Taking back Saturday

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

My sister and I decided we wanted to go hiking at Schofield today after picking up her gear for a weekend run. I kept peeking around her to the west and seeing these angry rain clouds hovering at the exact range we wanted to hike but, stubborn as we are, we headed up to Schofield anyway and got poured on as we attempted to find the Pu'u Kaua trailhead.

Schofield has this road that actually cuts through the Waienae mountain range and our trail would have branched off to reach the third highest peak on Oahu. My sister and I ran all the way down Lyman Road and stopped at a road block. We took the immediate left afterward and explored a bit of the jungles in the valley before a sign posted on one pole read "No civilian POVs beyond this point." Makes sense. I could see the huge tracks of army vehicles churning up the mud through the woods.

So we flipped around and drove back down the road to explore another of the army training areas.

And ended at this terrifying area:

Silent Hill.

 I assume this is one of those training areas to practice shooting 'bad guys' in. The buildings were windowless, dirty, and silent. What's more, it was raining. I half-expected the Silent Hill sirens to start wailing and we would be those idiot first-slaughter civilians at the start of the movie.

Luckily for us, we ran into neither creature nor military police and we promptly headed to the base exchange for some grub. We poked around this interesting store and I spotted these cool shoes with spinal cords for heels. AWESOME!

A reflection of your back if you wear these shoes too long!

Part of the reason we dropped by the BX was to get my sister socks so we could go with our backup plan, bowling, since the opened sky decided to pour on our weekend. We secured socks and some other goodies for the evening and headed over to the bowling alley!

We've never bowled at Schofield before and, funnily enough, there really aren't too many public bowling alleys on the island. All the military bases seem to have alleys, but I can think of only one public set of lanes off base.

We played two games for about $12, none too shabby! It's been a long time since I've gone bowling and the subject cropped up at work yesterday. Not a bad indoor activity to do especially since we'd driven all the way up to the Barracks.

My sister did better on her second game and I did poorer, but I won overall.

After bowling, my sister and I spotted a craft shop directly across the street and popped in to see what kinds of things they made. They had pottery and ceramics, quilting, wood works, a nook for moms and tots to do art together; it was a neat place! The last time we had done any ceramic painting together was in Colorado at a pottery shop. We painted fairies!

Assorted finished ceramics toward the front of the craft building.

They had this small setup of free books, so I took the "Changelings" by Anne McCaffery and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough.

I snagged a free book today! The "Changelings" one seemed the most interesting of the selection and now I'll have something to remember the day by. To think, I wouldn't have scored this novel if we hadn't of gone exploring the army base.

The outdoor recreation building sign built into a canoe.

My sister wanted to check out the thrift store on base which can sometimes contain interesting finds, unfortunately, the thrift store was already closed by the time we got to it. I wanted to snap a shot of the sign in the canoe though and we ended up just checking out the outdoor recreation building. My sister suggested we ask after the hiking trails on base to the folks inside.

They told us that the Kolekole Pass was closed. Which meant all the branching trails were closed as well.

So instead we checked out what the rec had to offer. Rental equipment, base information, maps.

The Hawaiian Island chain on one wall of the outdoor recreation building.

Animal heads.

Feral pigs do roam free in the jungles of Hawaii, brought over by early seafarers. 

They had pigs, several feral goats, and an axis deer. There were roughly eight animals mounted around the room, which I found unusual. I can't think of anywhere else on Oahu that would have animal trophies. Either way, I wouldn't want to run into the pigs in the wild.

I love my maps. So when I came across this crooked, clunky map along one table, I paused to study it. The map displayed a number of famous surfing and beach spots around the world. I actually recognized a few!

This map contains all the famous surfing beach spots of the world. Hawaii sits to the far left and is very large by comparison to mainland continents.

So while we didn't get to go hiking today, I think my sibling and I did well with the cards we were dealt today. It was an adventure.

Happy Saturday.

36th Annual Charity Walk

The 36th Annual Visitor Industry Charity Walk emblem as modeled by some random guy.

