April 7 - “The chicken and the security guard.”

Wow. That first night in Hawaii was weird. I was dead tired h the time we went to bed after that parade. But my mind started regularly waking up my body at 30 minute to one hour intervals beginning around 11:30, desperately searching for the correct internal clock mechanism. I finally gave up at 4:30 and got up. I could only hope that my hearing aids received a sufficient charge after running completely down in what turned out to be the middle of a bright, Hawaiian afternoon. 

We went to that grand institution of Hawaiian heritage for breakfast. McDonald’s. Nothing special as far as food goes, but there was an altercation. It was … The chicken and the security guard. Well … not a chicken. It was the rare white Hawaiian pigeon.  He and a friend made their way illegally into the restaurant. But the security cop leapt into action and escorted him out of the building. So glad to know we were safe at breakfast. 

Our bus driver and guide was a really fun guy named Wes. He taught us a few Hawaiian words, like Waikiki, meaning water spouting. Also Ohana, meaning family. 

At the Dole Pineapple Plantation we ate some ice cream made with no dairy products at all. Tasted amazing. And to top it off (literally), we had them add some of the powder made only in Hawaii. It’s a mix of sweet and sour called Li hing. Excellent stuff. 

Wed drove past an old m, run-down yellow house about 40 yards from one of the beaches. It was for sale. List price? $1,800,000. Wow. 

We had lunch at a New Zealand themed food truck outside of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Meat pies. Mine was steak and cheese. Excellent. The center was a massive 42 acre theme park of all the Polynesian cultures (hence, the name).  

Among our adventures … 

We watched several of the cultural presentations throughout the park. 

Chris danced with the ladies in the Tahiti showcase. (I may or may not have joined the men).

Me and Cary and Larry tried our hand at spear throwing over in Tahiti. We were pretty terrible. 

Tasted poi in Hawaii. Boring. 

And then there were the two major highlights (or so I’m told):

My own personal Tattoo in Tahiti. 

And … 

My lesson and subsequent complete grasp of and amazing performance of … Hula in Hawaii. No further comment necessary. It was … epic. 

We learned some important Hawaiian words:

Mo’o’una - grandchildren 

Tutu kane - granddad

Tutu wahini - grandma 

Kai ke-children

Sending a pattern here?

Back in Waikiki, we had some dinner and started for bed. But Chris remembered that we hadn’t yet been able to search for distilled water for her c-pap machine. So Cary and I I took to fulfill that mission. We checked with the front desk. He suggested we try an ABC Convenience Store across the street. If not there, then there was a CVS about half a mile away. Of course ABC does not sell distilled water. Guess because it starts with a D. So, CVS, here we come. 

The street  between our hotel and the pharmacy (about half a mile) was jam-packed with people. We were obviously on “the place to be.” We saw one of those guys who paints himself silver and stands like a statue. Street artists were on every corner (the ones who do caricatures). One person was dressed in a Pokémon costume and offering to pose for a selfie - for a fee. There was even a street magician doing his act. I was glad Cary came with me. Not that I was scared at all. I just wanted someone else to verify what was going on. Oh, and CVS had the distilled water. C-pap crisis averted. 

Luke‬ ‭22‬‬:‭19‬-‭20‬ says, “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’”

Father, thank you for this long, but really educational and fun day. Amen. 

April 6 - “Flying into the past”

Let’s redefine early. We slept fairly well at Hotel Huntley. How does 3:30 sound? Yes, that’s A.M.  the alarm was set for four anyway, so I just stayed up. And when four hit, I fulfilled an earlier promise I had made to fellow traveler Cary. I called him and proclaimed the current Honolulu time. He was most appreciative. 

