Hot Date and Sea Side Cafe

I love lazy, weekend, daytime dates! Cliff and I decided to park in a neighborhood near the sea wall and take a walk along the water.


You just never know what you are going to find around here. Exploring never gets old. This is a bar made out of an old bus. See the sign by the door? We were pretty sure the place was abandoned by the looks of it...but you really never know.



Beautiful stained glass...



Interesting architecture...



And of course, fishermen.



We walked from one end of the sea wall, as far as we could down to the other, and then came back for lunch nearer to where we started at the Sea Side Cafe. We've heard rave reviews about this place and were eager to try it. There was a family with wild kids running roughshod over the place inside (it's a very small restaurant) and it felt like they had no AC going, so we did an about face and opted for the front patio seating. It was hard to beat the view. A couple of the other tables on the patio had chillin' dogs tethered to them while their owners relaxed and ate. Combined with the sound and smell of the water, the whole scene was very serene.



A little peek at the menu. While hard to pass on a "Big velly burger"...



I had to go with the number one Smoked Salmon & Avocado (with lemon cream french sauce).

Cliff thought about the classic burger, but rumor has it, it's number two...



So he opted for the fish and chips.

The food was simple, but delicious. I think it's a perfect spot for lunch. They even have (not free) Wi-Fi if you are interested...and it's pet (and apparently kid) friendly.

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.}

Do they allow beach camping here?

Beach view from Koko Cafe at the Hale Koa


Because the Stuart family motto is "Nothing is Ever Easy" (seriously...it's in Latin, right under our family crest), Cliff forwarded me an email from his command yesterday (not directed at us, just FYI for the entire, major command), including a new order regarding the aerovac program from Okinawa. It explained how people were "abusing" the program, that medical escorts weren't authorized just because someone wanted a family member present (they were only to be authorized for legitimate medical need) and then went on to explain the accepted procedure for securing lodging.

As I read it, my heart sank. Obviously, under the circumstances, Jake needed a medical escort...so I wasn't worried about that. But their explanation of the lodging process made me very nervous. The lodging options they listed were very similar to the packet of information the aerovac office at the hospital gave us. We were supposed to try all of the on-base lodging options first, before trying to find something out in town...but said we should shoot for finding accommodations priced at practically HALF of the allowable rate. Then they listed a bunch of "suggested" options for hotels in Honolulu that had rates within the per diem lodging allowance. The options were almost identical in both the order from Cliff's command and the packet of info from aerovac. With one exception...they said that the Hale Koa* is not considered government lodging for aerovac purposes and should only be considered as a last resort of the off-base options...and that travel reimbursement could be denied otherwise. (And while aerovac secures the medical appointments and the airline tickets, the command provides the orders and pays for the travel.)

In making our reservations, I followed the outlined procedures to the letter. I checked all of the on-base options first, and none of them had availability (which was no surprise...if you're going to Hawaii...you want a combination of the cheapest and safest option available, so all those rooms get snatched up far in advance). Then I went down the list of options for off-base lodging, which were not ranked in order of preference...and the Hale Koa was included. I had no way of knowing what any of the other accommodations were like...if they were in a safe area, if they were roach-infested or smelled like ashtrays. I went with what I knew...the Hale Koa. Unfortunately, they charge the maximum allowed government rate when you are there on orders (which is why the command is wanting us to avoid staying there). The thing is, once you add all the various taxes and double the parking rate...most of those other options are brought within 10 or 20 dollars of the Hale Koa rate, anyway. Making the known entity even more appealing.

