Visalia

During our trip to the valley in March, I took a short break from family photos to wander around the neighborhood. I’m not sure how long it will stay like this as it’s been changing a lot since I first visited. While it’s nice to have family photos, it’s also nice to have photos of the surrounding area too.

Valley Trip

A couple weekends ago, we took a trip to the Central Valley so my son could visit his great-grandparents and the rest of us could recharge away from computers or anything other gadgets. I usually don’t post auto-everything family photos* here but I ended up with a number which I really really like.

*Especially those taken in idiot-mode using the pop-up flash. 

Bishop Museum

One of the best things in Hawai‘i is the Bishop Museum. It’s a truly local museum which does a great job at explaining the history and culture of Polynesia and Hawai‘i. It’s also done a great job at both preserving much of the feather-based regalia from the original hawaiians. It’s nice to see that so much has both survived and survived in-place. Too often, things like these either end up destroyed or plundered.

There’s a distinctly insider feel to the core collection at the Bishop in the Polynesian and Hawaiian halls* where you get the sense that you’re seeing things you can’t see elsewhere. The curation is also very much in a “these are our artifacts” manner which I doubt you’d get with the same objects in a different museum.

*The last two times I’ve gone, one of the halls has been under restoration. Thankfully, it’s been a different hall each time.

The rest of the museum feels like a general science museum. Though there are still some nice local touches. The planetarium is worth seeing since it’s both a completely different latitude than typical mainland planetaria and draws from a different source of legends for the constellations. Similarly, Hawai‘i may be one of the best places to learn about volcanos.

But for a tourist, it’s all about the Hawaiian Hall and Polynesian Hall.

Hawai‘i fragments

As with my Vegas trip, random thoughts from Hawai’i which would fit on Twitter if I were the type of person to tweet while traveling.

• How did kids travel before iPads existed?
• I miss the smell of Plumeria in Honolulu airport.
• I love the smell of entering a Hawaiian home.
• The windward side of O‘ahu is vastly superior.
• What kind of weirdo takes black and white film out to photograph tropical sunsets?
• A waterproof camera would make it a lot more comfortable to stand in the surf while taking photos.
• Hawaiian roads and road signage are designed to encourage you to stop driving and just hang out at the beach.
• Kim chee sausage is a revelation.
• Seriously. It’s fantastic in a “where has it been all my life?” kind of way.
• There must be a way to get the Kukui Sausage Company to ship to the mainland.
• Three-winged hotels do indeed all look the same.
• Ko‘olina is scary.
• But the service at the Ihilani is great.
• So is the food.
• Li hing mui is still the best shave ice flavor.
• The lychee at Island Snow comes pretty close.
• As does the Kona Coffee with snowcap.
• I really need to find a source for malasadas.
• Walter does not like natto.
• More for me.
• If your flight is going to be delayed, it may as well be a non-stop homebound flight leaving Hawai‘i.

Family Vacation

Since the Hawai‘i trip was a family vacation, I ended up with mostly family photos. Some I like as shots by themselves—even without knowing who it is in the photo. But these are all meant to be personal mementos of my trip rather than aspiring to be anything more.