2/2/2025
It has been quite a while since I have done a blog update. Honestly, this is going to be a compilation of the Facebook posts I did over the two weeks we were in Hawai'i plus a little extra. We planned our trip to Hawaii over a year ago with Kenny's brother, Bob, and his wife Ruth. Little did we know that cancer would become a part of our lives and put the trip in jeopardy. The good news is that I went for the entire two week trip. Kenny got to join us 5 days later after his Glowfit injection. Since we have returned Kenny had another scan which shows that his B-Cell Lymphoma is reacting to treatment. We are extremely happy with this good news and pray that with continued treatment his condition will continue to improve.
I left in the snow on January 11. It was a day of delays and rerouting, but I finally made it only 4 hours later than my original arrival time. Before Kenny arrived Bob, Ruth and I spent time exploring Waikiki and Honolulu. We covered the basics: Diamond Head, Waikiki Beach, Iolani Palace, and a Luau (for which I have no pictures). I have a difficult time with time change going west, so it was nice to have a few slower days to adjust.
We went on a whale watching tour and saw no whales. Ruth took advantage of the "whale guarantee" the following morning and saw many!
We went to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel for a little shopping, a drink, and the ambiance.
(at this point my Facebook Posts started)
January 16 - Kenny Arrived
We are in Hawaii, together! We planned this trip a year ago before the big C word entered our lives. With a lot of finagling and support from Kenny’s medical team we both made it! I came Saturday through the snow. Kenny made it yesterday after an infusion. Thanks to friends and David Gwynn who took care of him while I was gone!
January 17 - Exploring Oahu.
Today we rented a car and saw some of the beauty of the island. We started at Hanauma Bay. Hit a few beaches then headed to the North Shore for lunch. On the way back to Waikiki we stopped at The Dole Plantation.
January 18 - Visiting Pearl Harbor is a deeply sobering experience. As we toured the museum, watched the films, and boarded the boat to the memorial above the USS Arizona, we were struck by the profound price The Greatest Generation paid for our liberty, especially those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor.
“Lest I keep my complacent way I must remember somewhere out there a person died for me today. As long as there must be war, I ask and I must answer was I worth dying for?”
― Eleanor Roosevelt
McDonalds has a Teriyaki Burger . . . . I had to try it. Do Not Recommend.
Our condo was next to the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We enjoyed their Friday Night Fireworks and several dinners there.
January 19 we boarded the Norwegian Cruise Line Pride of America, our floating hotel for the next 7 days. It was the perfect way to get a flavor of all of Hawaii.
January 20 - Maui Day 1
While Ken Gwynn and Robert W Gwynn watched football Ruth and I traveled The Road to Hana. It was an amazing drive. We saw many beautiful waterfalls, lots of ocean vistas, black and red beaches. We walked in a lava tunnel and were extremely thankful to have a driver on the 1,100 turns and 120 one lane bridges.January 21 National Park number 23, Haleakala. The top of this dormant volcano is about 10,000 ft. While the very top is now a scientific station of the Space Force which is not open to the public, we visited the visitor's center which is about 9,700 feet. Then we left Maui headed for the big island, Hawaii.
January 22 - Another National Park, Volcanoes. This park visit, like many others, could have been significantly longer. We got to experience the warm steam from the vents and see the center of the caldera in the distance from a couple vantage points. The power of the earth is amazingly beautiful. The volcano here started spewing lava a couple of days after we visited.
January 23 Low Key. Our second day on Hawaii we anchored on the other side of the island just off the coast of Kailua-Kona. We tendered to shore and took a glass bottom boat ride. We saw Spinner Dolphins just off the boat. Then saw many fish as we floated across two coral reefs. There were women doing the hula on the pier as we waited to get back on the boat.
January 24 Another great day. We did a little shopping, ate off the ship, saw a beautiful koi pond at a nearby hotel, and enjoyed another beautiful beach.
January 25 -
Our final full day of our Hawaiian cruise was spent on The Director’s Cut, a tour of Kaui that took us to various locations where movies were filmed. It was fun to see many locations and a great way to see the island. We learned about wood roses from our guide. We watched as we pushed away from the dock for the last time. This morning we returned to Honolulu to start the long journey home.
January 27 - After several flights and over 24 hours of travel we are home! Comet’s new Hawaiian shirt is a bit small, but he’s happy we are home!!
February 2 - Today Kenny and I added our Hawaii sticker to his water bottle Erin got us for Christmas last year. It is state number 42 we have visited together.
We also added the Volcanoes and Haleakala stickers to our National Parks water bottle.
And we scratched off the 23rd and 24th National Parks on our chart in the RV.
I updated one of the beach resin trays I made with stickers we collected while in Hawaii.
