Aloha 2026!

February 10, 2026

Aloha and welcome to the first entry of the new year. Before I digress I am posting a photo of a peacock which was one of many roaming around an adjacent neighborhood where Les and I walk. Previously my friend Jeanne F. had inquired as to whether we had seen them.

Our first visitors of the new year were Cousin Joe and his bride Sher from Alabama. They were escaping the unusually chilly weather there and managed to “get out of Dodge” just before it descended unto the area. They arrived January 13th after an unplanned detour through Chicago. I’ll summarize some of the highlights so as not to bore those who don’t know them. We had a wonderful time with them.

We toured some of the local tourist spots and many of them are featured on any local bus tour. The N’ali Pali’ Lookout is always fun to visit since it is usually very windy, a small price to pay for a fantastic view of the windward side. We did drive to Kaneohe area to snap a picture or two of “Chinaman’s Hat” which resembles not necessarily a Chinese hat but more of a hat that would have been worn in rice paddies to protect from the sun. The official name is Mokoli’i. Legend holds that it is the tail of a giant lizard defeated by the goddess Hi’iaka.

Punchbowl was also on our tour list. For those who are unfamiliar, it is the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (a military cemetery). It is located in the volcanic crater hence the name Punchbowl. Notable burials here include Ellison Onizuka (astronaut from the Challenger disaster), war correspondent Ernie Pyle as well as Barack Obams’s grandfather. Over 53,000 service members and family are interred here. A view of Diamond Head from atop the crater.

Sher and Pat visited Foster Botanical Garden expecting a docent led tour. When we arrived we discovered a small group waiting for the docent who was unable to lead that day so Sher and Pat led the tour (and thankfully Sher is knowledgeable of plants etc. and Pat can talk a dead man wide awake!)…we befriended a father, mother and adult daughter traveling from England and at the end of “our tour” we drove them back to their hotel. We probably had more fun than we would have if the docent showed up. HA!

We also were lucky enough to visit the traveling “WALL” an exact replica of the memorial in Washington. Les found a family friend’s name from Middleboro who was killed in Vietnam on panel 34. David Bellerive. The exhibit was at the University of Hawaii in Kapolei and was excellent. If you click on the image you will see it more clearly.

Joe and Sher enjoyed pool time, hot tub time and between Sher and Pat pretty darn good meals every evening. We did go to Yummy Huli Huli Chicken near Kaneohe one day and had a late lunch (they close at 5:00pm go figure).

Another day Sher, Pat and Les went to the more local KoKo Head Botanical Garden and enjoyed that very much. It’s quite close by so it was an easy day.

The BlowHole and a drive up the coast more or less rounded out the visit. It was nice to relax with them. They have been here before so the “normal” tourist routine didn’t need to be followed.

After their visit we were pleasantly surprised to have our friend from California and his wife invite us to lunch while they were visiting Waikiki for a few days. We had a lovely lunch at Duke’s Waikiki. It was a very windy day (the windiest since we have been here) and we just took a drive after lunch to include the Makapu’u Lighthouse, Blowhole, Sandy Beach and I think Scott’s favorite the Leonards’ Malasada Mobile where he loved the sugar and cinnamon malasada with a custard filled one to go. Somehow I don’t think Tracy will be getting any of that one! Unfortunately the one place Tracy would have liked to have visited, the Buddha Temple closed at 5:00 and we were not able to make it by then. Sadly we dropped them back at their Waikiki hotel hoping they come again for a longer visit!