On May 29th, my parents, my sister, and I flew to HAWAII!!! SO cool! I have always wanted to go there and never thought I would have the opportunity. I'm seriously such a lucky girl! Here we are on the airplane:
Sometimes, plane rides can feel kinda long and boring, so it's really important to travel with a crazy person to keep it real and play peek-a-boo or do other things to embarrass you. Fortunately, my family learned this early on and I get to go on all kinds of cool trips! haha
When we landed in Honolulu, we were greeted by a representative of Aloha VIP Tours, who placed a lei around each of our necks! It smelled uh-may-zing!
We hopped on their shuttle and were given a tour of the area on the way to our hotel. We threw our stuff in the room and walked down the street to the beach. It was so incredibly beautiful! The next morning, we got up early and caught a shuttle to a breakfast/orientation with the tour company that picked us up at the airport. It was kind of dumb, but we got this cool picture out of it!
After that, we changed into our swimwear and headed down to the beach. We had lunch at Duke's, which was delish and a must, if you're ever in Hawaii! We shared slices of hula pie...Yum! At first it was weird to be out in public at a restaurant, while in my swimsuit and cover-up, but I quickly learned that this is how they roll in Hawaii!
Another fabulous thing about Duke's is that it is right on the beach and has the most fabulous view!
After lunch, we spent some time on the beach:
Then, we went to the International Marketplace and got some straight- from-the-oyster pearls. Now all of the Wheeler ladies have Hawaiian pearl necklaces!
And then we headed to the mall for HULA LESSONS!!!
It was SO much fun!
Later that evening, Diane and I went to see the spray paint artist! It was super cool! If you ever go to Oahu, check him out. His website is in the picture, below.
The next morning started very early! We caught an early session at the Laie Temple, which was beautiful, and then spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.
We got to experience and learn about traditions from several of the Polynesian nations.
Samoa
New Zealand
Double-hulled canoe ride!
Canoe Pageant
With my dad at the Tonga presentation, which was hilarious!
All of us!
With Diane at the Luau!
It's not an authentic luau until they pull an entire pig out of a pit!
With my mom at the luau!
That smoothie was super-delish!
Right before I tried poi...
...and right after trying poi. I don't recall ordering a cardboard box to eat! haha
All of us at the luau!
My parents!
Such a pretty place!
And, of course, here's the official picture:
The next day, we went to Pearl Harbor! I have ALWAYS been fascinated with WWII and, in particular, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, so this was really an amazing day!
Look at that background! Absolute paradise!
On the Arizona Memorial with part of the Arizona showing
Next, we took a shuttle to the Missouri (the ship where the Japanese formally surrendered) and I had to embarrass my family, by acting like a freak show, again. Don't worry, this is why they keep me around.
Side Note: After a vacation, I look through my pictures and am always amazed at how many pictures there are of me acting like a weirdo. Thank Heavens those pictures don't have sound; then everyone would really know I'm crazy! lol At least I have a good time! :)
Here we are with the USS Missouri in the background
The spot where the treaty was signed
Diane and I searched all over the ship to find the captain's chair! Once we found it, we discovered that it was the tallest chair known to mankind, but after climbing like...87 towers, I was not leaving without finding some way to hoist my butt into that chair! Mission accomplished! Note that my feet are not even close to touching the ground. Tallest. Chair. Ever.
This museum was the COOLEST! Well, with the exception of the gift shop, but I'll tell that story in a minute. My grandpa was in the Air Force (during WWII, it was still the Army Air Corps) and so I have always had a fascination with old war planes and I LOVED hearing my grandpa tell his stories. So, a place like this is kinda like Mecca for me! It had all kinds of different planes in various stages of repair. Truly chunks of history! LOVE! The air command tower that is at this museum is the same one that stood here during the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941...oh, to be a fly on the wall! I know it was terrible and absolutely horrifying for all involved, but I really love history and soak in all the crazy stuff that happened.
Ok. So, about the gift shop. As we were leaving, I discovered my sunglasses had broken somehow. No idea what happened to them. Fury. Then, I remember that gift shops almost always sell sunglasses, chap stick...things like that. So, I go back inside and didn't see any right off the bat. I ask the lady if they have any and she says, "Yes! We have a ton over here!" and she walks me over to them. They were aviator shades, which is totally appropriate for the venue. Then, I look at the price tag and it says that they are $80. Ummmm...seriously??? Does an actual aviator come with these glasses??? And for 80 bucks, he'd better be the hottest...errrr...most qualified aviator ever. So, I passed on the glasses, but convinced the lady to give me some of the packing tape behind the counter as a temporary fix. Apparently, on top of all of the other crap I always take on vacation, I also need to start packing multiple pairs of sunglasses. Lesson learned.
Plus, the museum had this guy! His name is Dick Girocco. He was a flight engineer on the PBY Catalina and was in Hangar 54 during the attack. Guys! He was a Pearl Harbor survivor and I got to hear his story from his own mouth! I know, I know. I'm seriously geeking out, but like I said, I love history. He was super awesome and happy to share his story. Such an awesome thing to have someone like him that is willing to sit in a museum all day and share a little piece of first-hand history with people.
