Observations From the 2nd Floor

Monkey Pods

One of the iconic trees in the Hawaii landscape, is the monkey pod tree. The branches stretch forever (so it seems).

But remember how I’ve been saying that I’m only seeing alien birds? Well, some people are saying that monkey pod trees are alien (or invasive) plants and even though they’ve been there years and years and years … some are making an effort to get rid of them. Honolulu itself is saying “no more invasive plants.” However, no one is cutting them down, just not replacing ones that die. Other people see them vital to Hawaii’s scenery and don’t want them touched.

I have no idea. I am just the messenger of something I’ve read in several places.

For now, they’re happily growing on the Hawaiian Islands

Here is one we saw. Even before I knew anything about the monkey pod tree, this tree(s) caught my attention and I took its picture.

The night we went over to the resort area, we ate a very cool restaurant called the Monkey Pod Kitchen. We ate on the patio as spotted doves danced around our feet and looked for handouts.

And we ate watermelon pizza. Truly. The pizza was good! I’d get it again!

Try it!

The Resort

I remember attending a conference at DisneyWorld. The shuttle picked us up at the airport and took us right to our hotel complex. We never saw anything outside of the magical world of Mickey. Since I had been to Florida (and DisneyWorld) before, that was fine for the conference visit, but kind of limiting to someone who hadn’t been to the South.

You can do the same in Oahu. A shuttle will pick you up at the airport and deliver you to the Disney (and other hotels in the resort area) and then take you back when your stay is over.

One night we went over to the resort area and walked down to the beach. Although the resort areas are closed off to the public – the beach is public and they have a path that you can follow to the public area.

And then we waited for another beautiful sunset.

But more important is the view out to sea …

Don’t know who these people are, but they sure got cool wedding photos.

Keana Point State Park

After dining on shrimp as we listened to the roosters crow, the pigeons coo, and watched the cats wait for their dinner, we headed up to Keana Point State Park.

Part of the park was closed to cars because of the recent flooding, (won’t be open again until 2019), but there was still a lot to see as we watched the sun go down over the Pacific. The closer it got to the sunset hour, the more people showed up, but still, compared to other areas we visited, there weren’t that many people around.

The point was beautiful and I could have sat there for hours just watching the play of the sun on the water.

Plus, I got my first glimpse of a red-crested cardinal! In my research on birds I might see in Hawaii, this one was often mentioned and I liked its coloring. The cardinal, however, is not a cardinal, but a tanager. And, like all the birds I saw, this one is also an alien – from South America.

But still pretty.

A map to let us know where we were – always a good thing,

My first siting of a red-crested cardinal who is actually a tanager and not a cardinal at all, but he’s still very pretty.

One of my favorite pictures of the trip.

I liked the silhouettes of the pick-up trucks and the people

Chickens, Chickens Everywhere

I remember when we went to Israel, I was surprised to see cats everywhere.

Well, in Hawaii – it’s chickens or if you want to be precise – red jungle fowl.

They are everywhere – thousands of them. They crow constantly, not even waiting for dawn.

The island has had programs where police would capture the chickens, but the programs haven’t worked and they simply keep multiplying. With all the feral chickens I saw, I can’t believe this is the only picture I got and it’s not even a good one. This one was at the shrimp truck.

I think my absolute favorite sighting was when we were in the McDonald’s drive-thru line one morning – to get Egg McMuffins. Think of the resulting ad campaign they could create!!!

Oh yeah, not only chickens, but speed bumps. Everywhere! So my takeaway from Hawaii – speed bumps and roosters.

Shrimp Trucks

One of the places a visitor to Hawaii must stop is a shrimp truck on the North Shore. They have a reputation for great, locally caught shrimp.

A place to sit in the comfort of Hawaiian breezes.

That says it all. (I wonder if customers forgetting their cars is something that happens a lot.)

And then the cats show up for their handouts.

Concert on the North Shore

In a surf shop on the North Shore.

Traveling the North Shore

After stopping at the Dole Plantation, we drove along the North Shore. The best way for me to describe the ride is – the scenery was exactly as I imagined Hawaii scenery to be … blue sky, endless sparkling water, rocky shorelines that fade into sandy beaches.

Better yet – here’s a few (yes, just a few) of the pictures I took.

On the way to the shore … not absolutely 100% sure, but I think we are still passing the Dole plantation and these are pineapple plants. When I zoomed in, they looked like pineapple. (Willing to be corrected.)

Hmm … words to describe God’s beautiful creation: serene, breathtaking, sparkling.

Does anything get more Hawaiian-looking than this?