Q, Pooh, Lou & #2: Aloha!

ALOHA!!!!!

We have a most blessed life and I am entirely aware of that. However, the downside is that sometimes we are simply too busy. Not too busy to fit it all in, but too busty to get around to documenting it all. This is a real problem when you have a bad memory as do I...journals, blogs and photos are very important. Here I am nearly half a year later and I haven't gotten around to writing about our trip to Hawai'i. Third World problems, am I right? I shall focus on the blessing that we were able to go and hopefully my memory doesn't leave too much out.

Day One

Day one was a travel day. The great part about that is that you usually arrive with half the day to explore due to the time change. We arrived around 2pm which gave us time to get out rental Jeep and head to Waikiki for lunch at Duke's on the lanai. From there we took the long way to the North Shore by way of Nu'uanu Pali Lookout and Byodo In temple. Once we arrived at our rental home in Kuhuku, we visited with the owners, went grocery shopping and grabbed a bite to eat at the food trucks plaza near our home. It was a fairly relaxing day, but traveling still takes it out of you.

When we first started planning our trip to Hawai'i, Sarah's Brother Jake and
Sister in Law Erin talked about joining us. Due to school and such, they had
to pass. We were happy to have Sarah's other Brother Josh and his girlfriend
Marie join us. It was their first time and we love introducing others to the
island paradise we love so much.

Truthfully, Dukes is nothing to write home about. That being said, we went
there on our honeymoon and had a drink on the lanai and the view is amazing
so we always have gone back. It's kind of a tradition for us.

I never get tired of visiting this place. It is so peaceful and beautiful.

Byodo In is at the base of the Ko'olau Mountains in the Valley of the Temples
on O'ahu's winward side. It is a replica of the Byodo In temple in Uji, Japan.

Me ringing the Bon Sho (Sacred Bell)

We didn't get too many pics at the Pali Lookout, but it was as windy as ever.

It is hard to gain the proper perspective of how big this centipede was. I
would say it was almost as big around as a pencil.

Sarah is always making fun of me on trips...."Oh no, kids! Dad found another plaque
to read!" I love history and this place, Nu'uanu Pali, has an awesome history. But it
isn't the road. Read up on it. It's cool.

Day Two

Day two was Kailua Day. The last few times we've been to O'ahu, we've rented a house in Kailua or neighboring community of Lanikai. This is our heaven. So, this time around, in an effort to be more budget friendly, we rented a home on the North Shore, but made sure we got over to Kailua the first chance we had. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. :( We still loved it...afterall, a rainy day on Lanikai Beach is better than a good weather day anywhere else. :) We made sure we hit our favorite shave ice place, Island Snow and our favorite place to grab some ono grindz, Boots N Kimo's. Then we chilled on the beach until we called it a day and went home.

A gloomy and rainy day on Lanikai Beach.

The Mokulua Islands off the shore of Lanikai.

Sarah was cold most of the day at Lanikai, but it was still heavenly.
By the way, Lanikai means "Heavenly Sea". Sarah still had a better
time here than she did the last time when she got attacked by a
jelly fish!

I feel pretty safe saying that Lanikai Beach is our happy place.

No trip to O'ahu is complete without a couple trips to Boots and Kimo's.

Of course, when we go, we both know what we want before we get there. Sarah always
gets pancakes with the Macadamia Nut sauce and I get the Garlic Chicken. It is ONO!

Before we left, we had to get some Island Snow! THE BEST!

Day Three

Day three we stayed on the North Shore. I say that with such confidence, when in reality, 6 months later, I really have no idea what day these pictures were taken or even if they were taken on the same day! But you don't know any better (as if you are actually reading this) so I'll proceed. As I was saying, we stayed on the North Shore on the third day. We visited Haleiwa Town, ate some great Kiawe smoked chicken with our bare hands on the beach, chased it down with some cool shave ice, visited Sunset Beach (across the street from our house) and finished it off with one of many trips to Ted's for a mixed plate lunch. It was a great day!

We really enjoyed hanging on Sunset Beach. As a surf fan, it is one of many
iconic spots I enjoyed visiting. It really isn't too swim friendly...or it can even
be difficult for those not in the water (ask Sarah), but the sand is amazingly
soft and beautiful. The most amazing sand I've ever been on, and I've been
on a lot of different beaches in my life. Sunset Beach sand is tops!

