Oahu

I set up this blog before leaving home and here I am on day 12 posting for the first time. I'm traveling with my 81 year old mother for three weeks in Hawaii, one week on Oahu and two weeks on Hawaii Island (aka the Big Island). Then mom's going home and I'm meeting my daughter Liz in Tokyo where we'll spend about 5 days. We're then going to Bali for three weeks after which I'll be going back home and she'll be making her way to Nepal to travel and volunteer for some time, maybe a year.  When trying to think of a name for this blog I realized that I will be going to four islands, all with volcanos, thus the name.

I lived on Oahu for three years in my 20's and I spent lots of time at the beach with friends.  I loved spending time in the sun and getting a tan. A recent diagnosis of basal cell carcinoma in a spot on my leg has changed my attitude about that. This trip we haven't been at the beach much, instead we've been learning about Hawaiian culture and it's been fascinating. We went to Iolani Palace and Bishop Museum in Honolulu, both full of info about Hawaiian history and culture.  We really enjoyed live Hawaiian music and hula on Waikiki beach.  There are free performances and we also went to a couple resort bars where we sipped expensive mai tais while listening to the live music. Hypnotic.

Mai tais while listening to live Hawaiian music with hula