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

Good morning to you too, Oahu.

It was an early wake up this morning to get down to Ala Moana Beach Park in time to register for the 36th Annual Charity Walk. This 6-mile urban course through Ala Moana and Waikiki slingshots charity walkers through nearly every major hotel chain in Waikiki. It's $35 a pop, but you easily get back what you pay for in a T-shirt, hotel refreshments, and a plate lunch at the end of the walk. I have my two co-workers to thank for helping sponsor me this time around! Thank you both!

The Charity Walk map from charitywalkhawaii.org.

According to the Official Charity Walk form -- "In 1974 the Hawai'i Lodging and Tourism Association sponsored a charitable 'superwalk' to benefit one major charitable organization. Over the years, the HLTA annual walk has grown to become one of the largest single day fund-raising events in the state. In 1979, the HLTA members voted to extend the reach of support offered by the Walk's fun-raising capability."

Thus, the Visitor Industry Charity Walk, which now benefits multiple non-profit charities, came into being.

Just as you would imagine, the Hawai'i Lodging and Tourism has walkers skirt past their properties, providing refreshments at 18 stamp-checkpoints all along the way. The running joke is you'll eat back all the calories you burn. And with some of the goodies you get, it really comes as no surprise.

I did this walk two years ago with my sibling. The course was the same though some of the refreshments had changed. We still got fed a light breakfast, were given plenty of water and had to endure the wait at numerous stoplights, but I was always eager to see what would come up at the next checkpoint.

The breakfast tent. They had mini doughnuts, muffins, coffee, bananas and water.

Today was a beautiful day for the walk. The sun was out though some clouds moved in and threatened a shower, which I think would have been a welcome relief as we rounded the middle checkpoint at the Waikiki Kapahulu Library. (But we got watermelon wedges and shave ice instead which suited me just as well!)

18 checkpoints, 18 stamps--collect them all!
Or no lunch for you!

My mom, her friend and I participated this year. The closing time to register was 7 a.m., the start of the walk, and we made the deadline. There were only X-Large shirts left by the time we arrived, but I'm not terribly picky. We swung through the breakfast tent and picked up some mini-doughnuts and muffins; perfect because I knew we would eat along the entire course. Though I was sad to not have any yogurt this year.

The starting line. Good lord this part took forever.

We got to the starting line and probably didn't push past until roughly 15 minutes in. Every walker has to get their cards stamped, so the press of the pack to get this first stamp was the most choked checkpoint of them all. It was still pretty heavy traffic rounding the first immediate turn and didn't lighten up much until we got well into Waikiki. I was so happy to see at least one lane closed for us to walk in because the sidewalk simply would not cut it.

The Ala Wai canal on this beautiful Saturday morning. 

Double Tree doesn't lie when they call their cookie "The Cookie." This is my favorite part of the walk.

We got water and a granola bar at the second checkpoint (Ala Moana Hotel) and Double Tree cookies and water at the third off Ala Wai Promenade. The Double Tree cookies are the BEST!

The Royal Hawaiian Center was muddled because half of our party decided to pit stop the restroom here and we had to backtrack for the stamp at checkpoint 4, but we were treated to milk tea which was absolutely delicious. I was naughty and snagged two of their little sippy cup samples.

Waikiki Beach proper. Surf's up, baby!

POG and chocolate-covered strawberries at checkpoint 5!

Kuhio Beach Park (checkpoint 5) served us strawberries dipped in chocolate and POG (Passion Orange Guava). I groaned watching the surfers ripping at my usual surfing spot. The surf was up today and glassy and I wanted to get out there so badly! It was really a great day for it.

Queen Kapiolani Hotel (checkpoint 6), our next major turn by the zoo, gave us those little fruit-jelly containers and more water and we pushed on to Jefferson Elementary School (checkpoint 7). Last time they served Spam musubi, but this time we got Kohala chocolate. It was very salty!

Rounding back to the Ala Wai we got a cool shave ice--well welcomed and well received.

