Our Preparation Day should normally be on Wednesday during this transfer (missionary transfers happen every six weeks; the period in between is called a “transfer”). Because of some schedule changes at the Visitors’ Center, today was our Preparation Day for this week. Next week will be a normal schedule, except that we’ll be in training to be a volunteer at the Polynesian Cultural Center next Wednesday afternoon.

We decided to drive down towards Honolulu to Kailau. The Windward Mall is in Kailua, but that wasn’t our destination. Nina needed to go to the Ben Franklin store to pick up some crafting supplies and to Whole Foods to get some soup making materials. Since Kailua also has a Target, we would do some shopping there as well rather than going on into Honolulu to Walmart.

The drive south on Highway 83 is a beautiful drive. The road goes along the coast with steep mountains a short way inland, like the mountains in the picture to the left. These are very rugged mountains! After periods of rain waterfalls form all along the sides. The rainiest months are November, December, and January with about 4″ of rain and an average of 12 days with some rain. The driest months are June, July, and August with less than a half-inch of rain but still an average of 12 days with some rain. In July the high temperatures average around 90º while in December the average high is 80º. The big difference, however, is that in August the trade winds die down….

All along the coast are beaches and the occasional public park. There are coral reefs off shore, so the waves break quite a ways away from the beach. A public park is just opposite the island. We stopped there on our way back north to take some pictures. Nina, of course, had to check out the beach to see what treasures she might find (a few pieces of coral came home with us. There’s a couple of pretty big chunks of coral on the beach near Nina’s feet). The sand on the beaches is fairly course … not nearly as soft and fine as the Florida Gulf Coast beaches. There aren’t many sea shells to be found, either. Nina has done a lot of looking on her morning walks without finding any. Crabs abound, however. Much of the coastline is very rocky, with large volcanic rocks, stones, and boulders along the beach and out into the water. In many places the water seems to be quite shallow for quite a ways out into the water. Further north and west from Laie is Sunset Beach which I’ve been told has pretty good surfboarding. Last week fifteen foot waves were reported. I expect those were for the very bravest of souls….

Another sight all along the roadway are fishing poles set in the sand. Three are set in this picture; I saw a couple of places today where someone had eight or more poles set. I’ve no idea what the intended catch would be or even how good the fishing is.

The shopping trip was very successful. We are running out of things we need to buy to finish setting up housekeeping here in Laie. That is very good! I keep thinking that it’d be nce to have a bicycle. What I really need to do is to rent one for a few days and see if I would really use it! Most of our sister missionaries are either walking or riding bicycles and they seem to get around quite nicely. This area is pretty flat, so a pretty normal bicycle with a few gears would be more than sufficient. And, of course, this is being written while I’m eating a delicious piece of vanilla cake….

Life is sweet!