IMAX film, Ring of Fire this evening. We also signed up for diving lessons.
December 13
We began diving instruction today. They picked us up at 7 am. We did book work until noon then went to lunch with Mike, the instructor. More films and book work after lunch. We took the final around 4pm. Mike then drove us back to the hostel. We went to see Hidden Hawaii, another IMAX film tonight.
December 14
Whew, what a day! We flew over to Hawaii in the morning. After renting a car, we drove from Kona to Volcanoes National Park and on up to Hilo. Renting the car was a hassle because Ray lost his drivers license when his jacket was stolen. We had to put the car in my name and pay extra because I'm under 25. I bought my dad a pound of coffee in Kona. We drove through Volcano Park. It cost $5 for a car per week for the park pass. We drove all around Crater Rim and went through Thurston Lava Tube. When we drove down to where lava is meeting the sea it was foggier. Then when we got down the hill the fog went away. There is an arch that vibrates when the waves hit. All that can be seen in daylight of the lava meeting the sea is a giant plume of steam. We stayed in a private room at Arnotts Lodge in Hilo.
December 15
Today we went to a Macadamia nut grove and factory, a rain forest zoo and the largest private museum in Hawaii, and drove 2 scenic routes. The 2 botanical gardens were closed because today is Sunday.
December 16
Today we went to the Hilo library, boat harbor, swimming at a waterfall pool we found yesterday, and back to the volcano to hike a bit. There are signs along the trail saying "Caution, thin crust-stay on trail" and they aren't talking pizza! We way a pair of Nene birds. After eating at Volcano House we drove back down to where lava meets the sea. After dark there is a much different view than in the day. It was a clear, moonlit night. We saw the bright orange lava as it exited a lava tube, then the red glow where is has built a shelf up at the sea. Every time a wave hit the lava shelf it went dark for a bit. We camped tonight and didn't put the rain fly on the tent. I was so cold I couldn't sleep.
December 17
There was dew on the tent this morning. We drove back up to Arnotts Lodge for a tour of Mauna Kea. The man giving the tour was a geologist. He told stories and facts as we drove up and up and up to the top (13,796 feet). There were 12 people in the tour. We stopped at 9000 feet to go on a short hike. We were now above most of the clouds. This is where the visitors center and scientist housing is. At the top we got to tour 2 observatories: Keck I and NASA. In Keck I, we watched a film then went into a little glass room to look to the telescope. In NASA they were looking at Jupiter in conjunction with Galileo satellite. Once inside, the scientists invited them into the main control room to see the pictures. This is NOT part of the regular tour. I unfortunately was sick so I stayed in the van on oxygen along with another girl. On the way down we stopped again at the visitors center. This time we hiked to look at Silver Sword, a rare plant. We also saw a pair of Nene birds. On the drive back into town, we hiked through the rainforest to a lava tube. I fell on a large rock and messed up my back. The lava tube was full of jumbled boulders. We camped again tonight is the same campground as yesterday.
December 18
Flew back to Honolulu. At the Kona airport there is an astronaut museum. We spent about an hour there waiting on our plane. It is a hands on museum. We went swimming tonight.
December 19
The diving shop picked us up at 7am again. We went to the store and got fitted. Another woman, Jannet joined us. She is also just starting. We went to the Marine base pool. I had too much weight so I sank doing fin surface work. Jannet ran out of air. We finished about 2 in the afternoon and went back to the hostel for a nap.
December 20
Another early start for diving-this time in the ocean! We went the Kahe Beach where Ray and I spent the night biking. This beach is locally known as electric beach because it is beside the water intake for a large power plant across the road. The water was rough so we went to Haiku Pier. We dove about 20 feet. It was lots of fun. We saw coral and fish. Back to the hostel in the afternoon for a nap.
December 21
Our last early start for diving. We went to a beach in town. There was another group diving their first dives today. Because there were so many divers, the water got very murky fast. At one point I put my hand a foot from my mask and couldn't see it! Somehow we gained a diver in our group. I saw her swimming straight for a sharp coral and grabbed her and handed her to the instructor who surfaced and took her back to where she belonged. Our last dive was a little better because it was just the 5 of us. There was lots of sharp coral. We got our certification this afternoon. While on the second dive, Janet ran low on air. I had my weight belt come off, my snorkel was knocked off, and my regulator came out while I was taking off my mask for one of our lessons. Then if that wasn't enough, I got stung by a jellyfish or something in the knee!
December 22
We slept in today. Took the bus to the Arizona Memorial and Bowfin submarine museum. They show you a film about what happened in the attack before taking you out on a boat to the memorial. The Bowfin is an interesting tour. The museum has different types of torpedoes and missiles as well as submarine collections. After taking the bus back and taking a nap we went to dinner at Top of Waikiki. This is a fancy revolving restaurant 21 floors up. We both had Mahi Mahi (fish) in a cream sauce, salad, potato, bread stick, and some kind of crown sprouts in sauce. Very good food. I had ice tea. They put fresh mint and pineapple in it. Ray's 7-up had a cherry in it. We had cheesecake for dessert.
December 23
Today we spent the morning packing and mailed a couple of boxes back, and sent postcards. We went to look at a boat harbor in the afternoon. The flight to Seattle was an hour late leaving Honolulu, yet we got in five minutes early. We then flew to Spokane. I'm glad we flew rather than drove like we planned because the passes were all closed.