Sayonara, Japan - Aloha, Hawaii!

We hopped on the train Saturday night (THANK YOU Chris/Gina Cohn for breaking up your evening to schlep the Anthony's to Horinouchi Station!) at 9 PM.

Arrived Haneda International Airport by 10 for our 12:30 AM Sunday flight.  WAY better to be earlier rather than later!  Haneda is a really beautiful airport and is much closer to Yokosuka than Narita.

The base does not have bus service to Haneda :(  Super easy access by train!  Very good, since Haneda is considered to be smack in the heart of the Tokyo Metropolitan area and the long-term parking prices reflect that!

We ditched the Boogie board and snorkel sets, figuring it was worth buying new - the cost of a couple of masks and piece of styrofoam is much less than the cost of sanity navigating train transfers, three small boys and luggage...

Oh, and Eileen is picking us up.  That did not hurt in the decision making process either...  Thank you!!!

Deliriously tired, I was so ready for the midnight boarding so I could get some shut-eye.  The midnight boarding was delayed :(  We left by 1:30 and all was good.  Eric got a bulkhead seat with Stefan & Dougie behind him.  Ian and I got the VERY back of the plane - just a coffee pot away from the galley.  Our seats reclined and we had little/no traffic passing us, so Ian's legs jutting out into the passageway was of no consequence.  It was also of little consequence that his little stuffed airplane kept crash landing on the landing strip (aka: aisle...)

Relieved to get into a seat to take a snooze proved to be disappointing.  Ian slept through most of the flight.  Me?!?  Not.  So.  Much...  Something about sleeping sitting up.  Yawn...

Stepping out into the Hawaiian air took care of the sleepy's though!  Aloha!!!

Crabby

A long standing ritual in the Klipper household is to go crab hunting on the beach in the dark.  You find the holes:

Stick your finger/hand/arm down the hole so as to keep track of it and dig out underneath.

If the crab is inside, your finger pushes on the shell enough to keep them from digging more (or pinching...).  These crabs are not huge, mind you.  Most fit well inside the palm of your hand.

We had a bonus the other night:  a Honu (Green Sea Turtle) the size of Dougie!  The pit that is on the left of the pic is what the turtle had dug earlier in the day.  This is what they dig when they lay eggs.  Not sure if this was a practice pit or not...

Sometimes we will see turtles or Monk Seals.  Always, we see crabs!  If they do not scurry off to their hole or into the ocean, they will shuffle down into the sand and bury themselves, leaving just their eyes above.

Starting the crabby shuffle

Halfway buried

Why do we dig for crabs?  When my parents lived in Hawaii (42 years ago!), my dad and his friend would come out, dig and catch crabs, boil them up and eat them like popcorn.  The first time they went, they had no idea what they were doing and brought mesh dive bags with them.  The crabs fell right through the holes.  So the took off their pants, tied knots in the legs and improvised!

Now, we just dig out the crab, let it run away and watch the kids squeal - not always with delight.  Sometimes it is hysteria when the crab makes a break.  Right for them and over their feet.  We certainly get a laugh out of it!

Stefan got the biggest surprise of his life when digging out a hole.  A wave washed in and took him from behind.  You would have thought a ninety-pound crab had pinched his bottom the way he launched up the beach.

We got a really good laugh out of that one!

E Kanikapila Kakou

E Kanikapila Kakou presents free weekly musical concerts as part of increasing the education and literacy of the Hawaiian arts and artists.  The evening started with a hula and ukelele lessons and then a performance of the taught song.

Then we enjoyed an amazing concert by LT Smooth.  He and his band were amazing.  To think he was a crack user at 8 and a heroin addict at 12 is hard to believe.  Thank the Lord, truly, that has all changed for him.  Here is an article written by the Honolulu Advertiser on him:

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Aug/17/en/hawaii708170301.html

I took some terrible pictures (it was dark inside):

LT Smooth and his band: Vatanui and Bruce Collins

And the hula dancer: Pati Taulaulelei

Stefan found a soulmate in one of the women in charge of the raffle.  She taught Geo-Physics post graduate courses and worked on the ice roadways up in the Arctic.  For those of you that have met/talked with Stefan, you can see how he would find her attractive.

For me, it was, perhaps, a small glimpse into his future.

Their similarities, dispite the age gap, were exceptional.  Just as their dancing was...

Stefan and Lyn dancing to the music

If you would like to hear a taste of the concert and what he can do, (and MAN can he strum those strings!) check out the You Tube video:

Sayonara, Yokosuka! Aloha, Kauai!!!

Saturday afternoon we headed off to the airport.  Final destination: Hawaii!!!

One benefit of "aging" is that our memories don't serve us well - or, at least, accurately.  If it did, we would have never put Ian back on a plane with us.  Ever Again.  Ever.  The last time we left the Garden Island, Ian cried - no, SCREAMED - the entire flight.  People gave us a standing ovation when we got off the plane.  Maybe they were just standing.  OK, maybe they were really just trying to get off the plane too.  But, I would have understood if they were cheering us OFF the plane...

However, temporary insanity took over (and the promise of HAWAII and Grammie and Pop!!!) and we booked our flight.

This time, our trip started with a 2-hour bus ride from base to Narita.  It looked like this:

Completely engrossed in their reads whilst sitting in the back of the bus

Reading Thomas

Must go to sleep...

It was a great way to start the trip and it turned out to set the stage for the whole flight.  Not a single argument about turning off movies, games, etc.  When the plane lights went out, so did all three boys.  And not a peep from anyone.  In fact, Ian did not even wake up until we were headed through immigration.

The boys were awake and ecstatic to see Grammie and Pop (Eric and I were too!).  I think the feeling was mutual :)

Phew!  What a relief!  Thank you to the sweet baristas at Starbuck's for wishing us to:

Have a safe trip n' have fun!

So far, we are!!!