The Journey Home

Considering all we had to accomplish this morning, including returning the wheelchair, returning the rental car at an off-site location, and getting a non-ambulatory kid from the rental car shuttle to the counter where we could request a wheelchair (which, in the Honolulu airport, looks more like a stroller...I so should have taken a picture) with 4 bags to check...we did pretty well.

I forgot to mention all the drama with our return flight yesterday. When I called to turn our tickets back on, the only flight they had available at our previously-booked, government rate would include THREE international flights. Threeee! Hawaii to Tokyo, Tokyo to Taipei, and Taipei to Okinawa. (Seriously?!) That is heinous under any circumstances...but juggling luggage, customs, a wheelchair? Insanity! Luckily, after much being transferred from dept. to dept., I was able to trade in my triple-transcontinental tour for a seven hour layover in Tokyo instead. What could I do but take it and be grateful? ("Thank you Sir, may I have another?")

The flight took off on time, and thank goodness for pre-boarding. It was so nice not to have to do what we had to do while working around other passengers. Jake has fallen twice now with the crutches and makes me SO nervous. The plane was not even close to full (which was another sad reminder of the tragic earthquake and tsunami back "home" keeping people from traveling). Jake had plenty of room to prop up his leg.



Within a couple of hours, we were served lunch. I don't know why I take pictures of airplane food. But I do, every time. It makes me giggle. Since the first time I made a cross-country flight as a young teen, I've been fascinated with how they try to make airplane food look appetizing, while still making it stackable.



Shrimp cocktail in a box, anyone? Heehee.



Shortly before we landed, we were served another meal, which was called a snack. It's kind of hard to name meals when you are crossing the international dateline. It's dinner...yet by the time you land, it will be breakfast. Sort of. Anyway, I had to take a picture of the lettuce on this sandwich. At first I thought mine was a fluke, but looking around at my fellow passengers' trays...I discovered this was intentional. (Lettuce: Check!)



Yea! We are back in Japan! Narita is not my favorite airport, I much prefer Haneda...but I will take it. Whatever gets us home. We had an enormous layover (as I mentioned previously) so I wanted to spend it in the best terminal possible. Usually, the flight to Okinawa originates in their worst terminal. It's more like a triple-wide trailer, really. There are some uncomfortable chairs to sit in, a little counter where you can order a bowl of noodles (they're really great noodles, though) and you have to ride a bus from the terminal out to your plane. I did NOT want to spend seven hours out there! (Lucky for me, we got another terminal with WAY better accommodations. Whew!)

I was a little nervous, because I DEFINITELY wanted to hold onto that wheelchair! Since we were switching from an international to a domestic terminal AND switching airlines entirely, I wasn't sure how to pull that off. After several minutes of pantomime/interpretive dance coupled with speaking slowly and loudly, the two attendants went from looking confused, to nodding reassuringly. I thought, "either they understand me, or it is worth the price of a wheelchair to be rid of me." Turned out, I didn't need to worry at all...they rode the bus with us to the next terminal, helped with our luggage, pushed Jake's chair, up and down elevators, all the way to the next airline counter and waited patiently while the new airline brought a wheelchair with a new crew to make the switch. I should have know. (I love you, Japan!) I showed them we had a very long layover, pantomimed that I'd be fine pushing the chair on my own, and they somehow conveyed that I should call when we were ready to go to the gate and they'd assist us.



First stop...breakfast (dinner?...whatever time it is)! Udon noodles with tempura shrimp...yum!



Next, we did a little shopping in the gift shops. Oh how I've missed the Engrish! These are super-dark Kit-Kats. I have had them before and they are delicious...but I have never heard them described quite like this. Kit-Kats are huge in Japan. I don't know if I've mentioned that before. They come in many flavors, delicious and bizarre. I haven't tried a lot of them, but the grossest ones I've been served so far were plain yogurt flavor. I want to try the wasabi flavor, just to say I did.



We still had a few hours to kill even though we had covered the whole terminal. What else was there to do? We had to wait our turn for some time in the massage chair.



Jake wanted the massage so bad, he was willing to put up with the tickle.



The next flight was even more empty. We each got our own row, again.