I went from feeling safe and secure...to now having to worry if we were even going to be paid for this medical trip if we stayed in our current hotel reservation. We have a terrible history with {the broken system that is} government travel, anyway. We are still waiting for the last payment of over $1000 for reimbursement for a trip on orders six months ago. We've experienced first hand that "Murphy" works for the government and his law is more of an order, really...so I'm not willing to take any chances. So, in addition to checking every single on-base option AGAIN (at the rate of 50¢ a call, charged to ME, thank you very much) with no luck, I started looking at the off-base recommendations. The first one listed was a Best Western by the airport. I have driven by it. There is no way we're staying there. I learn my hunch is correct while talking to a friend who stayed there when her family first arrived here. They had several items stolen, including having their car broken into. It's no secret Honolulu has high crime...and it was not making me feel very good to think that more consideration was being given to saving the government a buck than the safety and security of my family. I mean, I know we're not here for a vacation...but the military SENT us here for medical care they couldn't provide at our duty station, for crying out loud!

So, I started looking up online reviews of some of the other hotels, and the outlook didn't get any better. Street noise, wild parties, theft, lack of secure parking, roaches. This is what our command had in mind for us. Nice. I was pretty sick over it at this point...feeling like we were sent over here alone to fend for ourselves (under already stressful circumstances), without any regard to whether we found a safe place to stay, knowing we are going into this blind. It was bad enough we were having to front all of the expenses ourselves and wait to be reimbursed, but now this? It just seemed like there should be some sort of "sure-thing" lodging close to the hospital for families who are aerovac'd here. They do have a Fisher House (like a Ronald McDonald house, but for military hospitals) but it is reserved for families of long-term, critical patients. We needed a safe, handicapped-accessible room for almost a month, for about HALF of the local, government allowed rate in order to both meet our needs and make Cliff's command happy. Pssshh...no problem, right? I prayed and racked my brain for solutions.

This morning, I started to go through the routine with all the on-base options again , in case there were any cancellations. When I called the Army lodge behind the hospital, initially I was told they didn't have availability for as long as we needed, but in talking to her and explaining our situation (including our need for a wheelchair accessible room) she asked me to hold on. When she came back, she told me she was able to get us in. I don't know how...and she assured me no one else was going to be bumped out on the street...but suddenly, we had a room as soon as we wanted to check in! We're checking in tomorrow, and it is such a relief. I can't even tell you what a weight off my mind this is. The more I think about it and the stories I've heard, it really is nothing short of a miracle.



Since we had this problem solved, we decided to grab some lunch and hit the beach.



Jake had the Sleepy-head Special (basically breakfast with a side of fries)...



And I had to most glorious club sandwich I can remember. Look at those chips...all of them almost burnt. Like a dream come true.



Jake had a great time playing in the surf. He tried snorkeling with the equipment he brought...but quickly learned the beaches here are not like Okinawa's. Too wavy. He did spot a sea turtle, though. That was cool.



He decided to build a wall of sand to stop the waves, instead.



Then buried himself, since I wouldn't.

{Trivia: Did I mention I hate sand? I do. It's dirty. I am also sun-paranoid. I firmly believe pasty-white with freckles is the new tan. So I sat, trying not to make contact with the sand, arms covered by my windbreaker, and read The Hunger Games (certain I could feel the sun burning through my SPF-50) while Jake played blissfully.}



It's a good thing I love him.



What a gorgeous beach, huh? I can't wait to come back here for an actual vacation. Right now, however, I'm thrilled to be moving to a less scenic spot, without the 30-40 minute drive each way to the hospital...and hefty price tag (that we might have been forced to eat).

I'll miss this view of the grounds, though...



Even if I won't miss the scheduled, 11:30 PM, glass-recycling dump right outside my window each night.


*Hale Koa is a military hotel and recreation facility run by Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation. There are several such facilities around the world, designed to provide nice, affordable accommodations for military families at popular vacation destinations. Rates are on a sliding scale, depending on status and pay grade. Unless you are traveling on military orders (even medical ones)...then they sock it to you. Dumpster-view rooms...ocean-view prices.

