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The second part of my trip was better in some ways and worse in others.  After LOST 2014, I didn’t have a schedule of activities, which left me free to do whatever I wanted.  However, I was alone most of time and there were occasions when I had time to kill, but not really anything I could do.  Not having a car hampered me a little, because I couldn’t go to some places by bus before they closed.

On Tuesday, I did a lot of walking around to explore Honolulu.  I was still getting used to the bus system at this point.  Once I got on the something like the 9 bus, but it turned out to be the 9S bus, which went to a completely different place.  Each bus said the areas it was stopping by, so maybe if I knew the area better I wouldn’t have as many problems.  I only wasted a little money though.  I got to see the Christian academy where the last scene of LOST was filmed. I think other scenes were filmed there as well. I went to see another movie this night.  It was The Giver, which was much better than I thought it would be.  It seems like a lot of people don’t like to go see movies while on vacation, but I do.

On Wednesday, I went to Diamondhead and hiked all the way to the top.  I was so tired and sweaty by the time I got to the top. Afterwards, I took another trip to Waikiki Beach.  I had wanted to go to a non-touristy beach, but this one was more convenient.  I got dinner at a cheeseburger place.  I went to see another movie, A Walk Through the Tombstones.  It wasn’t as good as I was hoping it would be, but it was still solid.

On Thursday, we found out that Bonnie Craft passed away.  Bonnie is a big time LOST fan.  I never met her in person. She was one of the LOST fans who friended me on social media leading up to LOST 2014.  I exchanged a few messages with her on Facebook.  I think she was the one behind the thank you video that was played at the final event because she asked for photos of us.  They told us then that she had pneumonia and wasn’t able to attend LOST 2014.  I don’t think I knew at the time that she was actually in Hawaii.  I heard this day that some met her at the check-in before the Jorge Garcia Q&A, but I don’t think I did. After  I found out that she had passed, I saw her last posts from Hawaii telling people to go on without her because she wasn’t feeling well.  I then saw tweets from earlier where her sister was trying to get an update on her condition from  and shortly after that the news broke.  Very sad.  That day I went on another hike, this time to Manoa Falls.  It rained on me a good bit of the hike, which was fine because it cooled things down.  I ate dinner at a Korean BBQ place and wondered the city until it was time for bed.

On Friday, I didn’t plan on doing much because I was tired.  People came over at 8 am to do an inspection on the apartment I was in and to fix something.  I did some podcast prep after they left.  It rained a good bit that day.  I didn’t get to see a friend like we  had planned this day because he was busy entertaining another firmed from Minnesota.  Maybe I’ll see him next time I’m in Hawaii.  It rained a good bit this day..  I ate dinner at a another burger place and went back to my room after that.

On Saturday morning I went to airport way early.  I was just ready to get out of that apartment and start making my way home.  Someone I met at the last LOST 2014 event was on my plane.  I tried to get his attention before we boarded, but I don’t think he saw me.  We landed in Portland a little after midnight and I made it home after midnight. It was so cold compared to Hawaii.

A few more observations:

• I saw a lot of military people, probably because of the nearby military base.
• So many places there were cash only.  I didn’t eat at some places because of that.
• I had shave ice almost every day.  It’s great!
• I think I became an expert at the bus system by the time I left.  But I was relying heavily on Google Maps, which tells you exactly which buses to take and where to transfer.
• I got to see a lot of crazies on the buses, but they weren’t that bad.
• I never felt like I was in any danger while I was wondering through unfamiliar neighborhoods late at night.

I had a great time in Hawaii.  It was expensive, but it was worth it.  I don’t want to go anywhere else for a while.  I am worn out.  I have a few trips already planned for 2015, but they are more spread out.  I’m pretty sure I’m not going on the one I have planned for January.  I just want to stay home.  In 2016, I think I’ll take fewer trips and dedicate more time and money to each one.

I’m so ready for Fall.

I’m in Hawaii!!! It’s my first time here.  I came here for the LOST 2014 fan event, but also just to visit Hawaii.  Instead of waiting for the end of the trip to write one long entry, I decided to break it up into two entries.

I left Portland Friday morning.  The plane ride was the longest I’ve ever been on.  I think it was about 5.5 hours.  It was light flight with not so many people but lots of cargo.  Because of that, the plane’s balance was off.  They made some people in the front of the plane move to the back to balance things out.  I had never heard of that happening before.  The pilot said he had never seen that on so large a plane.  Someone who still doesn’t really like flying doesn’t want to hear about problems with the plane.  The flight was smooth except for the final descent.  We had some of the worst turbulence I’ve even felt.

The first thing I noticed when I got here was the heat.  Everyone is saying it is unseasonable warm.  I keep hearing people say that this is the time of the year that the trade winds stop, so it gets hot, but this year is worse than normal.  I’m sweating so much that I feel unclean the whole time.  I don’t care that it’ll be after midnight when I get home in Portland.  I’m taking a nice, long bath.

