Wednesday, April 3, 2024

Traveling Again

             Last week I traveled with family to Honolulu. Fun trip! Did I get much writing done? Nope. But I did get more ideas. Plus, we had a wonderful ocean view off our room, and I went out onto the patio a lot to watch the ocean, boats and surfers, and listen to the surf, to kids yelling and to airplanes flying over as I read a book and magazines in the small amount of time we just spent hanging out at the hotel, as well as when I stayed there by myself when everyone else went parasailing. 

            One of the places we visited on Oahu was the Kualoa Ranch where a lot of the Jurassic Park movies are partially filmed, as well as other movies. We took a tour there, riding on a small open-air vehicle up and down tiny narrow paths to see various locations that were often labeled with the names of the movies filmed there. I found it enjoyable and fascinating. In some ways it felt like home since I live in Hollywood, where lots of movies are filmed too. But the mountains and rocks and huge forests were certainly different from my home. Our tour guide was a good driver and also knew a lot about the place. 

            We also went to the Honolulu Zoo, which was fun but no match for the Los Angeles Zoo. There apparently aren’t a lot of animals that are native to the area, although others had been brought in. But among the animals we saw quite a few nenes—Hawaiian geese—both in the zoo and in the wild. 

            We additionally visited a Polynesian cultural center where we took a tour to the various “islands” represented at the site—very nice guide there too. And then there were the visits to the beach, the various hula shows, plus a magician. It rained lightly on and off during the trip but worse in L.A. on our return. 

            Now, I’m back to writing, editing and planning—the norm. And our really good, usual pet-sitter took care of the pups and texted lots of photos, so I knew they were fine, and they’re back to demanding food and playtime from us.

6 comments:

Sally Morrison said...

A Hawaii vacation is wonderful. I've been once and hope to go again someday. Hope you enjoyed every minute.

Patty said...

Good morning -- Sounds like a wonderful trip. I had a cousin who lived there years ago -- her husband managed a large dairy. My husband was in the Navy at the time and his ship stopped in Hawaii every six months. He said the milk was the best he had ever tasted -- the cows were fed leavings from the pineapple fields and the milk was so sweet.

We had heavy rain here over the weekend -- absolutely torrential. Today is bright blue sky and puffy white clouds.

I continue with my crocheting. The Project Linus group was given a huge amount of yarn -- all on cones and all the same color -- a deep raspberry. I've been using it with white, pale pink, pale blue -- looks good.

My daughter's little dog had another trauma yesterday -- something wrong with his mouth. The vet diagnosed it as a staph infection in his jaw and gave him some medications -- he improved quickly.

Enjoy your day and writing with alll the Hawaiian ideas!!

Linda O. Johnston said...

I definitely enjoyed it, Sally. Looking forward to going back again someday.

Linda O. Johnston said...

Sounds as if you and your family have had some interesting connections with Hawaii, Patty. Don't think I tried the milk but it sounds good.

Our weather has cleared up a lot. Blue sky right now.

Enjoy your crocheting and the rest of your day.

And I hope your daughter's poor pup continues to improve.

Betty Hechtman said...

Linda, it sounds like a great trip. We passed the Koala ranch, but it was booked out. Next time. Also been to the zoo. The best part was that we could walk there. I have spent lots of time on hotel patios in Oahu like you watching everything. It never gets tiresome. I remember rainbows arcing to the water and seeing sea turtles swimming and watching excursion boats go back and forth. I bet it was warm rain.

Linda O. Johnston said...

Yes, it was a great trip Betty--and the slight bit of rain was warm. Wish I'd seen rainbows and sea turtles, although we did see turtles at the zoo. Fun that you could walk to the zoo! We had to book a ride.