Despite the partial government shutdown the National Memorial at Pearl Harbor is open to the public. For how long is unknown. Volunteers from the Pearl Harbor Memorial Society are staffing the site using donations from companies and the State of Hawaii. The money runs out January 6th. This is our third visit to the site. Weather, the sea and millions of visitors took their toll on the Arizona Memorial. The landing dock is not yet repaired. You can journey out to the area on a Navy operated ferry. You can't get onto the Memorial itself. It is still a solemn reminder of what happened on December 7th. Nearby is the USS Missouri, not present at Pearl Harbor on that date, but still a part of history. The Missouri played host to Japan's surrender. Guns like these are not part of today's Navy, except for practice shots. Two of the barrels weigh more than a 747. They can shoot a shell over 20 miles at mach ...
In 19 years not many improvements are evident in the road to Hana on Maui. I am sure it received some paving attention. In places the road is actually narrower. Still, it's the only way to see certain parts of the island. As I mentioned in yesterday's post winter doesn't change the temperature here, but it does push the winds a bit harder. That generates waves and that draws surfers. A Tuesday morning and this beach is loaded with surfers. Not sure how they manage that. I asked about public schools. It's full year school on Maui for K through 12. The winter break is longer. It's just concluding. Not many of the surfers looked in that age range. A couple. Most looked older. No matter. They get out there into the waves and enjoy the sun. Further ahead on the road you can enjoy a variety of vegetation. Tall trees. The bark is multicolor. More muted than the rainbow Eu...
According to the National Park Service (which is not staffed at the moment) the majority of visitors who come to Haleakala National Park drive up to watch the sunrise. Gathered with a few hundred people we did not know, all bundled up to deal with the cold, we faced east. And waited. And waited. And then.... There was one NPS representative there to clean the bathrooms and empty the trash. There was another checking to see if we secured our sunrise permits for the summit, but not collecting any money. Silver swords are rare. They only grow at certain altitudes. The plant grows slowly. Sometimes it takes 30 years for it to bloom. Then it will flower for two months with spectacular red petals. And that's it. They die. Our group chased one visitor away from the areas where these plants grow. They are classified as rare and endangered. Walking in the areas where they grow c...
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