Marilyn - Globe Experience

Well, today is the first of November, the day I have been looking forward to for quite a while. I am not riding yet, but have made a lot of observations over the past few months related to this experience.
First, I was hoping to ride my bike to the supermarket in my hometown of Mililani, but discovered there are no bikeracks there. That is a situation that needs to be remedied. I will still shop, but will have to find a safe place to leave my bike while in the store.
Earlier this year, my husband and I visited both Warsaw and Krakow in Poland. I was amazed at the well marked bike lanes they have. (will include a picture in a later post). Other cities in Europe have them as well, especially countries like Sweden and Germany. It seems we are very far behind in this respect in Hawaii, and I would imagine in the rest of the US as well.
Last week, we attended our son's wedding in Santa Barbara. Now, there is a town where bicycles are everywhere. On the way back we stopped over in Los Angeles--there, car is king and most parts I saw were not bike friendly.
I am concerned about safety while riding , so am looking for a helmet that fits and is colorful. I will look around as it seems comfort is more important than attractiveness in this case. Good thing my hair is short.
Friends tell me I must get my bicycle licensed--they seem to think it is a mysterious process, so am interested in finding out how the bureaucracy has made such a seemingly simple thing complicated.
Last, I found there is another bike blogger here in Hawaii. We may go riding together one day and am interested in finding more people here who are inerested in making this Island a safer place to ride.
Aloha, Marilyn