Hawaii 4

I’m currently sitting at 36,000 ft. above the Pacific Ocean on a Boeing 777, in the middle seat of the middle aisle, my arms crammed against my sides as I try to eek out a few words as fast as the perspiration flowing due to these cramped quarters. About five more hours to go till Denver where I’ll post these photos to QC/D via crappy airport WiFi or by tethering to my phone’s signal (Edit: it was actually really great airport WiFi). This has been a good vacation with good people. At the risk of sounding overly-American, Hawaii has been the most “foreign” and far flung place I’ve ever been on a trip, now serving as inspiration to go further (Windsor, Canada across the border from Detroit sounds exotic). I’ve had plenty of time to not just relax, but time to catch up on reading, podcasts, writing for QC/D, and work on a new project. It’s been a good break, even if I can't sleep on this  flight all cozied up next to my stranger neighbors. So, here’s one last round of photographs from this trip.

We jumped from “The Big Island” to Oahu, staying at a resort. I got a good chunk of writing done while drinking overpriced beers emblazoned with Mickey Mouse ears before we snuck over to the Four Seasons next door to grab coffee (and avoid the swarms of children for awhile). This post differs from the ones earlier this week in that the photographs here feature more stereotypical views of beaches and sunsets (because even someone as cyclical as me can’t resist). I still managed to find some time for urban exploration, checking out the remains of a demolished resort during a morning run and eventually hiking up a hillside to find abandoned military pillboxes (that story, later, after I get back to some Cincinnati-centric stories). We spent the last day rolling around Honolulu, visiting Pearl Harbor, catching an exclusive tour of the USS Halsey, checking out a parade in honor of the first Hawaiian King, and sampling airport tacos. (I’d put captions under everything, but Google’s “Blogger” service still doesn’t know how to deal with mobile devices like this iPad)

Laura, Jackie, Ed, Joe, Alex, Kat, Chris, and Andi: thanks for a great trip.

United Airlines: thanks for having “The Disaster Artist” on your free movie app situation here, been wanting to watch that for awhile and it was really, really good.

Last thing: If you ever need an Escalade limousine to take you around Oahu, I can personally vouch that Eric of “Saigon Limousine” is a good dude.