Hawaii 2003

Megan’s dad moved to Hawaii with his new family and she was invited to go in May.  She came into my room at one point in March to hang out.  She told me she was going to Hawaii to visit her dad, step mom and half brothers.  I told her that was cool and that she would have fun.  She suggested that I come along too.  I checked to see how much money I had in my bank account.  I had plenty.  I called my mom and asked if I could go to Hawaii with Megan for summer break.  She said yes as long as I paid for it.  I told her I would but I would have to use her credit card.  I booked my flight and I was well on my way to Hawaii.   Before we left for Hawaii, I went to my high school to a fastpitch practice to help them out.  We were practicing where everyone needs to go during a pickle and I was the base runner.  During one of the pickles, I turned to run the other way when one of the girls went to fake throw it but accidentally let go of it into my face.  I instantly had a swollen right eye socket and I knew it would be a black eye soon.  Yay a black eye, just in time for Hawaii! 

Megan’s mom, Jean, took us to the Sea-Tac airport around 10 a.m. that day.  We got our boarding passes, checked our bags, went through security and waited in the lobby for our noon flight.  We got onto the plane and found our seats.  It was going to be a six hour flight.  We listened to music, doodled, talked to each other and even talked to the guy beside us.  He looked just like Stephen King but sadly, he wasn’t.  He was a literature professor from the University of Hawaii and he was going back to teach summer classes.

When we got to Honolulu, Megan’s dad and step mom were there waiting for us in the baggage claim area.  Her dad had Hawaiian lei’s ready for each of us and slid them around our necks and told us he was glad we were there to visit.  He also made a remark about my black eye.  We got our luggage and went to the house.  When we got there, we took our luggage to the room Megan and I were going to share and she gave me the grand tour of the house.  Megan’s dad made us steaks on the grill.  We watched a little TV, got tired because of the time difference and went to bed.

Sunday we got up, ate some food, and drove to K-Mart with Megan’s uncle Steve.  We then drove down to the beach and got a lot of sun.  My body was not prepared for it one bit.  I slathered so much sun screen on me and I still got fried.  We stopped at a mini mart and got some drinks and popsicles.  We went home ate some dinner and went to bed.  Sun makes me tired.  Found out that I caught a cold.  It wasn’t pleasant.  I didn’t let it ruin my trip to Hawaii.  I think I got it from going to a hot environment from a very cold environment and it probably didn’t help being on an air recycled airplane.

We went to the beach again the next day and got more sun.  I bought one of those floatie mat things and laid on that as I floated through the ocean.  We had a good time.  We went with Megan’s dad and step mom to Costco.  We came home and watched some TV while Megan’s dad made dinner.  We had shrimp scampi, watched Fear Factor and went to bed.

Tuesday we did not go to the beach at all.  It was a good thing because I needed to let my burns heal up.  We went to Honolulu with Megan’s dad and step mom and had a late lunch early dinner at Bubba Gumps.  I had the fish and chips.  We walked around the mall, which most of the stores were outside and birds flew in and out of them…it was weird to get use to.  We drove home, watched JAG with Megan and went to bed.

Wednesday we got up, went to the swap meet at the Aloha Bowl in Honolulu.  We were practically there all day long.  I ended up buying some shorts and some t-shirts and some other little knick knacks for my family.  We had iced lemonade, came home, watched some TV ate dinner of fish and noodles and went to bed.   Megan stayed up until 3 a.m. playing a video game.

On Thursday we went to Hanauma Bay.  This time you had to do an orientation before you went down to the bay.  Last time I was there, in 1998, you didn’t have to do it.  We went snorkeling and took pictures of the fish with the underwater camera.  We went home after a while, ate some pizza, watched the season finale of CSI and ER and went to bed.

Friday and Saturday were catch up/lazy days.  We stayed at home and did some laundry.  We played catch in the back yard, watched some movies and took the dog to the park.  I also called my mom to tell her all the stuff that we’ve done so far.  She was glad to hear from me.

Sunday we went to an all you can eat brunch at a military base/country club (Megan’s dad and step mom are part of the military).  After we went to the Honolulu Zoo with the family, saw lots of animals and exhibits.  We drove down to Waikiki to people watch and to see some of the attractions ate some pizza and went home.

On Monday we went to the North Shore with Megan’s uncle Steve.  We drove through the Dole Pineapple fields, at the time I had no idea what was sticking up out of the ground…so I asked.  “Megan, what are those things sticking up out of the ground?”  “They’re pineapples.” “Really?  I thought pineapples grew in trees.”  I guess not.  North Shore was pretty powerful.  That is where they do most of the surfing competitions because the waves are so strong.  We didn’t realize just how strong they were.  At one point we did not get out of the way of the ten foot wave and it hit us and drug us twenty feet onto the shore.  I was glad it did not rip off my bathing suit.  I stood up and had a pound of sand in my bottoms.  Not the best feeling in the world.  That happened to us twice before we figured it out.

Tuesday we went on a five mile hike to the most western point of Oahu.  The walk was hot and sticky.  When we got to the location, there was tons of Albatross’s nesting on their eggs.  I did not realize how big those birds were until you were right next to one.  I made sure to stay as far away as I could.  When we got back I jumped into the ocean, sure felt good to cool off.  Uncle Steve then drove us to a private lagoon near a hotel.  It was very nice and relaxing.  We went to the movies and saw The Matrix Reloaded.

It was our last day and we had to go back to Washington.  Megan’s dad took us to the airport and dropped us off at the terminal.  We got our boarding passes, checked in our luggage and waited for our flight.  I believe our flight was around 1:00 p.m.  We got on and got back to SeaTac around 9:00 p.m. (five hour flight plus the three hour difference).  Megan’s mom, Megan Champion and my brother were there to take us home.