Kansas Dresners
New outfits for Max and Woody
Thanks, Gram!
Summer Excursion: Waikoloa Statuary
In addition to water sports and public transport, I think the Waikoloa Hilton's great claim to fame would have to be its art budget: statuary
everywhere, and a nearly mile-long corridor of actual art, from 19c European to New Guineauan ceremonial. Lots of Asian themes and sources, which is no surprise given our location and the clientele. Max has gotten a lot more interested in actual art, though he still breezes by stuff more quickly than I'd like to.
Much of what they had was actually pretty accessible, even for a pre-schooler.
Some of the art was pretty surreal
Some of the Asian collection was very serious, and some of it was just out of place. The first picture below qualifies in that category, of course.
Summer Excursion: Waikoloa Wildlife
Our last stop on the Kona side was the Waikoloa Hilton, a veritable amusement park unto itself. Max's favorite thing, I think, was the transportation: both a subway-style tram and a man-made river with constant boat taxis. First thing we did was ride the boat back and forth the whole route; last thing we did was ride the tram both ways; we rode both a time or two in between, too.
This tortoise was sharing space with some Nene geese |  |
| The Dolphinarium is a multi-pool complex with about half a dozen bottlenose. Guests can, apparently, make arrangements to get in the water and play with them (under controlled circumstances). Day-trippers like us just sit on the sidelines and wait for jumps |  |
 |  |
| Some of the noteworthy wildlife is deliberate, like the tortoise above, or these crested ibis. Some of it, like the swallows below, are just living off the human landscape. |  |
 |  |
Summer Excursion: Coffee Country
 | Max had a little bed-head in the morning. He almost wouldn't let us comb it -- that edgy fashion sense of his.... Fortunately, he's never actually seen a mohawk, or other really punk hairstyles. |
 | West Hawaii, of course, is the Kona Coast, coffee country. Though I've not drunk much of it this summer, I admit that we didn't stint on the samples offered. We went to our favorite coffee plantation, Greenwell Farm, for the tour. This is coffee cherry on the branch. The best stuff is picked by hand, so only the truly ripe cherries are selected. |
 | The unroasted bean is apparently even higher in caffeine than any roast, but, or course, doesn't taste as good. The cherry itself is very sugary, though. |
 | Aside from incredibly consistent weather, what makes Kona such good coffee land is the volcanic soil. This is a small lava tube at the Royal Kona Coffee Museum (which is really just a bean processing operation with a gift shop overlook and one big lava tube), where Max asked to taste the coffee, too. He tried a bit of decaf, of course, and pronounced it good. |
 | Here's a small taste of that Kona traffic I mentioned before. This whole island is linked with one highway, two lanes and no more across most of its length. They're working on widening this section to four, but that'll just barely hold the load it's got now. |
Summer Excursion: Fish and Flowers
Because I can't resist interesting colors and shapes. The fish were from Waikoloa Hilton (see above); the flowers from the Manago and playground.
Summer Excursion: Manago Sunset
After the playground, we got lunch and then went to Spencer beach, a moderately popular but slightly out-of-the-way cove, with soft sands and moderate waves. Great fun, though afterwards we discovered that the complaints about Kona traffic were not at all exaggerated. Our regular haunt on the West side of the island is the Hotel Manago, and we were fortunate to find, when we got there, that they had a third-floor room open (we'd had a reservation for a first-floor room, but it never hurts to ask!). Just in time for a lovely sunset. I think the first two are my favorites; "Sunshine on the water" and all that.
Summer Excursion: Waimea Playground
Last weekend, realizing that it was pretty much our last chance for carefree fun this summer, we dashed off for an overnight trip across the island. So we hit some old favorites, and did some new stuff.
The first stop this time was Max's favorite playground on the island, up in the high hills.
 | What makes it so much fun, of course, is the maze-like twists and turns of the structure. We even discovered, this time, a network of three talking tubes. We didn't have much to say, but it was fun. |
 | I asked Max to wave. Apparently I didn't specify how. |
 | When Max gets tired, he likes to find a small, quiet spot to recharge. |
 | Though he still likes to be pushed, he's finally learning how to pump himself. |
 | One of the unique features, as far as Max is concerned, is the sliding hand ring. One parent at each end, pushing him back and forth, is as good as it gets! |
Honolulu Day Five: Trains
Timing, it's said, is everything. The
Hawaiian Railway Society runs trains on Sunday afternoons, the first one ending just in time to drive back to the airport and catch our homeward flight. They do a 90-minute run out to Kahe point and back, with a short break at the end for switching sides and taking pictures, with historical and descriptive narration the whole way.
| During the break at the point, the train crew comes down both sides and will take your picture with your own camera |  |
| We were sitting in the last car, because of the volume of the train whistle, which meant that we actually were in the front of the train on the way back. Didn't stop Max from falling asleep (his first afternoon nap in ages), but it was kind of fun. |  |
| Here's the vista at the end of the run |  |
Here are a few of the trains in their yard; we didn't have a lot of time to walk around, but the ride goes right past it, so I got some pictures that way, too.
 |  |
| This Parlor car runs once a month, and can be chartered for special events. It goes back to the founder of the line, J. Dillingham. The two engines below also go back to the late 1800s when the rail line was built as a sugar transport system. Kauila was the first engine to run the line, actually. |  |
 |  |
Honolulu Day Four: Falls of Clyde
Hawaii, being a small island chain in the middle of a large ocean, has a rich history of sea travel and transport. Right on the Honolulu docks is a museum and the
Falls of Clyde, the only surviving four-mast vessel.
 | The museum had some wonderful stuff, though the recorded tour was a bit slow and complicated for Max. His favorite part was the oil pipeline valve, but the engine control came a close second. |
 | Speaking of things Max loved, the block-and-tackle display was second only, on the ship itself, to the captain's cabin which Max referred to as "my bedroom"..... |
 | In the early days, to get cattle on and off boats, they actually had to drive them into the ocean and lift them in and out with, yes, block-and-tackle.... |
 | Here's a globe showing some of the discoveries of Captain James Cook, but it dates to before he found the Sandwich islands. |
 | The Falls of Clyde is a big ship; after it's services as a cargo vessel were no longer needed, it did service in the North Pacific as an oil tanker, refueling fishing vessels. They are working on restoring large portions of the ship; it's interesting to see the work in progress. |
 | Who can resist a big ship's wheel? |
 | I was the one who really wanted to get up on the forward deck and see the anchor, etc, but Max did enjoy ringing the bell. |
 | There was a separate steward's pantry near the captain's quarters, but this was the only cooking space. Based on the crew quarters, etc, it looks like it took a crew of about 16 |
 | For the record, there's less than three feet of space between the galley counters. |
 | The historian in me couldn't resist. the British East India company was one of the first transnational megacorps in the world, nearly singlehandedly responsible for initiating the modern era of global trade. OK, enough history for now. |
After we finished with the museum, we wandered up to Chinatown and had a wonderful Dim Sum dinner.