Sunday Driving and Island Hopping

First of all, let me apologize for the length of this post, but I enjoyed our Sunday drive SO much, I wanted to take you along for the ride. Cliff was itching for a road trip. Those are kind of hard to come by on an island, so he got out a map and looked for the closest, easiest option for driving to a neighboring island. Then he charted a course, and we piled into Apollo. We headed up the 330 to the 75 to the 10...



Then took this beautiful bridge...



Out to Miyagi island...then over to Ikei island.




I have to admit, it was a great idea.



The weather had been pretty bad (it's still pretty gray in these pictures) and it felt great to get out on the road.



Too bad we missed these windsurfers doing their thing. They were already putting their boards away.



Interesting looking building here. But we were burning daylight, so we didn't stop to see what it was...



We got back out on the road.



I guess these are to keep us from driving into the water on the sharp turns?











We saw that red bridge ahead and knew we needed to stop.



Even in bad weather, the water is so beautiful here.



Patrick (of course) has to stand on the "plummet to your death" side of the bridge for the picture.



Just gorgeous.







Troy was standing way to close to the edge for my comfort.



Now do you see what I mean?







Speaking of Patrick and plummeting to his death...like a moth to a flame. He saw this rope and couldn't resist. I wasn't actually going to let him demonstrate his ROTC repelling skills, this was all just for the camera.



Then I heard this tractor rumbling down the road behind us. The driver was adorable...she was all smiles for us.



Then we got back on the road to see what else we could see...



Big Time Resort. Love it!



I loved this painted resort map staked into the ground.



And this awesome tree. I want one of these in my yard. Simply Seussical.



We decided to drive around this rural village near the resort and found another lovely old lady pushing a cart...



And another on a bike.



And lots of other snapshots of rural life...



The roads were a little tight for Apollo. There was not a lot of auto traffic here.



But of course, there were vending machines.



We turned down this road to see how close we could get to the water...



We ended up at a dead end just past a private home, so we turned around and went back to a cement dock where several men had parked to fish. We got out and were greeted by quite the welcoming party. This little guy...



Followed by this one. They both had shoelaces wrapped around their necks.



They were SO cute. They loved the Fritos, too.



I don't know if this guy was jealous of the attention the other two were getting, or if he smelled the Fritos, but he crossed the road (hehe) to join the party...



And we were just one donkey short of heading to Bremen Town.



It was a challenge to get Fritos to the rooster without the dog intercepting.



We managed to get him a few, though.



The kids got a kick out of telling him to "sit" in Japanese. He was very well trained.


Chances are, you don't really want to watch four videos-worth of us playing with these animals. But I couldn't decide which videos to include here. They were just so dang cute, and the fact that we were standing by the ocean and were descended upon by a dog, a cat and a rooster was pretty novel. But you might have had to have been there. Patrick said, "Any minute now Momotaro is going to show up and offer us a bowl of noodles." The dynamic between the three was really weird. The rooster picked on the kitten (I just missed filming the rooster on top of the kitten, kicking the life out of it) but the dog terrorized the rooster...so it all seemed to balance out, and they seemed to be happy together.



















We had to leave our new friends and make our way back to our home island. It was getting dark and starting to rain.



And luckily, just when we were feeling parched, there were random, side-of-the-road, vending machines to quench our thirst...



With both hot and cold selections.



Half of us got cans of hot cocoa, and the rest of us got soft drinks. I chose a soda made with the local Okinawan lime-ish fruit that I'm too lazy to look up the spelling of right now.



Crazy, crazy kids. Yes, the boys are spelling "blood."







I must have driven by this weird store a dozen times, but was never a passenger, stopped at this light.



I'm thinking we need to leave here with one of these.



Or maybe this Habu skin? It'd make a great table runner, don't you think?



I'm actually seriously thinking of drum end tables. I'm going to have to come back here and get a better look in the daylight.



In case you didn't guess, these two were "hanging around" outside a pizza place on our ride home. Get it...pizza? gorillas? Yeah...me either.

Thanks for driving with us! It's hard to believe we've been here for two years and STILL haven't seen it all.