Speaking of Cary and KayLynn, once we reached the airport and made our way through the checkpoint (the drive was great. Larry weaved his way through the early-morning travelers to get us a very close parking spot. But that checkpoint … not an easy task. Chris had to be frisked from head to toe because of her implant. I must have come across as a decrepit old man, because as I exited the scanner, the guy took my arm and asked if I was doing ok). Wait. Forgot where I was going with this. So … Cary and KayLynn did their best to recreate the famous scene from Lady and the Tramp where the two lead characters are eating spaghetti and end up smooching after a good long strand. Except for one thing. Cary and KayLynn were making the attempt … with a breakfast burrito. Yum. 

Oh, and while we stood in line, I received a rather ridiculous imprecation from KayLynn and Diane. They recommended (highly) that this be a blog-free vacation. I assured them that … not gonna happen. Secretly, in their heart of hearts, they were relieved, thrilled even, at the prospect that their name might appear on occasion over the next week or so. 

Nick and Jasmine joined us on the airplane, along with enough others to fill every seat. Not that we knew Nick and Jasmine, but he sat next to me, and she sat next to Cary. So we introduced ourselves. 

The first leg of the flight (to San Francisco) was uneventful. I finally figured out how to get the in flight entertainment. It was on my phone app all along. I stored the info away in my head for the second, longer flight on to Hawaii.  

San Francisco surprised us a little. The outside temperature was a balmy 43 degrees. Yikes. Take me to a tropical island, please. We grabbed some chicken strips and fries. They offered us some barbecue sauce. At least that’s what they said it was. It was … nasty. They need to send someone to Texas to learn how to do it right. 

The flight to Honolulu was, in a word, long. I had time to watch two feature length movies, with time to spare. In anticipation of that extended use of my phone (that’s how you watched - on the airline app), I heard from another passenger that there was a plug of sorts under the seat. Curiosity got the best of me, so I got down on one knee to investigate. About that time KayLynn, who was seated across the aisle from us, looked up. Ever the flower-lipped one, she instantly knew what to say. She announced to the entire airplane, “She said ‘yes’ again!”  Chris laughed and said, “well, yeah - 48 years ago.”  There was but a smattering of applause. I don’t think anyone could believe she would say yes. Or maybe they couldn’t believe that I would be able to stand back up …

Touchdown!  We officially time traveled. Every time we turned around it was lunchtime again. Not that I’m complaining, but we sure got tired of airport food. 

Met Brad and Christi from Chicago, who are also on this cruise with us. They rode to the hotel in the same bus with us. 

By the time we arrived at the hotel, my hearing aid batteries ran completely dry. They are more confused than my body is. We had to stay awake, though. Plus, we were really hungry. We walked over to Duke Kahonumoku’s hotel and had some dinner. Then we took a walk on the beach.  Yep. I had to stick my hand in the Pacific. They were advertising a big Easter sunrise service on the beach across the street from our hotel. We’ll be on the ship by then, though. Maybe we can put together one of our own. Next was dessert. We grabbed a malasada (same thing as a stuffed donut). I had chocolate. Chris chose strawberry. Pretty good bite. It also kept us awake for another hour or so. 

And just when we were about to crash, we heard a crash from outside. We raced to the nearest balcony, and what to our wondering eyes should appear, but an actual parade going by. Just to welcome us to Hawaii, I’m pretty sure. Well, either that, or the multitude of bands attending a youth music festival were on display. My favorite part was the ladder truck from the fire department. It was one of those that was so long, the back half had to have its own driver. 

John‬ ‭12‬‬:‭8‬ says, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”

Father, thank you for getting us across that ocean safely. Amen. 

April 5 - “Island Time”

Early job for me. I had to get on the computer and do our checkin for our flight yesterday morning. Heading out to be at the airport by 5 a.m.  Our boarding passes are all printed out AND available in the airline app AND I have a direct link from a text they sent me. Still have to get tags for our bags when we get to the airport. Otherwise … good to go. 

We enjoyed a phone call from “the newly minted Revered Doctor Joshua Michael Vaughan” (that’s what his doctoral supervisor called him. I think he meant “Reverend”).  Just called to wish us well on our trip and give us the “Don’t be stupid” speech. I’m sure that was meant for his mother. 

