Hawaii Day 4 (Part 2): Spitting Caves & Polynesian Cultural Center

Someone told me to stop at the spitting caves while in Hawaii, so our next stop was to find said caves.  I was able to find a location in google maps, so off we went in search of a cave that spits.  Google maps lead up to a rich subdivisions cul-de-sac.  I was disappointed because it looked like we were lead astray.  I kept studying the maps to try to figure out where we took a wrong turn.  As we went around the cul-de-sac a second time, and right when we decided we wouldn't be seeing the spitting caves today, I notices a narrow trail between two houses.  We didn't notice it before because the house to the right of the trail is begin built, and is surrounded by port-a-potties, large machinery and a big dumpster blocking the trail.

We went down the narrow trail, wondering the entire time if this was the correct way and if we were trespassing.  We figured we would see where the trail lead.  The trail opened up to the ocean!

The ocean was as far as the eye could see.  The houses were built on a cliff of rocks.  We were able to walk around the rocks.  Kevin is very much uncomfortable of heights, so he wouldn't get very close to the edge, but I walked right up the the edge and leaned over then sat down and took some selfies.

Under the cliff were some caves, and when the waves came crashing in towards the caves, it caused the water to come shooting up, hence the name, spitting caves.

We hiked back up the little trail with smiles on our faces and a sense of accomplishment at finding the spitting caves.

Next Stop: Polynesian Cultural Center.

We spent the rest of the day at the PCC.  We had a tour guide that took us all round the different Pacific destinations in the park.  We were able to enjoy four of the villages.  Each of the villages had a musical show, a demonstration, and hands on activities.

There were different buildings that we could go in and see. We saw Fiji, Hawaii, some Islands, Tahiti

Tonga and a few more.

We were able to go on canoe ride.  The river went around the villages and under a few bridges.  We had our own Tongan rowing the boat at the back.

After our canoe ride, we enjoyed a buffet dinner and Hawaiian show.  The show had hula dancer, some fire, and singing.  At one point, they asked if anyone was celebrating an anniversary.  To my horror, Kevin raises his hand.  All those celebrating an anniversary were brought on stage and we danced a slow song in front of everyone.  I am a very non-PDA type of person, so to dance in front of a bunch of people, then be kissed after is like a nightmare.  Kevin was just laughing the entire time, seeing me crawl in my own skin.  I'm glad we went up though, it wasn't too awful.  It was nice dancing in Hawaii with Kevin.

We ended the day with the day with the PCC's show: The Breath of Life.  By this point, I am fighting 4 days of jet lag, I just ate a lot of food, and I am tired.  I actually fell asleep during the majority of the show.  It's definitely more of a theatrical performance, then a show.  I was expecting something exciting and entertaining.  Don't get me wrong, it was put together very well, and the actors were good.  It just wasn't what I was expecting.  There was one part in it where there was some fire dancing!  That part was definitely super cool!!

Hawaii Day 4 (Part 1): Hanauma Bay

We woke up bright and early today to make it to Hanauma Bay.

I was told that you want to get there early because they only allow a certain amount of people in the bay at a time.  We got there a little before 7:00 and found out that if you enter the bay before 7:00, you don't have to pay the entrance fee.  The Airbnb we stayed at also supplied snorkels, so we were really glad we saved $40 a person by not having to rent the equipment.

When we got into the bay, I was excited to learn that the bay had a perfect view of the sun rising!  There were some clouds, but not as many as our first attempt at a sunrise, and it wasn't raining and cold!  We found a bench and cuddled up to watch the sunrise in Hawaii at Hanauma Bay.

We were now ready to conquer the bay!  We put our snorkels on, grabbed our GoPro, and brought our fins in hand and went out into the waves.  It took some shuffling, falling and jumping about to get into the ocean after we put our fins on.  We learned the hard way, that its better to get in, then put your fins on and walk out backwards into the ocean.

We then spent the next 2-3 hours exploring the beautiful fish and coral of Hanauma Bay.  This was, by far, the coolest thing we did in Hawaii!  We found a spot that they called the "keyhole" where fish were aplenty!

There were "big fish, small fish, one fish, two fish"!

The waves and the current were not bad at all, it was kind of neat being gently swaying with the fish and the ocean as one.

