April 16th
G and I headed to Hawaii for 5 days to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary (which is in June). Today was our travel day. We dropped our girls off with his older sister the night before since we were leaving early in the morning. We had to drive to San Francisco to our flight. We had a quick stop in Los Banos for breakfast and then we had an unexpected tour of the parking lots at SFO. Apparently the long term parking was full and our truck was too big for the regular lot, so we had to head to the international garage. If you ever need to know where to park at SFO, we can help you!
At the gate we were asked if you would mind the exit row- of course we said that would be fine with us (woohoo for extra leg room!). Then we were asked if we would switch flights to a later one that was non-stop. Our original flight had a layover at LAX and both flights would arrive in Hawaii at about the same time. So we decided to hang out at SFO and take the nonstop flight! We walked around the terminal, spent way too much on airport food, got some snacks, read a book (me), played cell phone games (G), and watched the planes come and go. I also started this little knitting project for my Sweet Pea.
We arrived in Hawaii about 8 PM, found our hotel, and the walked around the area finding dinner. I was so exhausted we didn't even head down to the ocean!
April 17th
We are in Hawaii!!! I woke up so excited. . .it was 4 am Hawaiian time. I distracted myself and waiting patiently for G to wake up. I did some more knitting, reading, shower, and watched tv. When G woke up, we hit the ABC store and got sunscreen and some simple breakfast and snack foods. Our next stop was the concierge desk. We planned out our week, booked some tours, and found out more information about what was near our hotel.
We didn't rent a car so we decided to walk around what was close (or according to the map was close). We picked up some sandwiches at Subway and headed to Diamond Head crater. According to a map, it was 1 mile from Waikiki. . .it turned out to be much further! No big deal to us- so off we walked! We enjoyed walking along the beach, seeing all the stores in Waikiki, passing a craft fair, and then beginning the hike up to Diamond Head. I loved the hike at Diamond Head. Something very cool about being inside an old volcano. G also loved it since it was an old military post that used to watch for enemies trying to attack Pearl Harbor and the south side of the island.
At the top of Diamond Head
View towards Waikiki
Looking back into the crater
After our LONG hike we hit the hotel pool, showered and then headed out for dinner. Luckily on our walk, I was handed a flyer for the Hard Rock Cafe! G had never been to one and I've never had a bad experience at one, so it sounded like the perfect place. It was a brand new location and it was delicious! G is hooked and I know I'll be able to get him to go back whenever I want! We walked back to our hotel along the beach and finally felt the water for the first time!
April 18th
Time to snorkel! We booked a tour to take us to Hanauma Bay. The tour driver was a guy named Larry who was fantastic. He did a great job of telling us where to go to see the best fish, the dangers, and how to get the best experience. We got there pretty early and were all set. . .except the sun went behind the clouds! It was chilly! Finally we convinced ourselves to just do it and it was amazing! The fish were beautiful. A lady commented to us how funny we were since she could hear us laughing through our snorkels at each other. I'm sure we made several people laugh as we went by them!
Unfortunately, a woman was found floating in the water and had to be revived. We don't know what happened to her in the water, or what happened after she was taken to the hospital. It kind of put a damper on our snorkeling and we headed back to our hotel a little earlier than expected. Since we didn't have much else planned for the day, we walked around Waikiki and got some shopping done. On our way back we saw a Banyan tree for the first time. If you don't know me, I love trees and was amused by these remarkable trees. Crazy how they have shoots come down and add more support from the branches! Since we were exhuasted by all our walking, snorkeling, and the time change we picked up a pizza and headed back to the hotel to relax.
April 19th
Pearl Harbor! This is the reason why we decided to visit Oahu and not another island. We both love history and knew this was something we both wanted to see. Again we had booked a tour and had another great tour guide named Art. Art took great pride in his job and was full of knowledge about Hawaii and of course World War II. Even complete with his imitation of President Roosevelt's declaration of war on Japan.
Once we got to the memorial, we had some free time before our ferry would take us out to the USS Arizona. So we toured around the submarine museum area and decided to take a tour of the USS Bowfin. The Bowfin was a WWII era submarine. This was a highlight for both of us and we enjoyed hearing the audio about how the sub functioned and how the men lived aboard it.
The USS Bowfin is in the background
On the bow of the USS Bowfin
We then watched the film about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the declaration of war on Japan. After our film finished, it was our turn to head out to the USS Arizona memorial. Pretty amazing to see that huge ship and think about all the men that served on her.
Up next, the USS Missouri! The Mighty Mo! Again another highlight for us. This amazing battleship was the last American battleship that was completed and it was on the Missouri that Japan surrendered to the US to end WWII. This ship also served during the Korean War and the fist Gulf War. We were able to explore many areas of the ship and were amazed at how many men were able to be on board. Most amazing were the huge guns- 16 inch in diameter! These huge guns could be reloaded within 30 seconds which allowed the second round to be fired before the first one reached its mark! Crazy! Would not want those 9 guns aiming at me!
After our lunch, we were headed back to our hotel. But first we had a bus tour of historic Honolulu and Punchbowl Cemetary.
To finish our day of boats, we headed out kayaking. Down the beach from our hotel we rented a kayak and had fun in the waves. . .or I had fun and G tried not to get motion sickness! Another dip in the pool and it was time to get ready for dinner.
We walked down to another shopping area to a Dave & Buster's. It was a blast- we enjoyed the food and then had fun playing silly games. We had over 1000 tickets and spend them on stuffed teddy bears for our girls.
April 20th
This morning was our morning to relax and we did just thought. Then at noon we headed for our last tour which would take us to the opposite side of the island to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Our tour guide was Tofa and he was from Tonga. He again shared his wealth of knowledge about Hawaii, but also included the other Polynesian islands that we would see once we got to the PCC. We enjoyed him so much that we stayed with his tour group. We watched the canoe pageant (click here to see pictures), visited the villages of Tonga, Samoa, Hawaii, and New Zealand. Each village had its own presentation and we especially loved Tonga and Samoa. Then we attended a luau for dinner- yummy pineapple and pina colada smoothie! Lastly, we watched their night show. It was a fun experience and I was happy that we had so much time at the PCC to experience as much as we could.
Getting Lei'd (haha)
At the luau
Yummy!!!
April 21st
Our vacation is coming to an end and we planned to rent a car and drive around the island on our last day. We went out to breakfast at IHOP, checked out, and then waited and waited for our rental car. I did an amazing job of finding a good deal on a car. We were able to rent a Jeep for the price of the economy car (G really didn't want to drive an Aveo!). We headed first to the Dole Pineapple Plantation. Then we continued to the backside of the island. We drove by BYU Hawaii were both my sisters spent a semester, the LDS Temple in Laie, and along the North Shore. We were disappointed that the waves were on the smaller side- too close to summer for the big waves. We enjoyed lunch at a state park along the beach. We drove through Waimea Valley and wished we had a little more time to enjoy the relaxed side of the island.
Since we had had trouble with parking at SFO, we decided to return to the Honolulu aiport a little early to make sure we didn't have any trouble. By the time we got to our gate, we were ready to go home. All either of us could think of was seeing our girls! The plane couldn't leave fast enough!
See how the pineapple grow? (haha inside joke!)
Whew! A trip that was ten years in the making and it was definitely worth it. We had a blast and have memories that will last a lifetime!
