After checking in at Waimea Plantation Cottages and getting settled, Matt and I went for a walk. We found this tree conglomeration.
And then walked along the beach to this pier.
We walked back through town and found a good place to watch the sun setting over Ni’ihau.
All in all, a very good first day!
Having eaten, we still had time to kill before we could check in, so we found a cemetery nearby and drove out for a look.
I love cemeteries in general and my last trip to a Hawaiian cemetery on Lanai had many interesting things to take in. This was was no different.
Flowers and garlands.
Tidy and not-tidy gravestones
And excellent offerings.
There was also this cacti. I wouldn’t wish the vandalism, but it’s interesting how it scars.
We won the airplane seat lottery and had an empty middle seat all the way to Kauai. I recently heard this described as “poor man’s first class” and a truer phrase has never been spoken. When we left Portland, it was in the 30s and I got cold and was cold for the whole flight, hence my jacket blanket.
Once we arrived in Hawaii, we got to bypass the long line because we had bracelets (a thing we almost didn’t have because I never saw any notification, nor discovered any information about bracelets in my pre-trip research) and I was starving. So we found a place and I ordered a Loco Moco, which was a hamburger patty, on top of rice and topped with a fried egg and a lot of gravy.
Given that it was my only meal of the day, it hit the spot. Matt got fried shrimp.
Matt and I went to Trader Joe’s and bought a bunch of snack food (plus some Indian meals to eat for breakfast) so we won’t have to eat out for every meal when we are in Hawaii. Buying snacks for the trip was the first time I felt like we might actually go on the trip. The pandemic has made travel so iffy.
Kelly held the kitty fort at the Orange Door, so we arranged for her to find out about the ceremony before the wedding announcement arrived in the mail. She left us this cute heart on our house calendar. And also lovely presents, but I found the heart particularly charming.
On the way back to Portland, we stopped in Seattle and visited with the Clark-Garcia family and this cutie.
We stopped in Seattle and had lunch with our friend Hafidha (and took no pictures) and then checked in at Anderson School. I basically collapsed at that point. We discovered that the movie 10 Things I Hate About You was on Disney+ so I watched that and marveled at the fact I was just standing in the exact same place while Matt played Pathfinder.
We spent Saturday taking a few walks, eating, and generally lounging. I was so tired I couldn’t concentrate on any books, so I went and bought my old plane companion Variety Puzzles and worked on them.
This is a working high school! It was built as a luxury hotel and then converted to a high school when the hotel went bust, and it remains a high school today. You can see why it stood in for the fictional Padua High School. It looks so fancy.
Here we are with a timer photo.
Look at the view!
Look at the stadium! The field is also featured prominently in the film.
This was not far from the Elks Temple, and I recommend taking the walk if you have the time.
I took a few photos of the property before breakfast.
I love the round window and the Monkey Puzzle tree. Those trees take a very long time to grow.
The Spanish Steps are gorgeous. One of my coworkers lives in Tacoma, and when I mentioned I’d recently visited, she said that she had her engagement photos taken on the Spanish Steps 20 years ago.
Little bit of cat art sneaking in.
Because the building was empty for a long time before McMenamins took over, there was a ton of graffiti. Because of that legacy, there is a goodly amount of graffiti art throughout the building. Here’s what one floor looked like before restoration.
Here’s that same floor now. You can see the doorway in the back right of the above picture.
And a picture of one of the artists working on that same lintel.
Our empty ring boxes, the ironing board and iron we somewhat successfully used, and the masks Matt brought along to avoid COVID.
Breakfast, this time with rings.
After we finished with the ceremony, we called our family and friends. I had more calls to make than Matt did, plus I think he left more messages.
While he was waiting, Matt took a picture of his ring.
And his shoes.
This is my favorite picture, curtesy of Laurie.
Here’s the front view, curtesy of Burt.
Then we headed to Viva Tacoma for our take-out wedding dinner. We wandered until we found Mason Middle School (they were the mustangs) and ate while sitting on this bench. I also made a few more calls.
Burt and Laurie also got us a card and a present.
After that, back at the Elks Temple Matt and I trudged up and down the many flights of stairs looking for the answer to the clue so we could get all our stamps. Eventually we had to ask Laurie and Burt for help. I was too tired to soldier on using my own brainpower.
