Spent the last week visiting our son and his wife on Oahu.
This was the first day on the beach in Kailua:
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Last night in Hawaii at a Luau:
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| DH and I at Luau (night pics) |
In between we had a fabulous time visiting all the lava beaches and little coves around the east coast where they live.
We also visited the north shore, Pearl Harbor, and saw where Jurassic Park, Gilligan's Island, and Lost were filmed. Visited a macadamia farm...
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| at Macadamia Nut Farm |
and a Chocolate Factory. Did you know that Hawaii is the only place in the US that can grow cocao beans? They only grow within 10-20 degrees from the equator - so it's South America, Africa, and Hawaii. Isn't that interesting? They explained everything on the tour from the growing of the trees, harvesting and roasting the beans, to making the chocolate. And they had a tasting bar!!
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| daughter-in-law and I |
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| son and I |
Especially loved having coffee on the beach in the morning...
DH of course loved visiting Pearl Harbor and seeing the battleships and submarines... He was fascinated with the ship itself and the history - while I was most moved at the pictures on the wall of all those young men who died. They were so young.
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| The Kiss |
And lastly...
This is me thinking about using the scooter to explore the island... of course I didn't do it. Didn't need to... my son and his wife took us everywhere. We could have stayed longer and spread it out, but to be honest, I don't think we missed anything. We weren't interested in seeing Waikiki - too crowded. Enjoyed Kailua where they live. It's separated from Honolulu by the Koolau mountain range.
If you know Oahu, Hawaii... you may recognize some of these places. We visited:
Kailua beach
Bellows beach
Waimanalo Bay
Hawaii Kai-mal
Sandy beach
Makapuu beach
Blowholes lookout
Pearl Harbor
Heeia Park
Macadamia Nut Farm
The Ranch (Jurassic Park)
Turtle Bay Resort
Polynesian cultural center
Tide pools
Ka Moana Luau
Chocolate Factory
... all in one week (minus 2 days of flying)! I had my daughter-in-law write them down for me as I would never remember or know how to pronounce them.
It was the trip of a lifetime for us... and what happened at the Luau is a whole nother' story (which I may tell at another time).
(I hope the pictures are not too large - but the scenery is just too gorgeous to see small and didn't know if everyone could enlarge them.)
Have a great weekend... and as always thanks for reading. If I could, I would share some of these wonderful macadamia nut products we brought home with us. And I learned that although I don't care for canned pineapple - I loved the fresh Hawaiian pineapple served everywhere!
Hugs,
Rian
Now I have to spend the weekend catching up on all the blog reading I missed...
What wonderful experiences you had on that marvelous trip. And you made a lovely pair of intrepid explorers. You and your spouse are definitely a "go-go" team!
ReplyDeleteI have to say that we don't travel much... and except for the long flights, layovers, and delays, it was great fun.
DeleteWhat wonderful pictures! And I laughed at the one picture with the shadow of the photographer. So many pictures of you and DH, I just loved them all! Thank you for allowing me to share the adventure with you. And I would have taken that scooter, just to say I did. But otherwise, you sure had a whirlwind trip, Rian. Thanks again. :-)
ReplyDeleteThat shadow is my son taking the picture. He has been trying to get us to Hawaii for 2 years. I think all the pics of his dad and I are for the record - that we actually made it there. And of course we're glad we did!
DeleteYou're making me want to go to Hawaii -- I've never been.
ReplyDeleteWell, we'd never been either... never even thought much about it until our son and his wife moved there. Now we'll definitely go back. I can't wait to sit on the beach at sunrise or sunset again and drink my coffee... (the water was so clear and the air so clean).
DeleteWhat a lovely place to visit and to see your family. My husband and I spent several weeks on Maui camping and time in Honolulu. The area where your family lives sounds nicer and more relaxed than the big city.
ReplyDeleteWe were told Maui was wonderful, but there wasn't time. And yes, the east side of Oahu is really nice... more rural, quiet, mountains, lighthouse, tide pools, and lava beaches. They asked if we wanted to go to Waikiki or Honolulu... but we said no.
DeleteA nice trip and beautiful pictures.
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DeleteThanks, Joanne.
Welcome back! What a fantastic visit, very busy...and fun! :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Kim. It would have been nice to have stayed longer... but it couldn't have been any better... and we had plenty of time to sit and talk. The scenery, plants, flowers, etc. were gorgeous. Ferns as big as a small car... and bird of paradise growing everywhere.
DeleteHow wonderful to have a son living in such an exotic place. Makes the visit even more special. Loved the pictures but really got envious with the coffee on the beach. Ahhhh.
ReplyDeleteIf our son hadn't moved there, I doubt if we'd ever considered going to Hawaii. He and his wife love it there... and its easy to see why. They go for coffee on the beach almost every evening and occasionally go to watch the sunrise.
DeleteWelcome home! What a wonderful trip!! The photo of the bay/cove is so lovely...that blue, blue water is amazing. And having coffee on the beach, that would be my ultimate.
ReplyDeleteThe water is unbelievably clear and the blue/green color is beautiful. Listening to the roar of the ocean and breathing in that cool clean air while drinking my coffee on the beach was fantastic (and no one around but us!).
DeleteWhat a wonderful holiday and how lovely of your family to take you on such an extensive tour of their island home.
ReplyDeleteDiana
Thanks, Diana. It was a wonderful holiday and since they moved there 2 years ago, it was great to spend some time with them.
Deletewhat a great trip, I hate crowded places too, love all your photos
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda. And it's true, I'm not good with crowds.
DeleteDear Rian, so glad that your vacation was an enjoyable one for both of you--that all your senses found refreshment! Peace.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Dee. It was a really good visit. And I have to tell you that I've been reading your book, "The Reluctant Spy" and enjoying it. Am about a third of the way through... and it confirms my belief that when history is put into story form, it's a lot more interesting.
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