I have been remiss and I extend an apology to you. We returned from our 3-week journey in Hawaii with Road Scholar on February 9^th and my last post concluded with pictures and narrative only through February 2^nd. That post was published on February 24^th.

In the interim we have not been idle. Before finishing this post with concluding pictures and limited narrative about Hawaii I wish to detail some of our recent engagements:

I took 3 of the grandsons to Colorado for a week of skiing… and yes, I still ski (but not well).

We celebrated 2 high school graduations:

Grandson, Kane Cook is seen here with me, Christine, his 2 siblings, and 4 of his cousins. Kane, along with 40 classmates, graduated from Academy Lafayette International High School (ALIHS). A small multicultural institution (elementary through high school) that he and his twin siblings, Phoenix and Paisely, have attended since kindergarten. The primary grades are taught exclusively in French. Phoenix and Paisely will graduate next year.

Granddaughter, Audrey Schloss, is seen here with her mother (Niki Smith), our son Peter, and her younger brother (also Peter).

In contrast to the small graduating class at ALIHS, Audrey graduated in a class of 440 at North Kansas City High School.

It has a remarkably diverse student body that includes students representing at least a dozen foreign countries. We and Audry’s parents were beyond proud to witness her at the podium in Kansas City’s T-Mobile Center Arena delivering the commencement address.

Christine and I have been consumed with putting the final details in place for a remarkable 6-week journey that begins in one week. Details will be revealed in a post which will shortly follow this one.

Hawaii:

Waimea Canyon was stunningly beautiful. It is the site of not only the final battle in the unification of the Hawaiian Islands, but the world record for a non-powered glider flight. Set in 1931, William Cocle, Jr. piloted (solo) his glider airplane for 21 hours and 34 minutes.

The battle of Nu’Uanu Pali occurred in 1795. The forces of King Kamehameha I confronted an opposing army fighting for control of O’ahu. His army was victorious after backing the enemy troops to the cliff edge and forcing an estimated 400 of the enemy combatants (men and women) to plunge to their death.

There were also the Waimea Valley Falls and Botanical Gardens.

We visited Kilauea Lighthouse and National Wildlife Refuge, the northernmost point of Hawaii.

Kalihiwai Beach was alive with surging surf and surfers.

The Bishop Museum is a remarkable and expansive facility spread over acres of ground and divided among several older and newer buildings. It details the geological, biological and anthropological history of the Islands.

We attended a classic Lu’au at the Hale Koa Hotel. The food and entertainment were classic and absorbing.

One day was dedicated to an “exploration” of the modern and historical Hawaiian governments. It is one of two States, the other being Texas, that were independent countries before being admitted to the Union. Our visit included:

The ultra-modern State Capitol, which is designed as a metaphor of a volcano.

The Hawaii Supreme Court.

Iolani Palace, the residence of Hawaii’s last ruling king and queen. King Kalakaua who ruled from 1874 until his death in 1891, and his sister, Queen Lili’uokalani who reigned from 1891 until she was overthrown by the United States government in 1893.

She was kept in her palace under house arrest and threat of execution until she signed her formal abdication. She remained a fierce advocate for Hawaiian independence until her death in 1917.

What visit to Hawaii would be complete without a tour of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and the USS Arizona Memorial.

Finally, we were treated to an Aloha Dinner at the “First Lady of Waikiki”, the Moana (Surfrider) Hotel which opened its doors as Waikiki’s first hotel in 1901.

In all our 3-week excursion with Road Scholar was a remarkable and in-depth exploration of the Hawaiian Islands. At times exhausting, but always informative and fascinating, we highly recommend Road Scholar as a means of discovering the Islands.

Perhaps when the world calms down we will book one of their tours of Ancient Egypt and the Nile River.

Peace Everyone. Pete

PS. We leave May 28^th… more about that in the next post!

Awake at 6 a.m., breakfast at 7, on the road by 9, and not “off duty” until after 7 p.m.. That about sums up our daily experience during Road Scholar Hawaii. Except for our first and last days on the “Island State” there were only 2 “rest days” out of the 3 weeks. I decided on January 31^st to suspend my daily accounts of our experience, believing I would resume upon our return to Kansas City. However, the best laid plans…

Our return to Kansas City went well. Sifting through the accumulation of mail I was reminded that it was tax season. I have always done our taxes, and this year was no exception. In recent years doing our state and federal returns has been relatively straightforward. Not so this year. We had a second state (Colorado) to file in due to the sale of our Colorado home. That, coupled with changes in Missouri’s tax laws, and questions involving the synergy between the state and federal returns occupied my time and attention for a few days. I got it done, and then quite obviously did not return to posting about Hawaii. Thank you to those who have reached out and asked, “How was is…”, “What happened…”, “Are you going to finish…”

It was great, if a bit brutal. I had to decide to realign priorities during the trip. And yes, I intend to “finish” in the next few posts. So, here goes.

 On January 31^st we left the island of Maui and traveled to our third island, Kaua’i. (When possible, I am using the Hawaiian spellings that include the punctuation/pronunciation marks, the okina (a backward apostrophe indicating a pause) and the kahakō (a long vowel symbol but denoting that the short vowel sound should be held longer.))

We had been staying at the Ka’anapali Beach Hotel and on the last morning the hotel staff presents a Kukui Nut Lei Ceremony to the departing guests.

This hotel was perhaps our favorite of the five that we experienced. It was comfortable, well situated for tourist enjoyment, and made a focused effort to include Hawaiian traditions and culture along with the hotel’s hospitality.

The ceremony was heartfelt. We were instructed to bring our Kukui Nut Lei with us on any returns to the Islands as it is tradition to add a nut to the lei on each return. Christine and I will take that to heart.

Again, our leaders Susan, Patricia, and Glenn, adroitly shepherded us to the airport for our one-hour inter island flight. At Kaua’i’s Lihu’e Airport a bus was waiting for us and touring continued without pause.

We visited Spouting Horn Park where an old lava flow and lava tubes interacted with surf to present a Hawaiian version of Yellowstone’s “Old Faithful”.

We also visited the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Botany is not my “thing”, but for some in our group the extraordinary diversity of tropical species found here was captivating.

Christine’s long deceased uncle and aunt, Clark and Veda Bowen, spent part of their retirement here on the island. From 1981 to 1983 Clark was Executive Director of the Kokee Natural History Museum, Kaua’i. We visited the museum on February 2^nd. Clark had been a professor of Botany/Biology at Iowa State University from 1955-1980. Two of the members in our group knew the Bowens at the University nearly 50 years ago. What a coincidence!

The remainder of the afternoon included a stop at a grocery store to buy “supplies” for the following “free day”, check-in at the Hilton Garden Inn, Wailua River, and dinner.

The following day, February 1^st was one of our two “days off”. Christine and I did some investigating together. The hotel grounds were archeologically significant, and I did some solo hiking and exploration.

My solo wanderings took me to a hidden Japanese cemetery, 

and the equally hidden Holoholokū overlook where oral tradition holds that the sacred births of island royalty occurred here.

To be Continued. Peace Everyone. Pete