Hawaii Gathering
Jun 25th, 2007 by Elise
Family & Friends Visit in Oahu
The Adventure Continues
25 June 2007
So I’m a little behind in keeping those updates coming. Life in Hawaii has been like our passage across the ocean from Mexico - moments of high excitement and activity followed by days of sheer boredom, or is it relaxation? Let me explain.
Life in Ko’Olina Marina - is not like what we’ve been accustomed to in San Diego and especially Mexico. It’s beautiful, quiet and secluded. We enjoy the four gorgeous lagoons and the dreamlike walking paths throughout the Ko’Olina Resort property. The landscaping is tropical and well manicured with serene qualities surrounded by the beautiful sunsets and views of the Pacific Ocean. Beyond its beauty it’s pretty boring on the whole. We are in a remote end of the marina (by choice mostly) and there aren’t too many boats around us let alone people. Our dock, J-dock, has mostly sailboats on it, but not many people. The marina has lots of charter boats, so people come and go, but not too many long term inhabitants. The other end of the marina does a lot of weekend business but so far, we haven’t been too engaged in that.
Transportation - since we plan to return to the mainland in early October for about 5 months, buying a car didn’t seem to make sense. So we have tried to just rent one or two days each week. That was working well until we had our little family/friend celebration. Basically, we have had a car since the 4th of June. We got a mini-van due to the large numbers. Each time we take it back to get a smaller/cheaper car; Enterprise reduces the rate and tells us to keep it another week at the reduced rate. I think before long, they’ll be paying us to take it. Hawaii’s only “good deal” has been that car! That will end next week once the grandkids depart on the 30th and we get nephew, Charlie here and settled into our routine. Actually, I’m looking forward to not having the car around all the time. It’s amazing that when it’s available how many needless trips are made to Costco and West Marine.
Family/Friends Visit - as you may know, Roger celebrated his 65th birthday last November and this October will mark our 30th Anniversary. It started with Mom Wag and her great traveling buddy, Arlene flying in on the 4th of June. We had a super time touring the island and they were a big help in preparing for the arrival of everyone else. Molly John (Michael’s wife) joined us with our eldest grandkids, Riley and Megan. Rob and Jeannie came early on the 8th and were able to extend their visit through the next weekend so we saw quite a bit of them. David and Mirjan couldn’t make it unfortunately with the 3 and 2 year olds (probably a good choice on their part but they were sorely missed). Then our old friends from Army days John and Suzi Mirus flew in from Denver, CO. Joanne and Steve Mott from Colorado Springs also thought that a week in Hawaii was a good idea. Ed Washington and Nancy Geczy joined us from San Diego. Homer and Hilde Worrell (an old First Command friend) filled out the group from Hawaii. While not everyone knew each other upon arriving, they all got pretty cozy together throughout the week. We had a family sail and spaghetti day, a BBQ, saw the Fia Fia Night (Polynesian night), a group trip to Pearl Harbor to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, and the guys all went deep sea fishing one afternoon (no, they didn’t catch any fish). One of the highlights of the week was our celebration dinner at Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine. It was certainly a wonderful evening - the food was spectacular! In addition to these scheduled events, everyone got lots of opportunity to do all the touristy things they wanted. Rob and Jeannie rented a Harley Davidson motorcycle for two days to do their touring. Molly took Megan and Riley just about everywhere on Oahu (we think that’s great - now we don’t have to do it this week).
The biggest benefit to Roger and me is that we get to keep Riley and Megan for an additional two weeks. As a matter of fact they just completed SCUBA training as of Sunday and are now PADI certified SCUBA divers. We sure are proud of them! I’m proud of us too as it involved driving to class at the NEX Pearl Harbor, swimming pool training/testing in Kaneohe, beach diving on the North Shore, and ocean diving out of Honolulu. Oh yeah, there was a lot of waiting around in each instance. Not to diminish Riley’s success, but Megan is only 11 years old and certainly one of the youngest certified divers out there. All those years of swim team paid a big dividend. They will be adding the next blog to highlight their experiences. Tomorrow, Riley and I are going on a local dive boat for a reinforcement dive. Megan decided that a 7AM departure time was just out of the question - she looked at me with this “are you stupid” face. So she and Roger (Pops) will sleep in and maybe go find some local breakfast opportunity. It will be a great bonding morning for all of us.