This experience ranks up as one of my top 10!  We both agreed that this was the highlight of our trip!

Hawaii Day 3 (Part 2): Dole Plantation

We made a stop at the Dole Plantation today.  We decided it would be fun to take the Dole Pineapple Express Train around the plantation.  We were really glad the train had a roof because it kept lightly raining on and off.  The train takes you all around the property to see the different plants and fruits that are on the property.

The grounds were very beautiful with peculiar trees and different colored bushes.  There was also a large lake on the property.

Seeing the pineapple plants was especially educational!  I had no idea that pineapples were grown on bushes on the ground.  For some reason, I always thought pineapples were grown on trees.  It was so neat seeing the rows and rows and rows of bushes on the ground with pineapples all over them!

When we got off the train and walked back to the gift shop, we saw a sign that showed the distance to different towns!  We were 4,530 miles from Seoul!!

Hawaii Day 3 (Part 1): Wakiki Beach

We decided to eat breakfast on the beach strip.  We chose seats that had a beautiful view of the beach.

We were able to smell the salt water and feel the mist of the ocean in the air.
I ordered some French toast and it was absolutely amazing!  There were macadamia nuts on them!  I never would have thought that would be good on French toast, but it was amazing!

We decided to spend the morning relaxing at the beach.  The Airbnb that we were staying at provided beach chairs, towels, hoodies boards and a cooler.  We donned on our swimsuits and grabbed all the beach essentials and walked out the door to the beach.  I had a relaxing time just reading a book and loving the sun, fresh air, and sounds of the waves.

Kevin, on the other hand, grabbed the boogie board and went running into the waves.  While he was out he made a friend with a fellow boogie boarder.  The guy showed Kevin how to get the most out of a wave.  He also noticed that Kevin had a pretty beat up board, so he let Kevin use his board.  By the time we were ready to leave, Kevin's new friend actually gave Kevin a nice boogie board and some flippers.

Unfortunately, there were lots of coral and Kevin's feet took a pretty bad beating!

Hawaii Day 2 (Part 2): Pali Lookout & Maunawili Falls

We check out of the hotel (bye-bye rooster) load up the car and drive to Pali Lookout.

 There are still clouds looming, but we were still able to see a beautiful Hawaii.

Our last stop for the day was to the Maunawili Falls hike!  Kevin and I love hiking and being outdoors and having adventures! Kevin had broke his water shoes earlier that morning while kayaking, so all he had were some flip flops.  I looked the hike up on my phone and it said it was a short hike, and some people do it barefoot.  We decided flip flops should be OK.

After walking for only 10 minutes, we realized flip flops were going to be nearly impossible.  But, as with our motto for the day, we had already started, so we were going to finish this short hike.  It ended up not being short, at all.  It took us a few hours because the ground was completely and totally a muddy, slippery mess.  Tree roots stuck up along with rocks and dirty nasty water.  Since flip flops have zero traction, Kevin was slipping, sliding and falling with every step.

I could tell he was uncomfortable and I was seriously feeling super bad for him!  He didn't want to take his shoes off and go barefoot, because there were huge signs posted everywhere that bacteria was present in the water.

Despite the lack of proper footwear, the terrain was so beautiful!  The changing of the scenery and the lush trees made it well worth the trip!

We saw crazy trees,

bubbling streams,

and beautiful look-out points.

We got to the waterfall and were able to get in the water for a very quick picture.

The water was very chilly, so we opted not to swim.

The hike back seemed to be a little easier, since we knew exactly what to expect.  At one point on the walk down though, Kevin slipped in a puddle, completely lost his shoe and took me down with him.

We were covered in mud! Completely covered in mud!

We get back to the car and lay down grocery bags to try to keep the rental car from taking some of our mud.

For the remainder of our trip we are staying in an Airbnb by Wakiki Beach.  It was super embarrassing to have to check in wet and covered in mud.  I'm just grateful they still let us check in.  The bums on the beach looked cleaner then we were!

Hawaii Day 2 (Part 1): Wet Sunrise & Kayaking

We woke up bright and early (With the help from our all night crowing rooster) and headed to Lanikai Beach to catch a Hawaiian Sunrise!  The number one thing I was excited about was the beautifully acclaimed sunrises and sunsets!  Even though we are on vacation and have no kids and could sleep in however late we wanted (except we really couldn't because the dumb rooster), I still wanted to wake up at 4:45 to leave in enough time to see a gorgeous sunrise.

