21 Jan 2010
As you probably know (because I’ve been going on incessantly about it on this blog), I got to spend a few days with my family in Hawaii last month. If you haven’t ready about shots on the porch with my dad, my adventures with 15-foot waves, or how I learned the hard way that my legs can get sunburned, then you’ll have to check them out. Today I will tell you about Christmas with my family, and how traditions bring us together even 4,000 miles away from our hometown.
When my brother and I were younger we used to wake up really early on Christmas morning, and like any other children, we were excited to see all the cool stuff Santa brought. Our parents didn’t mind that we woke up early, and they offered this as a compromise for their sleep: we couldn’t open up anything under the tree, but we could open our stockings. So, at 3:30a we’d be downstairs playing with whatever Santa put in our stockings. We were allowed to wake our parents up at 6:00a but no sooner. So, we’d be loud hoping they’d just wake up. We were sneaky like that.
Fastforward 20 years, and this is to be my first Christmas with my immediate family all together in five years (due to deployments of my dad and brother and the expense associated with traveling long distances.) Of course, we had to keep the tradition alive. Jeremy arrived at my parents’ house at 3:30a. He woke up me and our younger brother Nick, and we headed downstairs to see what Santa left in our stockings.
We put on some coffee, poured mom some of her homemade tea, and fixed dad a goblet of eggnog spiked with rum (always a welcome surprise), for when they awoke, then sat down to reminisce about old times.
Sadly the giddiness that we used to have wasn’t there, at least not to the extent as it was when we were younger. It was replaced by a warmer feeling, one of happiness that we were all together. Considering I probably won’t get to hang with them for another few years, I was extremely grateful.
Later that day, after opening gifts, Mom cooked an early dinner, just like she used to. A big early dinner, with ham, turkey, potatoes, beans, macaroni and cheese, you name it. All of us gathered around my parents’ dining room table and enjoyed each others’ company as we ate. Dinner with my family is always very informal. We all tell jokes, pick on each other (all in good fun) and have a good time all around.
After dinner we went our separate ways for a bit. I went upstairs to play Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare 2 with my little brother. This time it was on his new Playstation 3 instead of the Xbox 360. For the record, graphics between the two look the same, especially when both are connected using an HDMI cable. I happen to like the Playstation controller better – it feels more natural and intuitive. But having played the 360 for so long it had gotten to the point where it was comfortable as well.
Between all the beer and lethargy that followed dinner, the rest of the day is a blissful blur of happiness with family and enjoying the feeling of home, for the first time in a long time.
Next up: I’ll tell you how I spent my money in Waikiki. Stay tuned…
13 Jan 2010
Still on East Coast time, I woke up early, and by that I mean really early – 4 a.m. I lay in bed for an hour and then finally gave in to the day. Not wanting to disturb anyone, I played Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare 2 on the XBOX 360 until I heard coffee cups clinking downstairs, then I went down to greet my family. It would be a day at the beach, and it was a good thing my family members are also morning people, because the good spots at the beach tend to become occupied fast. We were out of the house by around 7:30 a.m.
On this day, the third day of my trip, we were going to the east coast to Lanikai Beach which is about 10-15 minutes south of the Marine Base at Kaneohe.
Grandpa, myself and my grandma at Lanikai beach
The waters on the East Coast are incredibly calm. No waves really at all. And the water is crystal clear enabling you to see directly to the bottom even when the water is at five or six feet deep. The sand on this side is smoother than the sand on the north shore, more like that of the sand in Florida. Coral grows all along the Hawaiian coast, which is really beautiful when snorkling, but it is also very dangerous as it’s sharp and can cut your feet if you’re not careful. It’s easily spotted from shore by the darker spots in the water. Fish and other sealife tend to hang out near or in the coral.
See those two islands out there? They’re about a mile away and during low tide you can almost walk to them. On ocassion, people paddleboard, canoe or kayak out to them, because there’s a lot of coral between here and there. If you were to make it out, you’d likely have a whole island or beach to yourself. Imagine that…
We stayed at Lanikai for several hours. I was the smart guy who put sun screen on my upper body, but not my lower body and when I got home my legs were burned. I’v enever had a sunburn on my legs and stupidly didn’t think they’d burn. Well they did. And badly. Did I mention that the sun in Hawaii is hot? Well, it is. And it feels like it’s right in your face too.
