Aloha!

I know...  I know it's been forever since I've posted.  

It's just been a busy summer around here.

I'm sure you all can relate.

As a Reservist, I have to perform two weeks of Active Duty time each year.  The unit I'm affiliated with supports a large command in Hawaii, so my Active Duty time took place in Pearl Harbor this year.  Months ago, when I first accepted the position with my unit (shortly after we moved to California) I submitted orders for my two weeks to be in June.  This just so happened to coincide with Hubs' summer break (he only gets two weeks between the spring and summer quarters).  The original plan was for Hubs and Bunkey to accompany me to Oahu and get a little bit of family vacation time knocked out at the same time.

At the last minute, the Navy, and more specifically, my command, changed the travel rules, and therefore the dates of my trip.  Luckily I was still able to work things out so that I'd still be gone during Hubs' break, so he would be here to take care of Bunkey.  Up until the very last minute, as in the morning I left, we were checking plane tickets and (free) military flights so that Hubs and Bunkey could still come with me.  But at the end of the day (more specifically, 3:00 am the day I left, with a cab coming to pick me up at 4:30) it was just a bridge too far.

So I went to Hawaii alone.  I arrived on island around lunch time on Father's Day, picked up my rental car, and made my way to my beach-front hotel.  My room wasn't ready yet, so I made the most of my very limited free time and went back towards the airport (in Honolulu traffic this can take a while) and to Pearl Harbor.  I toured the historical site, visited the USS ARIZONA memorial, and paid my respects by dropping the flowers from a lei in the water.

By that time I could check in to my hotel, so I went back to Waikiki, checked in, and tried to get a bit settled.  I wandered around the grounds a little to get my bearings, and ate dinner at one (of two) of the hotel's restaurants.  Eating alone, in a real restaurant, was not my idea of a good time, but I was there for two weeks, so I was going to have to eat at some point....and pizza or McDonald's didn't sound like a good diet for 14 days!

An anchor from the Arizona

The Arizona's watery grave

Headstones dot the harbor, marking the places where all
the ships sank

The purple flower in the middle is from a lei I dropped in the
water in honor of my late father, on Father's Day.