Trip To Kauai - Day 1

Since we're here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on Oahu, it's a lot easier (and a lot cheaper) to visit our neighbor islands to see what interesting things you can't see on Oahu. Through an impromptu opportunity, DeAnna set up a 2 1/2 day trip to Kauai, the Garden Isle.

Kauai is the oldest of the major islands in Hawaii and is covered in the most lush tropical greenery I've ever seen. It is also a secondary destination for tourists, so the lifestyle is more laid back and (dare I say) rural. The Little airport in Lihue has only a few gates and though it does receive flights directly from the mainland and Japan, it primarily serves traffic from the other islands. It is also the only airport on the island.

I left work at noon on Wednesday and picked up DeAnna for our afternoon flight. Naturally, she had already set up the trip and planned our itinerary so we we were packed and ready to go. The flight only took 30 minutes and within 90 minutes we were on the only major road (a 2-lane highway) that snakes around most (but not all) of the island perimeter.

Our first destination was the mouth of the Waimea River where you can find a green sand beach. The green sand is carved out of the mountains and deposited here. It contains volcanic ash and ovaline which gives it an olive-green tint. This also gives the ocean at the mouth of the river an olive tint. After seeing crystal-clear blue waters, it was strange to see water that looked like it washed out of an Oklahoma river.

The next stop was upstream at the Waimea Canyon - the Grand Canyon of the Pacific! Because Kauai is older than the other islands, it has had the time to erode it's volcanic mountains. The formation of these mountains takes advantage of the trade winds and squeezes out massive amounts of rain from the clouds which forms rivers that flow year round. That doesn't happen on the younger islands. In fact, the tallest peak on Kauai, Mount Wai'ale'ale, is the wettest place on earth and averages 440 inches of rain every year!

At the end of the road - which is literally the end of the road for this side of the island - is the Pu'u o Kila lookout. This is a cliff-side vantage point that looks out on a huge, inaccessible valley that plunges to the ocean. This is where many scenes from the latest King Kong movie were shot.

These photographs appear hazy because of the distances. These vantage points were over 4,000 ft above sea level! There is little to keep you from plunging off the cliff (and little to rescue you if you do).

We finished off our day at the Kalalau lookout for a magnificent sunset over teh Pacific Ocean. It was a grand way to finish the first day on the island. We headed back towards our hotel - 2/3rds of the way back around the island and checked in for the night.

The Island!

Kahehoe Bay is a place of mystery. As you exit the H3 tunnel to the east, you sometimes see a large sandbar island in the middle of the bay and sometimes you don't. It is a striking feature that is visible on the Eastern Shore of Oahu (see satellite image below). This island is a large sand bar formed by an offshore reef. When the tide is low, the sand is high and dry - other times, the sandbar lurks beneath the waves.

I have wanted to boat out to the sandbar ever since I learned about it and this Saturday was the perfect opportunity. The air was still (though thick with VOG from the Big Island) and the sea was calm. So we rented a sea kayak, drove to Kahehoe and put out to sea around 10:45am. Low tide was at 11:00am. You can see that there weren't any waves making it the perfect time of day to be out on the water.

Paddling through the bay to the sand bar is about a 1.5 mile trek. Along the way, there are coral reefs that rise up out of the deep and hover just under the crystal clear water. Our goal was the collection of boats that seemed to be anchored together on the water. As we got closer though, we could see that there was a thin strip of sand with people playing volleyball and relaxing under umbrellas. Kids ran and played and swam in the shallow water around the sand.

We finally made it to the sand and pulled our kayak well up on to the shore. Surveying our new shared domain, we found ourselves on a long strip of sand about the size of a football field. With the ocean on one side and the bay on the other.


The sand flows across the offshore reef and piles up here, then sinks quickly to the deep. This makes a perfect place for boats to berth right up on the beach.




We had brought our snorkeling gear just in case of an opportunity, so we put on our masks and fins and swam down along the sandy bottom as deep as we could get but there wasn't anything to see except deeper sand so we waded out along the reef top for a while.

Here is a wide screen image of our little temporary domain!