The mountains on the eastern side of the island are more green and lucious, at least during this time of the year, whereas the mountains on the west side have hoardes of cacti. I managed to snap a few photos of the drive home to give you an idea of how beautiful the drive was.
This one's weird in that the wall on the highway was slanted. I was using an iPhone and for some reason everything in the foreground was slanted. The wall itself is actually upright.
I’m not a religious person and that night was Christmas Eve. Because I was visiting family, I did not fight them when they said we were going to attend a church service. I figured I could put up with it for an hour every few years for my family. I managed to keep my iPhone in my pocket the whole time, too.
As is custom with my family, we all open up one gift before we go to sleep. And afterwards, my brother and his wife headed to their home, promising to be back early, and the rest of us went to sleep.
Another little tidbit of information before I wrap up this post, there are three intrastate highways in Hawaii – the H1, H2, and H3. With them you can get nearly anywhere on the island of Oahu. There are two mountain ranges (one on the east and one on the west) and, with the exception of one place, you have to drive all the way around the mountains to get to either side. While the island is only 45 miles from north to south and 33 miles from east to west, and while it would normally only take 20-25 minutes to get from one point to the other, having to go around these mountains can really add up in time. I didn’t mind though because the scenery was gorgeous.
The highways and roads around the island suck for the most part. You might find a few smooth spots, but for the most part they’re bumpy and torn up. This is because the state doesn’t repair them, instead it finds the cheapest contractor and lets them do the work and maintain the roads. As a result, road repairs are cheap. And you really don’t find lines that divide the lanes. Instead you find these round mound-ish bumps that jiggle the car. Heh.
Be sure and check out Day 1 and Day 2!
07 Jan 2010
A year ago, a group of us decided to hike to the summit of Mount Mitchell, which happens to be the highest point east of the Mississippi. We knew it would prove to be quite a challenge, dealing with the blistering, biting cold of winter, and of course below-freezing temperatures. After spending a night at base camp, we hiked halfway up to the summit and set up camp. We spent the second evening warming by the fire and enjoying a few spirits. The middle of the night brought a change in the weather, however, and we woke up the next morning to a ground cover of snow and ice. We decided to be safe rather than sorry, and hiked back to base instead of trying to make it to the top. This year, we shall try again – and I’m keeping fingers crossed we can make it this time!
REI has a yard sale twice a year in which they sell items that members return. It just so happened that this season’s yard sale in Charlotte would be New Year’s Eve. Perfect – I would be there visiting Melissa! I combed the sale items and found a few missing pieces to my gear collection. I still needed to decide on a tent, however. We had a few options – rent a tent, borrow a tent, buy a tent, buy a bivy, or buy a hammock. Jeff uses a bivy so he was already set. Melissa and her brother decided to use bivys. In case you don’t know what a bivy is, it’s basically a tent in the shape of a sleeping bag. It’s a sack that goes around the bag, zipping up completely, providing a lightweight windproof, waterproof shelter.
With everyone from last year’s group using bivy sacks instead of tents, and after recalling Jeff’s ease of setting up his “camp” last year, I was sold on getting a bivy for myself. I even picked out the one I wanted before visiting REI last weekend. I spent hours researching the best bivy for me, and I chose this one because it was both light in price and in weight. However, in all of my research, I neglected to notice one very tiny detail … it was on backorder.
When I got to the tent section of the store, it was pretty obvious there was a problem, given the empty space where my bivy should be. My heart sank. But not to worry – there is another REI in Charlotte, and several REIs in Atlanta. Someone else would have it, and I’d get it there.
Except, it was on backorder everywhere. And the only available bivy was $219. Made of gortex and with its own rainfly, it was a sweet bivy. But, it was $219.
I hadn’t counted on this and spent a few moments stressing at the store before my friends and the very helpful REI employee reminded me I still had several other choices.
The next best option was to rent a tent from REI. At $48 for the four days, it was certainly the most affordable choice.
And it was a two-person tent, meaning slightly heavier than what I really needed for just myself, but if someone needed to, they could crawl in and stay warm with me. After all, there would be two others who would be trying out new sleeping methods who might not be able to handle it. It’s nice to allow someone that other option.