Waikiki Kapahulu Library (checkpoint 8) turned the crowd back down along the Ala Wai--and I saw a HUGE puffer fish in the water. I also saw one canoe ripping along in the canal. Most of the pack had stretched to a more comfortable intermittent presence, I didn't feel so claustrophobic anymore. We followed the Ala Wai all the way until we hit Aqua Island Colony (checkpoint 9) where we were given macaroons, large bottled waters, and serenaded by a band. Halfway there!

Walkers heading back along the Ala Wai and road closures for the walk. This is just after checkpoint 8.

It really was a lovely morning!

Threading our way back to Kalakaua, one of the main thoroughfares downtown, we hit DFS Hawaii (checkpoint 10) and the Waikiki Beach Walk on Lewers St. (checkpoint 11).

The Lewers stampers at checkpoint 11.

Our goodies just after checkpoint 11 were strawberries and a type of carrot cake. This gentlemen said he was flattered I took his picture. You're welcome!

I could see the beach again as we passed Lewers and moved into the Hilton Hawaiian Village (checkpoint 12) for fried rice and iced tea. Ritzy Hilton doesn't disappoint. This was also one of the slowest spots on the walk besides the initial crush. There was also some cute baby ducklings living it up in their little paradise cove at the Hilton pond.

The dancing penguin entertained us at the Hilton.

The crowd literally yelled when the announcer told us we were coming up to fried rice and iced tea. Thank you Hilton for spoiling us at checkpoint 13.

Hawaii Prince Hotel (checkpoint 13) came up next and had perhaps the most interesting grub of the walk--this taro bread "burger" made of kalua pig and kimchee. Doesn't sound particularly appetizing, but it was actually pretty tasty.

I saw people picking these up and I was like 'What IS that?' Yes, taro bread really is purple.

We carved back along Ala Moana Blvd. toward Ala Moana Beach Park for checkpoint 15, picked up some macadamia nuts, and hit our last three checkpoints in a quick sweep through the remainder of Ala Moana Beach Park.

Canoes parked at Ala Moana Beach Park.

Home stretch at Ala Moana Beach Park!

The Aston Hotel, our 18th and last checkpoint at the end of that long 6th mile, stamped our final box and handed us our meal tickets.

The finish line! Whew, that was a long six miles.

Aston's final stamp makes 18 and 18/18 equals one whole lunch.

I could smell the grub cooking from checkpoint 16, I swear. It was so great to see about 10 lunch lines ready for all the lunch tents and volunteers ladling salad, macaroni salad, hot dogs with kimchee topping, breaded chicken, and cupcakes for all us finishers. We weren't in line very long before securing lunch and finding a shady spot to sit in the grass. I only ate about half the plate having eaten bits and scraps the entire walk, but we bundled the rest for later.

Lunch meal of champions.

I don't normally enjoy waking up early on my weekends. I didn't this morning either. But once I got out into the open air and blood flowing, I had a good time. All in all, I'd probably say we walked closer to 7 miles when you include the walk from the car and all the incidentals in between. It was a good walk on a beautiful day with great grub and great attitudes. I was glad I could be a part of it.
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Happy Saturday.

Sagittarius Moon

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

What's your sign? Most everyone probably knows the answer to this question. Having been on one of those 'personality quiz' kicks a few years ago, I discovered there was more to astrology than just a sun sign. There is also a moon and rising sign that are supposed to determine your personality. (As well as a Mercury, Venus, Mars, and so on--never mind the 12 houses these planets are found in at your time of birth and their specific angles to each other. Astrology got a whole lot more complex that day.)

I shrugged my shoulders on one of those birth chart calculators and thought, what the heck, let's see what we get.

