Our last day we disembarked the ship and headed for Waikiki. We were psyched that we found a shuttle that was only $5/person, since the taxi was going to be a flat $25 rate. It took a bit to get to everyone's hotel on the shuttle b/c they were having a parade in Waikiki, but it was cool to be able to see the parade! I think God was giving us an easy send-off from Hawaii, b/c it was cloudy and drizzled all day – made it much easier to be ready to leave! We got a hotel in Waikiki for the day b/c we didn't know what to do with our luggage, plus we wanted to get a shower before we left for the airport. We had lunch at Chili's, then went back to the hotel, where we heard loud planes overhead – what the heck? Turns out they were doing an airshow as part of whatever festival was going on – we could see the planes go over the beach and then again when they turned around behind our hotel. Too cool!
We also took advantage of the free internet at the hotel to finish up a couple of posts and get more pictures uploaded. Around 6:00pm, we headed for the airport. We were the last of 2 couples to be picked up, so we got to go straight there. When we got there they checked our luggage through the Agriculture check, and then we went over to pick up our 27 pound box of pineapples, fresh from the plantation! We didn't plan to keep all those for ourselves, rest assured ;) We got to check the pineapples through to Cincinnati so we only had to pick them up and send them through – too easy!
We had a couple of hours to wait for our flight since our flight crew got in late on the last flight, and they have an 8 hour mandatory rest period before leaving out again. The flight back actually seemed quicker than the flight from TX to HI, believe it or not…and especially to me, since I was able to sleep about 4 hours, while Jarrett only slept about 2 hours – yuck! We had another couple hours to wait in TX before heading to OH, since we couldn't get on an earlier flight, but we occupied ourselves by adding captions to pictures – ha! ;) Then it was off to OH, where we arrived 30 minutes early (yay!) and Mom/Sharon picked us up – thanks again, Mom! After dropping off Mom in Loveland we headed to Georgetown to pick up Zoey! Thanks again to Peggy and David for taking care of our little pup – we're sure she got plenty of spoiling while we were gone!!
So now we're back on the mainland, and it truly was a good length of a vacation – I think we were about toured out! There is no denying that Hawaii is one of the most beautiful places on Earth – there truly is nowhere else like it. It was so amazing to see how diversified the different islands were – they are all beautiful in their own way! It is now one week after we've returned, and I will be picking up the CD and prints of our snorkel adventure, so be sure to check those out in the Kona section of the pictures. All of the pictures should be uploaded by now or within the next couple days, but rest assured, there's nothing like being there to see it with your own eyes – we recommend you all go if you have the chance!!
That's the end of the blog…until the next trip…ALOHA!!
Monday, September 24, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Relaxing Day in Kaua’i
For the first morning of our whole vacation, we actually slept in this morning! It felt really good to not have to get up to an alarm! We decided to skip breakfast to 
head off the ship to do some shopping. Jarrett had seen a Red Dirt t-shirt, which is dyed with the red dirt in Kaua’i, and he decided he wanted one. We took the free shuttle to the Anchor Cove shops and found the Red Dirt factory outlet, where each of us got a shirt. We also bought some other souvenirs from the ABC store, which is pretty big in Hawaii. After taking a look at the public beach in front of the Marriot, we took the shuttle back to the ship. We debated going to Hilo Hattie, which is a big souvenir store in Hawaii, but decided we didn’t really need anything else, so we opted against it.
After coming through security for the last time and boarding the ship, we went to the Aloha Café for lunch and ate outside on the back of the ship. We next went and looked at the photos in the photo gallery which had been taken of us throughout our trip on the ship, and ended up purchasing the photos taken of u
s last night at the Luau. After dropping off our pictures in the room, we sat by the pool to listen to music, then played shuffleboard on one of the upper decks, which was fun after we figured out the rules! We hung out in the room for a little while and then staked out a spot on the back of the boat to watch as the ship sailed by the Na’Pali Coast, which is where the intro to Jurassic Park was filmed! It was absolutely amazing – huge cliffs with varying vegetation. After we sailed past the Na’Pali Coast and turned around, we watched the sun set, and then dressed for dinner. After watching the guest talent show, we went to our last dinner on the ship at Little Italy, then packed, and now we’re headed to bed! Tomorrow we disembark and spend the day in Waikiki before boarding a plane back to the mainland! More tomorrow – until then, Aloha!
head off the ship to do some shopping. Jarrett had seen a Red Dirt t-shirt, which is dyed with the red dirt in Kaua’i, and he decided he wanted one. We took the free shuttle to the Anchor Cove shops and found the Red Dirt factory outlet, where each of us got a shirt. We also bought some other souvenirs from the ABC store, which is pretty big in Hawaii. After taking a look at the public beach in front of the Marriot, we took the shuttle back to the ship. We debated going to Hilo Hattie, which is a big souvenir store in Hawaii, but decided we didn’t really need anything else, so we opted against it.After coming through security for the last time and boarding the ship, we went to the Aloha Café for lunch and ate outside on the back of the ship. We next went and looked at the photos in the photo gallery which had been taken of us throughout our trip on the ship, and ended up purchasing the photos taken of u
s last night at the Luau. After dropping off our pictures in the room, we sat by the pool to listen to music, then played shuffleboard on one of the upper decks, which was fun after we figured out the rules! We hung out in the room for a little while and then staked out a spot on the back of the boat to watch as the ship sailed by the Na’Pali Coast, which is where the intro to Jurassic Park was filmed! It was absolutely amazing – huge cliffs with varying vegetation. After we sailed past the Na’Pali Coast and turned around, we watched the sun set, and then dressed for dinner. After watching the guest talent show, we went to our last dinner on the ship at Little Italy, then packed, and now we’re headed to bed! Tomorrow we disembark and spend the day in Waikiki before boarding a plane back to the mainland! More tomorrow – until then, Aloha!
Waimea Canyon
This morning we had a short breakfast at the Aloha Café, then we boarded the bus with Roberts Hawaii for the Journey to Waimea Canyon excursion. Waimea Canyon is considered the “Grand Canyon of the Pacific,” with many brilliant layers of colors and lots of vegetation too. We were very excited to see it. Our tour guide was a little quirky but very informative and gave us lots of info about the island of Kaua’i. On the way we stopped first at a blowhole, which was similar to the one we’d seen before but which had greater height – it was pretty neat. Across the street from that state park there were condos being built, which our tour guide said started at $1 million. Pretty pricey, eh? In the blowhole’s park, there were lots of chickens and roosters, 
which we learned had been let out of their fences during the 1992 hurricane, and which have been roaming around since. Some of them had baby chicks following them around – too fun! We had one more stop at a random gift shop on the way to the Canyon, where we got some Mauna Loa macadamia nuts (a big brand in Hawaii) which were Onion and Garlic flavored…interesting, but a little too strong, so I ate half the bag and threw the rest away – ha! On the rest of the drive to the Canyon we could see the island of Niihau, a smaller island in the chain that is not far from Kaua’i. We learned that at one time about 100,000 people had lived there, but that as Kaua’i began to advance in technology (electricity, plumbing) people began moving off the island, because it is so small and there really hasn’t been any effort to get modern amenities there. Now about 7,000 people live there, and they can come over on Tuesdays and Thursdays to go to the new Costco on Kaua’i!
The view of Waimea Canyon was simply breathtaking – you’ll have to look at the pictures to see what I mean! It was formed over many years by a river, just like the Grand Canyon. The tour guide was nice enough to take our picture with the part that is more vegetated – too much fun!
After viewing the Canyon we headed back toward the ship. On the way we stopped at the Kaua’I Coffee Company, which is surrounded by its coffee fields. Their coffee is good like Kona coffee, and isn’t as strong. They also have lots of flavors!
Once we were back to the ship we got ready for the luau. We left before some of the other people who went to the luau because we booked a ride on the Plantation Train around the luau site. When we got to the luau we both got leis – I got a beautiful orchid lei and Jarrett got a shell lei. Then we went on the train ride. The plantation has fruit trees including mango, banana, coconut and avocado, a cashew tree (did you know the cashew nut is actually the seed of the cashew fruit, and that it must be roasted before eaten because in its raw state it is poisonous?), sugar cane, bread fruit, etc.
We also saw the pigs, donkeys, and horses they keep on the property, lots of palms, the Cook Pine, and lots of the beautiful grounds.