However, the two-person tent was already rented out, so I needed another solution.
I checked the other rental options - the single person tent was already rented, and the 3-person tent was just too much weight for what I needed. After having a heavy pack last year, I learned the hard way that a lot of weight and climbing a mountain are not the best combination.
So, with rental and bivy options off the table, my next choices to look at were tent purchases or hammocks. I considered a hammock – Melissa and Kevin both purchased hammocks and had planned to sleep in their bivy sacks in the hammock – but without a bivy, it would just be too cold. I briefly considered forking over the $219 for the one bivy available, but the REI employee pointed out some tents that were on sale that might suit my needs. In the end I ended up selecting this tent, a one-person, 3-season tent that was on sale for $100 cheaper than the available bivy.
The good thing about having a tent, while others have bivys, is that if we were to end up in harsher conditions than expected, we could all sit in the tent and keep each other warm if necessary. Obviously not ideal (it is a one-person tent!) but it’s good to have different options. My new tent weighs 3.2 pounds, about 2 pounds more than the bivy I originally wanted, and costs about twice as much, but I am happy with the purchase and can’t wait to test it.
And of course, there’s the beloved REI return policy, which is 100% guarantee – meaning if I come off that mountain really wanting a bivy still, I can return it and purchase my bivy on backorder. Lesson learned about waiting too long to buy gear, too!
And speaking of cold, the weather forecast has had Mt. Mitchell barely over 0 (that’s zero) degrees F this past week with a 40% chance of snow the entire time we’re up there. Makes me really glad one of my purchases this weekend was a North Face Snoeshow sleeping bag, rated comfortable at 0 degrees.
Tonight, I’ll be leaving after work to meet Melissa and other friends in Asheville. From there, we’ll take the 4-wheel drive vehicles to the trailhead. We’ll sleep at base camp then begin the six-mile hike to the summit in the morning. We have a Friday night spot in mind, the same place we camped last year, which has decent coverage from the wind, a fire pit, and a stream nearby (which hopefully won’t be frozen over.) We have a second group that is beginning the climb Friday night after work, and they will meet us up there either in the middle of the night Friday or mid-morning Saturday, depending on the conditions of the trail. After we meet them, summit!
Sometime this weekend I’ll be standing on the highest point on this side of the Mississippi River… I’ll tell you all about that when I return!
05 Jan 2010
Previously I wrote about my very first day in Hawaii. After a rough nights’ sleep full of let-lagged tosses and turns, and even waking up a few times in the wee hours of the morning, I officially woke up around 5:30a to meet my parents and grandparents downstairs already drinking coffee and watching the news. I poured myself a cup and took a seat on the couch to watch the news with them.
My family was very excited (don’t get me wrong, I was pretty excited too) to show me Waimea Bay and the North Shore. I had never seen big waves before and the smaller waves at Myrtle Beach and other east coast beaches can be only sorta fun. I’ve always wanted to see and experience bigger and more exhilerating waves. Since Hawaii is such a huge tourist location and with consistent weather all year round, you have to get to the beach parking lots kinda early otherwise you won’t get a parking spot at all.
We got to Waimea Bay around 7:30a and got a decent parking spot. Then we found a nice spot on the beach. Unfortunately there were signs up saying the ocean was too dangerous to swim in so all I could do was get a tan and watch the surfers. The waves looked impressive and I really wanted to go in. Sucks that I couldn’t, but it was probably for the best.
An empty Waimea Bay with early morning waves between 8-15 feet
My grandma and grandpa about to settle into a beach chair
The beaches on Hawaii are all public, even if someones house is right up on it. If you can find a place to park and find a way to the beach, you’re free to go. As a result, there are many “hidden” and empty beaches which are nice to find because you get the whole beach to yourself. Not all beaches have life guards, in fact, very few of them do, so with the current and the waves, care must be taken when getting in the water. I learned that waves that have nice “pipelines” mean there’s a very strong riptide. The strong riptide makes the wave curl over itself so when you see waves with nice form, it’ll likely mean the riptide is pretty intense.
After a few hours at the beach we left feeling super relaxed and headed for home to get ready for the luau which was later in the evening. The sand in Hawaii has several different textures that depend on which side of the island you’re on. The North and West shores have large grained sand that falls off easily, whereas the South and East shores have very find sand, like you’d find in Florida. This particular sand was the large grained type so it easily washed off in the shower.