When we returned to our kayak, the water had been rising and it was now at the edge of the water. A drink and a little snack and we loaded up to make our way back to shore but not before enjoying one last scan of the party bar in the middle of the bay!


It was great to get out on the water - even if the VOG was so thick you couldn't see the mountains. Now we only have one week until Julia arrives for a visit!

John & Jessica Day 8

On the last day of their visit, Jessica has wanted to take a hike along the far western reaches of the island to Ka'ena point. All of us had been to the end of the road, but the point is another 2.5 miles beyond. John elected to stay home, turn in their rental car and take care of some chores (John had commented that he was looking forward to a relaxing vacation!)

DeAnna, Jessica and I started out early in the morning and after parking the car, started our hike around 9:00am. We walked along the shoreline and explored the rocks. Before long, we made our way more deliberately towards the point. Glancing at the waves, we noticed a pod of whales off shore breeching and jumping!

When we finally reached Ka'ena point, we saw several albatros flying overhead. They were magnificent! The entire point is a protected bird sanctuary and albatros nesting area. Check out this movie of an albatros taking off!


We hiked through one of the last sand dune areas on the island to the actual western point of Oahu. It turned out that at this very time, some people were on site taking a census of endangered Monk Seals and there were three seals right in front of us! We took lots of pictures and I ventured down onto the rocks to get a closer picture.

One of the seals raised its head, so I got a good snapshot! Immediately, DeAnna called for me to come back to the shore. The observers said that if the seals raise their heads that people are getting too close!



The long hike back was hot and dry. Every hill we topped only seemed to reveal another hill and more trail to hike. Finally around noon, we saw the car and it was a welcome trip to the McDonalds in Haleiwa for a drink!

John & Jessica finished packing for most of the afternoon and we headed out towards the airport to get some dinner and do some shopping. After a nice dinner at Macaroni Grill, we shopped the ABC store at the Ala Moana Mall. Several souvenirs later, DeAnna and I watched as John & Jessica made their way through security and on their way back to Oklahoma. Both of them were sad to leave and Jessica's final post of her trip can be read HERE.

This was a wonderfully active week. John & Jessica saw more in one week than many residents see in years of living here. They are an interesting and loving couple and some day soon, they will be wonderfully busy parents! I'm glad they came to visit, but we don't have a lot of time to reminisce - Julia and her friends will be here on May 3rd!

John & Jessica Day 7

Friday was the day we purposed to hike to the top of Diamond Head. To be honest, DeAnna and I hadn't said to much about it. The hike is a little strenuous, but we knew John & Jessica would be glad they hiked to the top, so we let the even unfold on it's own merits.

The hike starts out easy enough, but ends up climbing hundreds of stairs. It was hot and windless in the crater. There were lots of people climbing with us, including many Japanese tourists. Oddly enough, many of the Japanese women wore long-sleeved shirts and layered cover-ups to stave off the sun. Seeing the older people coming down from the top was encouraging. John's shirt was soaked with sweat, by the time we got to the top.




The view was spectacular and we even managed to get some good pictures amidst the numerous people at the observation site.


Coming back down was a lot more fun because we got to see all the people huffing and puffing on the way up. I shouted encouragements and John did his best to warn people about the effort ahead!

Diamond Head was just the beginning of the day though! Jessica had been wanting to do some more snorkeling and spend some time on Waiamea Beach. John was interested in trying another game of golf. So while John made reservations for a nearby course, Jessica and I grabbed our snorkeling gear and headed back to the North Shore.

We were excited to see that the waves were fairly calm at Shark's Cove, so we decided to take our snorkeling gear down into the water. The waves were strong enough to push us around when we got into the water, but we made it out into the deep part of the cove and swam around for a while.

The currents were fairly strong and it made for some tough swimming, but Jessica soldiered on and saw lots of fish. Eventually though, it was unnerving to be out in the wave surges, so we decided to head back to shallow waters. getting back to the shore meant swimming through some large rocks and dodging the waves. It was a bit rough getting back through the rocks as the waves pushed us up and down, but we made it out without a scratch!