After we got back from the train ride we wandered around the demonstrations and craft tables. They had a couple of sets of boys playing traditional Polynesian games, and there were several craft sites – we got an ornament for our Christmas tree! They also had temporary tattoos, and I got a turtle. We next went to the hut
where they had the pig cooking in the sand. They bury it in leaves with hot rocks around it. It had been cooking since 7:30 that morning They had taken the guts out of the pig, so it didn’t look quite as disgusting when they got it out ;) They also had a little ceremony including dancers dancing with halved coconuts which had been lighted with fire, and a lady singing a Polynesian song with a male Polynesian drummer – very cool.It was an open bar, so you know what that means! We had lots of Mai Tai’s, a couple Blue Hawaiians, and a few LIT’s. That just made the luau that much better – ha!! ;) The food was presented buffet style, and they had broken the pork up like bar-b-que from home – it was really good!
The show was truly amazing. It was the story of the migration of the Polynesian people from the Marquesas Islands to Hawaii. They used the stars, currents, winds and migration of animals as their guide to the new islands. The show included fire dancers, which was also really cool!After the show we headed back to the ship and had a snack, basically just because we could, but also to kill the buzz ;) Next we went to the Newlywed Game, the Liar Show, and stayed for a bit of the Late Night Dance Party – then it was off to bed! We hope to shop a little in the morning, and then enjoy a little more relaxed day of vacation! Until tomorrow, Aloha!
An Adventure Excursion?
Today we arrived in Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii for only a few hours. What an amazing part of the island, though. Our morning started off very interesting.
First, the shore line at Kona is absent of a pier and the water is to shallow for the ship to anchor near the shore. We got our first and hopefully only ride on the life boats. They lowered the orange and white life boats from their positions on the boat to use as tenders for the day. The ship anchored several yards from the shore. This made the tender ride about 10 minutes. The only time I’ve felt queasy this entire trip has been on the tender. The ride is not very sturdy in the choppy ocean. On the outside of the tender it has large words saying 109 passengers as a tender and 150 as a lifeboat. During one of the tender trips we had 70 people on the tender; I’m not sure where the other 39 people would have fit not to mention the other 80 if it was being used as a lifeboat… But I’m sure if the need should arrive for the tender to serve a lifeboat we’ll sit in each other’s laps.
Our second and probably most adventurous portion of this trip came during our snorkeling excursion. Some of you may remember a couple years ago Jill and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas at Christmas. As a Christmas gift for me Jill booked us an excursion to swim with sting rays. If I’ve never told you the story about swimming with the sting rays ask me sometime, but for time sake just use your imagination… swimming in open waters with sting rays, sounds safe right? Well, today’s snorkeling excursion proved to be no safer and this time I booked the excursion (paybacks are hell…haha)!
We met the rest of our group who will be snorkeling with us at the pier. They go over some basic guidelines (no one with heart trouble, back problems, etc). The lady asks us if we all understand we signed up for an adventure tour. Sure, I consider snorkeling in open ocean waters an adventure, so we were okay with the “adventure” part. Little did we know her idea of adventure and ours is completely different. She proceeds to lead us to the Captain Zodiac raft, that’s right I said raft! At this point I’m thinking to myself, how the hell do I get out of this? I don’t want to go way out in the ocean, the Pacific Ocean, in a RAFT! I look around no one else is backing out and Jill seems okay… so by peer pressure I board the raft.
If you have never been on a raft, which I had not, there are no seats. You sit on the sides where there are hand and feet ropes for you to hold yourself in place. We meet our captain and his mate. The captain again goes over all the guidelines and discusses this is an “adventure” tour. I’m really beginning to realize the word adventure is not describing what they in store for us. Once we our away from the pier far enough the captain picks up speeds to 45 mph. A raft in the choppy ocean at 45 mph, not a good idea. We immediately grasp his understanding of adventure when he whips the raft on its side to circle a large boat in the water just for fun and continues to follow the shore line as it curves in and out. Each curve meant the boat leaning to one side where
we had to hang on for dear life. I was holding the hand rope, a handle, and had both feet secured under the foot “safety” rope. I have never experienced anything like this. An adventure for sure!
The cool part, on our way to the reef we see dolphins coming up out of the water and we stop to take a closer look. There were several dolphins and they continued to play for several minutes. Jill even saw a baby dolphin jump up. As we continued on to the reef the captain made another sudden stop, because there were whales in front of us. We watched the whales for at least 15 minutes. The captain told us has been giving these tours for 5 years and this was only his third time to see the whales. The captain and his mate were extremely excited and continued telling us how lucky we are to see the whales. Very cool! Almost makes the raft in the ocean worth it!
Finally, we make it to the reef for our time to snorkel among the diversity of the ocean. The waters are so clear we can see the reef and fish from the boat. We get a little instruction on how to snorkel and we are out of the raft. Jill and I snorkeled close together to see everything. The coral is very colorful and large. There are many types of fish and other sea life. We saw an eel and parrot fish. Jill and I swam away from the reef out to the blue sea and were able to see bigger fish way below us that looked really ugly and mean. They did not seem to care we were there. People have told us Hawaii’s reefs are 2nd best only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. I’ve snorkeled now both and can say that Hawaii’s reef is very close to the Great Barrier. Not as large as the Great Barrier, but the beauty is very much the same.
After coming back on board the raft, they had snacks for us. Knowing we had an adventurous return raft ride back to pier I opted for no snacks. The ride back did not seem as thrilling as the ride out to the reef. We stopped at a couple lava tubes and saw what is believed to be the rock formation of goddess Pele. Pele is goddess of fire.
Upon returning from our adventurous snorkeling trip we did some shopping along the pier and farmers market. Jill and I both bought kukui nut necklaces. The kukui nuts are native to Hawaii and are worn by men and women during times of celebration.
It was our final tender ride back to the ship where we rested before the night’s entertainment. Tonight was prime rib night at the Aloha Café. We watched one of the ships dance shows and saw the comedian Chris Alpine, who is very funny! We even stayed up late to go to the 80s night dance party.
Tomorrow we arrive in Kaua’i, our last island of this trip. It’s quickly winding down, but I’m sure we have at least 2 more days of splendid paradise remaining. Aloha, for now!
First, the shore line at Kona is absent of a pier and the water is to shallow for the ship to anchor near the shore. We got our first and hopefully only ride on the life boats. They lowered the orange and white life boats from their positions on the boat to use as tenders for the day. The ship anchored several yards from the shore. This made the tender ride about 10 minutes. The only time I’ve felt queasy this entire trip has been on the tender. The ride is not very sturdy in the choppy ocean. On the outside of the tender it has large words saying 109 passengers as a tender and 150 as a lifeboat. During one of the tender trips we had 70 people on the tender; I’m not sure where the other 39 people would have fit not to mention the other 80 if it was being used as a lifeboat… But I’m sure if the need should arrive for the tender to serve a lifeboat we’ll sit in each other’s laps.
Our second and probably most adventurous portion of this trip came during our snorkeling excursion. Some of you may remember a couple years ago Jill and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas at Christmas. As a Christmas gift for me Jill booked us an excursion to swim with sting rays. If I’ve never told you the story about swimming with the sting rays ask me sometime, but for time sake just use your imagination… swimming in open waters with sting rays, sounds safe right? Well, today’s snorkeling excursion proved to be no safer and this time I booked the excursion (paybacks are hell…haha)!
We met the rest of our group who will be snorkeling with us at the pier. They go over some basic guidelines (no one with heart trouble, back problems, etc). The lady asks us if we all understand we signed up for an adventure tour. Sure, I consider snorkeling in open ocean waters an adventure, so we were okay with the “adventure” part. Little did we know her idea of adventure and ours is completely different. She proceeds to lead us to the Captain Zodiac raft, that’s right I said raft! At this point I’m thinking to myself, how the hell do I get out of this? I don’t want to go way out in the ocean, the Pacific Ocean, in a RAFT! I look around no one else is backing out and Jill seems okay… so by peer pressure I board the raft.
If you have never been on a raft, which I had not, there are no seats. You sit on the sides where there are hand and feet ropes for you to hold yourself in place. We meet our captain and his mate. The captain again goes over all the guidelines and discusses this is an “adventure” tour. I’m really beginning to realize the word adventure is not describing what they in store for us. Once we our away from the pier far enough the captain picks up speeds to 45 mph. A raft in the choppy ocean at 45 mph, not a good idea. We immediately grasp his understanding of adventure when he whips the raft on its side to circle a large boat in the water just for fun and continues to follow the shore line as it curves in and out. Each curve meant the boat leaning to one side where
we had to hang on for dear life. I was holding the hand rope, a handle, and had both feet secured under the foot “safety” rope. I have never experienced anything like this. An adventure for sure!The cool part, on our way to the reef we see dolphins coming up out of the water and we stop to take a closer look. There were several dolphins and they continued to play for several minutes. Jill even saw a baby dolphin jump up. As we continued on to the reef the captain made another sudden stop, because there were whales in front of us. We watched the whales for at least 15 minutes. The captain told us has been giving these tours for 5 years and this was only his third time to see the whales. The captain and his mate were extremely excited and continued telling us how lucky we are to see the whales. Very cool! Almost makes the raft in the ocean worth it!