Chris spent a good part of yesterday morning packing and repacking. She must have done a good job. Our heaviest suitcase is “only” 43 pounds. We got em licked and loaded and headed on our way. 

We made it all of nine blocks before our first stop. Whataburger. Hey. You gotta eat on vacation, too, ya know. 

We did have one more stop before leaving the Island. Chris’ glasses came in! I told the lady on the phone we were on our way. She almost backed out so she could go to lunch, but she thought better of it. She said she would wait for us, since we had to wait for them. She’s actually a really nice girl. She handles customer service quite well, even when said customer are less than thrilled. But Chris loved the new specs, and we finally got outta town. 

There were no surprises on the road to Midlothian. Diane was NOT going to cook, so we went to dinner with the Huntley’s at a cool pizza place. Lots of fun, by the way. Build your own pizza. Learned something about my wife. Pineapple … really?  

This morning it was up and at ‘em at 3:30 a.m.  Well, that would be 10:30 last night, Hawaii time. Phew. This gives a whole new meaning to “Island Time.”  Hope I can sleep on the plane. 

Matthew‬ ‭21‬‬:‭21‬ says, “Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.”

Father, we invite you to join us. Couldn’t even think of going without you. Amen. 

April 4 - “Dr. J”

We got some bummer news yesterday. Chris’ new glasses didn’t come in as promised. There is an outside, very remote possibility that they will get here before we leave today, but at this point we are not holding our breath. Chris is extremely unhappy with them, as she should be. She can see OK without them, but she was really hoping for a sharp, clear image of Hawaii.

 

We spent most of the day packing. Chris finished the last load of clothes around 3:30. We also made a quick Walmart run. Why? Because Chris happened to notice that my black jeans (the ones that were going to be my “formal wear” for the cruise) were frayed at the top of the pockets. Nope. Not acceptable. So I got a brand new pair (blue, because they didn’t have black in my size). I also scored a really nice gray polo. Kay Lynn designated collared polo shirts as acceptable for fine dining. I think I’m ready for any wardrobe emergency now.

 

Oh, and one more word of exciting news … we got word around 5:13 or so that our middle son is now Dr. J. Wait. That one is taken - the basketball guy. I asked if we could call him DJ. He said that was better than being perennially on the JV team. So what’s with the initials, anyway? well, whichever combination you pick, it would stand for “Doctor Josh.” He passed his orals and will graduate in May as a Doctor of Ministry. Not that we are proud or anything. …

 

Mark 11:17 says, “And as he taught them, he said, ‘Is it not written: “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations”? But you have made it a den of robbers.’”

 

Father, thank you for all the hard work Josh put in. And thank you for Christi’s unfailing support. Amen.

April 3 - “Hosanna and a CT”

I got to have a little fun during church yesterday. Noa asked me if I would come into kids’ church and teach them how to make palm crosses. Walt brought over several palm fronds/branches last week, so I had already made fifty or so before we arrived. I got into their room early and placed the full palm branches on the floor. It’s all about shock value to get attention, right?  It did help some, I think. I told the story with an emphasis on learning the word “Hosanna.” We had just sung a song with a lot of those Hosannas in it, so it worked out great. Noa and Miss Helen learned pretty quickly. Ezra gave it a shot, then I helped him make a few. Grayson told us he just wanted to “watch us do all that.”  He was pretty busy whipping us all up some pretend cookies in the little kitchen, which he was quick to share with us all.

 

When the music in Big Church began, we each grabbed a palm frond and a handful of crosses. We marched into the sanctuary waving the fronds and tossing the crosses to the people. Great (and spur-of-the-moment) Palm Sunday fun.

 

After a quick lunch we headed into Texas for yet another medical thing. This time it was for me to have a CT scan on the thoracic region of my back. The neurosurgeon is trying to find out if the disc that is giving me problems has calcified. If it hasn’t, there’s a chance he can operate and relieve the pressure. Otherwise, I’m back to pain doc for another steroid injection.

