Kevman came, and we were thankful.

What is better than having a friend on your island? Having TWO friends!

(There's more I can list, but I won't stray off-topic just yet)

KEVIN came to visit the week before Thanksgiving, and Pete and I were happy to see him and show him around.

We picked him up from the airport and went out to survey the Thursday nightlife. Pete had the following day off, so we hit the beaches--Maakapuu and Waimea Bay.

At Maakapuu (one of my favorite beaches), the waves are good for body surfing or so I've been told and are fun to dive under. The waves can come at you fast though, and after I got tossed by two the sand in my hair and sea in my nose made me want some air. So I sat and watched these fools try to conquer the water terrain.

When we got to the North Shore, Kevin and I shared some tako poke (raw octopus) we bought on the side of the road.

It was delicious. We took a slight detour on the way to Waimea Bay to give some European girls a ride to a soap factory where they were going to go surfing. Now, I'm realizing I never did put that together.

Geronimoooooo, at Waimea Bay The Big Rock. Of course, I jumped too. This was their second.

After the beaches we went out downtown.

Kevin met a girl at the bar and she invited us back to her place for a bit. We live in a very residential area and Peter initially wanted to live in a high-rise downtown. It was nice to have that kind of view for a little while. (But, I like our spacious house--the apartment was tiny)

The next day we headed out with Helen (housemate) to Pearl Harbor.

It seems America knew what it was doing when it picked Hawaii to station a navy-base. The memorial and museum were informative, enlightening, and sobering.

On the boat to go the the USS Arizona Memorial

USS Arizona Memorial

Part of the ship. When Pearl Harbor was bombed the Arizona was hit the bomb detonated and caused a huge explosion, sinking it so quickly it trapped many of the men who died (over 1100). A lot of the bodies were never recovered and are still with the ship. It also continues to leak trapped oil. This alarmed me, there was information indicating a loss of so many quarts a day--I guess the appropriate environmental agencies would be on it if it were something to be on.

What do you do after you tour of the most historical sights of our nation? Go scuba diving, of course.

The lady next to Kevin in this picture was the only one of our boat to get sea sick. On our second dive, I looked to my left to see some fish going crazy over what looked like food from the boat. When we came up from the dive, I realized what it was and told her what I had observed under the water. Kevin noted that she didn't seem to enjoy talking about the product of her sea-sickness while on the boat. I was relieved to not be next to her.

We went between 40-50 feet deep and got to see a lot of oceanic critters. No sea turtles (though we did see some earlier in the weekend---sorry, I was too busy seeing how close I could get to them to take a picture), but we did see some tako. Scuba diving was so much fun. Next time I go snorkeling, I'll try to get some pics of some of the fish here, I've seen some exotic aquatic[life].

The next day, Peter went back to work and Kevin and I enjoyed a hike in Manoa Valley.

Can you see me?

It was very ferngully-esque. Yes, that's a word.

At the end we met a waterfall. It was probably about 100 feet high. There are other falls on the island that you can get under and swim around, this one was too rocky. The hike was easy, less than a mile, and rewarding, nature is awesome.

I took this picture because of the skyline in the background--it's harder to see here than in person.

That night we went to a Bright Eyes concert at the Hawaii Theater, which reminded me of the Tennessee Theater only with more of a Polynesian influence. Tuesday-Wednesday Kevin went to Maui to visit some friends. I haven't been to Maui but it is more rural than our capital isle, and from what I've heard is beautiful.

Peter went back to work, I tutored some kids and made this, because I'd like to recognize autumn even if the weather patterns here don't.

When Kevin returned we hit the town and ended the night with a cab ride home and foot-long-cheese-steak sandwiches because it was that kind of night.

This is not one of the bars we went to, but I just wanted to document it's existence. There are always people outside of it in cowboy hats handing out free drink vouchers. I'm extremely hesitant to enter it, because I feel like it would be a watered-down version of Paradise Park crossed with The Stage. It may not be as bad as it seems in my head, but then again, judging from other places we've stepped into, it just might be.

The next day was Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a big spread and company in Kailua, our last meal before Kevin flew back to the other South. Evan, one of our roommates, knew some people from Alaska who opened their seasonal home to us.

Alas, the sun must set and so Kevin must go. It was so refreshing having another familiar face around!

Aloha, Kevin!