A Couple of Coconuts: The Pineapple Express

Yellow, tart, sweet, refreshing, juicy...pineapple....halakahiki to the Hawaiians.
Today our adventure took us to the Dole Plantation, which is on the road from Helemano into Wahiawa. The main building looks like a typical manse from the early 1900s, with tall trees providing a canopy over the entrance.
Jonna and I were particularly interested in one type of tree...the gum tree. The bark looks like striped, fruity gum. The texture is very soft, like rubber and as we were taking a picture a woman walked over and said very loudly, "I hadn't even noticed those trees until I saw you standing there!!!!!" She had startled both of us, making us think we were in trouble for touching the flora!
The clouds were thicker today, mixed with sun so we decided to check out the items for sale inside the main house before venturing into the outdoor activities.
We both remarked that Dole has really thought of every angle when it comes to selling pineapple.  Golf club covers, golf tees, yellow monkeys, yellow bears, gold pineapple jewelry, pineapple candy, chocolate-covered pineapple candy, pineapple BBQ sauce, pineapple popcorn, pineapple can openers, bottle openers....I could go on and on......We found a keychain with my Hawaiian name on it...Kukana. I told Jonna that I thought it sounded like a whale at Sea World!

We headed out the back door to purchase tickets to ride the Pineapple Express; a train that takes you two miles around the plantation and gives interesting information about the soil (oxidized iron), the altitude necessary for growing pineapples (which take 18 months to harvest), and the Dole family's influence in the area economy. Two bonuses on the trip were seeing Helemano Reserve from the train, and finally learning how to pronounce Wahiawa (Wah-ee-wah). :)
Sanford P. Dole, who came to Hawai'i in 1899, sold fruit to the locals before expanding the operation and empire to its current status.  When they outgrew the area he purchased a large share of land on the island of Lana'i, which now boasts the world's largest pineapple plantation.
After our train tour we tackled the Pineapple Garden Maze, which is the world's largest maze. The lack of breeze limited our time in there but we did manage to find 3 of the treasures.
Now was the best part...we stood in line to taste the "Dole Whip," which is pineapple ice cream. We decided on the Pineapple Sipper Float, composed of pineapple/vanilla swirl ice cream floating in pineapple juice. I know it sounds weird, but it was sooooooo delicious.
The main house in Wahiawa was built in 1900 and has a wide lanai in the front, with beautiful views of the mountains. It was a perfect spot to just sit and eat our frothy goodness and enjoy the cool breeze.
All in all we spent about 4 hours there and I would highly recommend it if you're ever on the road to Wahiawa.

Kukana and Io'ana