Ok. This is a B-17 Bomber. The same kind of plane my grandpa was a tail-gunner in! I believe his was the next model up, but this one is extremely similar. This plane was in in bad shape and the pilot ended up doing an emergency/crash landing in a swamp in New Guinea. Nicknamed the "Swamp Ghost", it sat there in the swamp from 1941 until just a few years ago, when they recovered all the pieces and are putting it back together in Hawaii at the museum. So much history! Also, it was awesome to see the little tiny tail-gunner compartment and be way impressed with my grandpa's crazy skills and the fact that he could even function in such a cramped, little space. I couldn't have done it, that's for sure!
After another shuttle ride, Diane and I toured the Bowfin, which is a submarine! It was pretty much awesome and I will be forever in awe of the people that live/work in submarines for long periods of time. Mainly because they don't trip over those crazy porthole doors all the time. If I had to do that on a daily basis, well...I probably wouldn't be writing this post right now. Or I would be writing it with casts on all of my limbs. No biggie.
After Pearl Harbor, we were dying of starvation, so we went to Teddy's Bigger Burgers and got some giant burgers and delicious shakes. It was not too shabby. Then, we we drove out to this forest. It's really a rainforest, but Hawaii doesn't have any officially designated rainforests, so it's a forest, where it just rains all the time. No big deal. Diane and I hiked the Moana Falls Trail and my parents hung out in the little shop there and had some amazing Hawaiian Shave Ice. Here I am at the beginning of the trail, already wet because it was raining.
After walking through the most beautiful AND most muddy forest, ever. We made it to the waterfall, which was probably about twice as high as this picture shows and more beautiful that this picture could ever convey. It was worth the trauma of all the mud and rain to see this.
Funny story: This was my last adventure with these shoes because, as we approached the waterfall, the sole came off of my shoe. Yes. The SOLE came OFF my SHOE. In the middle of a rainforest. In ankle deep mud!!! As we walked back down, the same thing happened to the OTHER shoe. My sister and I were dying of laughter. I knew that my socks would never recover from the mud and I knew the shoes would have to go in the trash, so I just had fun with it on the way down and stomped down the trail, spraying magical mud everywhere!!! At the end of the trail, there was a hose set up so that people could rinse off. After a short public (and fully clothed) shower, I called my mom and had her meet me with my flip-flops from the car, and I bid my trusty 5 year old running shoes adieu!
Then, soaking wet, I went in the little shop and indulged in the most delicious Hawaiian Shave Ice. Yum.
The next day, Diane and I woke up early (so. very. early.) and went to hike Diamond Head.
The switchbacks weren't so bad, but the stairs...ummmm...I could've done without those.
This flight of stairs had, literally, 99 steep steps and this was not the only staircase we had to walk up. Needless to say, I felt very accomplished when I made it to the top. Surprisingly, I did better than I thought I would and wasn't even sore from this little excursion. Yay!!!
The view from the top was pretty, but after the waterfall hike yesterday, anything would seem like a disappointment. Well, not a disappointment, but not as spectacular as everyone had said.
After we hiked down, we went back to the hotel to change into our swimsuits and pick up our parents. We had set the day aside to see the beaches on the North Shore. Before going to Hawaii, people kept telling us that we had to leave Waikiki and go to the North Shore where the we would find the pretty beaches. I was pretty impressed with the beauty of Waikiki and thought, for certain, these beaches couldn't be any more beautiful, but they were. The North Shore beaches were different in that they are a little more "untouched". We visited Kailua, Sunset, Bonsai Pipeline, Laie Point, and a couple of others that I can't think of at the moment. The point is that we saw a ton of gorgeous beaches.
We also got to see Chinaman's Hat!
The weather was crazy that day and turned from sunny to rainy and back again in minutes! I guess it's true what they say: if you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes. It was a good day, though! The picture below was taken just a minute or two after the picture above. The fog rolled in SO quickly!
After exploring the North Shore beaches, we got Hawaii Shave Ice and then had dinner at a restaurant in Haleiwa. Afterwards, we headed back to our hotel on Waikiki, where we relaxed and did some shopping! It was a great day!
On our last day in Hawaii, we booked a tour so that we could get to see some things that we wanted to see, but wouldn't have otherwise had time to see. We basically hopped from place to place on a big tour bus. We saw a few things that we had already seen, but for the most part, it was new stuff. We saw a beach that is famous for snorkeling, which was super pretty, and then we stopped off at the Halona Blowhole.
Halona Blowhole
On the tour bus! I'm actually behaving myself!
This place was SO windy!
It was the only time my dad was grateful to be bald! haha ;)
At "the Pali"
We also visited the Byodo Temple at the Valley of the Temples; it was really cool!
Then, we stopped at a Macadamia Nut farm and tried some amazing flavors! Yum!
We stopped for lunch at Kualoa Ranch, where we ate while looking at this view:
Not too shabby!
And then on to Dole Plantation, where we had some delicious Pineapple Whip!
This was our last stop before going back to Honolulu. We spent the rest of the evening doing last minute souvenir shopping and packing. The morning came SO early and we had to be at the airport way too early! The good thing is that our early morning set the stage perfectly for a loooong nap, which killed time on the long flight home! It was an amazing adventure and I'm SO glad I had the opportunity to go!
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