Aloha, Hawaii Series: Oahu

The cruise ended with us waking up to Oahu's coastline.  We had elected to take our own luggage off the ship, so we had a leisurely morning.  We took one last dip in the pool, had a nice breakfast, and packed up.  We made our way to the swap meet at Aloha stadium to do some souvenir shopping.  Seriously, this place was awesome!  After browsing and buying, we made our way to the Pearl Harbor NEX and commissary for some essentials before driving out to Bellows.

The drive was beautiful (and unfortunately, I didn't take any photos.  Too busy daydreaming out the window I guess.)  And then we got to Bellows.  Man oh Man!!!  We were in for a treat. No I mean we were roughing it.  Yep, nothing to see here.  I mean just look at the view we were "stuck" with.

I did our laundry while Ronnie and the girls played on the beach.  Before we knew it, it was time to get cleaned up and head for the luau.

Before we left on our cruise, we had decided to take in the luau at the Polynesian Cultural Center.  It was a treat, as the show included dance from many different islands throughout the Pacific.

Again, I must have just decided to put my camera down and experience, as I didn't have hardly any pictures from the luau or the grounds.

The next day brought beautiful weather.  We hopped in the car and made our way north....   It would be a shame to go to Oahu and not see the North Shore for ourselves.  Since we were visiting in the summer, the waves were less than impressive.  Before we knew it, we needed to head back to Bellows.

One of the great things about being a military family is the friends you make are friends for life.  We were so lucky that we were able to catch up with some of the friends we made in Korea.

The Goldsteins came over to play in the water and eat supper with us on Sunday afternoon.  Again, sucking on the pictures....   Only have a picture of them playing in the water together.  Next time, Karen!!!  We get a picture together!

Then on Monday morning, the Severs came over and had breakfast with us.  Shara and David had adopted Samuel when we were on our way out of Korea.  He has grown soooo much!  Again, no pictures.  (DOH!)

After breakfast, Ronnie took the girls out to the beach, as I packed up, and checked out of our cabin.

We drove the long way back around to Honolulu, driving past Diamond Head and keeping the beach in full view.  It was a beautiful view. At a friend's recommendation, we stopped in Waikiki for malasadas.  Oh boy am I glad we did!  And even more thankful that we don't live anywhere near this deliciousness.

After our deliciousness was consumed, we had a few more hours to burn before catching our flight.  And we were lucky enough to meet up with some more friends from Korea, the Greens, and meet their beautiful daughter.  Oh, she is a PEACH!  We had a lovely afternoon chatting by the swim beach on Hickam.  Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye to this beautiful island and head back to Washington.

Oh, Hawaii....  I know it took us forever to visit, but what a lovely vacation we had.  Safe to say, we will be visiting your lovely shores again.

Aloha, Hawaii Series: The Garden Island

Oh Kauai!  How we love you!  This island was our absolute favorite.  As usual, we woke up in Kauai.  When I pulled back the curtains, this was our view.

We were back to our get up and go -- we had a car to get and places to discover.  Again, our little blue book paid off.  We stopped at a local grocery for lunch.  According to our book, they had the best plate lunches on the island.  Of course, I forgot to take pictures before we devoured our lunches.  Ronnie had lau lau, the girls had the fried chicken, and I had the kalua pork with a double scoop of mac salad.

With our bellies full, we headed north to our destination of the day.  We took off on a hike through the woods and down the red dirt trail.

 

That finally got us here:

But that wasn't it... the real treat was down the beach.  We walked down the beach to the lava pools. We spent a few hours exploring the pools, hiking in to one of the waterfalls, and relaxing with our feet in the water.  It was so beautiful!

Man was it a glorious day!  One that could only end with us finding this:

Oh yes, that IS shaved ice from Ono Ono.   And is there any better way to "rehydrate" after a hot day at the beach?  I didn't think so either...  I had mine with a scoop of macnut ice cream.  It was SO good!

We headed back to the ship for our usual night of feeding kids who beg us to go to Kids Club for the night while the adults spend alone time together.

The next morning, we were up and off the ship quick.  We had to be back to the ship by 2 pm.  This time we headed south to Waimea Canyon.  I had rented us a convertible Mustang (much to Ronnie's dismay) -- we took the top down and enjoyed the morning air.  Again, the drive was spectacular.

A little while later we arrived at the canyon overview.  And what a sight it was!

We made excellent time, so we decided to drive the road all the way up to Kalalau Lookout and Koke'e State Park

Eventually, we headed back to return our car and get on the boat.  Luckily, we had one last Kauai sight to see.  The ship headed north along the shore so we could pass by the shoreline of the picture above:

The Napali Coast....  Oh, so beautiful!

