SUNDAY MEMORIES
Judy Wills
We decided that our last day in Maui would be an easy one, since we had been “on the go” the rest of the time. So we drove up the coastline to Kapalua. Kapalua is a rather expensive “plantation” resort, and home to the PGA tour’s, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions every year. If you are into golf – that’s the course to play, and the tournament to watch.
The drive up the coastline was breathtaking. We stopped quite a few times, just to get some pictures. Fred found some catamarans in a little bay, that was literally “picture perfect.” He found what we think are some coral beds. We saw swimmers on the beach as well as in the water..Blue, blue water. Really gorgeous. We drove down to Lahaina and had lunch at the Aloha Mixed Plate again.
The remainder of the day was spent just resting and packing for our return flight to the mainland the next day. And then we just spent time visiting with Fred’s Dad. It was a quiet and very precious time for us. We decided to have one last meal of that delicious Ono fish, and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
The next day, on our way to the airport, we stopped and took a picture of the island of Molokai – the only one we have without clouds covering the top of the island. Lovely! 
We had a short hop from Maui to Honolulu, and then from there to Seattle. We were late arriving, so we stayed the night in a hotel before driving the next day back to Shelton.
Our Maui trip was over – so fast! We are just so grateful that God allowed us to have this wonderful vacation time – and time with Dad, and for him to rest.
And then, home sweet home – our bed felt soooooo good that night!
The End
On Saturday morning, I made a quick stop at the Richardson R/C club’s Big Bird Flyin in Princeton, TX. The weather was threatening, and there was not a large turnout, but the flyers put on a great show in the short time I was there. Allen and the other club flyers were very cordial, and invited me to stay around for their BBQ dinner, but I needed to head South to maintain my travel schedule.
who had tracked down and ambushed the famous bank robbers, Bonnie & Clyde, but I learned it was actually the Texas Rangers. That evening, at the local Cracker Barrel in Killeen, TX, I had a wonderful catfish dinner, while being serenaded by some of the old time western singers, singing songs like “Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “Hey Good Looking” and many others. When I came out of the Cracker Barrel, I happened to look down and there was the biggest acorn I had ever seen, laying in the grass. My son Billy (The Environmental Consultant) tells me it’s really a “Willow Oak” acorn. However, because of its size, “Texas Acorn” seems to me to fit perfectly into my “Texas Adventure” don’t you think. Boy, by now, was there any question I was in Texas, where everyone seems friendly, and they grow everything “Super Size”? It was taking me back to my roots, and I was loving every minute of it.
quadron hanger, the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum, and the Abilene R/C Society field, where I enjoyed meeting several model flyers from that club. Monday I headed West, stopping to checkout the National WASP WWII Museum in Sweetwater, TX. I had always admired the service the women pilots provided during the war years, flying aircraft of all types from the many factories around the country, to the U.S. Army Air Corps bases where they were most needed. After a great personal tour by Carol, I continued West to the Hanger 25 Air Museum in Big Spring, TX.
Then on Tuesday I had another real treat when I visited the CAF American Airpower Heritage Museum in Midland, TX. This was one of my planned major museum stops, as the AAHM has anywhere from 20 to 40 (mostly flyable) airplanes in their collection, at the museum at any one time, and I was eager to see as many of them as I could. It was well worthwhile, and the museum staff went out of their way to help me get many of the photos I wanted.
In any case, we thoroughly enjoyed the ride, stopping along the way to see some gorgeous scenery. Waterfalls everywhere.
companion B-24, “Diamond Lil”, were to be featured, along with a varity of other WWII Warbirds. I had seen static B-24 and B-29 displays at museums, but this would be a special treat to see these famous WWII Warbirds fly. Then after that experience, I planned to complete an 11-day, 2660-mile circuit of aviation museums and other attractions in Central/West Texas and New Mexico.
he and his wife kept taking things out of his hat; like her watch and hair comb, and his glasses and billfold. Now I knew cowboys used their hats on the trail, to give their horses a drink of water, but I never thought about how convenient those big hats would be to carry things in! Then I arrived at the Dallas airport, many of the people were dressed in their western clothes and boots, and I saw this 10-gallon hat display used as a window decoration for a restaurant. The next thing I noticed, after obtaining my rental car was the Geico billboard sign, with the Gecko wearing a 10-gallon hat. Yep, I was in Texas for sure!
Next, we went into Lahaina proper to see the city and all it holds. One of the most interesting sights is a huge banyan tree. It was planted in 1873, and has grown so that it’s limbs cover the entire city center. Many of the limbs need to have supports so they don’t drag the ground. It is over 60′ high, and covers more than 2/3 of an acre. It was planted to mark 50 years of Protestant missionary work in Lahaina.
That sight gave me a very uncomfortable feeling at the time, knowing I was eating lunch that close to Communist China. Another part of the tour was to the amazing Tiger Balm Gardens. The gardens consist of acres of Chinese figures cut into a hillside, and painted some of the most vivid colors you can imagine. Overall, the trip to Hong Kong was really great, and a one-of-a-lifetime experience. I would like to go back some day to see how it has changed over the years, as modern pictures show a very modern city compared to what I remember.
Japan. I can’t remember just what the occasion was for our visit, but the day after we got there the ship hosted an “Open House” for the Japanese people. We had the ship roped off so the visitors would walk in a line, in one direction, through only certain areas. We had a solid stream of people, walking through the ship all day long, and I didn’t notice until it was all over, but all those wooden shoes the Japanese women wear had chipped the paint right off the decks, everywhere the tour went on the ship.
places I visited while there, was the “Ground Zero Museum.” The museum houses many graphic artifacts from the ruins of the city, and photographs of what was left of the city after the Atomic Bomb (Fat Man) was exploded 1540 feet above the city on August 9, 1945.
Old Things R New 