~One of THE Best~

One of the best places I have ever visited , can you tell by the photo where it is? HAWAII.. I have/had a sister lives there since the early 60's..She married a Hawaiian guy and after my nephew was born decided to move there and live. That first time I went there was in December of 62 with my parents..they had to make sure Gayle was ok..Most parents do that I think. And I would go up until 1988 for at least a month and spend time with her. I loved it.. The arrival at the island as you come in off that water is scarey..very scarey. If someone is meeting you there usually they buy a Lei for you..If you are a guest of a hotel and they are meeting you usually they have a lei for you. They are NOT cheap..not if they are real flowers. but SO beautiful. The airport is wide open and I dont even remember seeing windows in it lol.. but its been years now since ive been there.So I would guess like every where else things change... We steady went to tour the island while i was there and of course I loved the beach. Those 2 first photos are really favorites of mine. I dont know the year those were taken tho..The one in the flowers was taken in '88 it says on the back.Its so wonderful..the water is so warm.. and to swim in it-its salt water-so you float very easily. I bet that would be so great now, then I wouldnt have to worry about how fast these short little stumps could kick then :-) ...I would FLOAT...We spent the night on the beach ONCE.. I wasnt real keen on that..there were crabs that patrolled the beach at night..no not crabby people..crawly things..I did NOT sleep alot lol.. I stayed close to the fire we had :-) My brother in law went diving and got 2 lobsters and talk about good? M M ..they were great.. They have fish over there called Mahi Mahi.. that is wonderful. The difference of the foods I really liked..but then I really prefer seafood.. Although they have island beef..there were ranches of all types there on the different islands..I never did go to any of the other islands.. Im sure they are just as great as Oahu.. My sister and I of course went to the flea market they have there at that huge arena.. for got the name, and they had some of the BEST stuff!! thats where I got all my souvenirs to take home..so much cheaper than the shops in Waikiki..and MOST homemade stuff, the jewelry was just AWESOME. My sister always looked for Orchids..she loved them..And they grew so easily over there since it was so tropical...Their fence that was around their yard had orange flowers just covering it most of the time..I helped do some yard work around her green house where she kept all her orchids. They had a lovely home there. Up in the hills above Wahiawa. Big house, 4 bedrooms..and a massive pool in the back..I know she called it her lanai.. I think thats why I called my little spot I had in Indiana my Lanai..was a great spot..She had a hot tub as well.. The lifestyle, since its so tropical is so open..the houses i mean. The cooling for most is to open the windows wide and let the trade winds go through.. then when it got hot..mid afternoon..you could feel a light misty rain come down..not to drench you ..but to cool you down it seemed.then when you looked there was always a rainbow.. I think I saw one every single day while I was there.. The mountains..were such an emerald green they almost glowed..We drove all the way up to the top of where the planes came through them when they bombed Pearl Harbour..There is a huge cross there now.. My brother in law..remembers sitting on his front porch..scared to death as he saw all the smoke.said he was about 10 back then.That HAD to have been totally terrifying, the one reminder now is the monument that Elvis had built over the Arizona- its huge. My parents and I took the boat ride out to it, the floor is glass and you can see the ship below, names of the sailors are on the walls..It was such an eerie feeling. I was not at ease there, but was interesting. No matter where you went on the island seems there were either sugar cane fields or pineapple fields. they had places that you could visit and taste it.. There is a town there that makes the sugar..smells just like Molasses..wonderful smell...The pineapple? fresh picked? I have NEVER tasted fresh pineapple like that. It was so SWEET. My nephews wife's father worked the pineapple fields for Del Monte, and when I left to go back to Indiana he sent 6 back with me, all picked at different stages so they would ripen about a week apart. good? Well-anything better the Good Lord would have kept for himself lol. Her dad KNEW his pineapple. The one big drawback was the dirt.. RED clay dirt.. if you got it on your clothes? stain city.My sister, well I think most did there. before you go into their homes you remove your shoes outside the door.My mom hated that- almost refused to take hers off..Gayle kept slippers by the door of all sizes and kinds just for that reason..It was just a way of keeping that red dirt out of the houses-it stained really bad. But flowers and banana trees grew in it. They had about 8 or so trees in the corner of their yard.My brother in law would cut down the huge cluster of bananas, hang them inside the garage and they would pick them off as they ripened.. I did NOT know that a banana tree only bears fruit one time..and as that fruit is growing so is another tree starting for when that one dies after it has given fruit. The bananas were alot smaller, about half the size we get here and REALLY good- a peanut butter and jelly sandwich-with fresh banana on it? ohh yesss VERY VERY good... This is one of the few photos I have of the 4 of us, its taken in Hawaii, my sister is the one in the shorts, my parents and of course me-the date on the back of this says Jan 85. I think was the Christmas I surprised my folks and was at Gayles by the time they got there.They didnt know I would be there too.. We had a great time. I think this was at Sea World there which was really great. Why I have jeans on I have NO idea- I know wasnt cold there lol.. Well I would LOVE to go back over there for a holiday, fact- I mentioned that to a friend of mine.. Now all I gotta do is save up the money and GO! lol.. Would be nice though.. go for a few weeks.or a month??? now aint THAT wishful thinkin? lol...No a getaway would really be nice.. speaking of get away, I need to get a way out to that kitchen Im starved I have NOT eaten today and I have some left over spaghetti that is in the fridge, :-) well Dutch is off and running. I swear he can read.. :-) nitey nite.. Y'all have a good one now Y'hear? Luv ya and thanks.Oh.if anyone needs a companion to go to Hawaii with them let me know!! :-) lol... Always, Lois **** May God Bless you today, I'm so honored to call you friend, I pray the Lord will keep you safe, Until I write again...