Day 5 - Oahu

Amoung the stories that will be told and retold in recounting our family trip to Hawaii, will be our close encounter with a tsunami. We will never forget the feelings we had, nor the images of cars gridlocked trying to drive out of Honolulu right below us. We will not forget the sirens blaring out; telling all to evacuate. We will not forget kneeling on the floor and praying for safety.

But I get ahead of myself....

Saturday started out as another beautiful day that lay before us. We all left the condos early to head to 'The Dole Pineapple Plantation'. We met up with My nephew Trevor, his wife Rebekah and their four kids. We had not seen them for quite some time and had never met two month old 'Ridgeline'.

We had a fun visit, rode the train and learned more about the plantation and then enjoyed a pineapple ice cream and a pineapple drink. It was an enjoyable couple hours and we were grateful they were willing to meet us there.

When we left, Matt and Katherine and Family headed to Lanikai Beach to enjoy one last day of swimming and playing in the sand. Josh and Kaija took off for Aloha Stadium to make their way through the endless stalls of the Flea Market. Aaron, Lauren and Family, James and I headed to the Northshore where we watched big waves come crashing in and after driving on to Sunset Beach, we enjoyed a picnic lunch. It was a fun afternoon for all. We met up late afternoon to have dinner together which ended up being a smorgasbord of different food.

On the way home we heard about the earthquake off the coast of Canada, but had read there was no worry of tsunami. However, shortly after we arrived back at the condos, the sirens started blaring out and when we turned on the TV, we were told to evacuate. Looking down from our balcony, we could see an endless line in both lanes of cars and knew we weren't going
anywhere anytime soon. We were just six blocks from the beach, but on the 9th floor. As we listened, we were told that if we were above the 3rd floor, we should stay put. The tsunami was scheduled for around 10:28 PM. We started to prepare, cars were moved further up in the garage, we filled every container we could find as well as the tub with water, and located flashlights. We were grateful we carry one with us whenever we travel too. The kids were all in bed, which helped immensely, and we sat and listened to what the news station was saying and spent time out on the deck watching what was happening below.

The tsunami was a 'no-show' thankfully, and we all went to bed around 11:30 PM. Containers were emptied and life went on, but we will not forget it.