Aloha #2

The next day was Sunday, so we went to church.  We chose to attend the Pearl Harbor church of Christ, which is on the navy base, or close to it.  I'm not sure, but I do know that the navy owns the land that the church building sits on.

I'm really glad we chose this one because the members there create a very friendly loving atmosphere; they all seemed to have a close family type bond with each other and of course were eager to welcome all visitors, giving each of us a shell necklace.  But what I really liked was meeting people who know people that we know up here in Alaska.  The preacher there used to preach up here in Anchor Point, so he knows our preacher really well, and we also met other members who know some of the members in our congregation (there were a few people there that used to live up here).  It's weird how the world can seem so small when we're traveling to other faraway places.  It's really neat to be able to visit other congregations and have that web of connection with mutual friends.

Here is a picture of PW standing by a tree in the church yard.  The necklace they gave her complimented her dress really well.

We didn't know what touristy things would be open on a Sunday, and the day was half spent by now, so, since we were at the navy base, we decided to visit the NEX (Navy Exchange) and let PW satisfy her urge to go shopping.

The was a very nice NEX.  It was like a huge mall.  At first I was confused because they had a big food court in there, and it seemed funny to me that they just let anyone (non-military) come in and eat from their food court. (apparently this navy base is open to the public?) But entering the stores in the NEX required a military ID, so I guess that's where the limits are.  The NEX store was really big (compared to our BX/PX).  It had two levels and lots and lots of clothes.  I felt like I was in JCPenny's.  So we hung around in there for awhile (wasted time looking for Chuck after we separated), bought a few items, and then tried to go to an outdoor marketplace that someone from church suggested.  But we got there half an hour before they closed (at 3:00!), and we didn't wanna pay for parking for half an hour, so we didn't go there.  

So we went to Hickam AFB, and drove around - Chuck was looking for the spot where he worked when he was on a TDY in the Guard.  He said they were building steps for a building and he eventually found it, and said "those are the steps that we built".  Too bad I didn't get a picture of it, but it's just some cement steps.  Use your imagination.

Then we came to a place to sit down on some rocks by the shore and just do nothing.  And we ate the macadamia chocolates that we bought at the NEX.

Doing nothing was one of Chuck's favorite things to do cuz it didn't cost any money.

Eventually we went back to the cabin and PW decided to test her skills at boogie boarding.

Evening came, and Chuck wanted to hit some balls on the driving range.  On Bellows they have this little trailer where you can go in and rent all kinds of stuff for pretty cheap.  I think Chuck paid $5 to keep the golf clubs for 24 hours.

So that was pretty much it for Sunday.  Just kind of a very relaxing day.