Hawaiian Observations

• Crazy drivers (no offense...), especially on Oahu. Picture: NO blinkers, and quick cut offs and lane changes.  Not a good combination.  Aloha!

• Narrow roads - not a lot of wiggle room when driving between the lines!  And they are adding a lane on the H-1 expressway, a main thoroughfare to and from Honolulu, taking the lanes down to 10 feet each to create a 4th lane.

• No helmet law, which when combined with the first two observations, makes driving a motorcycle in Hawaii a death wish. I've been meaning to look up the motorcycle death rates in Hawaii to test that theory... (side note: there were 2 motorcycle deaths on the islands during our visit - both were wearing helmets...)

The latest statistic I could find from NHTSA - 26 Total motorcycle fatalities in 2010. Of those, 21 were unhelmeted.

• People ride in the beds of their pickup trucks - not just the 'extra' guy, but the whole family! Complete with lawn chairs! Crazy sh*t, man! I'll have to look up those stats while I'm at it...

Stats specific to passengers riding in bed of pickup weren't available, but there were 16 deaths of passengers riding in light pickup trucks.

• CRAZY PRICES!  Most things are more expensive, which is to be expected on any island, but $6.12 for a 10 pack of Ho-Hos's or Twinkies?!  At Walmart?!

Here are some other Hawaiian Walmart  'Always Low Prices':

• 1/2 gallon of milk - $3.88
• One apple - $1.50
• Large, seedless watermelon - $10.44
• But if that's too much, you can get a smaller one for only $8.98

Resort prices are even worse - my .99 ABC coffee cost me $4.50 at the coffee shop on the resort. Poor lady in line in front of me paid $31 for two coffees and pastries.  Imagine if she had gone to the restaurant:

$23 for eggs benedict... $18 for pancakes... Oh, but they're lemony!

• Grafitti on the Big Island is eco-friendly - people use white beach rocks to write out names or messages on the black lava fields along the highway. 

At first we thought they were just memorials to people who were killed on the highway (likely tossed from the back of their pickup, or off their motorcycle), but then it just continues and you realize it's probably all of the visitors who can't resist leaving their mark. It is interesting to see how creative people can be.  See the little penguin?  How cute!

Parking spaces are small - this is going to be fun with our Maui rental - a Crown Vic.  Emma aptly named them 'cuddle spaces' instead of parking spaces.  Mike ended up letting us out of the car every time before he parked.  Hilarious!