Vilate Nyman Johnson--Part 4

 

The Later Years-Vacations and Travel 

In June of 1962 we took a trip by car with…[Jim’s family] to the Seattle Worlds Fair. This was the first Worlds Fair that we had ever been to and we enjoyed it so much. Nyman and Carl were living in Seattle at the time and they really showed us around the Fair and the Northwest. We were there several days so we were able to see it all.

One day in January of 1964, Ollie mentioned it would be nice to go to Hawaii on a second honeymoon. Then after thinking it over for quit a while, we thought that it would be fine if we could get another couple to go with us. So we asked our friends the M.E. Schvaneveldts, (Mel and Jennie) what they thought about going to Hawaii on a trip. They thought that would be a fine idea, so we made all arrangements with the travel agency and got our reservations. We flew from Salt Lake City to San Francisco on 26 January 1964. This was my first plane ride. We boarded a 707 jet liner, Pan American in San Francisco, this plane had seats for 180 and all were filled. We got to Honolulu Airport at 2:30 p.m. It took us about four hours to cross the Pacific Ocean. So it was all a new experience for me. The trip across the ocean was just marvelous, as smooth as riding on a super highway.

We were greeted at the Honolulu Airport by a Hawaiian couple, greeting us in the Hawaiian fashion with a kiss on the cheek and placing a laie of lilies around our neck. After getting our baggage they took us to the waiting limousine. They took us to the Breaker Hotel. We had a nice apartment, living room, bedroom, twin beds, and a kitchenette where we could cook a little if we wanted to.

The hotel was built around a lovely swimming pool. The flowers and plants and trees were all tropical and the most wonderful to see, and the colors were out of this world. We went on tour everyday. We didn’t have to worry about a thing. It was all arranged before we left Logan. They would pick us up at 9:00 a.m. and we would be gone until about 5:30 p.m. Most of the meals were arranged for on our ticket so we didn’t have to worry about that.

Our first dinner was at a lovely restaurant, it consisted of Kentucky fried chicken and all the trimmings, three big spears of the most delicious pineapple we had ever eaten and the most delicious coconut pie.

On 27 January we visited the sugar cane fields and also pineapple plantations, just thousands of acres of them. It takes about fourteen months for the pineapple to mature and be ready for harvest. It was really interesting, we enjoyed it so much.

Our next stop was at the Temple. It was really a sight to see that beautiful structure. It is on the Isle of Oahu.

We visited the Polynesian village. It was very interesting to see the customs and dress of the different Island people.

It was about 1:30 p.m. when they came and got us for the Pearl Harbor Cruise. We saw lots of ships and boats of all kinds. A portion of the sunken ship Utah was showing above the water. We saw the remains of the battle ship Arizona. There were 1102 men on the Arizona and 58 on the battle ship Utah when they went down. They are still there and will remain there. These ships were sunk December 7, 1941, by the Japanese Air Force and that is what caused the U.S. to enter World War II. When we were coming out of Pearl Harbor we saw two big whales, tuna, and porpoise. We visited Waikiki Beach, watched the waves come in, and saw the surf riders and bathers lined up along the beach. It was one of the most outstanding beaches in Honolulu.

At 5:30 p.m. the limousine came after us and we went to the big luau, (Hawaiian feast). We enjoyed three hours of entertainment and feasting in Polynesian style.

We visited the four islands. We flew from one island to the other and saw many interesting places. We left Honolulu at 9:30 a.m., arrived in Kuai, and had our lunch at Cocoa Palms Hotel. We left at 12:30 for a canyon ride. The McKenzie Limousine was there to pick us up. It was such a beautiful ride and the most beautiful canyon one has ever seen. It was classed as the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific.” We passed many thousand acres of sugar cane and also pineapple.

Our room at this hotel was just gorgeous — king size bed, velvet bedspreads, beautiful lamps, tables and chairs. The wash basin in the bathroom was a big shell. We were at this hotel for two nights.  At 7:00 p.m. the boys blew the horn for dinner.

