Living Life to its Fullest: Day 64 – 11/26/10

Today, my royalties were split between Black Friday shopping and sightseeing. Also, the fact that this was our first time back in the U.S. after more than two months away entered into the dynamics of the day. It was nice to be able to make phone calls on our cell phones instead of on Skype, both to friends and to take care of business agendas. Although, I loved the thought of sightseeing on the island of Oahu, I didn’t want to miss out completely on what has become my one day of the year to purchase electronics. So, although we didn’t spend the whole day shopping, we did get a bit in before doing our sightseeing.

We arrived in port at 7:00 a.m. However, all passengers and crew had to go through a U.S. immigration before disembarking the vessel. We had arranged to rent a car and go about the day on our own schedule. We docked at the Aloha Tower and were off the ship about 8:30, with a 60-pound bag of books and papers in tow. Enterprise picked us up at the Aloha Tower valet parking area and took us to get our rental car for the day. I will say that it was a bit interesting to drive after not being behind the wheel for over two months. It felt nice. We headed down to the Alomoana shopping area. We got up to the 2^nd floor of the parking garage, and thought better of the idea. Way to big and busy! We headed out of town in the direction of Pearl Harbor. On our way there, we stopped by Office Depot, Office Max, K-Mart, Target, and Wal-mart. We also had a stop at the post office near the airport to ship out our 60 lbs. of media mail (papers and books that we brought with us and/or acquired along the way)…all for $23.

Our shopping and stops put us into the middle of the afternoon to start our sightseeing. We went to Pearl Harbor. However, the boats out to the Arizona Memorial had closed before noon, due to strong winds. So, we walked around the memorials and exhibits that were accessible. I enjoyed being there and pondering the events of December 7, 1941. After leaving, we made a quick stop by Hilo Hattie’s for some Hawaii touristy type shopping (those of you who have been will completely understand). We then drove back past our ship as we headed to the other side of town to Waikiki Beach. We arrived there late afternoon, just before sunset for some beautiful views of Diamond Head (a large non-active volcano) and the sailboats out on the water. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long because we had to get our rental car back before 6:00 p.m. However, we did get a nice taste of beach life, with its surfers, volleyball players, sunbathers and strollers. We packed up our purchases for the day and returned our rental car. They dropped us back off by the ship. My dad went back aboard while my mother and I strolled around the shops by the port for another hour and a half before boarding the ship for the last leg of our Voyage.

It’s hard to believe that this trip will be over in less than a week. It has truly been a wonderful adventure. I’ve enjoyed the brief introduction to new places, people, and cultures. And, I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to share this amazing experience with my folks. Really, there’s no way to express in words how much I have thoroughly enjoyed this Asia, Australia, and South Pacific Grand Voyage. It’s gone by so fast. I had visions of being able to lots of reading and even some studying, but alas it just hasn’t happened, and that’s O.K. Thanks so much for your willingness to allow me to share a little about my journey along the way. I’m honored to have friends and family that care enough to invest some of their time into reading my blogs. I’ve enjoyed sharing with you and even more so, have enjoyed the comments that I’ve received back from so many of you. There were many times that those comments brought encouragement and much needed peer interaction from home. I love you all. Blessings, Karen