Finally, we make it to the reef for our time to snorkel among the diversity of the ocean. The waters are so clear we can see the reef and fish from the boat. We get a little instruction on how to snorkel and we are out of the raft. Jill and I snorkeled close together to see everything. The coral is very colorful and large. There are many types of fish and other sea life. We saw an eel and parrot fish. Jill and I swam away from the reef out to the blue sea and were able to see bigger fish way below us that looked really ugly and mean. They did not seem to care we were there. People have told us Hawaii’s reefs are 2nd best only to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. I’ve snorkeled now both and can say that Hawaii’s reef is very close to the Great Barrier. Not as large as the Great Barrier, but the beauty is very much the same.After coming back on board the raft, they had snacks for us. Knowing we had an adventurous return raft ride back to pier I opted for no snacks. The ride back did not seem as thrilling as the ride out to the reef. We stopped at a couple lava tubes and saw what is believed to be the rock formation of goddess Pele. Pele is goddess of fire.
Upon returning from our adventurous snorkeling trip we did some shopping along the pier and farmers market. Jill and I both bought kukui nut necklaces. The kukui nuts are native to Hawaii and are worn by men and women during times of celebration.
It was our final tender ride back to the ship where we rested before the night’s entertainment. Tonight was prime rib night at the Aloha Café. We watched one of the ships dance shows and saw the comedian Chris Alpine, who is very funny! We even stayed up late to go to the 80s night dance party.
Tomorrow we arrive in Kaua’i, our last island of this trip. It’s quickly winding down, but I’m sure we have at least 2 more days of splendid paradise remaining. Aloha, for now!
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
3:30am, 30 degrees, 10,023 feet
This morning we got up at 2:30am to get ready to go on our excursion to Haleakala to see the sun rise over the volcanic crater. I had been to the sunrise before and knew it was worth it – having not seen it Jarrett wasn’t yet convinced, but he would be in a few hours! We took this excursion through Roberts Hawaii, which is a tour company operating out of the islands. It was significantly cheaper, and would turn out to be the same thing – gotta love a great deal! We took a van to the top with 8 other people – the tour guide said the van would hold 10 Americans or 16 Koreans – ha!! ;)
The drive from the boat to the summit of the crater was about 1.5 hours. We went from sea level to 10,023 feet in that amount of time – pretty crazy, huh? The weather at the summit was between 30 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so it was a good thing we knew we’d be doing this before we came to Hawaii – we had jeans and jackets, but it was still cold! It was also pitch black, as there are absolutely no lights around so as not to ruin the view of the sunrise. Also, the air is really thin at the summit – you have to move really slowly or you seriously do get light headed. We heard later that one woman fell trying to come up the steps to the observatory too fast. At the summit there’s also an observatory with lots of telescopes and such, and there are trails all through the crater which can take as little as three hours or as long as three days to traverse – it is absolutely huge.
We got out of the van around 5:30 and stood with about 100 other people watching the progression in the sky until the sun rose. All I can say is…AMAZING! Jarrett definitely knew it was worth waking up early after we saw it!
On the way down the crater we saw the bike riders, about 10 groups of 20 of them, who bike ride down the twists and turns of the volcano road, traveling at around 35 mph – that’s pretty fast for a bike! We did it as a family the last time I was in Maui, and it was amazing! However, there was no convincing Jarrett, so we went up and down the volcano in the van ;) On the way down we got a better view of the crater and the cinder cones inside. From that elevation there was also an amazing view of the island – you could just barely make out our huge ship, and you could see the fields of sugar cane.
After we got back on the ship around 8:30am, we took a nap, ate lunch, and then hung out at the pool listening to the live music from the hot tub until we set sail – it was cool to watch us leave shore from the open deck, with Mai Tai’s in our hands! We then cleaned up again and ate at the Liberty Restaurant, one of the main restaurants on the ship. It is really neatly decorated, and the meal was really good! After dinner we went to hear the comedy of Chris Alpine, which was actually really good! We were finally able to stay up late because we are actually getting used to the time change and not getting tired by 9:00pm – ha!
That’s all for our last day in Maui – until tomorrow, Aloha!
The drive from the boat to the summit of the crater was about 1.5 hours. We went from sea level to 10,023 feet in that amount of time – pretty crazy, huh? The weather at the summit was between 30 and 40 degrees Fahrenheit, so it was a good thing we knew we’d be doing this before we came to Hawaii – we had jeans and jackets, but it was still cold! It was also pitch black, as there are absolutely no lights around so as not to ruin the view of the sunrise. Also, the air is really thin at the summit – you have to move really slowly or you seriously do get light headed. We heard later that one woman fell trying to come up the steps to the observatory too fast. At the summit there’s also an observatory with lots of telescopes and such, and there are trails all through the crater which can take as little as three hours or as long as three days to traverse – it is absolutely huge.
We got out of the van around 5:30 and stood with about 100 other people watching the progression in the sky until the sun rose. All I can say is…AMAZING! Jarrett definitely knew it was worth waking up early after we saw it!
On the way down the crater we saw the bike riders, about 10 groups of 20 of them, who bike ride down the twists and turns of the volcano road, traveling at around 35 mph – that’s pretty fast for a bike! We did it as a family the last time I was in Maui, and it was amazing! However, there was no convincing Jarrett, so we went up and down the volcano in the van ;) On the way down we got a better view of the crater and the cinder cones inside. From that elevation there was also an amazing view of the island – you could just barely make out our huge ship, and you could see the fields of sugar cane.
After we got back on the ship around 8:30am, we took a nap, ate lunch, and then hung out at the pool listening to the live music from the hot tub until we set sail – it was cool to watch us leave shore from the open deck, with Mai Tai’s in our hands! We then cleaned up again and ate at the Liberty Restaurant, one of the main restaurants on the ship. It is really neatly decorated, and the meal was really good! After dinner we went to hear the comedy of Chris Alpine, which was actually really good! We were finally able to stay up late because we are actually getting used to the time change and not getting tired by 9:00pm – ha!
That’s all for our last day in Maui – until tomorrow, Aloha!
Note about Pictures
Hello all!
We just wanted to let all of you know that we are having trouble uploading pictures from the ship. As it looks right now, it will probably be Saturday before we are able to upload the rest of our pictures to the internet. Hopefully you can hold out until then! ;)
Aloha!
We just wanted to let all of you know that we are having trouble uploading pictures from the ship. As it looks right now, it will probably be Saturday before we are able to upload the rest of our pictures to the internet. Hopefully you can hold out until then! ;)
Aloha!
Hana Coast
This morning we arrive in Maui for a 1 night 2 day stay. We are up before the 8AM docking and had breakfast at the Skyline Restaurant. This restaurant was a nice treat, because they take your order at the table… no buffet this morning!
After breakfast we left the ship to board the Alamo rental car shuttle taking us to the airport rental location for our vehicle. Today, we decided to try a Jeep Wrangler. We chose the deep red one with a soft top. Jill and I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how the top came down… You know, it is necessary to have the top down for the entire time of renting a car in Hawaii, right?... Well at least we think so! We gave up our attempt to remove the top and asked for help. A lady at the rental stand was nice enough to put it down for us. I just hope they don’t expect me to put in back up when we return the Jeep.
The car is situated and we are off for our day of driving the famous Hana coast. It is a beautiful scenic drive along the coast line. Along the way are breathtaking views of the beaches, ocean, waterfalls, and flora. Did I mention they have white, red and black sand beaches in Maui? This is my first time ever seeing black sand beaches. The black sand is actually crushed lava rock from the volcano.
Before we turned onto the Hana coast we made a couple stops to purchase everything we need for a picnic. There are very few town stores along the Hana coast. The nice lady at Alamo told us to stop in the small town of Paia for the best fried chicken on the island. Fried chicken, just what we wanted for our picnic. After a quick stop at K-Mart for water, Maui style chips (made by Frito-Lay), cooler, ice, and our stop at Paia’s Mini Mart for chicken we were set for the 60 mile drive.
Never in my life have I driven 60 miles filled with 600 curves and 59 one lane bridges (those numbers are correct according to AAA). The Hana coast sways in and out along the shore. Many parts of the road narrow to one lane and all bridges are one lane where you yield for any traffic coming across. The speed limit for most of the road is 15 mph. Almost everyone traveling along the coast are tourists in their rented Jeeps, convertibles, or vans if it’s a family. We stopped for lunch about half way along the trip at a place overlooking the coast and ocean.
