Day 10 - Schofield Barracks, Fabric Mart shopping & Hale Koa Lunch

By Ellen Outten

 

Click on any picture to make it larger for a better view


Sunrise this morning.   Our best sunrise since arrival.  We were off again this morning, with a trip to our last fabric store.   I hit pay dirt.   Hawaiian fabric for $3.99/yard.   It will all JUST fit in the suitcase.   Wayne bought more than I did.  He's going to convince the quilters to make table runners and placemats to sell next fall when we raffle off our quilt.



Next, in honor of Joe Oswald, we took a trip up to Schofield Barracks driving over the mountain one last time.  I caught one last, faint rainbow on the drive.







Joe was stationed at this army base during his service as a Vietnam veteran.   The tour was interesting and we enjoyed the talk provided by the docent, Josh.  

The museum was the post library






God bless the men they called "Tunnel Rats" during the Viet Nam war.   This is the actual size of the hole they crawled through looking for the Viet Cong.  

We deserved one last lunch, and a good one, at the Hale Koa, so we drove back down to Waikiki for lunch and my last Mai Tai for this trip.


Tomorrow, it's up at o dark thirty with a trip to the airport; return the rental car and fly back to reality.
It's been a wonderful trip.  I've seen things I never thought I would.  The beauty of the water; it's color starting with a light turquoise that gets darker and deeper; the waves crashing against the shoreline.  Beaches surround the entire island, of course, but by far, the prettiest, in my opinion, is the south shore of the island - Sandy Beach where they filmed From Here To Eternity and the Blowhole lookout.   It's an absolutely stunning shoreline.  The north shore with it's heavier surf, the Bonzai Pipeline is beautiful as well, just harder to see.   
We toured the USS Arizona, USS Missouri, USS Bowfin and saw Pearl Harbor.  What a day!
The Polynesian Cultural Center was a fun day and I did learn quite a bit from our guide.   The evening show, Ha-The Breath of Life was excellent.  The climax of the fire dancers was amazing.
There are too many things to recall; too many memories to recount here.   I have the ability to look at each day and remember each detail with pictures!

The final salute to Hawaii, sitting on our patio at today's end and seeing our last rainbow coming right out of the ocean.







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