Back to Reality!!!

It has been a week and a half since flying back from Oahu, Hawaii and I really didn't want to leave!!!! I could have stayed another two weeks easily. I can see where friends of ours go for a month at a time and still want to stay longer. I miss the mornings having breakfast on the lanai, the sound of the surf, the flowers - brilliant and beautiful, the air - balmy, the breeze that cools and the people, gracious and friendly! And yes, even Garth - our resident gecko in our cottage. He would wake us up in the morning with a sound almost like a cricket and we would see him peek his head out between the crack in the ceiling! I even was able to get a picture!!!! It freaked me out a little the first time I seen him but they told us that geckos eat pesky insects (almost like our Saskatchewan dragon flies!!!!) and are considered good luck if you have one living in your house. So he was a friend!!! (I did empty our my purse one day just to be on the safe side!!!! I didn't want to open it up and see him peeking out from there!!!) We ate shrimp, mahi mahi fish, pineapple, mangos, papayas, even tried mashed taro root called poi (yuck). It is a staple in Hawaii - they even have it at MacDonald's like apple pie!!! And of course, macadamia nuts which are just too yummy!!! Another thing that we just loved was pineapple whip which is a little like frozen yogurt and it was very refreshing and to top it off, it was low fat and not that many calories!!!! We walked and walked and walked, downtown, the beach and if we didn't walk, we rode "the Bus"!!!! Their bus system is excellant!!! And we sat in the park just watching people - families, newlyweds, grammas and grandpas. We would think of our families back home and think how fun it would be to all go to this island someday!!!! We were on the 11th floor of our condo in Waikiki and every morning (like 6:00 A.M.) we would be out on our balcony having our coffee and poor fellow that moved very slow but had his grocery cart and all his belongings would come and make a little bed under a tree and go to sleep, obviously didn't have a home to go to but considered the park as his home. The second week we had a car so we explored the island from one end to the other. It is beautiful, hiked up to some falls at Waimea Park on the North Shore, saw the surfers ride some huge waves there - they are very dedicated these surfers - they go from morning to night riding the waves!!!! Sundays, we went to a church on the beach which was so interesting and inspirational. This particular group have been there in front of the beautiful Hawaiian Hilton Hotel for 35 years singing, speaking and sharing just a simple message of faith, love and hope in Jesus. We enjoyed it so much. I could go on and on about our trip. Did we enjoy ourselves? How can you tell!!!! We would go back in a heartbeat!!!! Aloha!!!!