It takes about 30 minutes to get to the beach and find a place to park.  From what I could tell by the dark sky, it appeared to be an over cast of clouds everywhere.  I was still optimistic about my sunrise.  So we lock the car and walk down to the beach.

We walk along the beach and find the perfect spot to sit down.  By this point, I am covered in goose-bumps and shivering wildly.  I wrap my thin layer over my shoulders and my teeth begin to chatter.  Right about this time, is when the sky opens up and it starts raining.  Kevin grumbles about it being cold, and how there are clouds and no chance of seeing a sunrise and that we should just leave.  My pride and stubbornness and pure anger keeps me rooted to my spot.  All that was going through my mind was that I woke up early on my first day of vacation and I'm wet and freezing, but already here, so like it or not, I'm watching the sun come up.  Or should I say, sun or no sun, I'm staying there until 7:38 because thats when the sun is supposed to rise.

About the time I'm ready to start crying, Kevin starts laughing.  He is laughing so hard that tears start to run down his cheeks and he can't get a single word out to tell me whats so funny.  Between laughs and breaths I get the gist of what has him in hysterics, and I start laughing too!  The sight of us, huddled, in shorts, dripping wet, clothes soaked completely though on a vacation in Hawaii for a sunless-sunrise.  We laugh and laugh until we are both crying!

About this time, is when the sky is beginning to change from black to blues and pinks.  With the full cloud coverage, there were beautiful colors dancing around the sky.  The sea is also such a beautiful blue with a few islands off in the distance.

The sun starts to creep out of bed and over the horizon.  As the sun comes up a little pocket opens up and the clouds let the sun shine through for a few minutes!  We are able to get some great pictures and beautiful sun rays!

Once the sun is swallowed up again by the clouds, we both look at each other and decide we are cold enough and have seen what we ventured out to see.  With that, we run back to the car, and blast the heater.

After breakfast and a nap, we decide to take advantage of the free kayaks that the hotel offers to their guests.  Kevin and I love kayaking, and were very excited to get out in the ocean.  We ask the front desk if there are any great places around to Kayak.  He tells us about 5 miles or so is China Man's Hat, or around the corner is a flat island.  We decided to try to find the flat island.  Before we find the island we took a few minutes to paddle around the bay.

We then follow his directions, but are never able to find the island.  My stubbornness comes back, and I decided that 5 miles isn't too far and convince Kevin to paddle in the direction of China Man's Hat.  After paddling for a while, we decide it's too far, we are hungry and we don't have water and should probably head back.  I'm glad we turned around, because by the time we got back, we were both hungry, super thirst and tired!

Hawaii Day 1: Paradise Bay & North Shore

Kevin was scheduled to take a TDY to Hickham Air Force Base in Hawaii, and since we hadn't ever been to Hawaii, we decided to make this an anniversary trip.  I found amazing friends to take the kids, we got Power of Attorney's, we had our car rental booked, Lodging booked and paid for and my plane ticket all ready!  The day before we were to leave, there was problems in our United States Government!  A government shut down occurred within 24 hours of Kevin's TDY.  A notice went out and all TDY's were cancelled until further notice.

At first I was seriously mad!  Since this was a TDY, Kevin's plane ticket, lodging and per diem for food was all taken care of.  Now with the shut down, we had to decide:  Just pay for the entire trip out of pocket and take leave?  Or loose the money from the lodging and my non-refundable plane ticket?
We decided to jump on the computer and buy Kevin a plane ticket and go anyways!  Kevin filled out the appropriate forms and got all the appropriate signatures. We already had the kids taken care of, so we didn't have to worry about them.  We finished packing our bags then caught a bus to the airport.

Since we had to buy the cheapest ticket possible, Kevin and I were on different flights to Hawaii.  Kevin would leave before me, but have a long layover in Japan.  I would leave much later and have a direct flight.  Kevin still got to the airport before me, but that worked out perfect for me because he was able to get the car rental and pick me up right away!

