Peace, Love & Pineapples

We went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation today and I saw this t-shirt in the souvenir shop. I LOVED this t-shirt!

We went on a walking garden tour as well as a train tour around the plantation. Nothing too exciting, but it was interesting... and we got to look at pineapples from around the world, pretty flowers, and the koi fish in their little lake. We also got some pineapple ice cream, also referred to as "Dole Whip." Anywhere else, I would have never tried pineapple ice cream - ugh! - but here, why not? It was amazing! We also managed to wander around the souvenir shop long enough find out that my name in Hawaiian is "Aneka."

We had a busy day today! We also went to Turtle Beach, where huge turtles beach themselves most days - hence "Turtle Beach." It is a beautiful beach, and I think it is one of my favorites so far... We hung out for awhile and I hope I managed to get some color on my very pale, pale legs. I chose not to bare my shoulders/upper arms, since I'm still nursing the sunburn I got from going to the state fair. :(

The 50th State Fair

I feel dumb saying it, but I had no idea Hawaii had a state fair. It's called the 50th State Fair and it was located at Aloha Stadium, where I've been told the Pro Bowl is played. For such a little fair, it was a lot of fun. One of Jessica's friends came with us, Laura, who brought her 10 month old Trish. We walked around, got a $6 funnel cake ($6 dollars!!), and ended up going to a dog show where the dogs catch frisbees and jump really high.

The dog show was really amazing! When I say jump really high, I mean the dogs jump well over 6 feet in the air. It was pretty cool. I felt bad for the guy doing the show, since his microphone broke 5 min into the show and had to do without it for all but the last 5 min of the show. Either way, these dogs were cool! I think my dog Scrappy could do it, he likes to jump, it's the whole TRAINING him to perform that I'd have a problem with. He will jump for food and treats, but he refuses to jump onto the bed! He likes to get to the edge and cry - it's very pitiful and so of course, I cave in and bring him up on the bed. So far, he can jump maybe a few feet high, then again, do I really want a dog that can jump onto my head?

The day was very eventful. We played some games - Jess and Laura competed in the Sponge Bob Squirt Game and lost to a valiant competitor... a 4 year old little Hawaiian girl. Hhhmm. I won't say much more about that.

Laura also spent almost $15 trying to win a stuffed turtle for her little one. To her defense, the turtle was very cute... but I would have stopped as soon as I won anything. Well, I did too, I won a cute blue stuffed turtle, which will become one of the many souvenirs I take home.

The fair was just a blast. Jess, Laura, and the kids got on the carousel and took the kids on their first ride. They seemed to enjoy it - at least they weren't screaming to get off. Afterwards, Jess and I in attempts to relive our childhood decided to get on the Tilt-A-Whirl. It being the first time we get on in a while, we felt great! We had tickets to burn, so we decided to stay on and do it again. Bonus for us, the guy let us ride again for FREE! The second time around, I must admit, was the best Tilt-A-Whirl ride we'd ever been on. It lasted 3 times as long and was faster and had more spinning than any other ride we'd been on. It was awesome! It was the perfect ending to our trip to the fair. Sadly, I hate to report that on our way home, I started to get a headache and Jess started to get nauseous - I guess the guy made us pay after all. We blame it on dehydration!

Here's another picture that I just really liked...

So I'm definitely a nerd now...

I decided to be "adventurous" yesterday and go in search of a Border's on my own - with the help of Mapquest and my abilities at reading the driving directions I printed out. I did pretty well, I got there, though it took 20 min longer than the instructions said. That's alright, I took the scenic route there and got to go through the town of Milapiahu (?). I went in search of Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee. I'd been wanting to read it ever since Carly mentioned it, not that I'm a hard-core knitter, but I can say that I know how and I enjoy it when I get the chance. Well, I got the book, found a pattern for a baby blanket I've been wanting to knit for Tommy ever since Jess got pregnant a year ago (he's 7 months old now), and wandered around the bargain books. Not only did I get the knitting books, and a book for Tommy, but I got a non-fiction book called The Scientists by John Gribbin. It actually looked interesting, even though it is supposed to be "a history of science told through the lives of its greatest inventors." Yep, I'm a nerd. Who actually thinks this is interesting? Me, a chemistry geek.



Anyway, I started the baby blanket for Tommy. I must admit, I'm really excited since it will be my largest "project" so far. I've made scarves, and that's about it.



This is the first of 30 squares that I will make... and this is the pattern that I liked. Wish me luck...



So I guess you can say I have plenty to keep me busy: I have 2 books, one fiction, one non, and then I have the baby blanket, which I hope to finish before I leave. I have 26 days left on the island and no, I don't plan on JUST knitting and reading. I definitely want to go to Pearl Harbor, other beaches, a luau, the Polynesian Culture Center, back to Waimei Bay, and whatever else Jess can think of for me to do.

Day One

I've tried having blogs, well, A blog before to no avail. I think I posted once and then forgot about it. Actually, I think what really happended was that I forgot the password to it or something. Very sad! Since I am "stranded" on Hawaii for the next 27 days, I figured I'd give it another shot since it will give me something to do besides watch hours of Reba, What Not to Wear, and random cooking shows everyday.

Now, can I just vent a bit? I am coming to the sad, and aggravating conclusion that my car is cursed. What are the odds for all of the following to happen to the same car?
1. In March, the engine got ruined due to the stupidity of the workers at the oil change place - I spent 2 weeks fighting with their insurance people.
2. I get the car back after a month and a half, drive it for 2 days, it sounds awful and I find out I have to get new tires.
3. I get new tires, drive it 3 times over the span of a week and finally come to the conclusion that I need to get the clutch replaced.
4. I go out of town, the car is doing well (finally!), it's sitting in front of my dad's house, and some other idiot decides to play bumper cars with it in the middle of the night!

Yep, that's right, my car got hit last night. I'm in Hawaii, trying to figure out how to get all of this taken care of. I know I could just wait until I get back to the "mainland" to mess with this, but then, I get back on a Friday, and I'm planning on moving across the country the following Monday. No time to stop and get the car fixed first. So, I'm stuck with dealing with all of this across the ocean. Time difference (5 hrs) is terrible, and the fact that no one in my family knows how to drive standard, really doesn't help. I'm waiting for my brother to call with a case number from the police for the hit and run report, so I can call the insurance company, and hopefully convince one of my friends to drop it off at the place that I want it fixed so that it gets taken in before they close and open up again TUESDAY because of Memorial Day holiday on Monday. I'm just crossing my fingers at this point...