There's no way I'm going to beat last night's word count, but I bet I come close. I have done well trying to maintain the daily habits even on vacation. OK maybe 80% which is great. I have lost data in daily tracking of steps due to leaving my watch behind. Intentionally. And that's… OK. Because it was fucking intentional. So AM routines going reasonably well and my effort to stay as 'aligned' time-wise with PST has worked too. Getting up around 5.30am is 'sleeping in' for PST but it's working and will help the transition back when we return Sunday. Tommy got up around 5.30 am and swallowed one of the seasick meds whole and then read the box's instructions saying NOT to do just that, but to chew thoroughly. (Facepalm). So he ended up, eventually, taking three before boarding the boat. We walked to the nearby McDonalds for a quick and cheap breakfast only to find that McMuffin's are 5.79 here. WTF? That shit pisses me off. But so be it. Vacations cost. Onward. I dropped them off and went to Island Brew. I loved it. The coffee was good, I'd give it a 7 at least if not 8. If I wasn't as into lighter roasts right now the 8 would be the minimum. I loved the 'vibe' and the opportunity to chat with some really nice people there, and to chill on the patio at the water's edge. I get a really strong sense of positivity from the people I'm meeting outside of Honolulu. The people there, at least the 'locals', seem more jaded and artiificial but the rest seem genuine and sincerely welcoming and positive. I have felt overwhelmed this week with such an awareness of my own relative insignifance as far as the sheer volume of population that exists on this planet let alone in this little stretch of space I've traveled about for a comple of days. Each having their own stories and experiences while being simply 'background characters' in my and so many other peoples lives. The person at the counter smiling and giving me coffee has her own history and further ahead that will be filled with drama… every person just walking in and out of any given grocery or drug store at any given moment all have their own dramatically complex backstories, aspirations and ideals. It's really a lot to try and comprehend fully. For me to seems unachievable. Once my coffee was done I grabbed some bottled water and headed to Kailua to visit my cousin's home, where she lived with my Aunt Paula for most of her teen years, and to hike the "pillbox" trails in the headlands. The drive was wonderful. I used a spared USB cord to tie my camera to the passenger seat visor and shoot a time lapse of the trip which I need to 'post process' and stitch together next week. But what a wonderful drive it was and how fascinations it is to see such a different part of the island and residence outside of the city. I made it to her home, parked for a moment to reflect on my Aunt and Jeri, snapped a photo for her and continued on to the beach she suggested. Lakini, i think. It was stunning and I loved walking out on the rocks and seeing all the crabs and the clear green water. The hike i wanted to take looked pretty ominous due to clouds and rain so after stooping for sunscreen and snacks I headed back towards the boy's location. I got there with about an hour to spare so I used that time to run to nearby Makapu'u Point Lighthouse Trail. It was a 2.5m round trip hike, took about 1hr, and was a 500+ elevation going up. I stayed focused on getting there and lingered coming back down. The views were wonderful and photos don't do it justice. It's so weird being on an "island" like this. I'm used to being at the ocean but only on one side, not surrounded. I get how that can cause "island fever". I returned to the boys in time to get a 2nd cup of Island brew and sit on the patio until they returned. He didn't get seasick this time which was great but it seemed they both had less excitement about the trip than yesterday. I'm just glad he was ok and this is all about learning the variables of such an Endeavor. I suggested lunch but they passed only to return home and complain about being hungry. I gotta stop this habit of letting them make decisions, thinking they will learn from experience, when I end up having to be involved in their lessons more than I want to be. I took them to Rainbow Drive In based on recommendations from the boating staff and they said it was good but greasy. They were tired but I drove us over hwy 63m to the east side of Oahu. Earlier I returned going over 61 and it was so "Jurassic" and I knew they'd appreciated it. They did. And we drove all the way, with rain here and there as expected, to the point where the "Chinese Hat" island adn the ranch where some of Jurassic Park was filmed. They enjoyed that and wanted to Zipline but it's sold out. We returned the same path and once back in Hololulu they were hungry and tired so we got some bar food and non-alcoholic "Lava Flow" drinks at the hotel bar/resturant. I let the take off and lingered, enjoying a glass of red while the sun set and a 'luau" musical event happened to the side of the resturant. It was a relaxing conclusion. I talked to the bartender and ebntioned my writing about the three people last night and she totally confirmed and validated what I noted about the human nature nad connection that took place. I was n;t just me making it up.
