Following Edge

Even though our return trip from Hawaii was a breeze, including a farewell (or Aloha) trip to the beach before our flight, we were feeling so good that we decided to finish the drive all the way home instead of camping near Portland. Hence, we got to bed at 2:30 in the morning, and that itself required a day or two to recover.

Beyond that, the real world of work and household chores is a lot more complex than relaxing in Hawaii. Even so, I feel like a changed person. In the last year and a half, I've been working on taking things easy and getting as much done as possible at work and at home without destroying myself at the same time. As well as I've been doing with that effort, my visit to Hawaii was really an eye opener... I don't need to worry about as many things as I usually do... You know, "A'one he pilikia".

Since returning, I really have been able to hold on to my "Aloha" attitude even while I take care of Lauren, do taxes, pay bills, go shopping, ship books, adjust scripts, send emails, maintain sites, etc, etc. The trick, which I had figured out intellectually, is to do what you can, organize things so that you don't have to worry about them, and don't worry about the things that aren't in front of you (or at the top of your list). The vacation to Hawaii really gave me the extra piece of relax-expertise that I needed. I'm going to hang onto that philosophy... I swear!

We're coming into the home stretch of our Hawaii vacation and will be heading back to Portland in less than 2 days. Since my last report, we've spent quite a bit more time in Honolulu, which continues to irritate me with incredibly bad traffic... and on a trip around Oahu's North Shore, which has course sandy beaches, wind and rough waves exactly as reported by many sources.

All of that "looking around" only makes me appreciate my choice of Kailua for our home base here in Hawaii. As I may have pointed out earlier, the beach is really excellent, with gentle waves, fine sand, and no crowds as you find at the fine beaches in Waikiki. The town is big enough to have ample shopping and services and is only about 20 minutes drive from downtown Honolulu. If you're considering a stay on Oahu, I'd recommend checking it out.

The first picture above is from this morning's visit to Kailua Beach. Lauren found some other children to play with and managed to only get into one parent-child argument. I spend most of my time during our daily trips to the beach with my beach chair just feet from the surf so that the waves can occasionally come up to swirl around my chair and my feet. Nice.

The second picture is of Lauren and Wally Amos, a "famous" resident of Kailua. Wally these days (in addition to promoting his 13 books, his muffin company, speaking engagements, and more) spends a lot of time in his "Chip and Cookie" store in Kailua, which sells his most excellent cookies and which promotes literacy and parent-child reading. This Saturday, as every Saturday, Wally read a number of books and shared cookies with a crowd of children. He's really a wonderful reader, as well as a good self-promoter. It was really a joy to meet him.
I should tell more about our visits to the Polynesian Cultural Center, the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, the Waikiki Aquarium, and other touristy spots around Oahu, but all the sightseeing, and my little bit of computer time, barely gives me the necessary time for lying around.

Lots of love from Hawaii!

We did arrive in Honolulu from Portland on Wednesday. That was quite a day! Going from a campground in Oregon before 6am, enduring the now-totally-ridiculous airport screening, and lasting through a 6 hour flight was not enough. According to Anne Marie, the Honolulu Airport is exactly the same as it was on her last visit in the 1980s. I can believe it based on needing to take a run-down shuttle bus from the terminal to the baggage claim, then finding that there was an incredible crown, as two flights baggage were arriving on the same turnstile at the same time. Then a long line waiting for a rental car. Ayee! By the time we reached our cottage, it was bedtime (or 2 hours after bedtime based on where we had awoken).

Happily, yesterday I taught myself the Hawaiian phrase "A'one he pilikia", which I think should translate to "There's no problem". This is much the feeling you should have in Hawaii. I've noticed that everything here is very casual and even what I might call run-down if I was back home. But, anytime one might notice something that's falling apart, or that's a little too casual, one only needs to remember that it's that way because there's no problem. If there was a problem, someone would have fixed it. You may think I'm complaining here, but it's really liberating to be in a place where you can remember that everything doesn't need to be perfect... only the things you care about!

While we haven't yet seen much of the hosts at our rental cottage, we did get to see their cockatoo, who climbed the fence and started courting Anne Marie from the branches on our lana'i. Anne Marie invited the bird into our cottage twice. It turned out nicely as it is very friendly and Anne Marie, a bird lover, gets to have her "bird fix".

We drove the slow way into Honolulu today and visited the Honolulu Zoo. Got to see lots more birds there... as well as every other kind of animal... a nice zoo. We also walked across the street to visit the Waikiki beach, which is famous, but too crowded and unimpressive to make me interested in it, compared to Kailua Beach, which is just a block from our cottage, and supposed to be the best beach in Hawaii.

Lauren is having a fine time. We've gone to the beach both mornings we've been here so far, and that's the main thing for her. Of course, shopping and sightseeing are near the top of her list also... so, everything is going well for her.

Much more to tell, but technology is failing me... my camera is working only about 1 out of 10 times and, so far, I only have very slow Internet access. Hopefully, that will all work out. If not, I can always just enjoy paradise...  A'one he pilikia!

We just arrived back home from Bend on Wednesday following our trip to retrieve our new camper last weekend. Now, less than a week later, we're away from home again near Portland in preparation for tomorrow's flight to Hawaii. It's true that the last "vacation" was more work than relaxation, but it seems like we've really been on the go with hardly a moment to get used to being home. Hopefully, a true vacation in Hawaii will address that built-up stress.

We decided to stay in the camper at Champoeg State Park tonight and on the night of our return because our flights are leaving early in the morning and returning late at night. In fact, I'm in the camper right now and we're all working on getting to sleep in preparation for tomorrow morning's flight.

So, how do you park a car (or truck and camper, in this case) for free when you fly out of Portland? I figured a way:

The "new" (to me) truck needs a tune up and oil change, so I arranged to have the tune up at a repair shop in Portland. The shop is a little backed up, so the owner was pleased that I could drop it off and pick it up next week... that way he can get to it when it's convenient for his workload. The trick is that this shop is just a few blocks from a light rail (MAX Red Line - Airport) station. So, we'll drop off the truck in the morning, walk a few blocks to the station and be in the airport for $3.40 in under 15 minutes. Plus, my chore of getting the truck serviced will be taken care of for about the price that parking or a hotel fly-and-park deal would have cost.

Sometimes, my brilliance in the name of cheapness astonishes me.

Wish us "Aloha"... the next report will be from sunny Hawaii!