Hawaii Days 10 - 12 Oct. 28 - Oct. 30

We were invited to attend a Walking Club potluck at our favorite Kailua Beach one morning. Fred, one of Patsy's friend for whom she house sat in July, invited us. I can't believe I actually got up about 6:00 am to be there about 7:00 am, but I'm glad I did. Bob opted not to go. We met some very interesting people. The food was pretty good too. Then Patsy and I walked along the beautiful Kailua Beach.

Here is Fred with one of the club members.

Standing next to me is a young lady who was visiting from New York. She worked for CNBC I think. Look for us on TV some day. Ha Ha.
The club has picture collages of their outings. One of their members puts them together and uses her artistic abilities to show views of the beach at the top of each collage. It was fun to see them.



Time to eat.

This lady is 80 years old. If walking makes you look like this at age 80, I'm all for it.
These ladies live in a house that sits atop a bluff overlooking Kialua Bay and Kialua beach. One of them is the daughteof the owner of the house , on the right, and the other was her good friend . The owner is about 90, and until recently has been very active. Patsy visited her at her house once, and it is a spectacular house with a spectacular view. Even Dolly Parton wanted to buy it until she discovered the history and the significance it had for the woman who owns it. Then Dolly decided not to persue buying it. About a year ago there was a terrific thunderstorm and the lady got up and decided to enjoy the fireworks and sat in a chair to watch. Unfortunately she was struck by lightning and has been suffering the consequences of that. Her daughter, pictured here on the right, did not get up during the storm and just covered herself up with her covers. She was OK. The club occasionally visits the house after their potluck, but not this time.
Here is a picture of the house on the cliff.
Next is my serendipity story of my finding a long lost friend in Honolulu. My best friend in 7th grade was Mary Bea. In my mind we were inseparable. Both our dads were in the military, and we lived at Ft. Sam Houston, TX when we started our friendship. I remember Mary Bea's family left TX for an assignment in Hawaii. We corresponded and kept in touch for several years. Her parents and my parents retired in San Antonio, and they lived pretty close to each other. When I would lose contact with Mary Bea, I would contact her parents and get current information to get a hold of her. Well, one year after having losing contact with her, I was in San Antonio, but when I looked up her parents, they were no longer in San Antonio. I knew she had moved to Germany, had a son, and I thought she had married a German. I had no idea how to get in touch with her and lost contact with her for the last 30 or 40 years. I have thought of her often, wishing I could find her and renew our friendship. I have researched her on the internet in the past with no results, but about a month before we left for Hawaii, I did a search, and I found her father's obituary in Honolulu. I found some more information about Mary Bea and tried to contact her through Facebook, but got not response. I had plans of trying to contact her when I got back from Hawaii, but while I was in Hawaii, I looked up her mother. Viola, I found her in the phone book, and I called her so I could get current information about Mary Bea. When I called, low and behold, Mary Bea was right there visiting, and all of a sudden my good friend was on the other end of the phone. I couldn't believe it. I still have a hard time believing it. I feel like I've found something very precious because I have always cherished the memory of our friendship, and I hope we can renew it now. We talked on the phone, and had a couple of visits, and our intentions are to keep in touch. I intend to. She lives in Poughkeepsie, NY, her son lives in San Antonio, and they have had relatives in Cedar Falls.

Here is a picture of Mary Bea's mom who lives in the Waikiki area. She just celebrated her 90th birthday and that's why Mary Bea was there.
Here are Mary Bea and her mom posing for fun.
Here is a photo of Mary Bea in the lower left. She's younger than when I knew her, but I still see her features here and now.
Here she is.
Pictures of Mary Bea and me.
I love this picture. I am soooo happy I found her.
After our visit we enjoyed a sunset and fireworks at Waikiki again. That was always one of Patsy's favorite things to do when she lived here and I can understand why.

The next morning we went to the Swap Meet, a big flea and craft market. This was another one of the things that Patsy like to do and liked to take her visitors. I found some mementos to bring back.




We were hungry so we got a bite to eat before we left. This was the container. Very Alohaish. Notice Patsy giving the "Hang Loose" hand signal. This is how they show the Aloha spirit.

Later that day, we were invited to go sailing with Patsy's friends, Fred and Laura. It was a new sailboat for them. The mast of their old one broke so they opted for another sailboat. It was an interesting outing. We got out into the bay, but then we got rained on, but it just cooled us off. Then the sun came out and mostly dried us off. Fred had two friends who were on board and were his crew. We mostly just did what he told us to do, which wasn't a lot since his crew was there to do it all. Thanks Fred and Laura for a fun outing.

Drinks afterwards.
This was the main crew member. He reminded us of our cousin Ed in Scottsdale.
This was an 89 year old friend and crew member. He had his own dinghy there at the marina. He had a lot of stories to tell.
The next day was Sunday and time to go to church. Here is a picture of their energetic pastor.

Patsy was a member of the choir so she and I joined them for practice and sang during the service.

After church, there was more choir practice for Patsy and me, but Bob helped with setting up for their bazaar they were having the next weekend. Afterwards there was the sharing of the food. Of course the cake looked the best to me. Hawaii is the Rainbow State.
They got things ready so they could work all week getting the prices, etc. done. It takes a lot of people and a lot of time. Patsy helped and attended, but we were back in Iowa.

Here is a young couple that Bob befriended.