First day of the trip, when everything was going great and kept going great right up until things didn't go great.

Actually this pic is the only pic I took yesterday. Just couldn't resist snowcapped rockies on the flight from Minneapolis to LA.

My hotel room has a “partial“ ocean view. This is what it looks like if you stand on my balcony and lean out and point the camera just so. That really is Waikiki beach.

Here are Bill and Sherry and Jeanie enjoying breakfast before preparing to explore.

ABC stores in Honolulu are on practically every block. They are like 7-Elevens and ABC means just ABC, not alcoholic beverage commission. Bill needed some sunblock and Sherry and Jeanie helped him shop in our hotel’s ABC store.

Bill is ready to comb Waikiki beach

The three amigos are prepared to hit the sand.

Our hotel has an arrangement with a beach paraphernalia shop. All we had to do was stop in and give our room numbers and they gave us beach paraphernalia. Here we are headed to Waikiki beach, ready to figure out how to set up the paraphernalia.

There! Sherry says that is the perfect spot!

And so it was.

Bill envied the kids playing in the surf. He really wanted to go jump off that wall.

But he played it safe.

Mostly.

He found that Waikiki Beach has not improved since his last visit.  It's so beautiful to look at, but hidden under the lovely surf are huge hunks of lava that are tough on the toes even when you're wearing sandals.  So how come Bill looks so happy? Guess Hawaii has that effect on people.

Jeanie has spotted something over there.

Chairs, umbrella, towels, sun, and sand. Just the right amount of paraphernalia. What more could we want?

Lunch. That’s what we want. So the paraphernalia got returned, and after a short rest we headed off to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.

The hotel is pink, and so are the umbrellas at its Mai Tai restaurant right out there on the beach.

Sherry found fried lemon slices mixed in with her shrimp and grits.

We found Hawaiian French fries delicious!

Bill ordered a froufrou drink. Well, he is in Hawaii, so isn’t it required?

He just had to buy a Hawaiian shirt at the hotel’s Panama hat shop.

And now here we are back at the hotel, out by the pool, ready to enjoy a relaxing evening in a gorgeous setting with tropical breezes and a brilliant sunset over there behind one of those high rises probably.

What could possibly go wrong?

See that step?  Well, Bill didn't.

And his knee is pretty severely damaged.

This is bad.  Very bad. He's about to spend a week in Paradise and now he can barely walk.

billanderson601@yahoo.com