Hawaii Day 3

Day 3 we got our drive on! We woke up superearly (6ish) to go kayaking on the northern end of Oahu. Mom joined us to take pictures and spend the day looking at the many scenic points we'd hoped to encounter during the drive. From Waikiki, we drove to Kailua and the beach of Lanikai. We rented a two person kayak and paddled out to where we could see the flat island bird sanctuary. In the Fall, the waters get a bit rough and that morning was no exception, but we were the only kayakers heading out from the entry point at the time, so we didn't get to see the hilarity until the end of our trip.
Jack and I are semi-practiced kayakers, so we were kinda prepared for the row out to The Seabird Sanctuary. A half hour later, we'd arrived and began walking around, cursing the lava rock under our feet and enjoying the beautiful scenery. Once on the leeward side of the island, we could see and hear the way the waves pounded the flat island and decided not to get slammed against the rocks. We finished walking around the island and reboarded our kayak, upending it once before getting it settled, then fought it back to shore. Fought it not being overturned, fought it not losing our clothes, fought to keep it heading sideways to the big waves. When we finally got close to shore, the final wave unceremoniously dumping us at the shore in one HUGE push! We made it out of way just in time to watch another kayaker was swept in and flipped out of her kayak onto shore.

We cleaned up, then headed up the coast and basically circled the island taking pictures at every beach we could get close to.
Kaneohe, Waiahole, Punaluu, Kuilima, Sunset Beach, Waimea Bay, all the way to Keana Point State park...we travelled north to all the surfing spots and saw all the great beaches of the island.

After a quick stop for lunch, we made our way to the Waianae Coast to watch the sunset. Apparently, this side of the island is the...more financially-challenged side of the island (ghetto, if you will), complete with beat up rides on $1200 rims and rest stops and beaches with its own homeless people. We bypassed a supercrowded beach to go to a quiet beach area further North. That alone shoulda said "Danger Will Robinson," but the fact that there were only a handful of people at picnic tables and lying in the grass might have been a clue to move on. We got out to use the restroom as the homeless people descended on it. Jack and I made it out unaccosted, but Mom made a new friend we'll call Frieda. Frieda was nice and friendly and chatty, but would NOT leave Mom's side. In fact, she was in TOTAL violation of Mom's personal space. I go over to rescue her and Frieda introduces herself and gets to talking and I quickly realize Frieda is a bit cray cray. I send Mom to go use the restroom as Frieda had stopped her to chat, and Frieda decides to walk Mom into the restroom. Luckily, there wasn't any paper in the restroom because I think Frieda was there for a show. Mom came out and Frieda invited herself along to see our rental car. If I didn't already know Frieda was off, now I'm trying to figure a way to ditch the crazy lady. Jack, often late to the crazy train, but often willing to avoid it, saw crazy coming and said it was time to go. Frieda decided that she couldn't let her new friend go and wrapped her arms around Mom's waist and wouldn't let go. Crazy had gone too far and I grab Mom and she starts a tugowar with my Mother. She let go before it got serious, but Frieda provided a good lesson in personal space for the rest of the trip.



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