Cancer Sun: + sensitive, caring, imaginative, --moody, touchy, insecure
Sagittarius Moon: + independent, cheerful, enthusiastic, --restless, impatient, discouraged
Leo Rising: + warm, playful, generous, --overbearing, superficial, self-imporant

Now, having reviewed the 'traits' for each of these, I can nod to a few of the Cancer-isms as well as a few of the Leo, but I felt like I had to be on a certain stage to highlight the traits. For example, Leos are a loud, showy bunch. I'm only loud with friends I'm comfortable with and showy if I am on a literal stage. (And even then I get the shakes.) Cancers are all about home and hearth and mothering and I really have zero experience in any of these things considering my military upbringing. I do love my water and can be moody though.

But Sagittarius moon nails me on the head.

Agreed, agreed. Thank you Astrologyguru!

Under this aspect, there is a love of travel and exploration, particularly of other cultures. Wide open spaces literally and figuratively. Nature and the outdoors. We're an active breed and will pick up any sport we fancy. We're eternally optimistic and are lovers of freedom and justice and are therefore a bit commitment-phobic. Philosophy and education are attractive to us and there is a bit of a teacher in the Sagittarius moon. We can be irresponsible but folks overlook this because we're so friendly and gregarious.

We also love horses.

And all I could think reading these was 'YES, YES, YES! This is more me than my sun sign is--where have you been all my life and where are my fellow moons all hiding? We have adventures to go on together.'

Shout out to my friends--maybe this will shine light on the horrible dichotomy of my 'homeward bound' nature in direct conflict with my innate need to travel. Water and fire indeed.

Having happened upon Tumblr a bit more recently, I typed in a bunch of searches and eventually came back to moon sign traits. This coupled with my plans for the fall set my mental playground in motion.

Yes, I was one of those geeks who used to play pretend a lot. I mean a lot. Especially animals. If I wasn't racing around the playground at recess as a cheetah, then I was trotting about as a show horse to applauding stands. And flying. I used to fly an avatar across the sweeping landscapes on any, every road trip my family undertook.

I'm still fond of horses. I still snort and trot when the music is right. Who doesn't?

So browsing Tumblr, I got this image in my head of myself as a centaur rearing back and aiming a bow to the heavens. A symbolic 'shoot for the stars' if you will. I can't be the only one who feels like this is a breakout year?

I'm not really an artist! I doodled a lot when I was bored in class, but it was a craft I have not refined. Even so, I asked and you chose, so I will share this [simple] artwork I did!

The rough black and white of the Sagittarius Moon. I got flak for the 'wild' hair.

 The sketch took me roughly two hours and I was dismayed that the bow line is not proportional. Who knew there was so much math involved in art? The wild hair is my standard for horses and I never seem to get the tail right, haha! I was pretty happy with the hooves and position in general though! I imagine a lot of kinetic energy going on in the bottom half, perhaps charging forward at full gallop, but the human half is rigid, taut, and focused on that single point overhead. All potential energy.

And with color! Sort of. I went with a tanner color for the horse body and the bow should be a much more brilliant gold., but yes. Art. Not really my strong suit.

Then I went nuts and decided to color it. Another two hours or so on this. I would probably come up with a cleaner finished product if I actually colored the hard copy, but I like to preserve originals so I digitally inked instead. Super basic burn and dodge over some color blurring. What you see here is all self taught. I need lessons.

So what's your moon sign? Would you agree with the descriptions outlined?

Here is a moon calculator for you! Yes, you will need your birth time so dig out that birth certificate.

Happy Saturday!

Ka'ena Point Hike

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

Ka'ena Point is the westernmost point on Oahu "ka'ena" in Hawaiian means "the heat." No small wonder that. Both times I've hiked to the point have been in the sun with a hot wind on my shoulder, so to speak. The mountainsides are often parched and shade is sparse, but a number of animals and vegetation call Ka'ena home.

I hiked from the North Shore entrance with my sister back at the end of March. It says about 6 miles, I started the log late. We did a lot of stopping too (so I could take pictures) but it was lovely. And hot!

This is the hike I did today with my friend and her hubby. I only recorded us going one way. It was an earlier start so slightly less hot. But still hot!