About ten miles after this spot, I got to see my first black sand beach. As I said, the black sand is crushed lava rock. There was black sand mixed in with a lot of smooth lava rocks at the edge of the beach where the waves break, rubbed smooth by the crashing waves. The sound of the water hitting the rocks and rolling back into the ocean was like nothing we’d ever heard before – all of the rocks would smack together, and you could hear them settling back down after the water drained out of them. Amazing. At this location we also saw a blowhole – a natural formation where water is pushed upward through the rocks, looking like the blowhole of a whale. After our stop here we drove the rest of the trip to Hana and beyond to the 7 pools, making many stops for pictures. Just before the 7 pools, we saw the most amazing waterfall we’d seen yet – probably 20-30 feet tall. The Hana coast truly is a chunk of paradise. 
The roundtrip drive down and back the Road to Hana took us about 8 hours to complete. We re-embarked the ship about 7PM. After quickly cleaning up we headed to the Aloha Café for a buffet dinner. Tonight we tried the salad, pizza, carved ham, polish sausage, and entire assortment of desserts.
We turned in early tonight. We will be up at 2:30AM to board a bus viewing the sunrise… yeap Jarrett up at 2:30AM to watch the sunrise, which it does everyday 365 days a year. We will be traveling to the summit of Haleakala volcano (not active) for an incredible view of the sunrise.
It has become very clear that pictures cannot capture the vast beauty of these islands. Thanks to digital photography when I take a picture I can immediately view it and I think to myself that is not nearly as pretty as what I’m looking at. This is truly you a place you have to experience first hand to fully appreciate.
After breakfast we left the ship to board the Alamo rental car shuttle taking us to the airport rental location for our vehicle. Today, we decided to try a Jeep Wrangler. We chose the deep red one with a soft top. Jill and I spent about 20 minutes trying to figure out how the top came down… You know, it is necessary to have the top down for the entire time of renting a car in Hawaii, right?... Well at least we think so! We gave up our attempt to remove the top and asked for help. A lady at the rental stand was nice enough to put it down for us. I just hope they don’t expect me to put in back up when we return the Jeep.
The car is situated and we are off for our day of driving the famous Hana coast. It is a beautiful scenic drive along the coast line. Along the way are breathtaking views of the beaches, ocean, waterfalls, and flora. Did I mention they have white, red and black sand beaches in Maui? This is my first time ever seeing black sand beaches. The black sand is actually crushed lava rock from the volcano.Before we turned onto the Hana coast we made a couple stops to purchase everything we need for a picnic. There are very few town stores along the Hana coast. The nice lady at Alamo told us to stop in the small town of Paia for the best fried chicken on the island. Fried chicken, just what we wanted for our picnic. After a quick stop at K-Mart for water, Maui style chips (made by Frito-Lay), cooler, ice, and our stop at Paia’s Mini Mart for chicken we were set for the 60 mile drive.
Never in my life have I driven 60 miles filled with 600 curves and 59 one lane bridges (those numbers are correct according to AAA). The Hana coast sways in and out along the shore. Many parts of the road narrow to one lane and all bridges are one lane where you yield for any traffic coming across. The speed limit for most of the road is 15 mph. Almost everyone traveling along the coast are tourists in their rented Jeeps, convertibles, or vans if it’s a family. We stopped for lunch about half way along the trip at a place overlooking the coast and ocean.
About ten miles after this spot, I got to see my first black sand beach. As I said, the black sand is crushed lava rock. There was black sand mixed in with a lot of smooth lava rocks at the edge of the beach where the waves break, rubbed smooth by the crashing waves. The sound of the water hitting the rocks and rolling back into the ocean was like nothing we’d ever heard before – all of the rocks would smack together, and you could hear them settling back down after the water drained out of them. Amazing. At this location we also saw a blowhole – a natural formation where water is pushed upward through the rocks, looking like the blowhole of a whale. After our stop here we drove the rest of the trip to Hana and beyond to the 7 pools, making many stops for pictures. Just before the 7 pools, we saw the most amazing waterfall we’d seen yet – probably 20-30 feet tall. The Hana coast truly is a chunk of paradise. 
The roundtrip drive down and back the Road to Hana took us about 8 hours to complete. We re-embarked the ship about 7PM. After quickly cleaning up we headed to the Aloha Café for a buffet dinner. Tonight we tried the salad, pizza, carved ham, polish sausage, and entire assortment of desserts.
We turned in early tonight. We will be up at 2:30AM to board a bus viewing the sunrise… yeap Jarrett up at 2:30AM to watch the sunrise, which it does everyday 365 days a year. We will be traveling to the summit of Haleakala volcano (not active) for an incredible view of the sunrise.
It has become very clear that pictures cannot capture the vast beauty of these islands. Thanks to digital photography when I take a picture I can immediately view it and I think to myself that is not nearly as pretty as what I’m looking at. This is truly you a place you have to experience first hand to fully appreciate.
Kilauea Iki
I got up around 6:15am and ran outside on Deck 6, which goes all the way around the ship. Three laps around the ship = 1 mile. As I was coming around the ship on one of my laps, I saw a rainbow on the shore of the Big Island, where we would land around 8:00am. It was awesome!! Jarrett hasn’t seen a rainbow yet, and I am of the opinion that he must see one before we leave!
We ate breakfast at the Aloha café, and then headed off board to meet our group for the Volcano Hike excursion. There were 10 of us, and we were interested that one of the men in the group wore what looked like loafers in which he planned to hik
e 4 miles through the Kulauea Iki crater. I guess we’d see how that worked out!
It was about a 45 minute drive into Volcanoes National Park. We got to see some of the countryside in Hilo, including sugar cane and orchids, some of the big agriculture grown there. Our tour guide was very informative through the whole tour, and on the way up to the National Park she discussed that there was quite a bit of land available on the Big Island, but that you took a varying risk depending on where you bought land – lava might travel through your back yard at some point! The whole island is mapped out in grids, with 9 being the safest and 1 being the least safe. Most of the land we traveled on the way up to the National Park was rated a 2 or 3. Guess that’s why you can buy an acre for about $15,000!
When we got up to the National Park, it was about 9 degrees cooler than where we were when we started, since we were about 3000 feet about sea level. Our tour guide mentioned that they estimate that it is 3 degrees cooler per 1000 feet traveled up. We could see the crater from the parking lot – amazing! There’s pretty much a forest that has grown up around where the volcano erupted in the 1950’s. We got backpacks, water, our lunches and hiking sticks, and headed to the Thurston Lava Tube.
We learned that a lava tube forms when the top of a lava flow cools, and then the area around a tube cools, allowing lava to flow through the tube and out to form new land. Lava has flowed through the Thurston Lava Tube at least three times, according to geologists – lava will travel through the easiest route, and a lava tube is a very easy route. At points the lava tube has collapsed, and according to our guide, should there be a lava flow, you could stand above the collapse and watch the lava flow through the tube. Too cool!
We saw quite a few tropical plants and trees well suited to grow in new land formed by a volcano. One type of tree is surrounded by legend – supposedly the goddess of fire, Pele, wanted to be with a beautiful man on the island, and when he refused her, she turned him into a tree. The man’s wife was so upset, she begged the gods to re-unite them, so they made his wife a beautiful red flower on the tree. The tree was found in several locations on the crater, and it is said if you pick a flower off the tree, it will rain, because the lovers cry when they have been separated. There’s another bush that has berries which the state bird, the nene (a form of goose) walks around the crater to eat. The guide said no nenes some to that crater, and she found some ripe berries, so we got to try one! They were sort of like a tart blueberry.
Another legend: all of the lava rock are Pele’s children; if you take one of her “children,” she will do whatever she can to get her children back – which includes giving you bad luck until you send the rock back to Hawaii! This convinced me not to take any rocks, and with some persuasion, convinced Jarrett too – ha! ;)
So after the lava tube we hiked down the forest to the rim of the crater, and then across the crater toward where the lava flowed out. The crater was basically a lake of lava, and the lake settled down into the earth to form new land. Magma was flowing under the lake until the mid-1980’s, and the land is still warm – steam flows through cracks in the crater after it rains. Since it was morning, some of the dew caused steam to flow, and we got some cool pictures of the steam. The whole crater is about 1 mile across, with smooth lava to begin and then rougher cooled lava as you walk out the other side of the crater. Note: if you decide to take this hike, don’t wear loafers like the man I mentioned above – he took a hard fall in the rough lava section, during which he tore his shirt and cut up his hand – ouch!
