Aloha From Hawaii-- 10

When in Hawaii, do as the Romans do! Or is it when in Rome do as the Hawaiians do? I suppose this is just my awkward way of saying I decided to have SPAM for breakfast. The locals love SPAM. I used to love SPAM. We always had a can of it around our house when I was growing up but I probably haven't tasted the chopped and formed ham product since 1983. I liked it but I'm guessing it'll be another quarter of a decade before I eat it again. (My apologies to the Monty Python fans who now have "SPAM, SPAM, SPAM, SPAM" stuck in their heads.)

We told our friend's kids that SPAM stands for "Space Ham." It's so sad that they actually believe almost everything we say. I'm terrified that as adults they will make fools of themselves by announcing to other adults that SPAM is really Space Ham. Let's hope they never try to date a Hawaiian.



One of the things the kids will remember from this trip is my husband's MP3 hat. Before we left the mainland he loaded his MP3 player with Hawaiian music and then decided mid-trip to store the MP3 player in his hat. So for the last few days, he's had slide-guitar and ukulele songs eminating from his head. He's convinced that if he can figure out a way to make his MP3 hat waterproof, he'll make a fortune.



We decided to spend the morning driving up along the west coast, on the leeward side of the island, to Yokohama Bay. While the scenery itself is spectacular, the beaches consist of one shanty-town after another. At first we thought they were just campers until we realized that these were permanent "residents."

Our trip was cut short when Sylvia (the four-year-old... not pictured) fell or jumped into volcanic mud. Her parents were understandably upset but we hid behind the van and howled. She looked like she had been dipped in chocolate. We should have rolled her in the sand to add the chopped nut effect.



Our last vacation day is currently in a rain delay. We leave tonight at 11:30 so we we're hoping to get in some last minute pool and shave ice fun. We may just have to settle for a nap.

I can't say I'm looking forward to another 20-hour travel day (we change planes in LA and Atlanta) but I'm sure we'll spend most of our time plotting our return.