 

The tech led me into the radiology room and there it was - the CT monster. It looked scarily like the MRI machine, except it wasn’t a tunnel. Just a big open circle. I figured I could handle thirty minutes in that thing. She told me to lie down. So … flat on my back with but a small pillow under my head. Oh, and with both arms held above my head like I was being held up by a bandit. And with my feet hanging off the end of the bed. I made it known that it was going to be painful. That’s when she spoke those wonderful words, “You only have to be on the table for three minutes. Can you do that?”  Wait. Three, and not thirty? Piece of cake. And she was right. About three minutes after she began, I was on my way to the waiting room to get Chris.

 

The results were supposed to take 24 to 48 hours. I actually got an email last night that they were ready.  I checked it out on MyChart.  It pretty much said everything looked normal – for a 69-year-old.  Degenerative stuff and some Schmorl’s nodes.  There’s a new one for you.  We had to look it up. Something about disc protrusions.  No idea if this will be helpful to the surgeon or not.  Guess I’ll find out when we get back from Hawaii.

 

John 12:13 says, “They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!’”

 

Father, please give the surgeon keen eyes and a sharp mind as he looks at the scan. Amen.

April 2 - “Look at the date …”

To all of my blog fans out there (both of you), concerning yesterday’s post … please stop lining up at my front door to ask for a loan. Even my brother from Houston showed up (actually, he was on his way to his high school reunion. But he did ask for his share of the loot). Or if you’re already there, please note carefully the date at the top of the post. I guess I really gave it away when I said I was going camping, huh?  Yeah … nope. We're still plain ol' poor us, a couple of April fools. Hope you had fun with it. I wrote it in the doctors’ office while waiting for Chris to get her genetics tested.

 

Big news of the day … we finished the eagle puzzle we’ve been working on for a looong time. Glad to check off that box. Now Sam can use the table for her cat puzzle and Chinese food … WHILE WE ARE GONE.

 

We did receive an amazing blessing. Aaron and Kelly brought over some of his famous meatloaf.  They also brought some fresh green beans and scalloped potatoes. Good stuff. Almost good enough to excuse Kelly for still spelling her name wrong.

 

1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

 

Father, thank you for inspiring the love we felt from Kelly and Aaron yesterday. Bless them for that. Amen.

April 1 - “Unexpected”

Well, that was some unexpected news. About a week ago we were gifted one of those lottery tickets. We don’t ever buy them, so I didn’t even know how to go about “checking it out.”  I had to You Tube it to find a video explanation. And I’m glad I did. According to the card numbers, we actually won something. Well, not just something. We won some kind of special jackpot award. The person we called to verify it said the final total was somewhere “in excess of $750,000, probably closer to $850,000.” 

 

Yep. Unexpected news, that’s for sure. We found out where the office was. Houston, of course. But for that … worth the trip. And the way we like to travel, 50 miles was easy.

 

Everybody was very nice. They were all pretty excited, especially when they found out the ticket thingy was a gift. We signed all the massive amount of paperwork involved. My hand will be sore for a month. Surprisingly, one of the perks of the “specialness” was that they could actually give us an initial check for some of the amount. The rest will be direct deposited later. So we walked out of there $200,000 to the good.

 

Back home we set aside some to give to the church and a chunk that will no doubt go back to the government. But, in a nutshell, this trip to Hawaii just got more fun. We set to planning some possible perks for the trip, and then we switched to figuring out how to spend the rest.

 

We finally decided on a big road trip across the U.S. to completely fill out Chris’ National Parks book. The plan at this point is to get us one of those really nice tents and just camp along the way. We’ll also locate a nice hotel here and there to pamper ourselves.

 

Gotta say … I’m looking forward to the next few months. Gonna be some big ones.

 

Proverbs 12:22 says, “The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in people who are trustworthy.”

 

Father, thank you for fun and laughter. Keeps us sane, that’s for sure. Amen.