After over three weeks of craziness, this was the most glorious sight to behold. I don't want to leave again for a very, very long time. (Oh...that's right...we want to do this again in June. Ugh!)

If you had one more day in paradise...

What would you do? Jake would have loved to have spent the day at the beach or a water park...but since those were out of the question, he asked to go back to Waikiki to take another spin around the International Marketplace.


We made one more trip to The Cheesecake Factory, so that Jake could order this monstrosity (he did eat lunch first).



There's nothing like this on Okinawa...which is probably a very good thing!



As we were getting ready to cross the street between The Cheesecake Factory and The Marketplace, we encountered a bird man. He was covered in exotic birds (obviously looking for "tips" for pictures). I saw dollar signs appear in the bird man's eyes as I rolled up with my kid in the wheelchair.



He paid special attention to Jake...



And of course, I fell for it completely!



Remember how I can't pass up a cheesy, touristy, photo-op?



Have I mentioned how extremely ticklish Jacob is? The most ticklish person I know. That forth bird trying to make his way up to Jake's shoulder with his beak just sent him over the edge.



We did some final souvenir shopping for the peeps back home, and I had to get a pic of this old graffiti tree. What can I say, I'm a tree hugger.

Then, we drove back to the hotel to do laundry and pack for our big morning tomorrow. Home sweet home, here we come!

Hawaii...it's been real. You will forever stay a honeymoon destination in my heart, but other than that...I want nothing to do with you. Nothing personal...it's the traumatic stress talking.

We've Been Sprung!

Jake had his appt. this afternoon, and was cleared for travel! We were careful to make sure no one came near his cast this time, hehe. His surgeon was on leave, but still in contact with the clinic. The xrays looked great, there were no concerns at all...so his resident was able to give us the all-clear. The surgeon here has already been in touch with the surgeon back on Okinawa that will take care of Jake's follow-up care. They want Jake in this cast for 4 more weeks, then in the AFO boot for another 4 to 8 weeks.

I think I failed to mention this, but the surgeon told us IN THE RECOVERY ROOM that he was PCSing (moving, for you non-military types) to Washington DC this summer. This is how he said it..."I hope I'm able to perform his other foot surgery. I'll be PCSing to Walter-Reed this summer, so I'm not sure...but I'd love to do his surgery there, if not here, so that he can have continuity of care." I'm thinking, "If only it were up to us and not the managed care system we work within, HUH?" I wanted to say, "Are you kidding me?!?!?!" I can't believe this was not figured into the equation when he was deciding whether or not he'd do both feet at once...especially since it would have been better for us for SO many reasons. All I could do was shake my head.

Anyway, I bring this up, because now we only have a one week window between when Jake has spent 4 weeks in his AFO boot and when the surgeon is checking out to move. And there is no guarantee Jake will even be ready at that point. It would sure make things easier to just get it over with before the move. Counting on getting the permission for Jake to travel to DC to get the surgery is a gamble...and since there are so many possible methods for the surgery, we really don't want to take the chance of another surgeon doing it completely differently and Jake having mismatched feet, if we can avoid it (considering he needs them to carry him around the rest of his life). It's kind of a big deal, I think.

We went back down to the brace shop in the basement and they had his beautiful, space-themed AFO boot ready to go. Since he is in the cast, he couldn't try it on for size, but it looks great! Very high-tech.

So, the battle continues. I'm just grateful to be going home for now. Tomorrow, we'll check out with the liaison and turn our plane tickets back on. Woohoo! I asked Jake where he'd like to go for dinner to celebrate.



Can you tell by the coconut shrimp where he chose?



If you guessed Red Lobster, you would be correct!



This is only the second time in his life Jake has ever eaten here, but he has always drooled over the commercials. He was in lobster heaven! At least living in medical-limbo has some fringe benefits.

Fighting Boredom

I know I'm going to sound like a whiner to a lot of people, but it is really hard to convalesce in a vacation destination...especially one where most of the fun revolves around sand and water...and you are in a wheelchair with a non-weight-bearing cast. We are so ready to go home.