We headed for the luau which was at Paradise Cove on the western coast of the island. It truly was a paradise with exceptionally well-kept greens, foliage and waters. The luau began and 5a-ish and went well into the night. I think we got home around 10p?
Mom and Jennifer, my sister in law, at the luau
Hawaiians eat a lot of pork and rice. A custom in Hawaii is to cook pigs in the ground using palm leaves as a smoker. In this reenactment, the king and royal family comes out to watch as the ceremonial pig (our dinner) was raised up and then walked around for the views to see. It was then taken to the “kitchen” to be pulled and sliced for our dinner.
As a side note, Hawaiians also eat what’s called poi. Poi is a starchy “thing” that grows on trees and is made into a pulp. It’s gray in color, gritty, and fairly bland (from what I hear). I was too chicken to try some. I will next time though :)
During dinner, we got a show of different dances and customs from the various polynesian cultures. There were instruments made from local organic materials, attire from the same, a really cool band, and a guy who waved, threw and twirled firey poles.
Alcohol was pricey, but, how often am I in Hawaii, right? One downside to being on an isolated island thousands of miles off the coast of the mainland is a lack of good beer selection. Lagers are the brew of choice in Hawaii and I only found one place that had an IPA (and it was an American military Class Six). If you’ve never had anything from Kona Brewing Company before, you should try a few of them.
After the luau we all headed home and pretty much fell asleep. It was a day full of fun and memories. But there’s still more to do…!
02 Jan 2010
Some of you may know, but my parents live in Hawaii. Actually, my entire immediate family lives in Hawaii, brothers, sisters, mom and dad. My dad got stationed there and wants Hawaii to be his big final duty station, but he also got my brother stationed there as his first duty station. This past holiday was the first time they’d all be together, back from War and travelling and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take a trip out. It would be the first time in five years the entire family would be together for the holidays and about a year and a half or two years since I’d even seen my family at all.
I started ticket shopping back in April, hoping to book early and get good rates, which I did. I found a round-trip, direct flight from Atlanta to Honolulu for well under a grand. That was the easy part. The hard part was waiting for the trip which would be my very first trip to Hawaii.
Familiar with the time difference I scheduled my flights to put me there fairly early in the day and leave fairly late in the evening. I only had seven days and if two were going to be spent flying, I wanted to at least be able to glean as much time from those two days as I could.
I left Atlanta at 10:50am and landed in Honolulu at 3:27pm. Funny how that works, right? That gave me a really good portion of the day to hang with family. My grandparents from New York were there visiting too so it was really nice. They all met me at the airport and welcomed me with a lei made of kukui nuts (the nut from the Hawaiian state tree).
From left to right: dad, myself, Nick, Jer, mom
We left the airport and headed for my parents house which was only 20 minutes away, but with the heavy city traffic it took us about 45 minutes. I was grateful though because I wanted to see as much as I could of the scenery and stuff.
I’ll write more on the scenery later because I wasn’t focused on getting pictures this first day knowing there’d be plenty of time for that later.
We got to my parents house and they gave me the big tour. They live in brand new military housing and I gotta tell you, housing for the military has come a long way since when I was a little kid. Houses are so nice now!
My parents house from the back
My parents house is a 2,200 square foot, two-story home with privacy fencing in the back and a detached garage. All of the homes here have solar panels on the roof to help with electricity which I thought was pretty cool, and appropriate for a place that has an abundance of sunshine every day year round.
After the tour my dad did his customary “shot” in which we all took a shot of something. I chose Crown Royale which is my dad’s favorite drink. Then, we grabbed a beer and headed to the front porch to catch up a bit.
Grandpa, dad, and Jer giving the shaka
The shaka in Hawaii has several meanings. It could mean hello, have a great day, or be an agreement like “right on” or something similar. We drank a few beers then headed inside when it got dark to chill in the living room while mom cooked dinner. Several beers later and severely jet-lagged I was sleepy. I bid my farewells for the night, appologizing for my early bedtime and went upstairs to pass out.
Day 1 was really awesome and I was very much looking forward to day 2, which would be full of beaches and more scenery.