Tag Archives: Hawaii
USS Missouri now at Pearl Harbor, back then in San Francisco
One of the highlights of our trip to Hawaii was Pearl Harbor. The old battleship, the USS Missouri is not berthed there and serves as a floating museum just down the harbor from the USS Arizona memorial. I would have loved to tour the Missouri but we were on a tour and didn’t have enough time. So maybe next time.
Brother Bob – all dressed up and the Mighty Mo’
I had actually been on the deck of the Missouri before. Way back in 1986 when it was recommissioned in San Francisco after being modernized with cruise missiles and other modern armament. You see my brother Bob was on the original crew after the refitting. I got to walk across the teak deck and view the plaque commemorating the exact spot where Japan signed the surrender of World War II. I think Bob served on the ship for three or four years and went around the world several times. I don’t think he was on the ship when it served in the first Gulf War. He was and is proud to have served on such a famous ship.
Sorry for the tilt
So, it was kind of nice to see the ship preserved and not salvaged and used to make Kias and Walmart trinkets. Instead it looks to me that it is guarding the USS Arizona Memorial.
Here’s me all dressed up and about 30 pounds lighter.
Uncle Bob again
So, I hope to see it up close and personal next time.
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Moloka’i by Alan Brennert
Before our trip to Hawaii I asked my facebook pals for recommendations for vacation books. Anne from the UK recommended Alan Brennert’s Moloka’i. It is set in Hawaii in the early 1900’s. It sounded good to me so I loaded it up on the old Kindle and read it while on vacation.
It is a novel about a girl, Rachel Kalama, living in Honolulu in a very loving, extended family. All that changes dramatically when she is suspected of having leprosy and is separated from her family and is sent to a leper colony on the island of Moloka’i. The book is about her life there and I don’t want to give anything away but I loved this book. It is about life and death and making a life where you are. It describes terrible cruelty and great love. It has cultural references to the islander’s religion and describes some of the history and effects that the missionaries had on the island.
I give it five stars out of five. I had never heard of Alan Brennert before and I will be reading more of his work.
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Skywatch Friday – Stars and Stripes over the USS Arizona
We just got back from our vacation to Hawaii last weekend. On our last day we ventured to Pearl Harbor and took the Navy launch over to the USS Arizona to pay our respects to not only the Sailors and Marines who died on the ship that day but to all who died for our country and their families.
It is a very somber and sobering experience visiting the Arizona. I’ll never forget it. It was such a pretty day when we visited and it was hard to imagine the death and destruction that came that day.
Linking with Skywatch Friday
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park
On our recent vacation to Hawaii, Heather arranged for a private tour of the Big Island. Our guide Paul met us at the ship dock and off we went to see among other things Volcanoes National Park.
Paul was not only a good guy, he also knew how to take a photograph without getting all goofy with the camera. Amazing the number of people who can’t hold the camera still and point it in the right direction.
Much of the park looks like the moon. There are lava flows everywhere. Some not that old. Amazing to me because this is what the birth of land looks like. Hawaii is certainly a land of contrasts from jungles to ultra arid areas like this, often not that far apart from each other.
A little oddity when the lava overtakes trees, the tree cools the lava but eventually the tree burns away and leaves a hole in the lava.
We went over to the Jagger Museum which overlooks Kilauea, a volcano that has been fairly active in recent months. It was steaming really good. You couldn’t see that much so we crowded into the museum to watch the webcame and some videos. Very spectacular stuff. You sure get a sense of a lot of power contained, barely within the earth. It was all very exciting to be around.
This is a video of the eruption of Kilauea in late April. Nothing too spectacular but it does give a sense of the energy involved.
This is a video from a few years ago showing lava from Kilauea entering the sea and making the Big Island of Hawaii just a little bigger. I love the dynamic of the hot lava entering the very violent sea. I’d love to see that live except I wouldn’t like bouncing around the ocean in a little boat.
Check out the USGS web cam for the Kilauea Volcano.
See some USGS videos and photographs here.
Check out the Volcanoes National Park Web Site here. Lots of interesting stuff here.
And if you love our National Parks you are not alone. We love these parks and they are overwhelmed by our love. I’m not sure what to do about it but we need to invest in these parks so that others will be able to see them.
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Back from the Beach
We got back from our Hawaiian vacation Sunday morning.
We had lots of fun, saw a lot, and did a lot, and I took lots of pics.
Action shot of Logan and I.
I’m sorting through it all so I’ll be posting more later. These are from a day early on where we rented a car and went beach hopping and exploring on the west and north shores of Oahu.
Take Care, Aloha, and Mahalo!!