After we walked out of the crater, we noticed some yellow and red flowers which we later learned were a form of ginger bush. These flowers aren’t native to the island – they were brought over by a ranger, and now they are starting to push out native ferns and the like because they have a tendency to take over! Bet that ranger is sorry!
It was about a mile back to the van, where we had some macadamia nuts and soda/juice, then we jumped in a drove a little more through the park, saw another crater, and then headed back to the boat. Once on board we enjoyed a snack at one of our favorite restaurants, the Cadillac diner; went back to the room
(where Jarrett had sent me Hawaaian flowers - beautiful!!), got cleaned up, then went to wine happy hour at Pink’s Champagne Bar. After that we had a fun Italian meal at Little Italy restaurant on the ship, then headed to bed so we could be up early to pick up our car and do the ride to Hana! So, until the next blog, Aloha!
We ate breakfast at the Aloha café, and then headed off board to meet our group for the Volcano Hike excursion. There were 10 of us, and we were interested that one of the men in the group wore what looked like loafers in which he planned to hik
e 4 miles through the Kulauea Iki crater. I guess we’d see how that worked out!It was about a 45 minute drive into Volcanoes National Park. We got to see some of the countryside in Hilo, including sugar cane and orchids, some of the big agriculture grown there. Our tour guide was very informative through the whole tour, and on the way up to the National Park she discussed that there was quite a bit of land available on the Big Island, but that you took a varying risk depending on where you bought land – lava might travel through your back yard at some point! The whole island is mapped out in grids, with 9 being the safest and 1 being the least safe. Most of the land we traveled on the way up to the National Park was rated a 2 or 3. Guess that’s why you can buy an acre for about $15,000!
When we got up to the National Park, it was about 9 degrees cooler than where we were when we started, since we were about 3000 feet about sea level. Our tour guide mentioned that they estimate that it is 3 degrees cooler per 1000 feet traveled up. We could see the crater from the parking lot – amazing! There’s pretty much a forest that has grown up around where the volcano erupted in the 1950’s. We got backpacks, water, our lunches and hiking sticks, and headed to the Thurston Lava Tube.
We learned that a lava tube forms when the top of a lava flow cools, and then the area around a tube cools, allowing lava to flow through the tube and out to form new land. Lava has flowed through the Thurston Lava Tube at least three times, according to geologists – lava will travel through the easiest route, and a lava tube is a very easy route. At points the lava tube has collapsed, and according to our guide, should there be a lava flow, you could stand above the collapse and watch the lava flow through the tube. Too cool!We saw quite a few tropical plants and trees well suited to grow in new land formed by a volcano. One type of tree is surrounded by legend – supposedly the goddess of fire, Pele, wanted to be with a beautiful man on the island, and when he refused her, she turned him into a tree. The man’s wife was so upset, she begged the gods to re-unite them, so they made his wife a beautiful red flower on the tree. The tree was found in several locations on the crater, and it is said if you pick a flower off the tree, it will rain, because the lovers cry when they have been separated. There’s another bush that has berries which the state bird, the nene (a form of goose) walks around the crater to eat. The guide said no nenes some to that crater, and she found some ripe berries, so we got to try one! They were sort of like a tart blueberry.
Another legend: all of the lava rock are Pele’s children; if you take one of her “children,” she will do whatever she can to get her children back – which includes giving you bad luck until you send the rock back to Hawaii! This convinced me not to take any rocks, and with some persuasion, convinced Jarrett too – ha! ;)
So after the lava tube we hiked down the forest to the rim of the crater, and then across the crater toward where the lava flowed out. The crater was basically a lake of lava, and the lake settled down into the earth to form new land. Magma was flowing under the lake until the mid-1980’s, and the land is still warm – steam flows through cracks in the crater after it rains. Since it was morning, some of the dew caused steam to flow, and we got some cool pictures of the steam. The whole crater is about 1 mile across, with smooth lava to begin and then rougher cooled lava as you walk out the other side of the crater. Note: if you decide to take this hike, don’t wear loafers like the man I mentioned above – he took a hard fall in the rough lava section, during which he tore his shirt and cut up his hand – ouch!
After we walked out of the crater, we noticed some yellow and red flowers which we later learned were a form of ginger bush. These flowers aren’t native to the island – they were brought over by a ranger, and now they are starting to push out native ferns and the like because they have a tendency to take over! Bet that ranger is sorry!
It was about a mile back to the van, where we had some macadamia nuts and soda/juice, then we jumped in a drove a little more through the park, saw another crater, and then headed back to the boat. Once on board we enjoyed a snack at one of our favorite restaurants, the Cadillac diner; went back to the room
(where Jarrett had sent me Hawaaian flowers - beautiful!!), got cleaned up, then went to wine happy hour at Pink’s Champagne Bar. After that we had a fun Italian meal at Little Italy restaurant on the ship, then headed to bed so we could be up early to pick up our car and do the ride to Hana! So, until the next blog, Aloha!
Monday, September 10, 2007
Diamond Head - Finally!
We made it up before sunrise and headed out to Diamond Head – finally, right? ;) All of the books say to be prepared for a ¾ mile hike which includes 99 stairs – how about 99 stairs plus 74 before you get there and 55 after you get there? Believe it or not, it’s totally worth the view – check out the pictures! 
Diamond Head was created by a volcano hundreds of thousands of years ago, and used to be a lake until it began to be used for defense, and a tunnel was dug through the bottom. Royalty used it for palaces and such until it was later used for military defense, when the royalty moved out. Even later, it was used by the Fire Department to keep watch for fires. Pretty cool, huh?
After we got back from Diamond Head we ate breakfast, packed up, and shipped out! We had to return the rental car and then took a cab to the cruise ship. We wanted to get on the ship early to orient ourselves so we will be familiar with everything for the rest of the cruise. Also, why not start the “included” food earlier, huh? The cruise ship is absolutely beautiful – we’ve attached a few pictures of our room and some of the ship, and hope to take more pictures tomorrow. The cruise ship is called the Pride of America, and the theme is, of course, America! As we walked in it was themed with the White House, complete with an official seal and the Washington Monument! There are restaurants with Thomas Jefferson theme, a cowboy theme, the Cadillac diner, the Aloha Café, the Waikiki Grill, and many more! There’s also the Hollywood Theatre and the Mardi Gras Comedy Club, among many! The ship is very clean and looks very updated, which we really enjoy. Our room is also very brightly colored and has cool features, like our name on the TV screen when we arrived!
When we got on board the rooms weren’t ready yet, so we got a snack at the Aloha Buffet, which had everything from pizza to carved meat, fruit and salad, sandwiches, potato bar – lots of choices!! Our room was ready soon after so we dropped off our bags and headed out for more food – ha! We walked around the ship some more, then did the emergency evacuation drill. We took pictures of that too – check them out! Our muster station is in the Cadillac Diner – too fun!
A little later, we went to hear information on shore excursions, made a change to one of our excursions, and turned everything in. We had dinner at the Cadillac Diner – I had fish and Jarrett had meatloaf! We also tried the buffalo wings, potato soup, chili, brownie, and pound cake – ha! We didn’t eat it all, but it’s included, so why not try it, right? We ate outside and right after we ate we were setting sail. They had to move the tables in after we set sail – Coast Guard regulations won’t allow outdoor seating when the ship is moving, because they’re afraid the wind might carry items off the ship and pollute the ocean – interesting, huh?
As we set sail we watched the lights of Oahu until we got to the very edge. We’re exhausted from the day, so we’re going to go to bed and get rested up for our adventure on the volcano in Hilo tomorrow! The volcano is erupting right now, so we’re hoping that we will get to see the lava flow as we leave the Big Island tomorrow!!
One more thing – we’re on limited internet usage now since we’re getting charged by the minute, so all of our pictures will be in the attached picture album, and few or none in the actual blog, since it takes extra time to orient them after we write the blog. We hope you’ll check out the picture album, though!! Until tomorrow, Aloha! Mahola (thank you) for reading!!
Diamond Head was created by a volcano hundreds of thousands of years ago, and used to be a lake until it began to be used for defense, and a tunnel was dug through the bottom. Royalty used it for palaces and such until it was later used for military defense, when the royalty moved out. Even later, it was used by the Fire Department to keep watch for fires. Pretty cool, huh?After we got back from Diamond Head we ate breakfast, packed up, and shipped out! We had to return the rental car and then took a cab to the cruise ship. We wanted to get on the ship early to orient ourselves so we will be familiar with everything for the rest of the cruise. Also, why not start the “included” food earlier, huh? The cruise ship is absolutely beautiful – we’ve attached a few pictures of our room and some of the ship, and hope to take more pictures tomorrow. The cruise ship is called the Pride of America, and the theme is, of course, America! As we walked in it was themed with the White House, complete with an official seal and the Washington Monument! There are restaurants with Thomas Jefferson theme, a cowboy theme, the Cadillac diner, the Aloha Café, the Waikiki Grill, and many more! There’s also the Hollywood Theatre and the Mardi Gras Comedy Club, among many! The ship is very clean and looks very updated, which we really enjoy. Our room is also very brightly colored and has cool features, like our name on the TV screen when we arrived!
