Update!!! More Pictures.
Here are the first quarter ALL of the pictures! (scroll to the bottom).
I hope you enjoy them. It was just so much fun and here are the juicy details…
Day 1 - we got up early and walked the beach resort and it was heaven! All four of us (Janie, Patti, Steph, and I) drove to the North Shore, which was truly unbelievable. The beaches were amazing and the surf was indescribable. The pictures just don’t do it justice. On our way back to our hotel we stopped at the Dole Plantation which I loved! I never knew pineapples grew from the ground – I guess I always just pictures them like bananas or coconuts. This is where we took some goofy pictures and had fresh, mouth watering pineapple! Oh and my fabulous stir fry dinner – Yummy!
Day 2 - Since it was Sunday we headed off to church before going to Pearl Harbor. But, we ended up going to a ward that was having Stake Conference and we already had our USS Arizona tickets so we couldn’t stay. Patti had been to PH a few times so she stayed back and laid on the beach which Janie, Steph and I did some good ol’ fashion site seeing. It was breath taking to see what those who have come before us have sacrificed. While we were at the memorial out in the harbor a lovely elderly woman in a wheelchair was being helped to find a name on the wall…once it was discovered she broke down in tears. We don’t know if it was her husband, brother, father, uncle, or friend but what we knew was that those men and women (on shore) were heros. I am proud to be in the military myself and has really got me thinking of going active army reserve. On a lighter note…We had quite the time flirting with the captain/sailor (as Janie called him) on our boat back from the USS Arizona site. We then headed over to the USS Missouri and did a little self tour. On the way home, we picked up Patti and headed to Janie’s friend Summer’s house on the Western most part of the Island. WOW! We got a full cultural tour with insights from the locals (Summer and her husband have lived there all their lives). We saw the best sunset of my life and so many fun spots – like where they shot Jurassic Park, 50 First Dates and Lost (don’t freak a twinkie Marla!). Dinner consisted of making home-made sushi! Sweeeet! I was a happy girl. Then home to bed – we were beat!
Day 3 – Stephanie and I stayed back at the resort and got some good sun, worked out, and walked the grounds. We ate dinner at the local restaurant and then relaxed after a full day in the sun! This was no small feat for the two of us, who burn like lobsters. Steph didn’t make out so well but I was safe (so far). Janie and Patti headed back up to the North Shore and did some kayaking (saw a few sea turtles) and hiked the Chinaman’s Hat.
Day 4 – We headed out on the Ko Olina Sail boat to snorkel and whale watch. It was awesome to see the whales. In total we saw close to 15!!! Didn’t spot any dolphins as they were up the coast a bit further than us – which was a bummer but yeah for snorkeling. We spent the entire morning out on the water – which became my “lobster-like” demise. Clear blue skies, blue glass water, black swim suit, and only 15 SPF (it was day 4 for pete’s sake!!!) left me toasty. We came back and hit the beach/pool – I know not smart – which made it even better when I fell asleep by the pool. We managed to get all cleaned up and headed towards Waikiki for dinner at the Outrigger and some serious shopping. I was personally in love, in love! with the LeSportSac Store. I’m dying that I didn’t get myself a “Hawaiian only” bag. Again, another exhausting day and what made it even better was our “detour” back to the hotel. Who builds a highway that’s next exit is 10 miles away? Come on, people, give us tourists a break.
Day 5 – Our last day on the Island. We packed up and loaded the car just like on Beverly Hill Billies but we headed to Laie instead 0 the home of BYU-Hawaii, the LDS Temple and the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC). It was a rainy day so at least we didn’t miss some good beach time, however, even if we had Laie was great. The Temple is beautiful and the PCC is beyond what I imagined. Given that 2 of the 4 of us work at BYU-Provo and 3 of the 4 of us went to a BYU campus then it was only fitting to see the BYU-H campus, right? Oh to go to school in Hawaii with in a hop-skip-and-a-jump to the ocean…lucky kids. We ate dinner at a traditional Luau and my favorite was the purple sweet potatoes! We made it out of the rain and headed to the airport to catch the red-eye back to SLC and back to reality.
Can’t wait to go back!
Click on the picture below to start the slide show (in a new window) and then click your way through all 175 228 pictures!