This is my 5^th trip since the middle of July, so I’ve been trying to save money each step of the way.  I went the Airbnb route to find a place to stay while I’m here.  It’s a nice apartment in a nice neighborhood, close to some non-touristy places to eat.  The biggest drawback is that I’m a couple of miles from where the LOST 2014 event was.  I’m relying on public transportation to get around, so it’s a bit of a hassle to get over there.  I can’t really come back here to rest between events, so I’m out in the heat pretty much all day. I feel clean for about 5 minutes after a shower then, I feel like I need another one. I probably should have staying at the event hotel while the event was going on and then moved to a less expensive place when it ended.  Also, I should have rented a car, which I still might do.  Don’t be so cheap, Will.  But that’s how you afford to do a lot of the things you do.  Decisions decisions.

Friday after I got in, I chilled at at tea café while I waited for my host to get off work.  After I “checked in”, I walked around this neighbor and did some grocery shopping. My host is a really nice guy.  He gave me some tips on where to eat, what to eat, and some places to explore.   He does have company sometimes, and at times they’re making lots of noise when I’m trying to sleep.

On Saturday, LOST 2014 began.  The first thing was a Q&A session with Jorge Garcia.  He was great.  I got to get his autograph and get a picture taken with him.  We had an awkward moment hugging each other because the person taking the pic couldn’t figure out how to take a pic with my camera.  The same thing happened with Chris Mulkey at the Twin Peaks Festival.  After this I started giving people instructions on how to use my camera.  Not everybody listened though.  After the Q&A, I had some time to kill so I explored a little.  I got some shave ice like my host suggested.  It was delicious.  I also went to Waikiki Beach for a little while.  There were some awesome beach bodies on display.  I wish I could look like that.  Next, I went to the event hotel and read in the lobby for a couple of hours.  I followed the Mississippi State game while I was doing this.  Then it was time for the welcome reception and costume contest.  At this event and the Q&A, I got to meet people that I had become friends with on Twitter and Facebook leading up to this weekend.  There were a lot of cool costumes.  I really have to dress up for one of these events. The winner was a Bad Robot / Claire thing.

The only thing I had planned Sunday was a tour of the LOST filming locations.  It was so hot, but it was worth it.  We got to see Dharmaville, the beach that was used as the crash site in the pilot and for other scenes throughout the show, the place where the Nigerian village scenes where shot, the stadium where Desmond met Jack,  the road where Kate was on in the Australian outback, the waterfall where Kate and Sawyer found the Halliburton, the convention center that served as the Sydney airport, a gas station which I think was involved in Kate’s storyline, and a church that was involved in Sawyer’s storyline, and probably some other things I’m forgetting.  Some places we drove by without stopping.   I know some people have gone to the church used in “The End”.  I may try to do that before I leave.  The guide on our tour wasn’t that great.  He knew a lot about Hawaii, but didn’t know as much about LOST as I would’ve have liked, just the facts he had in his notes.  At first he tried to tell us that Sawyer met Jack at the stadium, but the people on the bus quickly corrected him.  He seemed to have trouble finding his words at times.  The scenery that we saw on the tour was beautiful.  After the tour I went to the beach for a little while and then I went to a movie theater and sat in some air conditioning for a little while.  The apartment that I’m staying in doesn’t have A/C.  The Drop is a pretty good movie, 4 out of 5 stars.

Monday was the final day of LOST 2014, which coincided with the 10^th anniversary of the premiere of LOST.  I slept late that day because the first scheduled event was the group photo that afternoon.  I got there early like I did for every event.  While I was waiting I felt something hit my shoulder.  I turned around and saw something orange and gross on my shoulder.  I don’t know if it was from a fruit or if it was bird poop.  Do birds poop orange?  I immediately took my shirt off, walked shirtless across the street, and bought another shirt.  There are shirtless people all over the place here, even inside stores, so it wasn’t a big deal to anyone else.  It was for me though.  It’s probably weird that I have no trouble being naked around people indoors, but not shirtless in public.  I did go to that nude beach last month though.  That seems like a really long time ago. Anyway, after the photo, I got something to eat and hung out on the beach some more.  That night was the anniversary party and charity auction.  They had LOST-themed food.  After the expected acknowledgments of everyone’s hard work, we saw pre-recorded messages from a few of the cast members and a thank you video for the event’s organizer.  Also, they announced LOST 2020 to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the LOST finale.  They said they are looking at locations that would make it easier for more cast members to attend.  I’m assuming it’s going to be in L.A.

I had a great time at LOST 2014.  I wish there were more activities, so there wasn’t so much down time.  If I were staying at the event’s hotel, it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal. I think I missed out on social opportunities by being so far away from everybody, but I did have fun meeting people I did from various places.  I think there were 15 countries represented and I walked to people from all over the United States.  LOST has brought a lot of people together.  I’ve made a lot of friends over the years that I never would have if not for LOST.  I’m glad we found each other. If at all possible, I will be attending LOST 2020.