Jake is so bored, he actually asked to do school work today. Well, "asked" is too strong of a word...more like, he was whining about how difficult it was to just lay there in his room, and I passive-aggressively suggested school work. Kind of like when you tell your mom you're bored at home and she rattles off a list consisting of folding laundry, scrubbing toilets, etc., to help you rethink your boredom. (Yes, I brought along his school books...no, we haven't actually used them. What a waste of weight limit.) Anyway, he surprised me by responding positively to the suggestion. With all of the stress we've been going through, cracking open the spelling curriculum sounded less desirable than plucking out my own eyeballs...so I suggested Toys R Mine instead.


Jake wanted to check out the Nerf selection first...



But with no siblings or pets* for target practice, ultimately decided on something with more play value for our current circumstances.



As an added bonus, we stopped by Chili's for Molten Chocolate Peanut Butter Cakes for dinner. OK, maybe convalescing here isn't so bad after all.

*You know I'm kidding about the cat, right?

Museum, Mongolian and Good Fortune

Poor Jake gets so bored. I feel sorry for him...but not so sorry that I relish leaving the room and dealing with this:


You wanna know what's worse? Crawling along in this parking lot, realizing...you missed your turn...and that it would cost you at least an extra thirty minutes of drive time. Awesome. It was about this point that I asked Jake if it would be OK with him if we just stayed in the hotel room the rest of our trip.



Drive with Aloha, my eye. I've got your Aloha, right here!



We finally made it to our destination, The Pacific Aviation Museum.



Pshhh...this map makes it look so much easier.



If only every road led to our destination this way.



What displays they had were very well done, but the museum was much smaller than we imagined.



I mean, this looks like just one wall in Jake's room.



After the aviation museum, we went back to the room to wait for Heidi's call. She had offered to take us to Hickam AFB for Mongolian BBQ tonight. What a beautiful location. (Unfortunately, my camera was not cooperating and would not focus properly...I think because of the steam...but you get the idea.)



Brandon is Jake's age. Jake immediately relaxed and enjoyed visiting with him...and Brandon was so considerate...all of the kids were...in helping Jake with anything he needed. It was such a lovely evening and I'm so grateful to Heidi for making the effort...with 6 of her kids!



Oh...and I can't make this stuff up. This was the fortune from my cookie. While not actually a fortune by definition, I think it was pretty apropos, don't you? I know I will never forget Heidi's kindness.

North Shore Drive

We had planned to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center today, but Jake really didn't feel up to it. Instead, we decided just to take a windshield tour of the windward side of the island. We had to do something to get out of the room.

First, we took H3 straight out to the Marine base at Kaneohe Bay to look around at the BX, quarters, etc. You know, the important stuff. It is a very nice base with lots of new and improved housing. We ate lunch at the food court. {Only the best for Jake.} Then we did a little shopping. Not too much, though...not a lot of room left in the suitcases. Just important things...like chocolate chip macadamia nut shortbread cookies.



This is just the way I remember it from 20 years ago. I think it's wild how the road runs right along the ocean. See how wet it is? That is from the waves crashing onto the road. It was fun to watch.



I wonder how many people have driven straight into the ocean?



We followed the signs to the LDS temple in Laie. Beautiful! It had just opened back up after two years of renovations.



Then we backtracked a little to check out the BYU Hawaii campus.



What a gorgeous campus. We're hoping one/some of our kids have the opportunity to go here.



Jake still didn't feel like stopping at the Cultural Center next door, so we just kept driving...up to the North Shore. We found parking right off the road and stopped to take in the sights for awhile. {With Hawaiian radio 105.1, KINE, playing in the background, of course. It's been our constant soundtrack for our adventure here. Hawaiian music is probably going to give me traumatic flashbacks of this experience now.}



The waves were awesome. I could have sat here all afternoon and watched.



Then, to add to the local flavor, a machete-wielding stranger walked up to our car with a green coconut...