Once in the more protected part of the cove, we enjoyed some shallow water swimming and it was fabulous! The water was clear and there were lots of fish! Best of all, there were no waves or currents so it was far less strenuous. Jessica had borrowed DeAnna's underwater camera and took lots of pictures. We enjoyed this part of the swim for about an hour and finally picked up our gear to head over to Waiamea Bay to swim at the beach.

It was late afternoon when we parked. The sand was kind of course and warm. Having taken our boogie boards, we made for the water, but the beach was much different than the other beaches we had visited. The beach dropped off right at the water's edge and got deep very fast. The calm waves were still powerful - pushing people up onto the beach and then dragging them back into the water. We tried to catch a wave or two, but it was a lot harder. As I got up the beach to take some video of Jessica catching a wave, I caught a movie of a wave catching Jessica!


This event forced sand into every pocket and seam of her swimsuit...

On the drive home (and on the drive out), I really enjoyed some quiet conversation with Jessica. She is a remarkable person and I am so proud of her! It was so nice to have her and John around for more than just a day or so.

By the time we arrived home, it was dinner time. We'd been from the far south shore to the north shore and back again. John came home from golf and everyone took a shower before all of us headed out to dinner. We tried a new restaurant (new to us anyway). Over near Kanehoe Marine Corps Base is a popular restaurant called Pinky's Pu Pu Bar & Grill. We got in quickly and the food was great! Just so you know - "pu pu" is the Hawaiian term for "appetizer". It's still fun to say we ate pu pu at Pinky's!

Jessica's memory of the days is HERE. The next day would be their last, but we still had more adventures before getting John & Jessica on the plane...

John & Jessica Day 6

Thursday was Jessica's Birthday and we took Jessica and John out to dinner. But the vacationing couple first got up early to catch the sunrise on Kailua Beach! Then they took off for the North Shore to find some "Lost" filming sights. I'd try to describe it to you, but Jessica does a better job, so you should read about it HERE on her blog. She also has lots of pictures inside the film camp - see them HERE and HERE.

I went in to work for the day so when I got home, we gathered up the birthday girl and went to Honolulu to catch the sunset on Waikiki beach at the Shorebird Restaurant. The Shorebird has become a favourite place. You order your food and after you've finished your salad bar, they bring out your steak, fish or chicken for you to cook on the grill. We had a great time going back and forth grilling and eating. They even sang "Happy Birthday" to Jessica.

After dinner, we walked the Waikiki "strip" looking at all the people and shops. We stopped in the International Marketplace and a couple of the 74 ABC stores (they are on every corner and even in between!) While we were wandering along the beach, we found the statue of Duke Kahanamoku.

As we waited for a photo opportunity, we overheard that there was a live web cam on, so John called Julia to tell her. Julia got online, looked up the web cam and saw all of us LIVE on Waikiki beach from Oklahoma! See the web cam right HERE (though we're not in front of it right now).

I think Jessica had a great birthday and it was wonderful for her to be here. Read her account of the day HERE. Only a couple more days left before flying back to Oklahoma City...

John & Jessica Day 5

Wednesday was our day to visit Pearl Harbor. The Aloha Stadium Swap Meet is also in the same area, so we prepared for both events. When we arrived at Pearl Harbor, it was incredibly crowded with tourists (WE weren't tourists of course!) We took a picture near the entry sign and jumped back in the car to go over to the swap meet to let the long line drain off.

At the swap meet, it was much less crowded. We walked around the Aloha Stadium looking through the vendor's tents. Most of the stuff is the same stuff, just spread around. There is a heavy emphasis on souvenir shopping (which is why we went) but after a while, everything starts to look the same. Jessica bought some interesting locally made jewelry and a sweatshirt. John and I wandered in and out of some places, but didn't buy anything.

After a couple of hours, it was back to Pearl Harbor. The line was gone, but that just meant that all the tourists were in the museum and complex. As I've said before, I think the exhibits are nicely done. We all went over to the Arizona and toured the Bowfin.

When it was over, we were ready to go home. Jessica was itching to try some more snorkeling, so we grabbed the stuff and drove down to Kailua Beach. John and DeAnna rested on the shore while Jessica and I swam out a couple hundred yards. There were active waves so the water was pretty cloudy. Our swim didn't last very long.