When we got on board the rooms weren’t ready yet, so we got a snack at the Aloha Buffet, which had everything from pizza to carved meat, fruit and salad, sandwiches, potato bar – lots of choices!! Our room was ready soon after so we dropped off our bags and headed out for more food – ha! We walked around the ship some more, then did the emergency evacuation drill. We took pictures of that too – check them out! Our muster station is in the Cadillac Diner – too fun!
A little later, we went to hear information on shore excursions, made a change to one of our excursions, and turned everything in. We had dinner at the Cadillac Diner – I had fish and Jarrett had meatloaf! We also tried the buffalo wings, potato soup, chili, brownie, and pound cake – ha! We didn’t eat it all, but it’s included, so why not try it, right? We ate outside and right after we ate we were setting sail. They had to move the tables in after we set sail – Coast Guard regulations won’t allow outdoor seating when the ship is moving, because they’re afraid the wind might carry items off the ship and pollute the ocean – interesting, huh?
As we set sail we watched the lights of Oahu until we got to the very edge. We’re exhausted from the day, so we’re going to go to bed and get rested up for our adventure on the volcano in Hilo tomorrow! The volcano is erupting right now, so we’re hoping that we will get to see the lava flow as we leave the Big Island tomorrow!!
One more thing – we’re on limited internet usage now since we’re getting charged by the minute, so all of our pictures will be in the attached picture album, and few or none in the actual blog, since it takes extra time to orient them after we write the blog. We hope you’ll check out the picture album, though!! Until tomorrow, Aloha! Mahola (thank you) for reading!!
Saturday, September 8, 2007
What's a Dot/Dashed Line Mean?
Well, we planned to get up this morning to go to Diamond Head, but apparently I hit the wrong button on my alarm when it went off, and it didn’t go off again! So, our plan of walking up the crater at sunrise will have to wait until tomorrow, since the sun was already up when we woke up!
After breakfast at the hotel, we headed off for our trip around the island. We attempted to map out the trip, and everything looked fairly clear-cut, except for a dotted and dashed line as the road on the western shore. There was no indication on the map of what that type of line meant, so we figured we’d make a go of it and see what we encountered!
One interesting thing about Waikiki, at least – the street lights are on poles on the edges of the streets, for the most part. According to Jarrett, who is doing all of the driving this trip, it makes it a little hard to see if you’re supposed to stop or go! I’ve been trying to pay attention to the lights too to help him, since they’re more in my line of vision that his.
Funny story: while we were taking pictures at the East Shore, a guy was walking by us and trying to be coy, and then was taking a picture of the Beatle – ha!! Everyone seems to love the Beatle!!
After the East Shore we drove around Diamond Head and back into Waikiki. We enjoyed some drinks and appetizer at Happy Hour, got cleaned up, then had pizza for dinner at a local pizza place. We had Hawaiian style pizza – it was Jarrett’s first experience, and I think he really liked it!
Tomorrow morning we are actually going to do Diamond Head, then we get on the cruise tomorrow afternoon! Until tomorrow, Aloha!
After breakfast at the hotel, we headed off for our trip around the island. We attempted to map out the trip, and everything looked fairly clear-cut, except for a dotted and dashed line as the road on the western shore. There was no indication on the map of what that type of line meant, so we figured we’d make a go of it and see what we encountered!
One interesting thing about Waikiki, at least – the street lights are on poles on the edges of the streets, for the most part. According to Jarrett, who is doing all of the driving this trip, it makes it a little hard to see if you’re supposed to stop or go! I’ve been trying to pay attention to the lights too to help him, since they’re more in my line of vision that his.
The South Shore of Oahu is really amazing – the terrain was rugged and there were mountains in the distance. It’s really too cool for words – you’ll have to take a look at the pictures – they speak for themselves!
We came to the dotted/dashed roadway after about 45 minutes of driving, and guess what – a dotted/dashed line means the roadway is impassible! Ha! Imagine our surprise! If we’d had the Jeep on this island (which we plan to have on Maui) we might’ve made it, but we thought the trek might be a little too much for the Beatle, so we turned back toward H1 to make it to the North Shore via Kamahameha Highway. On the way there we stopped at McDonald’s for an early lunch, and had an interesting experience: a man was laying on the ledge beside the parking lot, and as we drove up a woman was taking food to him. He must have been a local familiar to other locals, because the people inside the McDonald’s were telling some man of authority who walked in that the man needed to move. Anyway, after we walked into the restaurant, the woman was like looking and pointing at our car, and even looked in the windows. We’re like, what’s going on? So we sat by the window just to make sure what was going on, and that she didn’t try to steal our car or something! Everything was fine while we ate, and then when we walked out she started telling us that our lights blinked after we locked the door and the car made beeping noises. I’m like, yeah, pretty cool, huh? Then we got in the car and drove away!! ;)
So anyway, we were really glad we took Kamahameha Highway because guess what we found?!? The Dole Plantation! It really is a cool place – they have a huge gift shop where I got a shirt and where we watched a presentation on how to cut a pineapple. We also took a train ride through some of the pineapple fields and got to hear the history of the plantation. Absolutely too much fun!
The North Shore was about a 15 minutes ride from the Dole Plantation – all told, the distance from the South Shore to the North Shore is only about 20 miles, if that. The speed limits are really low, though – on the Interstate it can be as low as 45, and on the road we took I think it was between 35 and 45. I guess everything moves slower here though, right?
Once again, the pictures of the North Shore will speak for themselves – the terrain varied from rain forests and beautiful beaches to barren areas that looked really desolate. Too amazing for words!
In trying to make it to the East Shore, we got a little lost, but that also was a cool experience because we got to travel through one of the mountains in a pretty long tunnel on Likelike Highway. After we finally made our way to the East Shore, we got to see the waves crashing against the rocks like we saw on my first trip to Hawaii. Amazing! O, and did I mention that we took the opposite direction on the trip around the island as compared to my trip around the last time we were here? Maybe I got to see some new things this time!
So anyway, we were really glad we took Kamahameha Highway because guess what we found?!? The Dole Plantation! It really is a cool place – they have a huge gift shop where I got a shirt and where we watched a presentation on how to cut a pineapple. We also took a train ride through some of the pineapple fields and got to hear the history of the plantation. Absolutely too much fun!
The North Shore was about a 15 minutes ride from the Dole Plantation – all told, the distance from the South Shore to the North Shore is only about 20 miles, if that. The speed limits are really low, though – on the Interstate it can be as low as 45, and on the road we took I think it was between 35 and 45. I guess everything moves slower here though, right?
Once again, the pictures of the North Shore will speak for themselves – the terrain varied from rain forests and beautiful beaches to barren areas that looked really desolate. Too amazing for words!
In trying to make it to the East Shore, we got a little lost, but that also was a cool experience because we got to travel through one of the mountains in a pretty long tunnel on Likelike Highway. After we finally made our way to the East Shore, we got to see the waves crashing against the rocks like we saw on my first trip to Hawaii. Amazing! O, and did I mention that we took the opposite direction on the trip around the island as compared to my trip around the last time we were here? Maybe I got to see some new things this time!
Funny story: while we were taking pictures at the East Shore, a guy was walking by us and trying to be coy, and then was taking a picture of the Beatle – ha!! Everyone seems to love the Beatle!!
After the East Shore we drove around Diamond Head and back into Waikiki. We enjoyed some drinks and appetizer at Happy Hour, got cleaned up, then had pizza for dinner at a local pizza place. We had Hawaiian style pizza – it was Jarrett’s first experience, and I think he really liked it!
Tomorrow morning we are actually going to do Diamond Head, then we get on the cruise tomorrow afternoon! Until tomorrow, Aloha!
Friday, September 7, 2007
Where's Diamond Head?
