Our Anniversaries Trip to Hawaii - Day 8

9/30/2013 Monday

I woke up this morning feeling food.  So we got an early start and drove a few miles to the Koko Head Mountain trail head.  This little hike to the top of the mountain was only a 3/4 mile little hike...straight up.  The trail is an old trestle track that supplied the old radar station during WW II.
There were warning signs stating that this was an extremely difficult trail.  The signs were right. But it was worth the effort.  Once at the top we noticed that practically every person up there was under 30 years of age.  No wonder we got some weird looks. 

Koko Head Mountain - a view from the bottom

1100 foot rise...straight up

View of Waikiki in the distance

Koko Head cinder cone below

View directly below

That afternoon we went to the Chief's Luau which is considered the best Luau in Oahu.  It was quite a show.  Prior to the show starting we learned how to make head bands out of palm leaves, the girls learned to Hula dance, and we learned how to throw a spear underhand.  Perhaps the most interesting thing was how these tribal chiefs are tattooed all over their body.  Tattooing is their way of recording their tribal history and ancestory.  This is why much of the tattoos are identical.  It still looks like it hurts.  Below are a few photos of the luau and there are more on our Facebook page.

Dayle making a palm leaf head band

Huge tribal member placing head band on Dayle

Stan and Stephanie also learning the art of palm leaf weaving

The girls is a hula dance class

Dinner - a roasted pig

The chief and his daughter, the princess

The extended tongue actually means "welcome."

More pictures and videos are on my Facebook page.  Click on this link to get to the pictures:
Link to our Hawaii photos

Our Anniversaries Trip to Hawaii - Day 7

9/28/12 Sunday

Today is Sunday.  The day of the week that we set aside for our Lord.  A day of remembrance and worship, rest and relaxation.  Today started out just like it is supposed to start.  We all got up early and got onto the Grace Church website for the live stream video broadcast.  We enjoyed watching the service from our hotel room.  After that Dayle and I took a little walk and contemplated what we would do for the rest of the day.  Maybe another hike?  Maybe a drive to some other note worthy place.  While walking along I had to take some pictures of course.  These are all pictures just outside of our room.  I still can't get over how pure the water looks here.

Just before our little walk I began to experience a few sniffles.  I didn't think anything of it. But by the time we were heading back I was in a full blown allergy episode.  Once back in the room I drugged up with allergy meds.  The we decided what we would do for the rest of the day.....how about just staying home and sleeping and being miserable all day?  Sounds good, yes?  Well that is exactly what I did all day plus a lot more sleeping.

As I write this update I am actually feeling like I have the allergy under control.  So for tomorrow we hope to hike up Koko Head cinder cone and then in the evening we are going to the Chief's Luau.    "Allergies, allergies go away. come again after we get back from Hawaii!"

Our Anniversaries Trip to Hawaii - Day 6 - Road Trip

9/28/12 Saturday

Another beautiful day with an early start.  Dayle and I took a walk along the beach as we watched the sun rise once again.  We still find it hard to believe that we are here.  After a quick breakfast we had to check out of our bungalow.  We packed up the car and took all of our refrigerated food to the office refrigerator until we could check into the condo.  So in the meantime we took a road trip nearly circling the entire island.  We made several stops along the way at various interesting sights.  One stop was China man's Island Beach.  Here is an island that looks like a China man's hat.  The next stop was a remote section of Turtle Bay.  A resident told us about this secluded spot.  There we saw a real live giant sea turtle up on the beach.  After taking about 30 pictures of this turtle we drove on up to the Dole Pineapple Plantation.  Dayle really wanted to learn about how pineapples were grown.  While there we had quite an education and we also got to find a real pearl in an oyster.  Afterwards, we drove around the rest of the island and returned to Bellows about 4:30 and checked into our nice two bedroom condo for the remainder of our stay in Hawaii.

I posted all of our photos on my Facebook page and made them public.  so even if you don't have a Facebook account, you still should be able to see all our pics.  I only post a few here in the blog.  follow this link:
https://www.facebook.com/pastorshelley/media_set?set=a.10202161090413835.1385994797&type=3

China Man's Hat Island

Turtle Bay on the North Shore of Oahu

Our Anniversaries Trip - Day 5 - Hike in the jungle

9/27/13  Friday

Our fifth day of our anniversaries trip began with another look at the sun rise then we drove to the trail head for the Maunawili Falls Trail.  This was to be an easy 3.2 mile hike to the falls.  Not bad, Dayle and I have hiked 20 miles in a single day.  But this trail is in a rain forest and the trail turns out to be about 85% thick mud.  so this short hike that should normally take a little over an hour, took three hours.  If were were not using walking sticks we all would have fallen in the mud many times. Part of the reason why our little hike took so long is because we made a wrong turn and this very muddy and not well marked trail.  We had gone to withing 1/4 mile of the falls and took a wrong turn.  We we hiking and getting all wet and muddy, and eaten up by mosquitoes and having such a good time until we asked a young couple who was walking towards us, "How much further?" And the young lady replies, "You're almost out."  We all snapped, "Out!" She said, "Yes, the parking lot is just ahead."  Grrrrr, Here we were so excited that we are almost at the falls and we are all muddy, wet, and hungry. Then we realized that we have to start all over,  It turns out that there are three trail heads to these falls and we had hiked from one to another totally missing the turn to the falls.  This sweet military couple with a baby and retired military golden retriever bomb dog (the dog was a higher rank than his owner!), lead us on the right path chatting as we went along the trail.  It turns out that they are Christians and he had just returned from a deployment the day before.  We had such a great time of fellowship which made the time go so fast.  They also told us where to find sea turtles,  pineapples, and hidden swimming holes above the falls.

Beginning of the trail

Beautiful and strange vegetation is everywhere

Going down the very slippery slope of mud

Once we crossed this little stream the turn to the falls is just ahead and we totally missed it.

Look at the size of this bamboo!

Giant Fern

the pool of the falls.

After arriving at the falls we had lunch and I went swimming, exploring, and jumping into the water. On the left side of the falls is where I climbed up to the top of the falls.  There I discovered the two little pools.  After coming down and telling everyone how beautiful the pools were, Dayle decided to actually get into the water and climb up the rocks to take a look for herself.  When she joined me in the water and climbing up the rocks I felt like we were teenagers again.  We used to do this kind of stuff when we were still in high school.  I can;t believe that we have been married for 42 years.  Of what fun we have had!

We met so many friendly folks along the way. One young girl let us use her bug spray but it was to late for Dayle!!

Taking a little swim in the pool

In the above video you can see me jumping into the pool below the falls.  On the left side I climbed up and beyond the falls

Pool beyond the falls

Second pool

The hike out was uneventful except for a few falls and lots of mosquito bites.  It was getting dark so we had to keep moving.  But we made it out in plenty of time.

Our Anniversaries Trip - Day 4

9/26/13 Thursday

A nice peaceful day.  After a fairly good night's sleep we woke up early to watch the sun rise.  What a beautiful sight to see the sun rising up from the water.

Dayle and Stephanie on the beach waiting for the sunrise

Here is a very rare sight....Dayle actually standing in the water on the beach.

 She does not like sand or water.

A beautiful start to Day 4

We were able to secure accommodations in a super nice 2 bedroom condo right here on Bellows air Force Station. We were getting prepared to camp on the beach.  But now we will be in a new building with central air and a full kitchen. We went and did grocery shopping for the week at a nearby Marine Corps commissary.  We also made reservations for a Luau on Monday and planning on going to the Polynesian Cultural Center on Wednesday.

I added a lot more photos to my new Picasa account.  I think if you click on the following link you should be able to see them:  Anniversaries Trip Photos