The Last Hurrah

Jon took Dena to the airport at 6 AM. Back to the small crew at the beginning of the trip -- just the two of us and Auntie Annette and Uncle Freddy. We are in a pattern of a slow starting morning, with blog writing and Jon doing some computer work and reading the newspaper (takes about 4 minutes) and sitting around talking and eating more starfruit.

Eventually it was time to take Fred to Babe's for exercise class, and then we figured out the rest of our adventures from there. Since we were so close, we drove up the winding road to Tantalus, high above the city. Such a lush jungle of bamboo and guava and ginger and thick vines and "paperbark trees" -- it's amazing to have so much green wilderness that close to the high rise buildings just a few miles down.

The vegetation is encroaching on the road.

Lots of branches and bamboo had clearly snapped in the high winds a few days ago and there had been clean-up crews making piles along the edge of the narrow road. We stopped at a trailhead (clearly labeled and mapped by Google) and headed up to see if there was a view. On the way up we saw a small group of hikers coming down: two young women and three toddlers plus one baby strapped to one of the moms. The kids were so small that the steps were higher than their waists and one of the moms was lifting them down each step. Everyone was muddy and cheerful. Clearly we should be able to make it up this hill if those little punkins could do it.

Hana's favorite kind of hike -- through a tunnel of growth.

We got to the lookout, maybe 1/4 mile in and stopped to take pictures and catch our breath. Hard to believe those short-legged people made that trek.  

Looking out over Honolulu.

Then back down through Makiki Heights and into town to the Kaimuki sandwich shop that Jon has been eyeing on his phone. We bought some fancy sandwiches and some small batch citrus and cucumber soda (that kind of place, like from Oregon) and went to have one last picnic at Ala Moana.

The last picnic.

Then we had time for one last shave ice stop and I got Charles' favorite: haupia shave ice with flan underneath and condensed milk on top. Gosh, that was sweet. Jon got Obama Rainbow with lilikoi topping. We texted Becca some pictures and she wrote back, "rude."

The last shave ice.

All of this was a lead-up to the real adventure of the day: going for an acupuncture treatment in Chinatown with Uncle Freddy.  It was supposed to be Becca's appointment but she had to go home before the first available time, so I decided I would be brave and do it. This would count as my first pro-active effort for my dumb knee, other than yoga and swimming and Aleve.  As it happened, I had neglected to take any Aleve for the last 24 hours so this would be a clean experiment. I would be able to tell if it worked, or if something was different. And I even did a little hike to really make my knee hurt.

The acupuncture office is a first floor storefront that opens right onto the corner of N. King and River Street. There are shelves of herbs and medicines in glass cases, a counter, and chairs for waiting patients.  The business is run by a husband and wife, licensed Chinese acupuncture doctors, with their daughter helping out between college semesters.  They are very kind and welcoming and it wasn't scary at all.  Dr. Lin took my blood pressure and she basically only asked for my phone number and birthday, and what I was interested in addressing.

She settled me on a narrow cot, arranging pillows so I would be comfortable, pushed my pants leg up over my knee and started pinging some tiny needles in. It didn't hurt, which was excellent.  I couldn't see anything over my belly, lying flat on my back, so I just had to imagine it all.  Then she wrapped some wires around the needles and asked me to tell her when I felt the electricity pulsing through. When I successfully reported feeling all the needles, she put a heat lamp over the whole thing and said she would be back in 20 minutes.  The pulsing was a little painful but certainly nothing to fuss about. I decided to take a nap.  After I was fully buzzed and heated, Mr. Dr. Lin came and did the rest, adding a new source of heat that looked like smoking giant crayons. Not sure how he got the heat into the needles but it felt quite good.  It seems to me that the inflammation is just about gone for now. I asked them how often I would need to go for acupuncture if this is how I wanted to treat my knee and they said about twice a week. It was spooky and cool and I would like to try that again. 

Jon picked us up (he had gone for a car nap) and we fought our way through the 4:00 traffic. Saw our first whole rainbow, where all the mist and fog was collected in the valley (sunny on the beach side). 

And now it is time to pack up and get ready to go. We will have one last dinner at Aina Haina Chop Suey, where the four of us had our first meal when we arrived 16 days ago. Many meals, many beaches, many car miles, many visits, saimin and shave ice, several adventures, a few hikes, and such nice warm weather every single day. What a glorious time. Tomorrow my mom and Michael L arrive to take over the cooking and the vacationing, so our relatives will not even miss us.

Some last pictures: