Day 4- We woke up and went to Tom's Bakery again:) and then headed to the temple. We made sure to pack our recommends, but forgot clothes to wear into the temple! ACK! I had a maxi dress and flip flops, but Doug didn't have anything. We were far away from a Walmart or a mall, so we just went to the distribution center and bought new white pants and a shirt. We got some looks, but were happy to be there and attend a session with some locals. It is a beautiful temple, very similar to the Mesa Az temple. I love attending the temple with my sweetheart, especially temples I have never been to before...
After the temple we took our fancy rental car and headed up the coast to Waikiki. We stopped at this park to let Doug change, and the scenery was so beautiful we had to stop and take a picture.
We then stopped at this awesome cattle ranch Kuoloa Ranch, and had a tour of the mountain. The whole time while driving around the island, Doug would say, "I want to go drive up that mountain and explore..." But there were no roads that we could find. This was our chance...to be driven and told some cool facts about the ranch along the way.
Since it is private land, Tons of Hollywood movies and TV shows have been recorded there. Lost, Jurassic Park, Journey 2, and tons more I can't remember...
Plus we were up high on the mountain and got an amazing view of the ocean....
Plus it's a working cattle ranch...making lots of money these guys are...
Breathtaking right?
We continued our drive down around the island to Waikiki-which was a huge difference from the quiet landscape of the North Shore...I was bummed when we got the city, because of all the hustle and bustle. Big shops, people trying to sell you stuff on the corner, homeless people asking for money, and jammed packed with people. But it was closer to the swap meet and Pearl Harbor- two things that we wanted to do.
Day 5 we payed for a tour with a group so that we for sure got into Pearl Harbor. We got to tour the U.S.S. Missouri-which is where WWII was finished. They signed the documents on that ship. A huge cool battleship. Doug loved it....and we only wished our patriotic dads could be there with us.
The USS Missouri....
Next stop was USS Arizona Memorial-we walked in and there was this guy...
I instantly burst into tears. What an honor to be in the presence of a Pearl Harbor Veteran. I can't imagine what he and so many others have endured, defiantly a humbling experience.
This is the gun touret base of the Arizona above ground...their was oil still seeping out of the ship. The veterans say that it represents the tears of those trapped underneath.
The names of the fallen- The memorial had a very special spirit around it-and I'm so grateful I got to experience it.
We spent the rest of the evening walking the streets, and eating at cheesecake factory...yum...
The next day we went snorkeling at Hanamea Bay-it was good! You can't touch the coral the water was really shallow, so I felt like my belly was going to scrape the whole time...its a really cool bay that is protected with some crazy cool big fish. I wish I had an underwater camera.
The Bay where we snorkled...
This is a view from our hotel room-The Hyatt-FANCY! It even had a beday (don't know if that's how you speell-never used one of those before:)
On our last day, we went out with a bang! We ate at the incredible Orginal Pancake House-Macadamia Nut Pancakes with cocunt syrup...holy AWESOME....the best meal we ate on the trip.
Don't I look fatter just from eating there? We also stopped by the swap meet and got some good deals on suveniors... definatly fun!
Our last stop was on this GORGEOUS beach-Kualoa Beach-one of the top travel channel beaches. The water was incredible and the sand was so soft...we walked up and down the beach taking in the last day of our awesome trip. I started missing my kids around this time...I know they would have loved playing in the warm ocean, and building sand castles out of the sand...
My best friend-my sweetheart-my everything...He makes me feel so special....
So long Hawaii----until next time...thanks for reading the long novel and letting me share the pics with you...
