We took a walk down along the Waikiki beach. Steve thought he might go surfing LOL. Hurricane Lane is still heading toward us and some preparations actually began yesterday, Thursday, August 23, 2018 in Waikiki, Oahu. Sand bags began appearing, grocery store shelves were emptying of ramen, canned tuna, peanut butter and water.

We took a bus ride to Ala Moana Shopping Center. It was very busy with shoppers even though many of the stores were closing at either 2 PM or 4 PM. Like in Florida, the shopping mall is a great place to kill some time in a Hurricane Warning with the local kids off of school and the tourists not able to enjoy the sun due to the drizzly weather. Buses are stopping at 6 PM so we head back to Moana Brewing to Hurricane party with the rest of the people waiting. .

As of the 5 AM, August 24 Hurricane Center update shows Hurricane Lane moving very slowly and Oahu is now out of the cone of uncertainty. Oahu being on the edge of the cone may have Cat 1 force wind gusts and lots of rain. Predictions are for up to 20 inches of rain.

Our hotel has generators so we shouldn’t experience power loss. As for the rain, not quite sure how that will affect the Waikiki area and then our ability to get out to Disney Aulani on Saturday morning. The local news says that there is 270,000 visitors on Oahu not including people who might have booked via AirBnB or VRBO. There will be no bus services all day Friday. It seems there is expectation that Sunday will return to normal.

We did enjoy a great dinner with our Oahu friends last night at Hy’s Steakhouse. Quite the place – paneled walls with oil paintings, several different levels of rooms, quaint bar area and it was packed. One of the few restaurants that were still open last night for dinner. Great meal with friends.

Today, we will spend our time in the hotel waiting for the storm to pass. There is an interesting book on the shelf in our room. Maybe we will read it. Then we will head out tonight and report what we see. We were hoping to see some big waves!