Trees at the Lyon Arboretum Near Honolulu

Our first full day in Hawaii was not a big hit with Martine. I wanted to go to the Lyon Arboretum, a large botanical garden in the mountains above Manoa run by the University of Hawaii. We could have taken a bus to a street about 0.8 miles downhill from the arboretum, but Martine did not like walking uphill that far. So we took a taxi from the Ala Moana Shopping Center.

On the way to the Arboretum, it started to drizzle; and Martine started to feel anxiety over not having her umbrella or raincoat with her. When we got to our destination, I arranged for the taxi to pick us up at 2 PM. It continued to rain on and off, so Martine did not want to walk about in the rain. So she sat down inside while I walked around.

The Arboretum is high enough in the mountains that it not only rains every day, but it rains on and off constantly. While Martine was sitting down by the gift shop, I walked around until just before the cab was due. It was beautiful. Though I had no protection against the rain, it was warm and gentle and intermittent enough not to wet me through. In the end, I wound up taking one of the trails to its end and returned to Martine, who was stewing in her chair.

To make matters worse, the cab never came. I gave the driver a generous tip; but for some unexplained reason, he shined us off. And that despite his calling me on my cell phone to say that he was coming! The park closed at 3 PM, so at that point we started walking downhill toward the #5 bus layover stop, still intending to take the cab should it arrive. Alas, it never did.

Unexpected things can happen on a trip. I believe one has to be flexible. I had researched where the bus stop was, and we eventually made it in about an hour (including several rest stops). The bus came in time and took us back to Ala Moana, where we ate dinner before returning by the #20 to Waikiki.

It’s a pity that Martine couldn’t enjoy the Arboretum. I did, even at the cost of a nasty blister on my right foot from the steep downhill grade. Such is life.