The uneven road leads to a Natural Area Reserve for moli (Laysan albatross) and wedge-tailed shearwater, which is actually fenced off from rats and other opportunistic animals prowling nests. There are also a number of native plants inside the reserve under the same protection. Hikers have to pass through a double-door enclosure to get inside and must stay on a marked trail for the remainder of the hike.

Fun fact: Some ancient stories depict Ka'ena as the launching point for souls bound for the after life.

All right, I've actually done this hike in two parts. The first time I went with my sister from the northern entrance (and these are the pictures you will see below) roughly a month ago during the heat of the day. The second time, today, I went with a good friend of mine and her husband from the western entrance. Most of the other Hawaiian isles have a road that goes around the entire island. This is not the case in Oahu. Our roads dead-end at Ka'ena Point.

I participated in geocaching on today's hike rather than taking pictures, which I really enjoyed! Modern treasure hunting, ahoy!

A young Hawaiian Monk seal takes a nap in the sand.

Having done the entire hike from both sides, albeit on different days at different times, I can say that the western entrance is much easier to walk as the northern has potholes galore. However, the northern entrance treated us to many more welcoming little coves to explore and swim and we were treated to many more animal sightings. I'll make a list!

North Shore (northern) 2.5 mi; 5 mi round-trip                

PROS

-Faster to get to (less lights)                                              

-Plenty of native wildlife to see                                        

-Plenty of little private coves to dive into and explore                                                                

                                            

CONS

-It's hot                                                                       

-The terrain is really rough and four-wheel drivers are everywhere       

-No restrooms       

Waianae (western) 2.5 mi; 5 mi round-trip

PROS

 -Mostly even terrain for hiking

 -Less competition for parking

 -Less four-wheelers squeezing you out on the path

CONS

-It's hot

-The road is washed out toward the end, you'll have to do some minor climbing. 

-No restrooms                                                  

I highly recommend anyone who goes on these hikes to bring plenty of water and sun tan lotion and to leave early enough to beat the heat. I hiked the first time right around 11 a.m. and it was a scorcher the entire way. I'm not one to walk around with my shirt off unless I'm swimming, but I did that day. After swimming. Which was perfect after hiking the bulk of the trip.

LOOK--A WHALE!

Both entrances lead to the point and are roughly a 2.5 mi trail, which ends up being a 5-mile hike there and back again. Set aside a good 3 hours for this one. And seriously, the earlier you can trot this beast, the better. Not only will you get better parking, but you'll only overheat for maybe half the hike.

Ka'ena Point, the westernmost point on Oahu. If you look closely, you can spot two monk seals. Can you find them?

Other than the blazing sun, little shade, and bumpy terrain in spots, this makes for a nice hike. And the views are gorgeous!

Looking back toward Oahu, the path splits east and south.

The first time I hiked this trail, my sister and I walked from North Shore, which lies in this direction.

And for the second hike my friends and I came up from Waianae. 

Fun fact: The point was named after one of Madame Pele's, the volcano goddess, brothers.

My sister was game to go swimming in one of the inlets on my first hike and that was awesome and totally refreshing. The second time I got to geocache with my friend Michelle and her hubby. It's a lot of fun hunting around for the containers and seeing what little treasures are in them. It's also neat to see other people 'playing' this worldwide game and the last time the cache was 'looted' so to speak. 

Either way gets you to the point and either way has its pros and cons, but it is a hike I recommend all visitors to Hawaii (and residents for that matter) do, if not to take in the scorched western side, than to see some native flora and fauna and take a dip!

Happy Sunday.

Down the "lāpaki" Hole

Hello everyone, it's the weekend!

I actually went to the swap meet and 9th Annual Hawaii Book and Music Festival today, but I'm going to pin my focus on the latter. (I will cover the swap meet on another day.)

I nearly forgot this festival was going on until I spotted another sign for a craft fair happening on Hickam. So after shopping the swap meet today, I met up with a friend of mine to check out the books and tunes.

