One thing I want to mention that I didn't include in my earlier post (when Shane spent the time with me in Waikiki) is the interesting parking garage we ran across. We were walking down an alley the night before we were to visit Pearl Harbor when we noticed a parking garage that "lifts"
cars to 9 different levels to park . Shane had heard of these but never had seen one. I had neither heard of nor seen one. We talked with the operator and he said the idea originated in Japan and New York city had some he knew of. Before I left Waikiki, I went back and shot a video of a mustang being parked. I thought it was a very interesting find that we just happened on.

Now....on with today's journal entry:
The day after the "No Jump Day", I hooked up with a parasailing company. I'm picked up around 7:40 in the morning at the Seaside Hawaiian Hostel. There are some clouds in the sky but I am assured it will not affect the parasailing like it did the skydiving. After a few minutes ride on the van, we arrived at a beautiful harbor.

The harbor, we are told, is the same one that the crew of the minnow sailed from on that fateful day. Yes, from this harbor the T.V. show "Gilligans' Island" had it's opening scene filmed. I do hope our trip is not as long as theirs was .

The clouds are building and winds are increasing. There is a light off-and-on sprinkle.

We board our boat and head out further and further from shore. We travel a good ways and the views are wonderful, even on a partly cloudy day. There is a rainbow that goes from one point on the horizon to the other.

Once on board we are strapped into our harness for the ride up 600 feet above the water. We will launch from the deck and return to the deck for landing. During the ride in the air, though, we are dipped in the water three times.

I take my waterproof camera but the ride is rough and bumpy in the air. I need two hands to hold the straps on the chute. I try to hold the camera and the strap with one hand. My camera moves around so much I am not sure if I am getting a good video. Later, when looking at the video, I find I had some fingers over the lens much of the time, but good news is, I held on!

Later in the day I caught a flight back to Maui to spend a few more days with Shane . We booked a reservation to attend a luau. Normally there is a waiting list of one to three months for tickets to this popular luau, but, with Shane's connections, we landed a VIP pass to what most agreed was the best luau on Maui.

As we entered we were each given a fresh tropical flower lei and a mai tai to get us in the Hawaiian spirit for the night.

We bi-passed the long lines of people waiting to be seated as our VIP pass entitled us to be led by our personal waiter to our waiting table. There was plenty of time before the meal was served to walk around the beach area and look at the crafts on display, with incredible views of Lanai and Molokai. We enjoyed the sunset and watched the guest pig being roasted for us to enjoy later. A crowd gathered as the Kalua pig was unearthed from the imu, a traditional Hawaiian underground oven. After the imu ceremony, dinner was served. The food was abundant and there was a great choice of whatever you might feel the hunger for.

We were at The Old Lahaina Luau. It seemed to be the favorite Maui luau with Hawaiian visitors as well as the locals. The attention to authentic Hawaiian detail was evident. The hula show told the story of the history of the islands. We both enjoyed the show and got some nice photos to keep. It was the first luau for both Shane and myself and I think we both had a really great night.