When we arrived back to shore, John had been watching some kids ride the waves on boogie boards. He figured that would be easy to do, so DeAnna and John walked to the Kalapawai Market and bought a couple of boogie boards. The rest of the afternoon, John & Jessica rode the waves and had a blast! Here they are catching a good one!



We ate dinner at home and turned in early. It was a long, but fruitful day. You can read Jessica's account of the day HERE on her blog.

John & Jessica Day 4

On Tuesday, Jessica and John took off for a day on their own. It started with a much anticipated Golf Game for John at Lahina Hills. While they were gone for the day, DeAnna and I went on a discovery journey of our own, ending up at the far western reaches of the north shore road. The ocean waves have beaten this shore and no doubt bigger waves have crashed in the past, but the wave action was interesting and we had never been there before, so it was nice.

We drove along the north shore and back down the Kamehameha highway to home. Jessica and John arrived home late, but invited us to Cold Stone Creamery and we ended up the day ready for bed.

Click HERE to read Jessica's blog entry of the day. You can also see John's blog post HERE where you can read how the golf game went!

John & Jessica Day 3

On Monday, I went in to work for the morning (nothing new there). Jessica and John drove to the North Shore to explore "Lost" film sites (places where they film the ABC TV show called "Lost"). They found some exciting places and got to see some of the island on their own. When I got home, we ate lunch and Jessica joined DeAnna and I for a hike to the Dragon's Nostrils!

This made the 4th time I've been to this site and it's a serious hike in the afternoon. Jessica took it in stride as we hoofed it up the trail to the cliff down to the lava shelf. Good thing we bought reef shoes on Saturday! The waves were powerful and the blowholes were really blowing!


The hike was exhausting but worth the effort. Jessica and John turned-in early so they could be ready for the big golf game on Tuesday. Click HERE to read Jessica's account on her blog.

John & Jessica Day 2

We woke up early on Sunday morning to head out to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling, but first, we stopped back by the Oahu Dive Center to get Jessica a wet suit. The weather was still cloudy and while the water was fairly warm, it's simply a lot more comfortable and enjoyable if you're warm. So with a stylish purple and black suit, we drove over to Holona to take a look at the blowhole. The waves were up and the spray was flying!

After a few minutes of observing, we drove on over to the Spitting Cave to see where I was washed into the ocean. It was kind of unnerving for John and on the trail down to the water, John twisted his knee.



It wasn't a total loss though because we got some great pictures of a bright rainbow!






We drove to Hanauma Bay and quickly donned our snorkeling gear. John was a little hesitant and not much at ease in the water, but he was a trooper and swam out to join Jessica with the fish and a sea turtle!



Jessica and I stayed out for a while, swimming through coral formations and through deep spots.






I had given Jessica my old underwater film camera, but it turned out to only have one frame left, so I took lots of pictures to help make up for it.





A couple of hours later, we left Hanauma Bay and passed back by Holona. Despite his knee, John managed to hike down the lava shelf and stand right next to the blowhole for some heart-stopping wave and spray action!



We tried to talk Jessica into rolling around in the sand like the movie "From Here To Eternity", but she settled for sitting on a rock instead.





After grabbing a sandwich, we drove by the Lahina Golf Course where John was to play a round on Tuesday and then headed towards the North shore along the Windward coast on the Kamehameha Highway. It was a relaxing drive and we ended up in Laie to get a drink at the "Polynesian McDonalds" (seems like McD's will haunt Jessica no matter where she goes!). Before heading on down the highway, we stopped by Laie point where a small island has had a hole punched in it. We watched the pounding surf and took some pictures, then headed out to the North Shore.

Along the North Shore, we stopped at Sunset Beach Park to stick our toes in the sand and water before stopping again at Shark's Cove and driving on along the shore to see more beaches. Eventually, we turned back South and headed for the airport to pick up DeAnna who was arriving from Minnesota. After picking her up, we headed home and walked along Kailua Beach again to relax before finishing up the day at the pool.

It was a long and eventful day. We purposefully avoided doing things that might inflame John's knee so he would be good for Golf on Tuesday. We learned that sitting in the Hot Tub before bed time will make you sweat for hours!

Click HERE to read Jessica's blog entry for the day.

John & Jessica Day 1

The time had finally come for Jessica & John to arrive in Hawaii! DeAnna was finishing up packing our belongings in Minnesota, but she had previously prepared the house for their visit, so I just polished things up a little and dropped by the store to pick up a couple of leis. I headed to the airport to pick them up and anxiously watched for them.

I first saw John's red hat - a signature look, I think. They both looked great and we enjoyed getting caught up as we waited for the luggage. Both Jessica and John had heeded my suggestions and packed very lightly. Indeed, the rest of the week was spent primarily in flip flops, t-shirts and swim suits!

We drove across the island to our apartment but before we even got to the house, we stopped by Teddy's Burgers and had the best burger on the island! Afterwards, we dropped off our stuff and headed on to Kailua Beach.



Turns out that John had never walked a beach in the waves! It was very interesting to hear his impressions as the water washed around his feet. We walked along the beach for a long while chatting and watching the clouds. The weather forecasts were pretty gloomy for the rest of the week and we all hoped the predictions were wrong.

By the time we wrapped up at the beach, it was late afternoon, but for John & Jessica, it was already after bedtime (Hawaii time vs Oklahoma time)! We wanted to stay up a while longer to adapt, so I took them to get their snorkeling gear for the week and then we drove to the Pali Overlook. The drive was beautiful, but when we got out to the overlook, it was cloudy, cold and windy! We took several pictures and quickly got back in the car!

So what do you think Jessica wanted to do now that she was in Hawaii? She wanted to go to Wal-Mart of course! She needed a cover-up for the beach and the local store didn't have what she wanted. In downtown Honolulu, we wandered the Wal-Mart, but Jessica didn't find anything she wanted. However, John found a pair of reef shoes for hiking and Jessica subsequently found herself some as well.

Driving home after dark, we chatted some more about the next day and when we ended up at home, the travelers were completely worn out! We planned an early start on the Eastern shore and turned in!

Jessica is writing about her experiences of the vacation as well. Click HERE to read her blog.

Very Busy - But Vacation Next Week

I've been putting in quite a few hours at work, often getting home after dark. There's a lot happening in the Army with Lean Six Sigma these days and I'm in the middle of it all!

Last weekend, DeAnna and I visited Pearl Harbor and saw all of the attractions, including the Arizona Memorial,
Battleship Missouri and the Submarine Bowfin. We started at 7:30am and didn't leave until 4:30pm, so it was a long day. If you're on vacation for a week, I wouldn't recommend doing it all because it takes all day (unless you're really into history), but I'm glad we made the effort.

We started with the Arizona and the nicely done audio tour that culminated with the ferry to the sunken ship. This part of the tour was historically interesting and somewhat somber. There is a museum that explains the attack with artifacts uncovered as recently as 10 years ago!

Stories from both the Japanese and American perspectives of WWII are given and that helps give some background. Interestingly, everything is available in Japanese and it is a favorite site for Japanese tourists. You have to give them credit for a perfectly planned attack.


After the Arizona, we went for the Explorer's tour of the Battleship Missouri. Now, if you had a chance to do this tour (which is kind of pricey), it is amazingly fascinating! We met a personal guide (Dave) who took us through the ship. We went into the 16-inch gun turrets, galley, officer's quarters, engine room, navigation, radio and through countless passages and stair ways.
All along the way, Dave spoke about the history of the ship and it's service - including the final surrender of Japan in WWII on the deck of this very ship!



After we finished, we ate a sandwich in the ship and headed over to the Bowfin. The Bowfin is a celebrated WWII submarine. There's an audio tour (which we took) as we walked above and below decks of the submarine.



Once you see what these men had to live through, it is amazing to think that they actually volunteered for this duty! People were just one more item that had to be squeezed into this big steel tube and privacy is not an option.

In all of our wanderings over this island, we never took the time to see these monuments. I'm glad we did and I'm glad we took the time to spend the whole day doing it all!

Next weekend, John & Jessica will be here for a week of vacation! There will be lots more stories and pictures from that I'm sure!