Honokaa Class Reunion

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On September 30th, Valerie and I accompanied Valerie’s mom, Umeno, and her mom’s good friend Kazuko to Las Vegas for a class reunion for graduates of Honokaa High School, Hawaii.  It was actually Valerie’s dad, Bob, who attended that school since Honokaa was his hometown.  But Mom has attended this annual reunion for many years and enjoys reconnecting with their friends.

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They invited graduates from almost any year so the group had representatives from something like 20 or 30 years of graduating classes.  They had a few events including a luncheon attended by the entire group with entertainment and prize drawings.

Since this was during the Octoberfest season, Valerie and I decided to check out Hofbrauhaus Las Vegas.  Earlier this year, while visiting Munich we went to the original Hofbrauhaus.  The Las Vegas location gets their beer from the brewery in Munich so it was an authentic experience.  It also gave us an opportunity to reminisce about our time in Germany only about 5 months prior.

Pismo Beach/Oceano Dunes

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Immediately after returning to Torrance from Lake Tahoe, we spent a long weekend with some family and friends at a campground near Pismo Beach, along the central coast of California.

Oceano Dunes

Valerie’s son Tim has a truck that is specifically equipped for the type of off-road challenges presented by the sand dunes at Oceano Dunes.  So he organized a family and friends camping trip.  Since we don’t own an RV currently, we rented a trailer from a local business that towed it to the camp site and set it up for us.

Tim gave everybody an opportunity to ride in the truck while he drove across the dunes.  The Oceano Dunes is a State Vehicle Recreational Area consisting of 3,500 acres that runs along the coast just south of Pismo Beach.  The sand is shaped by the weather into steep hills, often with very sudden drops.  All manner of vehicles navigate the dunes and camping is allowed along the coast away from the vehicles.  Everybody enjoyed the opportunity to “ride the dunes” in Tim’s truck.

During our 3 days here, we also visited Avila Beach, Harford Pier, Pismo Beach and had some great meals and plenty of good times.