Charlestons on the Go: Hawaii Aloha Days 1-5 Wed., Oct. 19

Here we are arriving in Honolulu, and my sister, Patsy, greeted both of us with leis. That's such a wonderful tradition. It's the Aloha spirit. Thank you Patsy.

Hawaii is the rainbow state, and this is a rainbow that showed up at the house where we were staying. Not a great picture, but it looked better in real life.

This was one of the views from the house where we stayed.

This was the landmark that we used to always help us find the house. It was a Good Samaritan Senior Community.

This was the actual landmark we used.

This was the house where we stayed. It is in the town of Kaneohe on the windward side where it rains more and the temperatures are a little milder. My sister, Patsy, knows the lady who lives here, and she asked her to house sit while she went off on a trip to Australia and New Zealand. Patsy invited anyone who wanted to join her, and we accepted her invitation.

One requirement was to have indoor shoes. You take off your shoes either outside or just inside the door, and then you put on your indoor shoes. You had to be careful not to go outside with your indoor shoes.

We had the added responsibility of taking care of her dog, Kooki. Kooki was a very good dog.

Bob seemed to enjoy taking Kooki out for her daily walk. He and Patsy usually took care of the walks. I think I only walked her once. I think her normal routine was one walk a day, but she usually got 2 walks a day. She'll be fit.

Our first day we went shopping and got oriented. One thing Patsy wanted us to do was to go to a Portuguese bakery to have malasadas, kind of like a fried doughnut hole. They were pretty good. Here we are fighting over the extra malasada. We divided it in half.

The first two days, we visited Kailua Beach in the nearby town of Kailua. Before we went to the beach we visited some more of Patsy's friends who live in Kailua. Patsy house sat for them in the summer. They were kind enough to offer the use of their snorkeling gear, some beach chairs, etc. It made our trip much more convenient. We enjoyed getting to know them too. Here they are, Fred and Laura Davis.

Here we are at the beach. It is a favorite place for kite surfing. This beach is considered one of the best in the world, and I see why. It was my favorite.

Bob swam the first day, but Patsy and I walked the beach and did several other times. The last visit I did get into the water with Bob. It was great.

This must also be a favorite beach of Obama's because this is a compound at one end of the beach where they spent a Christmas.

This is one end of the beach down by the Obama compound.

This is the other end, spanning about 3 miles. The bottoms of my feet hurt and I discovered I have sensitive feet. I learned to wear my booties that Patsy presented to us. That worked the best for protecting my feet when I walked on the beach.

Interesting things on the beach.

On the third day we visited Valley of the Temples and in the background you see a Buddhist temple.

I love swans, so I couldn't resist this picture.

Here we are at the Barefoot Bar on the beach at the Hale Koa hotel which is a hotel that services military. Since Patsy worked for the government she had privileges there.

This is the Hale Koa hotel, one of the sites where Obama will be visiting during the APEC conference that is meeting this week, Nov. 7 -Nov. 14, I think.

While in the area, which is close to Waikiki, one of the enjoyable things to do is to watch sunsets and to watch Friday night fireworks, which we did a couple of times.

The next day was a snorkeling trip to Hanauma Bay. This is in the area on the way to the Bay.

This is Haunama Bay. You parked up on a bluff and then you had to hike down into the bay, but it was definitely worth it. You also were required to watch a video about how to preserve the area. It was sooooo beautiful.

More scenery in the area. Beautiful!!!!

From there we drove to Bellows Beach which is on a military base. We had lunch while enjoying the view.

On Sunday on our way to church, we stopped at Lilihi Bakery to taste another delicious traditional treat, coco puffs. Mmmm. good.

Patsy met most of her friends at this church where she attended while living in Hawaii. I can understand why she felt at home the first time she visited. They made us feel very welcomed also.

Here's Patsy greeting one of her former Sunday School students.

We found out it is a small world. The lady on the left and her friend, not pictured, are from Le Mars, Iowa, and in the 50's, this lady actually taught school for 3 years right here in Sioux Center, IA. What a coincidence.

This is her name tag so I can remember her name.

After church we walked to a nearby Chinese Food Restaurant, but I didn't take any pictures. It was in their China Town, but it wasn't an area for Picture Moments.