I took SO many Pictures, it's taking a while to pick just the good ones and upload them all, but I'll have a kodak album up when I get done. For now here's a few just to make your mouth water! hahaha!
We spent all day Friday on the plane, and got to our place (wonderful vacation rental - if you ever need a place to stay in Hawaii let me know, I highly recommend this place!!) after dark. We were so tired, so sorry I didn't get any pictures of the place, but it was great. We ate dinner (at a wonderful little hole-in-the-wall place) at the end of the street and crashed. But with the time change we were up the next morning at 3 am. So we got ready and went out to watch the sunrise. It was cloudy (as was most of the week) but we got some snipits of color through the clouds. We spent the day sightseeing and just driving around the southern half of the island.
Sunday was Cameron's race. He did GREAT!!! It was 13.5 miles, and quite the bear (according to him) with all the climbing. A lot of ups and downs, around 3,000 feet of elevation changes. For comparison, that's about the same amount of climbing the Blue Sky Marathon has, but it is twice the distance. Cam still finished strong at 3 hours and 8 minutes. The winner came in at 1 hour 21 minutes, and it was his 4th time winning the thing. Some other interesting things: they had a group of 3 guys called the X-Treme Team. These guys go around running races and triathlons to raise awareness and honor wounded veterans. In order to do that they "disable" themselves by starting at the back of the pack and doing the entire race wearing gas-masks. They were an impressive group to say the least. So there was a lot of media attention on them. Also, the valley and surrounding mountains were the race took place is called Kualoa Ranch. It's so beautiful that Hollywood spends a lot of time filming there. Some of the movies filmed there include Jurassic Park, Pearl Harbor, 50 First Dates, Godzilla, Mighty Joe Young, and LOST. After the race we hung out at the beach, it was a little sunnier, and just relaxed.
Monday morning we got up early again and hiked to the Makapu'u Point lighthouse to watch the sunrise. It was BEAUTIFUL!!! We are so glad we did this for sunrise! You can't actually get to the lighthouse, but I got a few good pictures of it. Then we went back to the beach. Our rental was only 2 houses away from the beach. Monday was supposed to have the best weather at "our" beach so we decided to spend the day there rather than driving around chasing the sun. It started out a little cloudy, but by 11 it cleared out and was just gorgeous. We did a little boogie-boarding (or attempted to at least - it's a good thing our beach was nearly deserted, we probably looked pretty funny to any locals!)
The next morning we did a couple more hikes. We started out at Diamond Head Point. A must do with some beautiful views, but a little crowded for my taste. Then moved on to a nicer more quiet and beautiful hike to Manoa Falls. It's through the rainforest (truely a jungle!) and ends at a beautiful waterfall that just seems to go on forever! It was a muddy hike, but worth it none-the-less! Then after that . . . back to the beach!! This time we ventured north again to the North Shore (famous for the huge waves and surfers). After a stop to view the Temple, and do some shopping in a locals market (and get some great deals!) we parked ourselves on Sunset beach to watch the surfers and . . . what else- The Sunset!! We got chased out by a quick downpour, but the clouds cleared enough just before sunset to make it a extravagant sight! One of my favorite sunsets by far!! We ate dinner that night at a great little mexican place with some great Fish Tacos! The food on this vacation did not disappoint that's for sure!
Wednesday was December 7, 2011, the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. So again we got up really early, and went to the ceremonies for the day of remembrance. WOW!!! That's all I can say . . . WOW!!! It was so emotional, humbling, and just inspiring to be in the presence of the survivors of that infamous day. We were near the stage for the ceremonies themselves, so we could see the survivors faces as they watched the ceremonies. Then afterwards they stationed the survivors around the area for others to chat with, take pictures with or sign autographs. It kinda felt like a spectacle, so we didn't get to close, but we did listen a little as we passed by. again, WOW!! Just hearing some of the snipits makes you realize that even with all that has been recorded and all the stories that have been told about that day, there is still so much that will be lost when these survivors finally meet their comrades. We were fortunate enough to get a place on a boat to go out to the Arizona Memorial. Again, emotional and humbling! I didn't realize that when the survivors of the Arizona die they have the option of having their ashes placed in the Arizona with their shipmates. Apparently most have chosen that option. One wife even had her husband exhumed to do this when they put this alternative in place. They even had a service that very evening for one soldier. So amazing! I could talk about that place all day. Cam and I both feel so blessed to have gotten to experience that. But, the day soon came to an end . . . so we again headed to the beach to watch the sunset!
Thursday was another busy day! Another early morning, this time to Hanauma Bay to watch the sunrise and do some snorkeling. I could have spent all day there!! We got to see a turtle!! That was exciting! And some very colorful fish! I really enjoyed snorkeling, and Cam even started to enjoy it . . .after he got over his fear of thinking he was going to drown! ;) The afternoon and evening was spent at the Polynesian Cultural Center. There is a TON to see there, and we rushed around to see as much as we could before our scheduled Luau and Show. The luau was lacking a little (good food, bad show) but that may be because the show after, HA, the Breathe of Life, was incredible!! The cultural dancing, fire twirling, you name it! So cool!!
Friday we wrapped things up with another day at the beach! Lunch at another fabulous local place, and soaking up the sun for as long as we could! We were both very sad to leave. There was so much that we wanted to do that we didn't get to. Guess that means we will just have to make a return trip!! ;) And we are home now, happy to see our boys and spend the holidays like they should be - with cold weather and snow!
1 comment:
The pictures are breathtaking! Definitely jealous, but happy for you! My fave pic is the one with you guys sitting on the beach so your backs are to the camera...beautiful!
Post a Comment