Ah, home. Finally. Whew. Its nice to be home. I flew all last night - it takes about 13 hours to fly from Honolulu to Boston with a six hour time change so it felt like I traveled forever. I was lucky, though, and the middle seat was empty on both legs of my trip so I was able to get comfortable and sleep. For once I didn't mind the turbulence because it was kind of like being rocked while I was sleeping. Still, it only equated to a few hours of sleep and by the time I made it home this morning I was beat. So I did what I shouldn't have done - I went to bed and slept. I slept on and off all day. So now, its 1:30 in the morning and guess what ... I am wide awake. And hungry. Because my body still thinks its 8pm which was dinner time for the past two weeks. So I am sitting here eating cereal and blogging. I am also sick. I came home with my usual cold which is a byproduct of having to work in extremes for two weeks. Part of where I work gets really hot - sweat pouring hot. Then I go to another part where it is really cold - like jacket cold. So I spent two weeks going between extreme hot and cold. No wonder I always get sick on these trips. Then to top it off I managed to get eye infections. Both eyes are swollen goopy messes. But I refuse to pay $75 to go to the ER for an eye infection so I have to wait until Monday to see my doctor. I hate that there is no weekend care here. So in case you all were wondering - this is how my "glamorous" Hawaii trips always end up. Oh, and also in case you were wondering, I had exactly one half day off work for the entire trip. I officially worked 20 days straight, most of the days no less than 10 hours. I had to be up and out the door by 7 to drive in Honolulu traffic to get to work for the 8am meeting. I left during evening traffic (which I think goes to about 8) so the commute each way usually was 45-60 minutes. Then after getting back to the hotel I struggled to check in online with work for email, showered and finally headed out to get dinner. Dinner in Waikiki is an experience usually requiring an hours wait for a table. So we ended up eating between 8 and 10 every night. Then collapse in bed to do it all over again. Oh, and because folks would forget that I was in Hawaii I got a couple of 2am phone calls which did not get answered. So yes, I really am glad to be home even if it is 40 degrees outside. I do feel that the work I did was interesting and worthwhile. I really wish I could blog about some of the things I did because they were really cool but alas, I can't discuss. But it is the type of thing that in 20 years I will still look back at and go "wow, that was really cool".
So as I mentioned I had exactly one half a day off. That day I drove the island. Oahu is actually quite pretty once you get away from Waikiki. Honestly folks - if you are going to pay to visit Hawaii - do not go to Waikiki. It is nothing but a huge shopping mall with a very small beach and lots of tourists. If you want to see Oahu stay outside of Waikiki - I hear good things about Turtle Beach and Ko'Olina. There are things worth seeing on Oahu - Pearl Harbor being number one, just stay elsewhere for a better experience. You can visit Waikiki but unless you really like big cities and very expensive shopping malls, Waikiki isn't worth it in my opinion. My recommendation is a two day stay on Oahu to visit Pearl Harbor and the North Shore, then go to another island. I do recommend Pearl Harbor. A visit to the Arizona is a must for everyone. I also got the opportunity to visit the Oklahoma which is not open for the public - you have to be able to get on base to see it. The Oklahoma was a short walk from our pier and every day I not only drove past the Arizona in the morning, but I looked down on the Oklahoma as I rode the elevator up to work. You can't help being moved by those two views. As for the rest of Oahu, once I got on the green side I found some beautiful beaches and amazing mountains. I stopped at Koaloa ranch and did the movie site tour. That meant I got to see the gorgeous valley used in many movies, including Jurrasic Park. That was a worthwhile 20 dollar tour. That night I stopped and got a very cool new tattoo on my foot - some Hawaiian plumerias. I will post pictures. But that was the extent of my Oahu siteseeing. WooHoo. Back to work the next day.
On my last day at work things were getting closed down so our vessel could sail so I was actually able to leave at 3pm which meant I finally was able to get to one of the Honolulu yarn stores. I located Isle Knit tucked away on the 14th floor of a building but inside was a treasure trove. Sue, the owner, was sweet as could be and let me just oogle everything. I did buy a few things that I hadn't seen before but I can't mention to much as some are going in my HSKS6 kit for my spoilee! So the two weeks weren't a complete waste.
Well I think I am going to go try to sleep again. I hope to get my pictures uploaded tomorrow and post a few pics from the trip. Gnight for now!
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