North Shore Day 5

On Monday we woke up, got ready, and ate breakfast in our room.  We headed out to the other side of the island to Kaneohe Bay.  About 10 years ago an Iwo Jima Memorial was added to the Marine Corps base there.  We, of course, had to see it.

Ryan got us onto the base, we figured out where to park, and were very thankful the rain let up…even if only for the few minutes we needed to visit the memorial.

Next, we headed to Punchbowl, the National Cemetery of the Pacific.  It was raining, so we didn't spend a lot of time there either.  We don't personally know anyone buried there, so it doesn't take a huge allotment of time to see the memorial.  The sky was covered in thick, gray rainclouds, so there was no view that day.

After we finished up at Punchbowl, we headed to Waikiki to get a Puka Dog.  The website was strange…it pulled up an address is Waikiki, but it was't at the location Google took us to.  So I looked further and found another address.  We found the address, found parking, and headed for food…but we couldn't find the Puka Dog.  Turns out that the one on Oahu is called Hula Dog (a divorce or something…who knows?).  So Hula Dog was no longer at that Waikiki address. 

We ended up looking for food elsewhere, but didn't find anything.  Even after walking in the rain and getting all wet.  We ended up just taking Ryan to the airport with his sack lunch made from leftovers in our room.  We said our goodbyes and watched Ryan walk toward the terminal.  Everyone in the car was sad.  I think Regina *might* have been a little bit happy, but only because she could sit behind Randi without Ryan in the car instead of having to sit behind my dad.  Poor Regina had her toes run over many times by the adjustable middle captain's chair.  And that wasn't as often as her knees had to touch the seat…I think my dad didn't realize someone was actually sitting in the seat behind him.  Geez…how old is he!?  haha…it's *almost* funny (now).

With our brother boarding a plane for Sacramento, Robyn drove us toward North Shore.  We stopped for Dole Whip at the Pineapple factory and then continued onward.  We finally found Hula Dog…and it was yummy.  The owner said she was forced to close her shop in Waikiki after the plaza her shop was in was sold and purchased by new developers.  When she re-bid for a spot in the new development…she was denied.  In her words, Hula Dog was not "classy" enough to be one of the restaurants for the new shopping center.  

It's kind of sad…new developers come in and all the old Hawaiian businesses are pushed out for more high-end shopping and dining.  I think the old Hawaiian businesses are the fun part of Hawaii.  That is definitely one of my biggest complaints about Oahu.  It's WAY too commercialized…and I can't afford to buy one thing in the majority of the shops.  They are geared towards the Asian crowd flying in to shop…not the American vacationer looking to relax.

We did stop at one of the pull outs to watch the waves, but we weren't near the HUGE waves…and Robyn wasn't interested in getting any closer.  Randi and I were disappointed, but oh well.  No use making a fuss about it.  My dad seemed to change when Ryan left, so he was grumpy from that point on.  It put everyone in a strange mood in the car, so we just went back to the hotel.  I spent the remainder of the afternoon reading a book on my bed.

For dinner we ended up eating at the other restaurant on our hotel property.  The menu was surprisingly small, but the food tasted pretty good.  I made everyone dessert when we all got back upstairs.

Our last night was fun, but sad without Ryan.  We had so much fun with him…really we just had so much fun.  We spent a lot of time in that Toyota mini van, but we laughed constantly. It felt so nice to be able to just BE without any expectations from anyone's spouse or kids.  Robyn, Randi, and I have had that opportunity several times over the years, but never with Ryan and Regina, too.  I have to say that those six days were six of the funnest days of my life so far.  They meant so much to me…finally getting to take my dad to Hawaii, and all of us pitching in to make it happen.  It turned out better than I ever imagined.  I loved every minute we spent together.  I'm not sure we will ever get to do it again, but I sure hope so.