Well, as Jarrett mentioned, we’ve had a very full day since we started it at 4:30am this morning! Once we were up we figured since we were up before sunrise, we might as well stay up and walk somewhere to watch it come up. We went to Waikiki Beach and watched the sun rise over Diamond Head crater, 
which was pretty amazing. The beach was pretty quiet at 5:30 or so when we got there – beach vendors were opening up shop, the surf teachers were unloading surf boards, etc. Speaking of surf boards, there were lots of people heading out to surf – they would head out past the breakers and then just hang out. We wondered why they were just floating, but saw why: soon after the sun came up, the waves started getting larger, and the surfers started to surf. It was pretty cool! There were also a few wakeboarders in the mix, and some kiddo surfers too!
After taking pictures of sunrise, we walked back up to the canal and down to our room, which is right on the canal. We walked past the Zoo, which is about a block away from the beach! Our hotel’s continental breakfast started at 6:30am
, so we ate before heading up to the room to get ready. The breakfast is fun because it is served poolside!
We left at around 8:30am to go to Pearl Harbor, to try to avoid traffic. We were pretty successful – we didn’t hit traffic at all, and it was a smooth 10 miles to Pearl Harbor. The security was interesting – no bags were allowed in at all – not even camera bags! At the museum/monument, you get a ticket and are told when to line up for the movie. There was a museum where we looked around at memorabilia and information about the ships and the attack. We also went outside to view the harbor and the other informational exhibits. At our designated time (only about 40 minutes after we got there) we went in to watch a short film (about 20 minutes) about the attack. Then you board a ferry that takes you to the monument. The monument actually sits over the USS Arizona, which was unable to be recovered because of its condition after the attack. Most of the men who died still lie interred in the ship.
You can see the ship about 3 feet or more below the surface. It’s a pretty somber experience. Some of the survivors have been interred in a marble chest on the monument as well.
It seems worth mentioning that we almost feel like we’re in Japan – there are so many Asians around! It’s almost like we’re at Disney World – ha!! ;) They are all dressed in ‘80’s-like clothing – too cool!
After Pearl Harbor we headed toward Diamond Head, but, alas, our Mapquest directions weren’t too great, and we couldn’t find the entrance. Since we were starved we went over to Waikiki (only about 2-3 miles from Diamond Head) to eat lunch. We saw in our AAA Hawaii book that there’s a place called Cheeseburger Waikiki,
which we had to try! We had seen it driving in, and finally located it. Free parking! The cheeseburgers were fabulous – and there was even the Frisch’s Big Boy decoration, dressed in Hawaiian attire!
After lunch we decided that it was getting pretty hot, and that a trip up Diamond Head might be a pretty yucky experience in the hotter part of the day. We decided to find Diamond Head’s entrance and to do it tomorrow morning as soon as they open, at 6:00am. We found Diamond Head road but had a little trouble finding where it veered off toward the park entrance. We drove past the turnoff once, but had an interesting payoff from getting lost since we ended up in one of the snazzier neighborhoods in Honolulu – some very huge houses on the shore – amazing! We’re sure some celebrities must live around here somewhere. Anywho, we ended up finding the entrance after turning around. As we were driving toward the entrance, we had a little adventure – my hat blew off and right out of the convertible! Luckily no one drove over it, and we were able to rescue it on the side of the road! ;) After locating the entrance we headed back to the hotel.
Seemed like a perfect afternoon for a swim, and the water at the hotel pool felt fine, so we swam and then napped poolside – this is the life!! Luckily we woke up just in time for happy hour, and enjoyed a Wipeout martini (Jarrett), pina colada (Jill) and coconut shrimp – yummy!
After cleaning up from our pool excursion, we ate Mexican for dinner and then walked around downtown Waikiki. Jarrett found a really cool shirt at Crazy Shirts – it is dyed in Kona coffee (coffee grown on the Big Island)! They also had shirts dyed in wine, beer, volcanic ash, chiles, and Blue curacao! Next we went to the International Marketplace, but didn’t buy anything…yet!
As always, we’ll be posting more pictures either tonight or tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to hike Diamond Head and then drive around the island – it should be quite a day! More tomorrow!!
which was pretty amazing. The beach was pretty quiet at 5:30 or so when we got there – beach vendors were opening up shop, the surf teachers were unloading surf boards, etc. Speaking of surf boards, there were lots of people heading out to surf – they would head out past the breakers and then just hang out. We wondered why they were just floating, but saw why: soon after the sun came up, the waves started getting larger, and the surfers started to surf. It was pretty cool! There were also a few wakeboarders in the mix, and some kiddo surfers too!After taking pictures of sunrise, we walked back up to the canal and down to our room, which is right on the canal. We walked past the Zoo, which is about a block away from the beach! Our hotel’s continental breakfast started at 6:30am
, so we ate before heading up to the room to get ready. The breakfast is fun because it is served poolside!We left at around 8:30am to go to Pearl Harbor, to try to avoid traffic. We were pretty successful – we didn’t hit traffic at all, and it was a smooth 10 miles to Pearl Harbor. The security was interesting – no bags were allowed in at all – not even camera bags! At the museum/monument, you get a ticket and are told when to line up for the movie. There was a museum where we looked around at memorabilia and information about the ships and the attack. We also went outside to view the harbor and the other informational exhibits. At our designated time (only about 40 minutes after we got there) we went in to watch a short film (about 20 minutes) about the attack. Then you board a ferry that takes you to the monument. The monument actually sits over the USS Arizona, which was unable to be recovered because of its condition after the attack. Most of the men who died still lie interred in the ship.
You can see the ship about 3 feet or more below the surface. It’s a pretty somber experience. Some of the survivors have been interred in a marble chest on the monument as well.It seems worth mentioning that we almost feel like we’re in Japan – there are so many Asians around! It’s almost like we’re at Disney World – ha!! ;) They are all dressed in ‘80’s-like clothing – too cool!
After Pearl Harbor we headed toward Diamond Head, but, alas, our Mapquest directions weren’t too great, and we couldn’t find the entrance. Since we were starved we went over to Waikiki (only about 2-3 miles from Diamond Head) to eat lunch. We saw in our AAA Hawaii book that there’s a place called Cheeseburger Waikiki,
which we had to try! We had seen it driving in, and finally located it. Free parking! The cheeseburgers were fabulous – and there was even the Frisch’s Big Boy decoration, dressed in Hawaiian attire!After lunch we decided that it was getting pretty hot, and that a trip up Diamond Head might be a pretty yucky experience in the hotter part of the day. We decided to find Diamond Head’s entrance and to do it tomorrow morning as soon as they open, at 6:00am. We found Diamond Head road but had a little trouble finding where it veered off toward the park entrance. We drove past the turnoff once, but had an interesting payoff from getting lost since we ended up in one of the snazzier neighborhoods in Honolulu – some very huge houses on the shore – amazing! We’re sure some celebrities must live around here somewhere. Anywho, we ended up finding the entrance after turning around. As we were driving toward the entrance, we had a little adventure – my hat blew off and right out of the convertible! Luckily no one drove over it, and we were able to rescue it on the side of the road! ;) After locating the entrance we headed back to the hotel.
Seemed like a perfect afternoon for a swim, and the water at the hotel pool felt fine, so we swam and then napped poolside – this is the life!! Luckily we woke up just in time for happy hour, and enjoyed a Wipeout martini (Jarrett), pina colada (Jill) and coconut shrimp – yummy!
After cleaning up from our pool excursion, we ate Mexican for dinner and then walked around downtown Waikiki. Jarrett found a really cool shirt at Crazy Shirts – it is dyed in Kona coffee (coffee grown on the Big Island)! They also had shirts dyed in wine, beer, volcanic ash, chiles, and Blue curacao! Next we went to the International Marketplace, but didn’t buy anything…yet!
As always, we’ll be posting more pictures either tonight or tomorrow. Tomorrow we plan to hike Diamond Head and then drive around the island – it should be quite a day! More tomorrow!!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Arrival in Honolulu
Aloha from Honolulu – more specific, Waikiki. After a short (Ha!) 7 hour 35 minute flight from Houston we arrived at 2:15PM local time or 8:15 eastern time. With a 6 hour time difference and being up since 2:00AM eastern time our bodies were telling us to sleep. We managed to stay up till 9:00PM. We woke up at 4:30AM to begin our first full day in Hawaii!
We are new fans of Continental Airlines. Both of our flights left on time and arrived early. The plane to Hawaii even provided each passenger in economy class their own TV. The TV programming included 3 movies, new and old TV shows, video games, and a station dedicated to our flight location.
Continental provided lunch and a pre-landing snack. Throughout the flight they were providing snacks and drinks. If you get a chance we recommend traveling with Continental.
The view while preparing to land was simply amazing. The water was so clear and bright blue. We could see most of the island as the plane circled for landing.
Once on the ground we took a picture out the window of our first view on the islands… amazing scenery just at the airport. 
