Oahu

So, I just got back from vacation in Oahu with Becca and her family. It was great. We rented a condo up on a hill outside of Honolulu, with a great view of the city and ocean. To the far left in the picture is Diamond Head State Monument, a crater that formed following a volcanic eruption. We walked up to the peak on Friday morning (our first full day there).

That afternoon the guys went golfing at Kahuku Municipal Golf Course, up near the northern tip of the island. The golf course was right on the coast, so we had great views of the ocean the whole time. Also, it had huge, forgiving fairways so it was just about the right level of difficulty for me. While we were out golfing the girls stayed back and went to a spa for manicures or massages.

On Saturday we went to Hanauma Bay where we went snorkeling and saw lots of coral, some beautiful fish, and a sea turtle. Then to top it off Becca's brother Matt proposed to his girlfriend Tina before we left, so we then had an engagement to celebrate!

For the engagement celebration we went to a Luau that evening. They had lots of fun activities, including a spear throw for which I am simply grateful there isn't a video of my throw attempt. :) Let's just say it's not quite as easy to do as it looks.

So that takes us through Saturday. On Sunday we went to the Swap Meet, which really was a huge number of vendors in tents surrounding Aloha Stadium. They did have pretty good prices; Becca and I bought 8 T-shirts from one vendor for $20. Can't complain too much about that. After the Swap Meet, we went to Chinatown and ate Dim sum for lunch. After lunch we walked around Chinatown some more. There was a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, who I hadn't heard before. He played a large role in overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and was the first president of the Republic of China as we know it today. I hadn't expected to learn about Chinese history in Hawai'i, but was pleasantly surprised.

On Monday we went to Pearl Harbor. We first went to the USS Arizona, which was one of the battleships sunk in the attack. It suffered enough structural damage so that they were unable to pull it up. The picture to the left is of the memorial that was built over top of the Arizona and the nearly 1000 U.S. servicemen who died and could not be recovered. Additionally some of the surviving members of the Arizona's crew have been interred in the ship when their times passed as well.

We also went to the USS Missouri, which is the retired battleship best known for being the location of the signing for the Japanese surrender at the end of WWII. It is a pretty impressive ship. You can also see the USS Bowfin, one of the submarines from that time.

On Tuesday it was a raining, and we'd planned on going for a hike. Instead we drove up the North Coast, stopping frequently for photo opportunities. One of the times we stopped there was a coconut tree that had a few coconuts down low enough that I could knock one down with a stick. So I did. Here's a pic of me proudly holding my well earned coconut. How many of you knew what a coconut looks like coming right off the tree? I sure didn't. Unfortunately it wasn't ripe yet, so there probably is good reason no one else had picked it yet.

Then on Wednesday the weather was cooperating so we went on our hike, up to Manoa Falls. It was a fairly short hike, around 1.5 miles round trip. Then just after leaving the falls we came across a group of nearly 100 elementary school students on their way up to the falls, so we figured we'd left just in time. That afternoon we went to Lanikai Beach, where we went kayaking, as well as some more snorkeling.

On Thursday when we went to the airport. Becca, her dad and I got on our plane and waited there for 3 hours. Then they gave up on the maintenance issues for the plane and canceled the flight. So we left the plane and got our checked luggage back. They put us up in the Marriott downtown in Waikiki, up on the 30th floor. We had an amazing view of the ocean and Diamond Head Crater. We spent the remainder of the day walking around Waikiki, then got some sleep before heading back to the airport where we got on our new flight. They told us that instead of canceling the flight, they had simply delayed it for 20 hours. I prefer to think of it as a whole new flight. This time the flight went as scheduled/delayed, and we got back to California with no additional issues.

Well, that's the story of my week in Oahu. Like I said, we had a great time.