Hawaii- August 2010

My cousin Tawni and I kept saying how we needed to take a trip together, but we never made it happen. Then on Father's Day we were chatting at our grandparent's house, and decided it was time to make it happen, so we made some plans, and in August, we went to Hawaii.

We had to go from SLC, to Las Vegas, to LA, and finally to Honolulu, but we finally made it. The trip from LA to Honolulu was a long one... literally and figuratively. I wasn't able to sit by Tawni, and I was sitting next to a 13 year old boy that TALKED my ear off the ENTIRE way! Holy cow! I was ready to just turn my ears off after that.

We took a cab to our hotel and crashed for the night.

The next day we got up and headed down for out "continental breakfast." Much to our disappointment, the breakfast consisted of... toast, a small cup of pineapple from a can, pineapple juice (probably from the same can as the pineapple), and if you knew to ask, a small croissant from the plate they hid from the view of the people.

We scarfed down our meager meal and headed off to find someone to take us the the Polynesian Cultural Center. We asked 3 cab drivers, no one knew what were talking about... They lived on this small island, and they didn't know how to find the biggest tourist attraction on it... strange.

We made our way back to the hotel, and found, to our luck, a concierge desk. The lady there was able to get us set up with a bus ride to the PCC and an entire package to get us set up for the day there. We took the bus up to the PCC and were set up with some tour guides. We had a girl from Fiji, and a guy from Ukraine as our guides.

We toured the PCC, and had lots of fun, and learned lots of stuff... then I noticed our tour guide from Ukraine was giving me the eye, soon he was approaching us and staring at me nonstop as I tried to make conversation with him... awkward... but he was a nice guy... and we are facebook friends now... ha ha... :) Later we went to a luau there in the PCC and enjoyed lots of yummy food and a little entertainment.

After eating we wandered a bit and took some pictures and then headed to the big show. It was a really cool show they put on and the dancing and such was great, we also got some yummy ice cream at intermission.

The next day we had plans for another luau that night, so we went to the beach during the day, waikiki beach. Tawni is afraid of water, so I had to urge her to get into the ocean with me, which she finally did, and we had fun and goofed off, took pictures, and got clobbered by waves when we got to close to shore. (ha ha ha)

The luau that night was good, but it was slightly disappointing after the fun night we had the day before at the PCC. The luau was on a beach though, and it was beautiful, and the food was good.

The next day we went to Pear Harbor and a flea market. Pearl Harbor was super interesting, and sad as well. I was noticing how many Japanese people were there, and I was a little surprised. The shuttle driver on the way home told us he has a lot of Japanese friends working on the island, and said that the Japanese visit a lot to pay their respects and ask forgiveness for what their ancestors did. He said they also fly over the same path they took to attack Pearl Harbor each year, and drop flowers in respect for the lives lost that day. Interesting.

By the time we were done at Pearl Harbor and the flea market, I was SO hot, SO sunburnt, SO dehydrated, and SO tired, that we went back to the hotel, went and ate dinner, and crashed. We went to bed early that night, we were bushed.

On Sunday we didn't have any plans, we mostly wanted to get some shopping in, so we went to the market area, and I bought lots of stuff for myself... and some for my family. :) Hey, it's my vacation. :)

That night we went to the pool at our hotel, and Tawni was in the pool, I was sitting on the edge, and this guy comes down. We were the only ones in the pool at the time (it was outside, but some hotel rooms were outside) and he came over and got in the hot tub behind me. I wasn't watching him, but Tawni pulled a face and told me to look at him. I turned to look and he was pulling the khaki shorts off that he had over his swimming suit. I said, "yeah, he came down with those on." Tawni said, "No, that's not the problem, it's that those are the second pair of shorts he's pulled off." I laugh and we go on talking. Then we hear laughing from the hot tub. I look and the guy is reaching across the hot tub, and I just assume he is laughing to himself at something he dropped in the hot tub. A few minutes later the laughing is louder and isn't stopping. Tanwi asks if he is alone, I say he is, she asks if he's on the phone, I say he's not. I turn and look again, and he is swimming around in circles along the edge of the hot tub laughing to himself. I just think he's weird but Tawni is scared, so we hurry in and go back to our room.

The next day we get up bright and early and head back home. Our layover in Las Vegas is supposed to be like 3 hours, but to our luck, we ask a guy at a counter a question, and the next thing we know, we are boarding a plane to SLC right then. My baggage shows up on my front porch in the middle of the night, and it didn't even cost us extra to get home 3 hours earlier. YEE HAW! :)

And that my friend, was a nutshell of Hawaii. It was fun, but now we are home again.

Now for my next trip in March, to Australia! YAY! :)