The event was 'presented' by what I assume was the chief sponsor, the Bank of Hawaii, for Saturday and Sunday this weekend at the Frank F. Fasi Civic Grounds near the Honolulu Hale. I was particularly eager since the event and parking were free. After emerging from the underground fight for parking, I saw a sprawl of tents with the information booth smartly placed closest to the parking structure.

I strode past the stage where Hawaiian dancers and singers performed on a stage and headed for the Book Swap booth, where my buddy Christine was waiting for me. There were a bunch of folks already perusing the book aisles looking for the next riveting read to trade their old tomes with and I was so sad I could not participate. If I had known to bring some old books I've already read, I would have eagerly traded for some new reading material.

I spy a Hobbit in the lineup. 

Christine and I found each other and agreed it was extremely hot and iced beverages were in order. We wandered to the end of the lawn where 'I'iwi Kona Coffee Co. had set up shop. (The i'iwi is that red honeycreeper with the probing beak in the background--so named for its "ee-ee-vee" call.) Our appraisal of the heat was confirmed when the shop keep said they were out of ice.

Their iced hazelnut latte was refreshing!

We waited out the ice by swinging by the Barnes & Noble stand, one of the only major book store chains left on the island, and chatted over the titles. Christine recognized one of her mentors on the front cover of one which I thought was really neat and beside it I found Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland"--IN Hawaiian! Titled Na Hana Kupanaha a 'Aleka ma ka 'Aina Kamaha'o, which I believe roughly translates to 'Amazing Work of Alice in the Land of Wonder.' Taken with a grain of salt.

Alice's adventures blow my mind in an entirely new way.

Alice in Wonderland--IN HAWAIIAN! AHHHH!

So that was really neat to see. I notice there was this "Wonderland" theme with a number of the new books at the Barnes & Noble table. Alice surviving zombies. Another AIW spin off titled "Splintered." While I think it's great people enjoy Carroll's work so much, I would rather see what sort of wonderlands other people can create. You can't top a masterpiece, so craft your own that you're master of. Or translate an existing one into an obscure language. That works too in a lateral sense.

Still hot, Christine and I made our way back to the 'I'iwi and they had their ice! We each ordered their chilled hazelnut latte concoction and sat to sip and catch up on one of the many umbrella-ed tables scattered across the lawn. (Thank you for treating Christine!)

Afterward, we checked out the Friends of the Library of Hawaii and Hawaii State Public Library booths where I picked up a new [old] Celtic CD of the Narada collection and a number of brochures/flyers from the public library. I read a sign that if I flashed my library card I would get a goodie! So I did! Turns out they were out of goodies, but I was given a Hawaiian-decorated plastic bag to store my things. It actually came in quite handy.

We headed toward the publishing side of the 'house' and I got us sucked into the Mensa table loaded with books for $.50 - 2 and my eyes caught on the red and black spine of "Raptor Red" by Robert T. Bakker. The slug pulled a key word ploy on me in the form of Jurassic Park--and the book is told from a velociraptor's perspective. Moreover the cover has a holographic image of a raptor on it. Too interesting not to buy. Sold. SOLD!

I'll let you know how the book is.

After chatting up Mensa proctor, diver, and Dungeons and Dragons master Bryan, who encouraged us to get tested for Mensa admission (having to roughly score over 130 points), Christine and I finally made our rounds of the publishing tables. It's neat to note that a number of authors I saw on the Barnes & Noble table will actually appear for signings tomorrow.

I wanted to ask the local publishing houses like Bishop and Bamboo publishing how they choose their authors, but we were nearing closing time and I wanted to see what the other tables had on display. One table, I believe it was Watermark Publishing, challenged us to do that six-word memoir thing. So Christine and I did! Think you can pick mine out of the others?

I'm on here somewhere!

Christine pinned hers here. I particularly like the "Rage quit" one.

And so, with every booth closing up shop a little after 5 p.m., Christine and I tucked into a vanilla- and chocolate-flavored creme brulee each and a couple of madeleines while listening to music ala Christine as the sun set. It was a lovely afternoon.

Tomorrow? Hiking.

Happy Saturday!