The USO (United Service Organization) provides programs and services to military personnel and their families around the world. They welcome people at airports returning home from deployment, and provide Internet service, support groups, and other programs to support the morale, welfare, social and entertainment needs of military men and women and their families. To civilians the USO is probably better known for hosting celebrity entertainment tours, often in remote military installations. The 2010 tour includes the cast of "The Sons of Anarchy", NFL athletes, the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and Gary Sinese & the Lt. Dan Band.
With all five branches of the armed services on Oahu, the military and the federal employees who support it make up a large portion of the population and contribute a significant amount to Hawaii's economy. We have been welcomed by military families here and feel privileged that some of the benefits military families receive have been extended to us.
One of those benefits is the ability to participate in some base activities. We took advantage of that to see the Lt. Dan Band, which was formed in 2003 to entertain troops, kick off their 2010 tour at Kaneohe Marine Corps Base. The band covers songs from Jimi Hendrix to Kelly Clarkson and played a family-friendly concert where they constantly expressed their appreciation to the troops.
The base is approximately seven miles from our "estate". Not wanting to worry about parking we set off by bike to the base. This would have been an enjoyable ride if not for the rain that started shortly after we left the house. Now it rains most days of the week, but only for very short spurts. Either there are strong down pours or tiny droplets from a cloudless sky; both typically last about 15 minutes. But not this night. The rain came and went, until is came and stayed. On our ride back it started to pour - buckets, cats & dogs, use whatever idiom makes you think of more rain than you've ever seen. We thought we might need to fashion an ark from our bikes. Sometimes the water was up to the bikes' pedals and once we had to reroute ourselves because the road was flooded. The next morning the sky was clear and the water had drained away.
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