Early on the Ala Wai

I'm living at the Aqua Aloha Surf hotel on the corner of Kanekapale and Ala Wai Avenue in Waikiki.  That's a mouthful, huh?

Anyway, I woke early and looked out to see a crescent moon reflection on the Ala Wai Canal and it seemed right and just to grab my faithful Nikon and take a short stroll.  At 4:30 in the morning, I pretty much had it to myself, save a few other insomniacs, joggers and walkers.

 

 

Hard as I tried, I couldn't make the camera produce the beauty I saw with my own eyes.  As the morning brightened, more and more walkers and runners began to take advantage of the early morning beauty.   Being careful to keep my lens pack on my back rather than putting it on the ground so I wouldn't be an easy target for purse and pack snatchers (we have to have our stuff), I squeezed off a hundred or so images hoping to produce "the one" that I was looking for.

I was so enthused about the crescent moon and later the sunrise that came from the same direction and I began to reflect on how God produces miracles served up daily and our only job is to recognize them.  It's like an Easter egg hunt where many eggs are hidden and the children have to search for them, occasionally asking the father or mother for hints to where they can be found.

After feeling all holy and blessed, I observed a man still sleeping on a bench and wondered if his observance of beauty and miracles would be like mine.  I just don't know.

You can't stay there forever.

My Washington stay was about to end so instead of coming home, Ms Darlene flew up for a few days.

I pretty much took her to the sites that were reasonably accessible, such as Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle, the skyline view from West Seattle, Gig Harbor, Mount Rainier and a lot of really neat places.

I had not been north of Vancouver British Columbia so that was added to our quick agenda as well.

Here's a few pictures.

The Seattle skyline from west Seattle

 

Then there's Pikes Place Public Market with peppers 

 

Ruston, Washington with Mount Rainier

Traffic is almost as bad as Baton Rouge

 The trip would have been incomplete without taking her up to Sunrise on Mount Rainier

Part of our plans were to ride up to Vancouver but after arriving, we decided to move on up the coast to Whistler, he home of the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Along the way we hiked around the coast.  The sites were stunning to a pair of bayou drifters.

There were waterfalls along the way.  Not much of a hike.

 

Probably the most interesting thing we enjoyed was the Sea To Sky Gondola ride.  We watched for a while to make sure that's exactly what we wanted to do.  You know, it's a long drop if one of those cables break.

 

Longer and higher than we thought.

At the top, there was a suspension bridge we negotiated.

Although signs warn people not to run on these things, it never fails finding some dufus who thinks it's too scary to walk and decide to run causing the whole thing to swing and shake.

Ms Darlene was certainly not ready to come home but time was limited.  So, back to Seattle for the last day.  Here's one of the nice restaurants we tried; Anthony's on Pier 66.  Good seafood here.

I put her on the plane early Monday morning and made sure she was on the right side so she could see Rainier one more time as she flew back to Louisiana.  I followed a couple of days later.