Hawaii Part 1

Aloha!

Finally! I'm posting some pics of Hawaii. First, let me say that Hawaii is fabulous! The beaches are clean and lovely, the water clear and warm, the people friendly, and the weather, although humid, still fantastic.

One of the cool things about Hawaii is that it's obviously a part of the United States, but there is a foreign culture feel to it. Hawaiian and Japanese are spoken almost as much as English.

I flew into Honolulu on the island of Oahu on September 27 and we left on October 5. I went with my best friend from college and her family--husband, 5 children, and her parents. We stayed at a military recreational place (her husband is in the military) and it was right on the beach. That opening picture is from our place where we stayed. Isn't that just awesome?

We would get up in the morning and if nothing was planned for the day, we went to the beach (a 30 second walk) and played. The kids enjoyed boogie boarding. We went snorkeling. I enjoyed just laying on the beach and listening to the waves. Ahhh. Love, love that sound.




I had just climbed Diamond Head, a volcano (literally) and this is a picture of Waikiki from the top. Notice my red face? That's not the sun...it's from exertion. Whew! That was a climb! The trail included climbing over rocks, long staircases, and squeezing through a tunnel like contraption.


This is another picture from the top of the volcano. That's the crater and you can see the parking lot and part of the trail.


Isn't that just beautiful? I absolutely love lighthouses (anyone who's been to my house notices that first off) and was so delighted to see Diamond Head Lighthouse.



I can't remember the name of this place. This was another hike that we went on. Where the Diamond Head hike was very sunny and warm, this hike was like hiking in the rainforest. It was not sunny, but extremely humid. For me, this hike was more strenuous. We basically climbed over rocks for about a mile straight up. We knew that we would see a waterfall, but I was expecting something a little more dramatic.

I didn't wear shoes that were conducive to hiking. Little white shoes from Walmart that cost $5.00 get ruined quickly in such a wet, muddy environment. And it made it slickery (that's my word for it). By the time I got to the top, I looked as if I had just stepped out of the shower.

Next trip, Pearl Harbor.