Hawaii really was as beautiful as people say it is. It was such a great trip! I'll interject some stories among the pictures, but for the most part the pictures say it all! Enjoy!
I got an hour and a half nap before heading to the airport at 4am on Wednesday, July 3rd. Thanks Jared for being a good sport and taking us to the airport super early on your day off. We had a layover in SLC which was fun because it was long enough to leave the airport and enjoy some breakfast at Kneaders with Jess and the kids- got to love that! Thanks for meeting up with me, always fun to see you all!
People were not kidding when they said the signs in Hawaii were not the best. We were picking up our rental car from Advantage and no where did it mention Advantage. After wandering for a while we finally called and got a recording that told us a shuttle comes by every 15 mins. Sure enough the shuttle came and drove us about 50 feet to the same location where we were wandering- the sign for Advantage was on the inside of the building and really hard to see! So, this picture is of Heather asking where is Advantage? The sign in the background lists all the other rental car companies but left Advantage off. Nice!
I'm in Hawaii!!!!!!!!!!!
We went to both Oahu and Kauai, so the following pictures, which are in no particular order, are from both places.
We hiked two miles along the Na Pali Coast in to a beach. I think that was the prettiest two miles I have ever hiked in my life! I could have starred at this view for hours!
We went to the swap meet at Oahu Stadium. I tried a real coconut- I love coconut, but that was not my favorite.
I call this the Dr. Seuss tree... it was super colorful and looked fake! This picture was taken on the Dole Plantation.
I kept trying to catch a fish, but was never successful!
This spiral staircase was on the diamond head hike.
Sunsets in Hawaii were spectacular!
We found the temple! It was closed for cleaning, so we were unable to do a session, but it was still fun to see it in person.
The Pali Lookout was super windy!!
The audio tour of Pearl Harbor was awesome- highly recommended!
There were some pretty funky trees in Hawaii. This one was gigantic!
We went on a four hour boat tour of the Na Pali Coast which included snorkeling. That was a first for me- it was pretty fun, but I'm not thinking it will become a favorite pass time. I kept forgetting to breath out of my mouth! Oh, laugh away, but I was a huge fan of the belt. I'm sure I looked dead to anyone watching outside the water since I didn't have to even tred water with that thing on.
Waimea Canyon was pretty!
Proof that I did actually layout on the beach!
I picked an oyster and I felt pretty special since the oyster I choose had two pearls in it... and they were the dark blue color too. Awesome! So, now I have some real pearl earrings!
We went to a Buddhist Temple. It was a cool looking building.
We were on a smaller boat on the boat tour which allowed us to go into sea caves. We went through a horseshoe shaped cave... it was pretty awesome!
I didn't realize that pineapple grew on the bushes on the ground. You learn something new everyday!
We made it to the Polynesian Culture Center in time for dinner and the evening show. It was definitely entertaining and the part where they were throwing fire around was pretty awesome!
Roosters were everywhere! They are rather obnoxious and didn't allow me to sleep past 6:30am. Boo!
The sign says "Salt Lake". We really are in Hawaii, right?
Couldn't come to Hawaii without getting some shave ice with ice cream. Pretty tasty!
We saw a turtle when we were on the boat tour.
There was a swing we came across on our drive up a canyon which overlooks Waikiki. It was kinda scary since it is kind of steep right where you swing! A fun picture though- so worth it!
Here is a list of things we did on Oahu:
- Pearl Harbor
- Pali Look-out
- Buddhist Temple
- Went to several beaches
- Had dinner at Duke's
- Watched 4th of July Fireworks on a beach in Waikiki
- Went running
- Hiked Diamond Head
- Went to the North Shore- Dole Plantation, Matsumoto Shave Ice
- Temple
- Polynesian Cultural Center
- Drove to see the views of Waikiki
- Hiked to Manoa Falls
- Swap Meet
- Iolani Palace
Here is a list of things we did on Kauai:
- Attended Sacrament Meeting with the Hanalei Branch (meet a nice guy from Lone Tree, CO who we ran into again at the airport).
- Hiked the Na Pali Coast trail (only two miles in)
- Went to several beaches
- Enjoyed beautiful sunsets
- Enjoyed a relaxing evening in our cottage which had two master suites. The place was huge!
- Went running to a hidden beach which you had to climb down a pretty steep path to get to
- Drove to see a lighthouse
- Boat tour of the Na Pali Coast
- Snorkeled
- I tried sushi at the "Dolphin" restaurant
- Drove to a waterfall
- Drove Waimea Canyon
- Got a pina colada
- Spent a lot of time at the airport (caught an earlier flight on standby from Kauai to Oahu to make sure we would make our flight back to Denver)
Hawaii really was Paradise. We were blessed with great weather the entire time we were there. I now understand why it is such a popular vacation destination. We hiked a lot, drove a lot, laid on the beach a lot, and mostly enjoyed a lot of beautiful scenery!
Thank you Heather for being such a great friend and going to Hawaii with me! Such wonderful memories which I will cherish for a lifetime!
ALOHA!
2 comments:
Wow, I am so impressed you have updated already, great job!! It is a beautiful place. I love Hawaii. I remember swimming and one of those turtles popped it's head up right by me. It scared the heck out of me.
I am glad we got to see you too! It was nice to hug you and spend time with you. I am glad you guys had such a great time. The picture with the snorkel gear made me smile... Nice!! Hahaha! Love you.
For fun! I love all the pictures! Kauai looks awesome. Now we have to go back.
So glad that you had fun and had the chance to go!
:)
And the Dr Suess tree is a Rainbow Bark. They are cool, aren't they?
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