Hawaii = Amazing

So, all of you know by now that I went to Hawaii for ten days just a few days after my 28th (I know right) birthday! I could talk for hours upon hours about the fun we had there, but instead I am just going to give you some highlights, and say that if you ever have plans to go to Oahu, let me know and I will tell you some things that you absolutely shouldn't miss, and some places you've Got to go eat! Anyhoo... But, if you ever get the chance to go... DO IT!!! It was heaven! So, I just uploaded a bunch of pictures and deleted a bunch... I have too many amazing things to tell but I will try... We stayed at Wes' house just a few houses from the Pointe in Laie. It was gorgeous! We could see the ocean out the windows and the sea air blew in as often as we let it, and the weather was perfect. We got in late at night and Kanoe brought us some leis, which were so pretty, but then we just went home and straight to bed... hmm, this is already too detailed and would take 5 pages to tell. Let's try again... The beaches are obviously amazing, we went to Sunset Beach a few times, Turtle Beach (where we found a hammock to pass some of the afternoon in), a different beach where you can swim with sea turtles, three beaches near Kailua (where we went sea kayaking and sight seeing), Hukilau Beach (where we had a bonfire, attempted spear fishing, and I learned that kissing in the ocean is not nearly as romantic as I had imagined... not to say I wouldn't do it again), we learned to surf on Waikiki (which was awesome because my goal for the summer was to learn to surf and I ended up learning it in the place it was born!), <---- a="" and="" but="" grammar="" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzwRAkdwF1MmvB02sj-X2eves7ZNDy-lz_fNLC6Krh0BHWLX9dWMyd1mHRENmDAZhYdaLDtp4DkGQSxW0GEGTo20TAFv_HXfE0lDHavwq888qa4rgi9njqhzkt-LJmiVS-z-qOEqa_YlrY/s1600-h/IMG_4200.JPG" lousy="" oh="" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" there="" totally="" well...="" went="">snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.


























I made some new friends... I went with Richelle, and we met up with Kanoe and Maile, who introduced us to Wes and Micah, who through them met Rob, Sone, Shane, and some of Wes' family. Out in our adventures we met lots of new people... including, but due to my memory of names not limited to, Aaron, Shaun, Albert, Jennifer, Alex, Daniel, Zach, and I happened to run into Santa Claus on his summer vacation, I hope I'm not missing anybody :o)




















The food was stellar... I think that's my new word for things that I expect to be good and then it exceeds my expectation :o) It was so stellar in fact, that I gained ten pounds in the ten days I was there! The people I've spoken to about that just give me either a "Good, you needed it!' or a sarcastic "Aw, you poor thing!" Yeah, yeah, and I was wanting to gain some but I was thinking more like 6 over a month or two! I had filet (with an amazing view of the Haiku Gardens... all you have to do is say you want a view and they give you the best seat in the house), poki, ahi, salad with more ahi, these cool purple potato kind of things, purple rolls, rolls stuffed with meat, poi (which actually tasted better than I remember) desserts out of a dream, a crab-bacon sandwich that rivals the filet if you can believe it, a strawberry smoothie in a pineapple, and an acai smoothie in a bowl with granola and fruit, Passion-Orange- Guava juice, chocolate haupia pie, shaved ice that was absolutely amazing, halibut, chocolate macadamia cake, macadamia ice cream with burnt caramel and fruit, crab rolls, a couple mundane things like hot dogs and fries, some fruit I found on the trail, and tons of stuff I have no idea what it was just that I could not stop eating it! I ate foods I've never had as often as I had the chance! Now, I don't take pictures of food, as a general rule, but it was soooo good I actually wanted to remember it too! Seriously, so not me, but so not mainland so it's ok! Aw, man, I'd go back just for the food alone! We did a lot of the touristy things like shopping at the big outdoor swap meet where everything is super cheap, went to the Sea Life Aquarium park and saw lots of the shows there, went to the Polynesian Cultural Center twice (where some of our new friends perform), oh, and about that... can I just say that Polynesian guys hold a new spot in my heart... they all have great bods, and genuine smiles, and are good dancers! :o) Anyway, we also went to Pearl Harbor (pictures of which could never in a zillion years portray even kind of adequately what the experience is), and went to the Temple (but it is being remodeled so we couldn't do as much there as we had wanted)





















































We went on 3 absolutely stunning hikes. The first was Maunawili Falls, then Waimea Falls, then Manoa Falls... pictures could not do this justice either. I tried taking pictures of everything, but the trees are too tall and scooting back makes them look smaller. The expanse of it all around was breath taking and awe inspiring. The sounds of the wind in the trees coupled with birds you've never heard before and the water rushing by made these hikes something you could easily, and gladly spend all day long doing. It was one huge rain forest where it felt like I was in the movie "Ferngully" all the time. It's amazing that all that stuff that I found so wonderful is just continuing on there with or without me. Seriously, that island is easy to fall in love with and I'm smitten! It's true what they say, that it calls you to come back... I'll answer again... and when I do you should Definitely come with me!