melchtour: Lana'i

Gary and I went to the island of Lanai over the weekend to visit some friends who are living there.

Lanai surprised me. I was picturing a small pancake-of-an-island, barren with lots of dry shrubs and eroded hills and very warm.

On the contrary, it was huge, green and vast, kinda hilly and cliffy too. And it was cold!

MAP OF LANAI

Lanai, Maui and Molokai are so close to each other.

MOLOKAI OR MAUI (BACKGROUND) LANAI (FOREGROUND)

Getting to Lanai was like riding a bus. We started in Oahu, filled the plane, dropped off passengers in Molokai, exchanged them for people going to Oahu, then we went to Lanai... All six of us including Gary and I.

I liked the airport compared to some of the other islands. The size of an airport doesn't matter. It was clean, friendly and welcoming.

We saw Papa Don right away. He was talking to Daisy who works there!

Papa Don is a real country fella. Boots, cowboy hat, and a huge SUV parked right in front of the door. He looked real happy to see us.

It took us about ten minutes to drive away from the middle of no where and head into town.

We past an old police station.

And an old prison.

There are the only two grocery stores.

Papa Don calls this the mall.

The homes are in walking distance.

This is our home for the weekend...

Papa Don and Linda had several pets. This is Isabel, their tiny black hen. As soon as she greeted us she lost her voice, but it didn't stop her from trying. What a chick!

ISABEL

This is Dexter. It took him a few hours to like us. But when he did, he was like a pit bull but a cat. Pushy, literally and affection.

Linda was surprised Dexter even got close to us... Probably because I got nails and I got the time.

There are only two restaurants, mom-and-pops style... and they're right next to each other. The fancier places are at the resort.

In 2007 Lanai got a new Kingdom Hall. It was right after Gary and I got married. We really wanted to be part of it but the brothers said they were giving us "Newly weds" a year off. Later we heard it was the best project ever!

...thats ok... their all still single. j/k lol.

OLD KH (SKETCH)

OLD KH (ACTUAL)

The kingdom hall is now down the street from the old one. It is right next to a pine forest.

Theres about 40-something publishers and about 80 were in attendance.

We bumped into a few friends from Oahu. Including our snow boarding friends (middle).

After the morning session, we had lunch.

Unlike Oahu, here they just walk home and walk back with a meal to share. Its one big-daddy-buffet!

One sister went home to walk her dog. Its real cool and laid back here.

By the end of lunch on the first day, we all knew each others names. By then end of the assembly we knew their whole story! Who was related to who, who works where, who made the delicious banana cream pie...

Saturday after the assembly, Papa Don got a call from the Plunketts. Someone wanted deer meat to take home to Oahu. So Don and Gary got to go. How cool is that!

Papa Don made Gary change into his hunting clothes. And off they went.

When they got home, I asked how was it. Gary said they were shooting Bambi. He said they all look like Bambi.

The next day Becky (who's staying at the Plunkett's) told me she stopped her husband from going. I asked how come? She said because she didn't want him to get shot!

I started to laugh so hard so she asked why? I told her its because I was telling my husband, You should go!

The last day we felt like this was our home congregation.

This is Tomomi.

We meet Johnny and Jamie. They are from San Fransisco. They fell in love with Lanai and moved here three months ago. I can see why they love it here.

JOHNNY&JAMIE

Jeff and Gloria Chu were very memorable. Jeff is a character. He can have a whole conversation using just questions.

Joeimae brought us a warm gift of fresh bread in a Lanai bag to all of us Oahu-ans. Each bag was different. What a sweet lady.

This is Leonard's bag. Lenny is from East Oahu. He gave several talks. Very nice brother.

Sunday afternoon after the assembly, the guys wanted to play basketball. We were torn.

So we went to the beach.

BEACH ROAD

The road reminded me of Mauna Kea's on the Big Island. Except not at 10,000 feet. We had a clear view of Maui and it looked like it was sizing us up and winning. They had their city lights on, as for us in our car group, we were the only life around.

BEACH FRONT PARKING

At least we didn't need to fight for parking. Just open the door and jump in! We started late so it got dark fast. Papa Don showed us a really cool drinking spot but we had to brave the super scary cave of shrubs. Inside, there was a clearing and a few trees with a piece of wood around it acting as a table.

The next day was our last. We started it with breakfast at the Chu's.

Gloria made plain pancakes, banana pancakes, macadamia pancakes, bacon made three different ways, and two types of quiches.

CHUS RESIDENCE

Amazing breakfast. Amazing couple.

Next stop, Manele. This is where the tourist are.

MANELE HARBOR

They have unreal reefs here. I'd like to dive in one day. I heard they have fish only unique to Lanai.

MANELE RESORT

The locals filled this place up shortly after this picture was taken.

MANELE BAY

Queens Bath is a natural salt-water pool, and during assembly time, Lanai-ans get baptized here.

Back in the day, Lanai and Molokai took turns having assemblies. So our Molokai friend Rita got baptized in this very pool.

Around the corner from Queens Bath is this incredible beach.

A secluded bay surrounded by a rocky cliff with one part broken off. The sand looks green, the water crystal clear and the surf, decent.

Finally, in the afternoon, we checked in at the airport. The young guy who checked us in was our pilot. He said we were late for check in.

I thought we were on Lanai's time but I think he is from Oahu. Our airplane had about nine seats.

Our pilot was a pretty cool guy, he leaned over the cock pit to talk to us. We all kinda made friends on the plane.

20 minutes later, we see Diamond Head.