29 June 2025

On Sunday we went to church at the Hau'ula 4th ward. The Relief Society gave us leis to welcome us to church.

 

In the afternoon we split up and headed to two different beaches. Brandan, Becky, Sofi, Nate, and Abe drove to watch surfers on the Banzai Pipeline. In December, the waves reach up to 30 feet tall, attracting professional surfers from around the world. The waves are much more mild, yet still steady, in the summertime. Most of the surfers we saw on Sunday were little kids.

The sand on the beach was very soft, even though it was entirely made of crushed coral and seashells.

Meanwhile, Helen and Gibson took body boards and walked down the street from our rental to Kaipapa'u Beach. The spent the afternoon playing in the water.

On Monday we woke up early, planning to take a hike and watch the sunrise from a lookout point. The trail we intended to hike was closed so we drove to a beach and watched the sunrise here.

It was a bit rainy and Abe kindly gave Becky his sweatshirt so she could stay dry. She still wanted to watch the sunrise so she used his sweatshirt as a tunnel to look through. The kids thought this was hilarious.

Abe and Gib.

We drove into Honolulu after breakfast. Our first stop was Pearl Harbor where we visited the memorial to the USS Arizona, a battleship that was sunk by Japanese pilots on December 7, 1941. We took a ferry out to the memorial which is built over the remains of the battleship.

The USS Arizona was fueled to capacity when it sank. Even though the explosion broke the ship in half, many of the fuel tanks survived intact, holding an estimated 500,000 gallons of oil. The oil is slowly leaking from the tanks at a rate of 7 to 9 quarts a day. The oil rises to the surface, one droplet at a time, and the drops are known as "the black tears of the Arizona." The tears could potentially continue to appear for centuries.

After our visit to Pearl Harbor, we drove into downtown Honolulu. Brandan, Becky, Nate, Sofi, and Gibson got lunch at Thyda's Tacos.

The taco truck was covered with stickers. One sticker advocating for eating invasive species caught Becky's attention. Back home in Oregon, eating invasive would mean eating blackberries (yum) and bull frogs (yuck!)

Abe and Helen ate at L & L Hawaiian Barbecue.

Our original plan was to go to Waikiki Beach for the afternoon, but the beach in Ala Moana park was lovely, uncrowded, and right next to free parking. The kids swam in the warm waters and saw a sea turtle.

The beach, with skyscrapers in the background, reminded us of South Korea.

Sofi and Nate alternated between the water and relaxing on the beach.

Abe and Helen.

Abe, Helen, and Gibson.

Becky's dream was to hike to a waterfall, which was more challenging to accomplish than we expected. There was a short hike near Honolulu to Manoa Falls. We left the beach, made a quick stop at a thrift store, and then headed to the falls.

Here are the Manoa Falls, not the biggest waterfall we have ever seen, but a genuine Hawaiian waterfall.

The hike to the waterfalls was stunning. We felt like we were in Jurassic Park as we walked past towering trees that were enveloped in massive vines.

Here's another view of the trail.

A shipping container made a nice covered bridge for the trail. Gibson did a few pull ups before crossing over.

On Tuesday morning, a few of us ducked back over to the temple for a session. Once again we were impressed that the temple is operating at peak capacity. A second temple for the island of Oahu has been announced to be built in Honolulu. We can see that it is needed.

Back at our house, Brandan loaded up surf boards for another day at the beach.

Sofi and Nate made delicious sweet potato burrito bowls for lunch. We should have taken more photos of food. Everyone took turns making lunch and dinner and we ate very, very well all week.

Although most tourists rave about Hawaiian ice, we have eaten the Taiwanese version (called bing) and we are forever spoiled. By comparison, Hawaiian ice is just a snow cone. We were delighted to see a Taiwanese style bing stand just up the road from our house. However, it was either closed or sold out every time we drove past. On Tuesday, we got some of their last bowls before they closed again for the day.

With globalization, it's hard to understand why this creamy, delicious treat is not sold everywhere in the US. In the photo, Brandan is eating taro bing with mango on top.

Our destination was the Banzai Pipeline. After watching 10 year olds surf, Abe and Nate wanted to try the bigger waves on this beach.

We got there during high tide and saw waves up to 10 feet tall. The photo flattens out the beach, but Abe and Helen are sitting and Brandan is standing on a ledge at least 6 feet above the ocean. The waves were crashing over the top of the ledge.

Gibson built himself a fortress to protect himself from the waves.

With constant vigilance to repair damage from the waves, his fortress worked pretty well.

Here's another Gibson sand creation.

And a Sofi seashell creation.

As the tide went out and the waves decreased in intensity, Abe and Nate practiced surfing.

Thanks to our book exchange, we all had plenty of reading material.

Our house was on the east side of the north shore, which made it easy to watch the sunrise. The Banzai Pipeline is on the west side of the north shore so we decided to stay and watch the sunset.

Which was beautiful.

And the perfect end to our last day at the beach.

Sofi and Nate made an outstanding dinner of salmon with fresh mango salsa for dinner.

Brandan put a few games in his suitcase and bananagrams was the popular choice for this trip.

Brandan and Becky took a walk Wednesday morning before we left. Here is another photo of high quality graffiti.

Abe and Nate ran together most mornings we were in Hawaii. Here is one representative photo.

Wednesday morning we drove back to Honolulu for our flights home. Brandan and Becky had the first flight.

Sofi and Nate had a few extra hours and decided to return to Pearl Harbor.

They toured the USS Missouri, a battleship that is the same size as the USS Arizona, but which had a long history of service in the Navy.  Japan formally surrendered on board the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945, ending World War II. Nate has heard of a family member who was on board the ship at the time the treaty was signed. The USS Missouri served in the Korean War and the Persian Gulf War before being decommissioned in 1992.

Meanwhile, Helen and Abe took the bus to downtown Honolulu. They explored Chinatown.

They visited a botanical garden. This is a kukui nut tree, the nut hiding in the sauce of Abe's poke bowl at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Abe says "thumbs down" to kukui nuts.

This is a photo of some of the beautiful orchids at the garden.

Helen and Abe got dinner at a Mediterranean restaurant.

And made it back to the airport in time for their evening flight back to Salt Lake.

We left Gibson in Hawaii. By coincidence, Adia's family planned a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii, beginning the week after our trip. For graduation, they bought Gibson a ticket from Oahu to Hawaii so he could join them on their vacation. While the rest of us are getting back to normal life, Gibson has been spending more time at the beach.

They toured a farm that grows cacao, the bean that becomes chocolate.

And got real Hawaiian ice, not Taiwanese ice.

And went to a cat cafe.

Back at home, Brandan and Becky cleaned out our little 1992 Honda and donated it to an organization that gives cars to low income people trying to build better futures. It's very hard to get to work in Southern Oregon without a car. We've owned this car for 25 years. For about 7 years, it was our only car. After we bought our van, Brandan drove it for another 11 years. Since then, Abe, Helen, and Gibson have each taken a turn being the primary driver. Miraculously, they avoided any kind of accident. Regular maintenance from our fantastic mechanic, Bob, has kept the car running pretty well for a car that is now 33 years old. We're happy to see the car move on and hope it will serve its new owner well!

Brandan and Becky enjoyed a movie in the park Friday night. Honestly, it didn't matter what the movie was. We enjoyed spending the time together watching it. It turned out to be Inside Out 2, an excellent and generous portrayal of teenage brain development.