Category: Travel

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Personal Travel

Kites In Hawaii

One of my favorite memories of Hawaii is a day at the beach with a kite.

I started flying stunt kites years ago when I worked at Novell.  Wes Voss would fly his stunt kites over the pond at Novell’s Provo campus.  I started to talk to Wes and found out more about the sport.  Next thing I knew, I was addicted as well.

When we were packing for our trip to Hawaii, I told my wife that I would like to take a kite or two.  She said that that would be a good idea.  One of the kites that I took was a small two line parafoil.  It is like the kites that they use for kite surfing or kite boarding, but a lot smaller.

As we were taking a drive around the north end of the island, we stopped at Kualoa Regional Park.  It is a beautiful beach with a stunning view of Mokoli’i Island (or Chinaman’s Hat).  My wife and girls went beach combing and let me fly the kite.  My youngest daughter had the camera and took these photos.

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Travel

USS Arizona Memorial

While in Hawaii we visited the USS Arizona Memorial. For some reason, war memorials are always very emotional for me.  I really couldn’t tell you why.  I’m a child of the Vietnam era.  I remember the nightly offensive/causality reports on the news.  I remember the feeling of “why can’t we win this war?”.  I remember the feeling that America had been defeated when the last air lifts out of Saigon happened.

World War II and the attack on Pearl Harbor happened well before I was born.  I loved reading the history of that time. The heroics, the battles, the planning. My visit to Pearl Harbor was my first chance to see this up close and personal.  The shear size of the remains of that sunken battleship were just hard to comprehend.  To have a ship like that sink in just minutes is almost unbelievable.

I guess that as long as people can hate, or covet what someone else has, there will be violence. Whether it is on the personal level like a mugging, the country level like a war, or on the religious level like a terrorist attack.

It is my hope that the victims of blind violence will never be forgotten.  I hope that the men of the US Navy lost during the attack on Pearl Harbor will be remembered.  I hope that people will remember that these men gave that last great measure of self to protect our right to live our American lives.

God’s Rest
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Travel

Paradise is not Always Calm

When I use to imagine Hawaii, I would think of calm tropical water and smooth sandy beaches.  Many places in Hawaii are like that, but once you get to the North Shore, things are different.  The North Shore of Oahu offers some of the biggest waves each winter.  Board riders come from all over the world to challenge themselves on these monster waves.  It was interesting to watch the camera crews and spectators setup to watch the surfing.  It was a little like watching hockey fans gather around the glass.  You know that they are interested in the game itself, but they are also hoping to catch blood and mayhem as well.  I think that there is a portion of that in surfing too.

Further down the North Shore, past Dillingham Airfield, you will find the Kaena Point State Natural Area.  Here you can see how wave meets lava flow and how the elements battle each other. You can also see crabs scurrying along the rocks checking into what has been trapped in the tide pools.  Efficient hunter or a creature that exploits the misfortune of others?