alisandramel (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} alisandramel) wrote,@ 2007-03-04 00:46:00 |
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Hawaii
I did get to see some pretty cool stuff in Hawaii, but I wasn't going to pay the $14 per day the hotel in Kahului wanted for internet access. And neither was my company, so the updates had to wait.
Last Saturday morning, we went to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. The visitors' center and museum was packed, but I did manage to learn something about the attack. The Arizona Memorial itself is quite a lovely tribute, and I found it very moving.
In the afternoon, we hiked up to the top of Diamondhead. It was a steep trip up a path, then 74 steps, then a tunnel, then more steps, then circular steps, then out through an old window slit, then a few more steps to the very very top, but it was worth it. The view was quite spectacular.
On Sunday, I flew to Kahului on Maui. That afternoon, my coworker and I drove up to Haleakala. It is a dormant (or maybe extinct) volcano than looks like I expected a volcano to look - lots of brown and reddish rock, jagged edges, and cooled lava. The crater at Diamondhead has been filled up with transplanted trees and plants, so it didn't seem very volcano-y to me. This was different. We skipped the hike down into the crater due to time constraints, but overall another amazing view, this one from up above the clouds.
Monday we did the lame tourist thing and drove to Lahaina to eat the the original Cheeseburger in Paradise. Yummy burger & fries, and excellent live music.
Tuesday we did the exhausted worker thing and just bummed around the hotel and grabbed a quick dinner. I did take advantage of the nifty oceanfront path that runs along the coast in front of all the fancy-schmancy resorts in Wailea.
Wednesday I flew to Hilo, met up with a different coworker and completed our survey there. That evening we drove to Volcanos National Park and watched the glow of flowing lava from a nice safe mile and a half away.
Thursday was a travel day - back to Honolulu and then on to Pago Pago. I did enjoy the lovely Japanese style garden just down the street from the hotel in Hilo, and then it was off to the airport. I was unpleasantly surprised by the rain shower that dumped on us during deplaning in Pago Pago and how by long it took to get through immigration and customs (Aren't they part of the US? Why do we even have to go through that?), and was pleasantly surprised by how nice the hotel is here.
Friday morning I met my contact and started my survey at the airport here. They don't have another jet flight until Sunday evening, so I will have to return to complete my survey. I am on that Sunday evening flight, so it will be like Alaska again!
I drove around the island a bit on Friday afternoon and evening. It is picturesque in spots, but there are no good places to pull over and take pictures of the lovely scenes. I drove past the Starkist cannery here and won't be eating canned tuna for a while. What a smell! This afternoon was a lunch outing and some shopping, but mostly I've been bumming around. The weather has not been cooperative and has been mostly rainy since I got here, so I don't anticipate much activity tomorrow, either.
Tomorrow evening I finish my survey and then I fly back to Honolulu on the overnight flight. Rah. I stay in Honolulu tomorrow night and head home on Tuesday. Yay! I have certainly enjoyed this trip, but I am sooooo ready to get home. I miss my house and my bed and my cat and my man. (Not necessarily in that order!)
Hope everyone had fun at KASF, or working on their kitchens, or whatever else was on the agenda for the weekend. See you soon.
I did get to see some pretty cool stuff in Hawaii, but I wasn't going to pay the $14 per day the hotel in Kahului wanted for internet access. And neither was my company, so the updates had to wait.
Last Saturday morning, we went to Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. The visitors' center and museum was packed, but I did manage to learn something about the attack. The Arizona Memorial itself is quite a lovely tribute, and I found it very moving.
In the afternoon, we hiked up to the top of Diamondhead. It was a steep trip up a path, then 74 steps, then a tunnel, then more steps, then circular steps, then out through an old window slit, then a few more steps to the very very top, but it was worth it. The view was quite spectacular.
On Sunday, I flew to Kahului on Maui. That afternoon, my coworker and I drove up to Haleakala. It is a dormant (or maybe extinct) volcano than looks like I expected a volcano to look - lots of brown and reddish rock, jagged edges, and cooled lava. The crater at Diamondhead has been filled up with transplanted trees and plants, so it didn't seem very volcano-y to me. This was different. We skipped the hike down into the crater due to time constraints, but overall another amazing view, this one from up above the clouds.
Monday we did the lame tourist thing and drove to Lahaina to eat the the original Cheeseburger in Paradise. Yummy burger & fries, and excellent live music.
Tuesday we did the exhausted worker thing and just bummed around the hotel and grabbed a quick dinner. I did take advantage of the nifty oceanfront path that runs along the coast in front of all the fancy-schmancy resorts in Wailea.
Wednesday I flew to Hilo, met up with a different coworker and completed our survey there. That evening we drove to Volcanos National Park and watched the glow of flowing lava from a nice safe mile and a half away.
Thursday was a travel day - back to Honolulu and then on to Pago Pago. I did enjoy the lovely Japanese style garden just down the street from the hotel in Hilo, and then it was off to the airport. I was unpleasantly surprised by the rain shower that dumped on us during deplaning in Pago Pago and how by long it took to get through immigration and customs (Aren't they part of the US? Why do we even have to go through that?), and was pleasantly surprised by how nice the hotel is here.
Friday morning I met my contact and started my survey at the airport here. They don't have another jet flight until Sunday evening, so I will have to return to complete my survey. I am on that Sunday evening flight, so it will be like Alaska again!
I drove around the island a bit on Friday afternoon and evening. It is picturesque in spots, but there are no good places to pull over and take pictures of the lovely scenes. I drove past the Starkist cannery here and won't be eating canned tuna for a while. What a smell! This afternoon was a lunch outing and some shopping, but mostly I've been bumming around. The weather has not been cooperative and has been mostly rainy since I got here, so I don't anticipate much activity tomorrow, either.
Tomorrow evening I finish my survey and then I fly back to Honolulu on the overnight flight. Rah. I stay in Honolulu tomorrow night and head home on Tuesday. Yay! I have certainly enjoyed this trip, but I am sooooo ready to get home. I miss my house and my bed and my cat and my man. (Not necessarily in that order!)
Hope everyone had fun at KASF, or working on their kitchens, or whatever else was on the agenda for the weekend. See you soon.