On January 31 our driver picked us up and we went on a river cruise. There were about 50 people on the boat, all tourists. The boat ride was just perfect. The natives sang for us all the way up the river. The captain would point out the interesting places.

We left Maui February 2 at 9:10 and stopped at Honolulu and changed planes, then flew to Hilo on the Isle of Hawaii. The driver was there and took us to a place where they raise orchids and we watched them make lais.

We had lunch at the Volcano House. It was very good food. On this trip we traveled many miles over black lava. It was really interesting but it looked so very destructive. After traveling around all afternoon we came to Kona and to the King Kamehamehale Hotel. We visited the coffee plantations where they process the coffee beans and sack them in burlap bags, ready to be shipped to a factory where they roast the beans and get them ready for the market. The native women make beads out of seeds and pods of many of the plants.

We had our dinner, then the native men and women entertained us with their music and singing. It seems like all the natives can play an instrument. They really enjoy entertaining the visitors.

The next day we went for a boat ride in the bay. It was a fifteen mile trip up the coast that is lined with black lava all the way. The water was very clear and is known as the Coral Bay. This is the bay where Captain James Cook of the British Navy landed when he discovered the Hawaiian Islands in the 1700’s. We could see the coral bottom. There were two Hawaiian boys diving that went to the bottom and brought up pieces of coral.

As we had no schedule for the afternoon, we and the Schvaneveldts hired a taxi and rode forty miles to the biggest cattle ranch in the world — 258,000 acres of cattle range, 35,000 head of cattle and 1500 head of beautiful saddle horses. It was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed it so much.

We had breakfast and got packed as this was the day to leave for home. The guide came for us and took us to the airport.

We left Honolulu for Los Angeles at 3:00 p.m. and arrived in Los Angeles at 10:00 p.m. We were really happy when we landed on U.S. soil. Jeanie and Blaine were there at the airport to meet us and we were happy to see them. They had been to the Temple and were able to get out in time to see our plane land.

We left Los Angeles for Salt Lake City by Western Jet Airlines, 707, and got in Salt Lake City at 2:28 a.m. Reed and Gloria were there to meet us and take us to Logan and HOME. We were so happy to have had such a wonderful trip and were just as happy to be home. It was quite a change to come to 10 below zero from 80 degrees above.

Oliver and I along with…[Jim’s family] went to Southern Utah in June of 1965, and had such a lovely time. We visited Bryce Canyon and it was such a thrilling sight. We also saw the Grand Canyon of the Colorado and Zion Canyon, where we had our breakfast. We then went to St. George and visited Brigham Young’s winter home and also the Jacob Hamblin home. We visited Pipe Springs and the Silver Reef Mine.

On July 23, 1966, we got our train reservations and went to visit Beth, Karl, and family who were in Peoria, Illinois, for the summer. They showed us many places of interest of early church history including Nauvoo and Carthage. At Springfield we visited Lincoln’s Memorial and many other places of interest. We were gone about three weeks, enjoyed ourselves very much and were real happy when we got home to Utah and a cooler climate.

For the past twelve years we have taken a trip in the winter to San Bernardino, California, to visit with Jeanie and Blaine and family. We have enjoyed visiting with our children, and they seem to want us to continue our visits as long as we can.

In 1965, Oliver and I flew to Seattle to visit with Carl and Roberta and family and had a lovely time with them. We had been to Seattle several times before when Nyman was living up there, but this was the first time for us to fly there.

On April 29, 1967, we celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary. We had such a lovely time, and so many of our friends and relatives came to congratulate us for the occasion, in spite of the blizzard going on outside. It started to snow in the morning and as the day wore on it became just like the middle of winter, but in spite of that the people came. All six of our children and twenty grand-children were home for the party. We received so many beautiful flowers and dozens of cards.

(From Vilate Nyman Johnson's history, July 1967)