Elise’s nephew, Charlie Wagenseil arrives tomorrow. He’s a regular crew member, and this is his high school graduation present from his Mom. He will be with us for a month - we’ll put him to work though. Roger has lots of graduation gifts for him - a new bucket, fiberglass wax, stainless steel polish - just to mention a few. Hopefully we’ll get some island hopping in too!
So this past few weeks has been busy and I am looking forward for some more of the “boring Ko’Olina” time, not to mention some island cruising in Kauai and Maui. We presently don’t have any other visitors scheduled for August or September, so if you’re really interested let us know. There’s room aboard, the weather is great, and there is lots and lots to do.
Love to all,
Elise and Roger
s/v Cutthroat
Hi guys! Just received Riley’s message about today’s dive. Sounds like it was lots of fun. Thanks so much for everything you are doing with the kids!
Molly
Great to hear from you. I was just thinking about you this morning.
I’m going to forward this to Craig and Polly (my PA friends you took sailing) they ask about you frequently. All is well here.
Golly, I have been looking for a place to have a family reunion. Your kind invitation is accepted. There will be about 20 of us, all arriving on different days, needing transportation & entertainment during our stay. By the way, thanks for offering to host us all at Roy’s. Sounds like a great restaurant and I have told everyone, “The Sky’s the Limit…it’s on Roger & Elise!”. The SCUBA thing sounds wonderful. We would all like to sign up. Don’t worry about the size of the van. To make it easy on you we will take the classes on staggered days, that way you won’t have the entire group to take every day although you will have to make the trip every day. From the sound of it, you are used to waiting around. We thought a nice Host & Hostess gift would be some used books to help you pass the time. Gee, you folks are swell. Can’t wait to see you. By the by, I have some friends who will be heading your way just after my family leaves so I thought I would stick around to see them; probably another ten days or so. Not to worry, we are a close knit group and will spread outselves out around Cutthroat in sleeping bags, etc. You will hardly know we are there. After breakfast we will all take off so we are not in your way while you do the dishes & clean up. I thought we could order Pizza one night. I think Tuesday is Dollar Day (at least it is here). Let’s get several; don’t want anyone to go hungry. Perhaps you could whip up a salad to go with it. Wow, if this doesn’t sound like Paradise, I don’t know what would… Not sure when we will be arriving but I’ll let you know the day before. Can’t wait to see you, Ilene
Oh, thanks for the blog. I feel like I am there with you already…
…just kidding. Your reunion with family and friends sounds wonderful. It’s great that almost everyone was able to make it and that you have the pleasure of the company of your two grandchildren for an extra week. Every year, for at least the past 30, my cousin hosts a Fourth of July BBQ at his home. Everyone, far & near, just knows that on the Fourth you show up at Ted’s. Some years there are more people than other years but it’s always fun and I look forward to it. The chances of my getting to Hawaii are slim to none but I hope to see you when you head back to the mainland, where ever you settle. Missing the fun, laughs, and companionship we shared for those brief times in Mexico. Love, hugs & kisses to you both, Ilene
I hope you are saving all your notes for some Lats & Atts articles. too fun.
Mike and I went sailing yesterday with some local friends. The weather was perfect, the winds allowed us to sail, then we anchored at Anacapa for lunch and had a brisk sail back to the marina. We miss sailing sometimes, so love your blogs!
Talk to you soon!
Maureen & Mike
Hi Cutthroat!
Seems like not long ago we were having dinner at the Roy’s and JW Marriott with you guys. Nice to see that the cruise is working out well for you and the extended family. Jen and the rest of the Azure crew say hi, and the Sunroad J dock is still not the same without you.