We are new fans of Continental Airlines. Both of our flights left on time and arrived early. The plane to Hawaii even provided each passenger in economy class their own TV. The TV programming included 3 movies, new and old TV shows, video games, and a station dedicated to our flight location.
Continental provided lunch and a pre-landing snack. Throughout the flight they were providing snacks and drinks. If you get a chance we recommend traveling with Continental.The view while preparing to land was simply amazing. The water was so clear and bright blue. We could see most of the island as the plane circled for landing.
Once on the ground we took a picture out the window of our first view on the islands… amazing scenery just at the airport. Upon arrival at the airport we were greeted at our gate by a representative of Leis Greetings who appropriately lei-ed us and escorted us to baggage claim. 
Just outside of baggage claim we caught the Alamo Car Rental shuttle for a short ride to the rental office. We reserved a PT Cruiser convertible, but were given our choice of a Sebring convertible, Mustang convertible, or a VW Beetle convertible. Guess which one we chose?
After leaving the car rental location we were set for our 10 mile drive to our hotel in Waikiki Beach. We immediately got our first experience with rush hour traffic when merging on Highway 1. It took us about 45 minutes to get to our hotel. We are told rush hour here is between 3 and 6. It is our plan to avoid rush hour over the next couple days.
Our hotel was easy to locate. It is literally in the middle of everything. Only 3 blocks from the ocean. The hotel gave us a free upgrade to the 12th floor (highest in the building) and a corner room which has 2 balconies. We have a view of the city out of one balcony and the other is of the canal and golf course. Besides having free internet, free breakfast, and only valet parking (only $7.50 per day for valet… can’t believe it) – the hotel bar has 2 happy hours per day, that’s right 2. One from 4-7PM and the last one from 11PM-1AM. Martinis for only $3.00 and beer/well drinks $2.00. You can bet you will find us at least one of the happy hours each day, if not both. We had possibly some of the best martinis ever last night.
After having a couple drinks and being so tired from traveling all day we decided not to venture far from the hotel last night. We walked around just 4 or 5 blocks from the hotel looking in shops and had dinner at a 50’s diner decorated with Elvis memorabilia. The restaurant even had an old soda fountain. Jill dined on their famous burger and I had the Hawaiian pulled pork, both were great!
Today, we are planning a trip to Pearl Harbor in the morning and the afternoon at Diamond Head. Make sure to check out the pictures, we already have some amazing ones and expect to be posting more after touring today. Have a great day!
Just outside of baggage claim we caught the Alamo Car Rental shuttle for a short ride to the rental office. We reserved a PT Cruiser convertible, but were given our choice of a Sebring convertible, Mustang convertible, or a VW Beetle convertible. Guess which one we chose?After leaving the car rental location we were set for our 10 mile drive to our hotel in Waikiki Beach. We immediately got our first experience with rush hour traffic when merging on Highway 1. It took us about 45 minutes to get to our hotel. We are told rush hour here is between 3 and 6. It is our plan to avoid rush hour over the next couple days.
Our hotel was easy to locate. It is literally in the middle of everything. Only 3 blocks from the ocean. The hotel gave us a free upgrade to the 12th floor (highest in the building) and a corner room which has 2 balconies. We have a view of the city out of one balcony and the other is of the canal and golf course. Besides having free internet, free breakfast, and only valet parking (only $7.50 per day for valet… can’t believe it) – the hotel bar has 2 happy hours per day, that’s right 2. One from 4-7PM and the last one from 11PM-1AM. Martinis for only $3.00 and beer/well drinks $2.00. You can bet you will find us at least one of the happy hours each day, if not both. We had possibly some of the best martinis ever last night.
After having a couple drinks and being so tired from traveling all day we decided not to venture far from the hotel last night. We walked around just 4 or 5 blocks from the hotel looking in shops and had dinner at a 50’s diner decorated with Elvis memorabilia. The restaurant even had an old soda fountain. Jill dined on their famous burger and I had the Hawaiian pulled pork, both were great!
Today, we are planning a trip to Pearl Harbor in the morning and the afternoon at Diamond Head. Make sure to check out the pictures, we already have some amazing ones and expect to be posting more after touring today. Have a great day!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Cincinnati…and Beyond
Well, we said we’d blog in Cincinnati, but, alas, when we got to the airport, the plane was about to board – so here’s the next blog – from Houston!
We arrived in Loveland, Ohio, at Mom’s (Sharon’s) house, around 7:30 and immediately headed for LaRosa’s, one of our favorite pizza places in the Cincinnati area. They had BBQ chicken pizza 
with BBQ from the Montgomery Inn, a local BBQ hotspot – it was toooo good! Here’s a picture from our LaRosa’s outing…After Larosa’s we attempted to visit the local ice cream shop, but they were closed for the night – at 9:30 – can you believe it? So we headed home and got ready to take a short nap – we slept from around 11:00pm to around 2:00am…We could’ve slept longer, but couldn’t stand to miss a visit to a favorite tradition on vacations before we boarded the plane – Waffle House!
The people weren’t too friendly, but would it really be Waffle House if they were friendly? The hashbrowns and pecan waffle were fabulous! I think Mom (Sharon) thought we were a little crazy for going at 3:30am, but I think she really enjoyed the adventure! Next it was off to the airport, where Mom (Sharon) saw us off and drove our car back to her house for safekeeping – thanks again, Mom!Our bags, luckily, were underweight – the scale at home was almost exactly right! We headed for security, and I got a chance to take a trip through the puffer – I was a little worried when it took forever for the green light to come on – did I catch some explosive residue at the Waffle House, or what??? ;) When we got to the gate, as I said, they were about to board the plane, so we got a picture of our plane and prepared to board. We slept quite a bit on the plane and really enjoyed our on time departure, muffins for FREE, and our smooth landing with an early arrival – GO CONTINENTAL!! We were a little worried when we saw the pilots, who looked younger than we are, but we really couldn’t complain after the great trip from Cincinnati to Houston!
So now we’re hanging out in the airport for our 4-hour layover before we fly to sunny Hawaii!
Jarrett has already enjoyed an Auntie Anne’s pretzel (and I helped a little), and now we’re people-watching on the concourse. Jarrett is attempting to get a picture of a guy with a platinum blond mullet…if you see it attached below you’ll know he got it! ;) Our next entry will probably be this afternoon – or night for all of you reading this – after we arrive at our hotel. Don't forget to check the pictures link posted on the blog - we've posted more pictures there! Until this afternoon, Aloha!!Tuesday, September 4, 2007
First Entry from Louisville
Hello from Louisville! Welcome to our very first blog entry. We are excited to share our trip with you as we experience Hawaii (less than 24 hours before departure).
This morning I woke at 4AM (26 hours before departure) too excited to sleep. I have the day off from work to finish any last minute items. Jill was up early too, but to go into the office. Hopefully she can leave around noon. We will drive to Cincinnati this afternoon staying with Jill’s mom (Sharon). Sharon has insisted she wants to drive us to the airport in the morning at 4AM… not sure why she wants to get up so early, but we very much appreciate it! Thanks in advance, Sharon!
Currently, we have most everything packed in suitcases the length of Jill. Last night we weighed the bags we plan to check to learn one bag weighs 44 lbs. and the other 42 lbs. I just hope our bathroom scales are accurate, if not we may be in trouble with the 50 lbs baggage limit. Who’s surprised we packed so much? Jill only packed 2 pairs of tennis shoes, wet shoes, dress shoes, and 5 pair of sandals. We almost had enough room for our clothes between the shoes.
With all the luggage together I’m not certain how may people is going with us, but it looks like more than the 2. I think we over packed… Next blog from Cincinnati. Have a great day!
This morning I woke at 4AM (26 hours before departure) too excited to sleep. I have the day off from work to finish any last minute items. Jill was up early too, but to go into the office. Hopefully she can leave around noon. We will drive to Cincinnati this afternoon staying with Jill’s mom (Sharon). Sharon has insisted she wants to drive us to the airport in the morning at 4AM… not sure why she wants to get up so early, but we very much appreciate it! Thanks in advance, Sharon!
Currently, we have most everything packed in suitcases the length of Jill. Last night we weighed the bags we plan to check to learn one bag weighs 44 lbs. and the other 42 lbs. I just hope our bathroom scales are accurate, if not we may be in trouble with the 50 lbs baggage limit. Who’s surprised we packed so much? Jill only packed 2 pairs of tennis shoes, wet shoes, dress shoes, and 5 pair of sandals. We almost had enough room for our clothes between the shoes.
With all the luggage together I’m not certain how may people is going with us, but it looks like more than the 2. I think we over packed… Next blog from Cincinnati. Have a great day!
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