My aunt and uncle own a lovely restaurant in Trenton, NJ and I decided to help them out with a new logo.  This was what I came up with.

So you may or may not have heard, but probably most likely have, that there was an earthquake in Hawaii today (today still being Sunday 10/16/2006 for me).

In fact, there were two.  And in looking back upon them, they turned out to be much more comical than frightening (thank God).

The first one started at 7:08 this morning and was a 6.6 (the biggest quake Hawaii has ever had) which lasted about 45 seconds.  It woke me up, although I was still very groggy and didn’t know what was going on.  I hadn’t slept well.  Who knows, maybe our bodies know when these kinds of things are going to happen, because Melissa didn’t sleep very well either.  We were, all five of us, trying to fit under one doorway when my head met Melissa’s face, just below her eye.  I will tell you now that was the most tragic of all the events of the day, and the welt still hurts me.

We were staying in a cabin probably 20 feet from the ocean, so our next worry became: Tsunami? We stared out the back door hoping the water would not receed.  The next earthquake happened within that time.  Of course, we weren’t really willing to wait around for the Tsunami to decide if it was going to show or not, so we began to run around and get dressed… and when I say run, I mean, I slipped my pants on over my pajama pants, grabbed all I could, and was ready.  I looked out the door and Melissa’s father was already in the van ready to go.

Poor Lorene.  Melissa’s mom (Lorene) was standing in her room asking “Can Someone please bring me my pants?  Hello?”  and as I looked around I noticed that her and I were the only ones left in the cabin.  She was trying to get the valuables (PSP and cameras of course) out of the safe.  Don’t forget Greg’s Ukelele!

I helped her carry what I could and we joined the others who were ready to abandon us at the first sign of low tide.

We drove off, trying to get to higher ground and find a place to perhaps get some breakfast at. Too bad the power was out everywhere.  We turned on the radio, and it took us a half hour to find a station that came in and had information.  Which was when we found out our first bit of information about the earthquake and the state-wide power outtage.  They also affirmed everyone that there was no tsunami to be expected.

So we tried to head back to our cabin, at which we had all of our food.  But the cabins had been evacuated because of a gas leak.  So we headed back to the house, at which we had no food but at least beds.  We slept until 12 and then got up for lunch.  During which the next tragic thing happened: spam burritos.  Remember I said that we had no food at the house?  Well… Okay, we had some.  But it was mish mosh… Hodge podge.  Greg had two spam burritos.  I had a turkey sausage and some tortilla chips, Mel had chips and dip, Leah had carrots, and Lorene had  some chips and salsa.

We then decided we didn’t want to sit in a foodless house all day, so we thought we would try to go back to the cabin and get the things we left behind.  When we got there we decided we would swim in the ocean while it was nice out (it cleared up, and I actually got some nice pictures of some places I had already taken pictures at where there was haze before).  So we swam until I got seasick (the waves were pushing and pulling me back and forth).

We finally got word that there was electricity back at the house so we made a decision at 6pm that we would rather sit in a house with electricity than sit in the dark in a cabin with one candle.  So we packed everything up and headed back to the house (the trips back and forth are about an hour to an hour and a half).

I am now in a bed in a room with a light and a fan blowing on me, and I am as happy as can be.  I pity the tourists trapped in hotels who had to scrounge for food.  I am so lucky that I am staying with friends who live here so we could at the very least eat spam burritos.

I have one day left in Hawaii, and I hope there aren’t any earthquakes, because they spoil everything.

Love,
Sarah

The funny thing about tropical places is the sun makes you SO tired, especially when you aren’t used to being in the sun.  I don’t do too much each day before I am exhausted.  But I am still having a fun, relaxing time.  This is definitely what I needed.  I should probably be keeping an account of what we do each day, but you would probably find that to become boring and tedious, which is why I started the Flickr account, so you can just SEE what I am doing and use your imagination to fill in the gaps.

We went to the Dole Plantation.  Which seemed sort of run down.  I know it’s not a REAL plantation, but it looks like they are putting more money into their brand new building than into keeping the pineapple plants alive, which I would think would be the most important part of going to a Dole Plantation.  I mean, that’s what I was expecting to see.  Not a bunch of shriveled little greens (or browns if you want to get technical).  But they had some great pineapple ice cream.  It was pretty tastey indeed.

Thursday night we went to a mongolian bbq on Hickam AFB, which was amazing.  You throw all the food you want in a giant bowl, they weigh it, then you put the sauce / seasoning on it that you want, and they cook it up for you.  It’s like a stir fry sort of thing.

Yesterday we went to Waikiki.  I can say one thing about Waikiki:  TOO MANY PEOPLE.  I thought about how glad I was that I didn’t go here for my honeymoon just because I know that I would have blindingly chosen a hotel in one of the most populated areas.  I also would have hated to have to drive around here.  7.5 million people visited this island last year and they ALL HAD CARS.  Hawaii has ridiculous traffic.

Anyway, it’s time for me to get ready.  We are headed to a swap meet today at the stadium to hopefully find some souvenirs.  I’ll try to get some new pictures up on Flickr later tonight.

I set up my account at Flickr and will be updating it daily while I am in Hawaii, to keep you all visually updated.  Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarahcamp