Rocket Science can be Fun
Well… at least we didn’t get rained out on Kauai. The weather was beautiful and I couldn’t resist taking some pictures upon take-off from Oahu. I was surprised they came out at all because the window I was sitting next to was so dirty I could barely see through it. I finally had to lean back and use the window over my shoulder. Luckily the flight wasn’t full and the seat behind me was empty.
Ignoring the hotspot you can see part of Oahu as we left the ground. I love to fly but I just never seem to have a camera with me when I do.
The rest of the group arrived several hours before so of course I had to take a taxi from the airport. That’s a story in itself, but I’ll be nice. Suffice it to say that, having never been to Kauai before it would have been nice for one of my "Rocket Science" buddies to have taken the trouble to meet me at the airport since it was only about 15min. away from our hotel. As it was I spent several hours wandering about on foot, in the dark, in the rain, after being dropped off looking for a place to eat while the rest partied. They were kind enough, however, to offer me a beer when they stumbled in from their excursion.
Somebody please tell me who in their right mind gets up at 4:00am? I mean really, it isn’t like we had to get up early so we could sneak up on them or anything. They’re lucky I didn’t have a hangover. Waking me up at 4:00am could have been hazardous to their health. Of course I did make sure I dropped objects that would make loud noises just in case they weren’t all awake yet. The look of pained expressions once the rockets started going off (do you know how loud those suckers can be?) gave me some satisfaction.
After so much rain the past month it really was great to see the sun for a day. The rain actually did hold off until we’d all launched our rockets. The sky was beautiful.
As a note, Kauai (on the left) is an older island than Oahu by several million years. Whereas the mountains on Oahu just sort of jut sharply straight up, the mountains on Kauai are more rounded—
a result of the erosion that will eventually return all the islands to the sea.