Living overseas in the Asian countries has really spoiled us when it comes to WIFI!  At every airport and pretty much every where you go, there is free, fast and easily accessible WIFI.  We were assuming this would be the case for Hawaii.  Yikes! No way!!  The airport only has super spotty WIFI in one tiny section of the airport.  Since I hadn't activated my phone yet, I had no way of letting Kevin know I landed or to find out where he was parked or how we would meet up.  Luckily, I ran into one of those small pockets in the airport and stood there to text Kevin.

As we drove through the mountains to get to Paradise cove, we were awestruck by the beauty of the mountains.  There was low cloud cover, so we weren't able to see the hight of the mountains, but the green and majesty was beautiful.

We arrived at Paradise Cove and were told that our room wasn't ready and to come back in a few hours.

We spent the next few hours driving along the North Shore.  We stopped and got lunch at North Shore Tacos.  We also kept driving along the road to get a Coconut Pie!  We opted for a whole pie, since they were 50% off.  We grabbed two forks and ate it straight out of the pit tin.  I'll tell you what, that was the best pie I have ever had!!

Around dinner time, we decided to try out Haleiwa Joe's. We were both told by a few people that it is an amazing place to eat.  We got there and there would be over an hour wait.  Since we were tired and not really in the mood to try to find another place to eat, we decided to grab a card game, order some fruit drinks and wait.

We had fun playing cards, talking and enjoying our Hawaiian drinks.  By the time we got a table, it was dark and late.  It was too dark to see the beautiful view that people come to the restaurant for.  But, at least we had a table and were able to eat dinner!

We had a really hard time sleeping!  First and foremost- jet lag sucks!  It's no fun to wake up every few hours because your body thinks it's day time.  And Second- there was no way we could have slept because there was a rooster directly across the street that must have also been on Korea time!  The dang thing crowed ALL NIGHT LONG!  And it was loud!  Seriously!  It was right outside our window.

Big Sis and the Seoul Temple

Hey, Big Sis here. When you turn 12 years old, you can finally go into the temple to do baptism and confirmations for those who have passed away and didn't get the chance to do those things for themselves. And that's what I got to do, and my first time to the temple was amazing and I strongly felt the spirit when I did the baptisms!

The temple only has one English session, so all of us Americans have to wake up really early in the morning to get into the temple in time for that. There are not a lot of youth trips, but I think they're often enough. The youth all gathered in the Hallasan lobby around 6:30 A.M. which means I had to wake up the same time I usually do on a school day which is 5:30 A.M. to be able to get ready in time. Not fun when you look forward to a Saturday to sleep. Mom and I drove in our car with the Arny's, Strommer's, and the Holloway's in order to fit 13 youth kids and 7 adults. The drive there was tiring, but we made it.

When we entered the temple, we sat down and waited. We then did the temple's opening exercises and we made our way up the stairs and checked in. I got my clothes and put them on. It was strange to wear the same type of a baptism jumper like I did when I was baptized years before. I walked in with the other girls to the baptismal font room, got a big whiff of "chlorine" smelling air, but didn't mind because all I was focused on was the strong feeling of the spirit that filled me when I walked in.

I sat down next to my friend Destinee and we waited for our turn. We had some waiting to do because there were 12 people before us, and all of them did like 10-15 names each.  Destinee and I passed the time watching the mop that cleaned the floor after people got out of the font. We just watched it and we chuckled every once in a while for some random reason. I honestly don't know what was so funny about it though. When it was my turn, I walked down into the font. The water was so warm! I was nervous that it might have been cold, because the water at my baptism was so cold! I forgot to take my contacts out of my eyes in the changing room so I had to keep my eyes closed the whole time that made me a little dizzy, but I didn't mind that either.

I did 13 names my first time! When I was done, I got out and I was super cold and wished I could go back into the warm water but I just walked into the changing room and got changed. I got changed and met up with the other youth downstairs for lunch. The winter time in Korea is super windy and cold which makes it very easy to get very cold. I made that mistake and I wore a skirt with flats and no tights: poor choice. We decided to walk to a Korean restaurant 3 blocks away in the freezing cold. We walked to the restaurant, and it seemed to take forever because we had to walk against the wind which was really hard and VERY cold. I am starting to enjoy Korean food because it is, in a way, really good. We all ordered our food and ate the delicious meal. I choose the Pork Cutlet and ate it all gone.

I really loved and enjoyed my first trip to the temple.