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| Honolulu International Airport |
The day we had been waiting for finally arrived! In April of last year, Denise and Art volunteered at Pu'u Kahea, a Baptist Conference Center in Waianae on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. They loved it, came home excited about all they had experienced and accomplished, and suggested that Tim and I apply to volunteer. We did, and on Monday, August 31st we boarded a plane at RDU and headed for Honolulu, Hawaii by way of Dallas, Texas.
(Did you know that it takes as long to fly from California to Hawaii as it does to fly from North Carolina to California? It's a long way!) It took over 3 hours to fly to Dallas, then another 8 1/2 hours to fly to Hawaii. The skies were cloudy as we flew into Honolulu, but when we broke through the clouds...oh my. Breathtaking!
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| Tim looks a little goofy, but it's a little hard to take a group selfie! |
Because he knew Denise and I were sisters, the director of the conference center sent Denise and Art to pick us up from the airport. They greeted us with leis--shell leis from Pu'u Kahea, and a special orchid lei from them to me! We traveled about 35 miles from Honolulu to Waianae where the Pu'u Kahea Conference Center (PKCC) is located. Waianae is a small town located on the Leeward (west) side of the island, and I'll tell you more about it later.
The Plantation Hale (pronounced
holly and meaning
house) is the center point of the PKCC campus. The house, outbuildings, and grounds were a former sugar plantation. I'll tell you more about that later too, but this was our first glimpse of our home for the next month..
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| The Plantation Hale, originally the main house of a sugar plantation |
Okay, not exactly OUR home, but it
is the location of meetings, five guest rooms, and all guest meals. It is definitely the focal point of the campus.
THIS is our home for the next month! Ours is the apartment on the right, and that's my golf cart!
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| The name of our cottage is Makai, it means "beach", and it's named that because it's the volunteer cottage closest to the water. Denise and Art are in Mauka, it means "mountains", and it is closest to the mountain range. |
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| A one room (plus bath) efficiency apartment... |
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| ...with a bed, dresser, sofa, table for two, sink, stove, and refrigerator... |
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| ...and a BIG bathroom! |
We quickly unpacked our bags (one carry-on each--didn't take long), and decided to walk the few blocks to the "downtown" area for dinner with Denise, Art, and Dexter. Dexter is a fellow volunteer, and is a retired minister from Charlotte, NC. Denise and Art suggested a restaurant, and I cannot imagine a better ending to our first day in Hawaii!
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| Our view from the Waianae Army Rec Center where we ate dinner |
"And the evening and the morning were the first day." Genesis 1:5