And made us an offer we couldn't refuse. {Seriously, we were afraid of what he might do with that machete if we turned him down.}



Jake loves coconut and was super excited to be drinking from one. The straw looked suspiciously like those McDonald's carries...and with no wrapper in sight, I had my worries about its origin. {Here's hoping Jake's "local" experience doesn't have him "going coconuts" all night.}

Andy's and Army Museum

Although I am grateful we are so close to the hospital (traffic can be a nightmare), there is nothing close by for shopping and food. The directory in the room has a map with several options just on the other side of the freeway...things like Papa John's Pizza and a Chinese place. It didn't take me long (just about 30 minutes of driving in circles) to figure out the map is outdated. It has all been replaced with car dealerships.

I called the front desk and asked for the nearest commissary. He said there was one right down the road at Ft. Shafter. I was so relieved...only to discover that by commissary, the clerk thought I meant gas station with shopette. While they did have a few items of produce and other groceries, I was completely traumatized when I picked up a bundle of bananas and a gecko jumped out of it and onto my hand. This place was OFF the list!

With Heidi's help, I was able to find a nice, big commissary to stock up...but with only a small microwave and fridge in the room, we did still need to buy at least one meal a day. Finding no apparent restaurants in the vicinity left me consulting the Internet for clues. The process was tedious...trying to figure out what was close enough...but then I just did a simple search for "Honolulu restaurants" and quickly came upon a site called yelp.com...filled with pages of restaurant reviews, which could be sorted by price, cuisine, neighborhood, etc. It has become my new best friend.

There is a problem with this, though...instead of looking for close and/or cheap...I couldn't help but look for what sounds the best, or is the most highly rated. Andy's is both...although close it is not. No matter...with page after page of rave reviews for their homemade bread, hand-carved turkey, to-die-for smoothies and fresh pastries...I would have driven the island over. In traffic. Luckily, I only had to go as far as Manoa Valley.


It was a little bit of a challenge to find...we drove past it the first time. There were lots of reviews filled with warnings about the lack of parking spots, but fortunately for us, Jake now comes with special VIP parking. My mouth is starting to water just looking at their sign again...



And is it any wonder? I mean...look at that sandwich! And the smoothie? Jake got strawberries and cream (which had yummy coconut milk), and mine was a tropical slice of heaven with stuff like papaya, mango, strawberry and banana. Andy's is the definition of 'hole in the wall'. To demonstrate...see the guy sitting at the table on the left? That table is up against the shelving that runs the length of the restaurant. See the person leaning on the right? He is leaning against the coolers that line the other wall. That's how big the place is. This proved unfortunate when the young couple seated at the table next to us started making out. I'm not kidding. I saw her tongue and everything. Classy. Jake looked like he wanted to rake out his own eyeballs with his bare hands. {Man, how I miss the society of zero public display of affection...where my husband and I catch sideways glances for holding hands. I wanna go home!}



And get a load of that menu...does that just scream YUM?!



Oh my goodness, I want to bite my computer screen! See those white bags up top? They hold homemade, chocolate-chip granola bars and chocolate muffins for the road. They were already out of their famous apple turnovers, so we will have to go back, for sure.

On the drive down, we saw traffic horribly backed up in the opposite direction, and heard on the radio that there was a shooting of some sort which had a major road totally blocked off. Charming. Rather than sit in that nightmare, or try to magically find an alternate route home, we decided to head down to Waikiki and check out the Army museum to kill some time. {That's probably not the best phraseology. Sorry.}



Again, plenty of VIP parking right up front.

Ahhh...pining away for "home" just like me, I'm guessing.



This was a very cool tribute to veterans of the Korean War. We found lots more to see inside...











I found this exhibit the most interesting...and touching. General Shinseki is Hawaii's homegrown hero, and there was an entire room dedicated to his life and military career.

If you can't read this, click on it to enlarge. Reading this brought tears to my eyes. Who wouldn't want those things said about her by her husband? What a special relationship they have...and he sure has a way with words.



When we got back to the hotel, we were greeted by a very special surprise from Grandpa Jim. What could it be?



Is this gorgeous or what? These ginger flowers are individually wrapped with rose petals. I wonder how long something like this takes to make?



Jake's was a manlier variety...but just as beautiful. It was so thoughtful of my dad to send us something to help us catch the "aloha" spirit...



Heaven knows we could use some of that around here. Thanks, Dad!