More pix from yesterday...

Thursday morning they were closing the bridge to Ford Island where our hotel is located so we headed out early to do some swap meet shopping, before we were stuck! Gary took off to finish registering his truck with all the hoops he needed to get through to conclude that up so it would be done when he started work today.

Oh the swap meet... we spent two plus hours and didn't even make it half way through!   

Crystal found some great things, but I'm afraid I didn't come away empty handed!

Cute fabric @ $3 a yard! whoo hoo!

After shopping the morning away we all decided to make a trip up to see the temple and round it off by way of the Dole plantation.  (Of course we sat for an hour in traffic on our way to the plantation.  Really bad accident on the small road that circumvents the island near Waialua Bay.)  see map: http://www.aaccessmaps.com/show/map/us/hi/oahu

  

It was great to visit some of these great places!  Thanks for coming Crystal!

Our first Visitor!

So we had our first visitor!  Gary's niece Crystal Ruesch flew in for a very short visit.  She got here Tuesday at noon and left Wednesday evening.  Thank heaven for cheaper hops when you work for an airline.

Even though it was short, it was sooo fun to have her here.  First off it helped us put aside all of the busy trying to get settled routine for a minute and just have some fun.  That is good to do once and a while, right. 

Wednesday afternoon, after waiting for Gary to finish up some critical things that needed to be finished before he went back to work, we headed out to show Crystal our house and then on to Kailua beach.  

It was rather windy, so getting in the water was a little cold. Crystal had hoped to get some snorkeling in but with the choppy waves and the chilly wind she didn't last too long.  We did enjoy just hanging out on the beach for a little bit though. 

Crystal wanted to get some yummy Hawaiian chocolate kisses and some other Hawaiian specialties so we headed down the coast to check out the Blowhole.  It was a little slow so we headed on. 

Photos Courtesy of Crystal

 

 With a quick trip to stop for some sno- cones.  Oooh Yum!  

We made it to the Costco in Hawaii-Kai.  Crystal bought some yummy treats!  My favorite are the Chocolate covered, coconut coated macadamia nuts.  Phew!  They are yummy! We stopped in to Ross's and ended up finding some great deals.  These cute plates...

check out the Mac-Kisses!

...see the big scratch on the front.. can't wait to get my stuff so I can fix it. 

 ... and this table to put our TV on.  (It was a scratch and dent so we got it for a little cheaper, Bargain) 

Wiggy!

The humidity however is wreaking havoc on my hair.  I have missed the humidity.  The dry, arid climate of Utah has sapped my skin of all moisture.  My hair has been so dry it felt like straw. Here it is... wiggy.  Well, what else would you call it?  No matter how much time I take to smooth and straighten it, within minutes it is curling and starting to frizz.  Of course on rainy days it's even worse.  I just give up! 

I'm sure eventually I will figure out how to make naturally curly hair manageable in the tropical climate, but today I give up.   

Of course, there may be hope.  Nicole(my cute hair dresser/sister in law) has promised to research ideas and products!  Hopefully she will find something!

Navy Lodge Temporary Home

Thank heaven for a comfortable room and a gorgeous view! 

We have a cute little room in the Navy lodge on Ford Island.  The Inn is right on the bay just across the bridge.

It has a cozy little kitchen with a small fridge, hot plate and microwave.  Just right for preparing meals for just two people.       

They have a breakfast patio with a fountain and... company to share our meal.

       

 

It is really wonderful to have a quiet place to return and unwind after navigating in the busy traffic around Honolulu.

Traffic, traffic, traffic

We were suprised to be one of the first to load on the airplane.  There was a good reason for that.  Ha ha, so funny as we kept going and going to the very last seats on the airplane! Of course, like Jeremy suggested, at least we were next to the bathroom...

What a pleasant suprise to be met at the airport by a couple of Gary's co-workers, Capt. Ward and Lt. Col. Flores.  They brought beautiful leis and a warm welcome after hours on a cramped plane. 

We arrived on Oahu right in the middle of rush hour traffic in Honolulu.  The lodging we reserved was just minutes from the airport, so piece of cake, right? Wrong. Without a good GPS we were at the mercy of directions from our phone.We didn't think about the fact that Pearl Harbor is not just a military base; it is also a beach.  So after an hour and a half of sitting in traffic slowly working our way toward the wrong destination we were tired and ready to be finished traveling.  Of course, then we also realized that the phones didn't have programming for military installations so directions from our phones wouldn't get us to the base.  With a little creative thinking we programmed the destination to landmarks close by and we were on our way. 

As frustrating as this little adventure was, it helped us accomplish a very important task.  It suggested areas for us to eliminate when it came to house hunting.  We sure don't want to have to drive in that kind of traffic on a daily basis.

Thank Heavens our room is comfortable.