We saved our "fancy" dinner with the kids for the last night.  And we were treated to this sight out our window while we dined.  As usual, the kids begged to go to the Kids Club for one last time. Yes, this cruise was real rough for us.  Next up, exploring Oahu.

Aloha, Hawaii Series: Kona

On Day 5, we woke up in Kona.  But was what great was we slept in.  The previous night was a late one, so sleeping in was on the menu.  Plus, while planning our activities, we decided to have a down day.  Just exploring the immediate area around the ship, doing a little shopping, but mostly hanging out on the boat.

It was also the day I took advantage of the spa!!!  Oh, I had won a body scrub on the first night of the cruise.  Decided to take full advantage of our down day to get my relaxation on.

After breakfast, we made our way to the shore.  First stop was for Ronnie:

One day, he'll make it here...  and not just to visit.  We walked around town a bit.  Kona felt very beach touristy to us: t-shirt shops, "Hawaii" souvenirs, .  I was glad we didn't have much planned, though I'm sure there were cool things to see outside of the immediate area.  We saw the first Christian church built in Hawaii (it was being repaired -- scaffolding everywhere) and Hulihee Palace.

The girls were in rare form, so we decided to nix the tours and just walk around the grounds.  These girls...  I swear!  

Eventually, we made our way back to the ship.  It was time for my spa appointment and the girls were begging to go to Kids Club.

While I was at my spa appointment, Ronnie decided to go for a swim... an open swim on the Ironman course.  When he made it back to the ship, he said it was hard going straight and he got concerned about boaters seeing him, but he would do it again in a heartbeat.  We spent the rest of the day swimming and lounging by the pool.  A few hours later, we got cleaned up and headed to the Brazilian Steakhouse for dinner (the girls' pick!).  After dinner, the girls begged to go back to the Kids Club.  Poor me, having to spend all this time alone with him ;)

Next up, Kauai.  

Aloha, Hawaii Series: Hilo

By the magic of cruise ship, we woke up right outside the port of Hilo on the Big Island of Hawaii.  Once again, as soon as we were docked, we were off the boat, off to get our rental car, and getting on the road.  We had a big day planned before the ship left that night.  Yet again, we were driving to see another volcano.

On our way, we found a great little farmers stand on the side of the road.  The countryside is dotted with these stands.  It's something I love about Hawaii -- fresh fruits and veggies!  We picked up some fruits to snack on for our trip and some whole bean coffee for later.  Eventually, we made it to Volcanoes National Park.

We did our normal MO: stopped at the ranger station for the Junior Ranger books and a look around the visitor's center.  The ranger was insistent that we also check out the hike down to the lava tubes -- it was one of the activities the girls could do for their Junior Ranger badge.  Boy was he right!

The Thurston Lava tubes are hidden in a lush green forest.  It was a real treat to hike down to the entrance and then make our way through the tube.  We had a great chat with the girls about how the lava tube was formed, different animals that call the tube home, and just enjoying the cool breeze.

We then made our way to the Kilauea Iki Overview.  It took Ronnie and I everything we had to not drag the girls on a hike -- there is a GREAT trail that goes off and across the caldera.  We just didn't have the time. But it was nice to sit and watch the hikers down below.

The Jaggar Museum and Kilauea Overlook were our next stop...  not a bad view for lunch huh?

We enjoyed our time, watching all the tourists (I know... I know! We are tourists too, but as native Floridians, Ronnie and I can't help ourselves).  The girls finished up their Ranger books while we chatted with the park rangers.

Before we knew it, it was time to get on the road...  We had one more stop before we headed back to the boat.  The island is known for black sand beaches.  How cool is that?  Black sand?   And lucky for us, it was right around the corner from the entrance to Volcanoes National Park.  But this  beach we  is known for something very, very special:

 
The green sea turtle!   They love to sun on the beach here.   As we were walking down the beach, we walked right past this guy -- he blended right into lava rocks.  We also got a little too close to another, as a local "advised" us.  But it was an awesome experience to have.

We made our way back to the boat for our departure and got cleaned up for our real date night.  The cruise had a Chef's Table event: a nine-course gourmet meal with wine (!).

My mouth is watering and I have a smile on my face while sitting here remembering this night.  I have a better photo, but this was the best one that captured our night. The food was absolutely delicious. The wine was amazing! Excellent dining company.  The Executive Chef, Wine Steward were so approachable -- we even had them laughing by the middle of the service.  And the Service!  The service was top notch!!!  Everything was carefully coordinated but seemed effortless.  Seriously, if you ever have an opportunity to attend one of these events, DO IT!   We had such an amazing time!
Before we knew it, it was time to get the girls and head up to the observation deck -- the boat was passing Kilauea.

The glow was too far off... my camera lens just didn't have the distance to really capture it.  But with the lights turned off on the boat, the stars above were breathtaking and the glow in the distance was amazing.

Next up, Kona!