2003-8-9---Riding around with Sean :  base; Waimea Park:

It's so nice having family on the island!  Someone to drive us around and show us the good spots!  First spot---lunch.  Sean suggested one of his favorite places---Dixie Bar b q.  It was very good.

 Then we headed to Schofield Barracks to check out his digs.  Along the way, he pointed out these rice paddies!   I didn't know they grew rice here.

 Too bad Dad was never stationed in Hawaii!

 We didn't spend a lot of time there.  He basically had a private bedroom and a communal open living room/kitchen area.  Nice way for a single person to live.

 Not too far from there is Waimea Park.  So we headed there.  There was a fee to get into it, but it was worth it.  I think it was $12/person at this time.

 Waimea Valley is a unique Hawaiian botanical garden within a significant cultural and archaeological site.

 One of the park residents.

The area used to be an adventure park where you could see cliff-diving shows, ride ATVs and trams and go kayaking. It was shut down and turned over to the Audubon Society in 2003, and turned it into a botanical garden. Now it is managed by Hi'ipaka LLC - a nonprofit organization with much more of a focus on cultural and botanical preservation.

 The 3.5-mile hike, which is mostly along flat, paved ground, is well worth doing as the path meanders through the magnificent gardens and historical sites.

 It was a beautiful day for a stroll.

 even the local peacocks thought so.

 I was also surprised to see cotton growing here.

 By the time we got done in the park, it was clouding up and making more rainbows.  Time to hit the mall.

Got a kick out of this sign in the mall.

It was a fun day.  A great start to another great vacation.