Making my own coconut bra.

Me demonstrating the use of primal weaponry. Sarah demonstrating that I
don't know what I'm talking about.

Clearly the baldness cure I am using isn't working on my bald spot, but working tremendously
on my forehead.

Hawai'ian sappiness.

This chicken is the bomb! It's only available on Saturdays and Sundays in
Haleiwa Town. It reminds me of the way El Pollo Loco used to taste. So
smokey and juicy. My mouth is watering as I type. The best part is the price.
On an island where everything is expensive, you can feed 4 on 1 or 2 chickens
for 10-20 bucks.

Everything tastes better with sand between your toes. Ray's Kiawe Roasted
Chicken is no exception.

Eating on the beach has its perks too. Look at this eye candy watching you eat.

No trip to the North Shore is complete without a visit to Matsumotos. The other two stores we
used to faithfully visit are both now closed. The Current Store and Art Is. It was our first visit
to O'ahu without a friendly visit with the Artis family. I missed that.

About a hundred yards down the beach from our house was Shark's Cove. It's a beautiful place to watch the sunset with the silhouettes of the palms, pines and beach goers with the sound of the waves crashing on the cove. It really is one of those places that helps your soul find peace...assuming there aren't too many people there. We would ride our bikes down and watch and listen.

My beautiful Wahine

Hanging out on our lanai watching the sunset over Sunset Beach.

Day Four

Day four was a Honolulu/Waikiki day. Josh and Marie, having never been to Hawai'i, have never been to the USS Arizona Memorial. I never get tired of going there, so we went again. Such a sobering and reverent place.

2400 people died at the hands of the sneak attack by the Empire of Japan on
Pearl Harbor. 1107 of those died here on the U.S.S. Arizona and are still
entombed there today.

Sarah with the US Bowfin in the back.

Gotta' snap a pic with Duke Kahanamoku.

We played on the beach for a few minutes and looked in a few stores,
but we mostly try to avoid Honolulu and Waikiki when we come to
O'ahu.

This place is really sad. It's the mall where the International Market Place
open air market used to be. It's nice and it's fancy, but....I miss the old place.

Josh and Marie in front of their new favorite bakery, Leonard's

MMMMMMMM.....Guava!

There are only really two reasons to come to Waikiki, in my opinion, one of
those reason's is Leonard's. We got a box of fresh malasadas and went to the
beach...again...everything tastes better with sand between your toes.

Marie gives it one enthusiastic thumb up. What's up with that?! Leonard's Malasadas are at
least 4,672 enthusiastic thumbs up! Just one?!

Most every night we finished the day with snacks and drinks and some cards.

Day Five

Day five was a Jurassic day! We visited Kualoa Ranch, which is, among other things, a 4000 acre nature reserve and working cattle ranch. It has become famous as the location where several movies have been filmed; 50 First Dates, Pearl Harbor, Wind Talkers, Godzilla, Kong, Jumanji, Lost, Jurassic Park and now Jurassic World. We opted for the long ATV tour. In my opinion, it is overrated and not worth the money. The place is amazing and beautiful, but in such a short period of time, you only see a very small fraction of the beauty there is to offer. If you've never been ATVing before, then it may be worth it, but for an experienced ATVer, it was restrictive and slow. We still had fun. On the way home we hit Ted's once again and got a Dole Whip to end the day.

We thought Dax would have loved this place due to the dinosaur affiliation of Jurassic Park,
but this statue was almost all that it had to do with it.

Sarah sharing a salt lick with her equine friend.

The most fascinating part to me was the use of the ranch by the
military as a fortified base during WWII. I would have preferred
to hear more about that than to hear about what films were filmed
there. This is the entrance to one of the bunkers that housed many
of the film props.

Playing with some of the left over props from the movie Kong.

It's hard to see here, but in the middle of the photo are the remains of what
is supposed to be a dinosaur. A prop left behind by the film crew. This
was taken from the platform of the orb ride in the movie Jurassic Park that
is now used for weddings and gatherings.

This is the tree that the actors in Jurassic Park his behind as the
dinosaurs rant towards them.

Ever since our friends Tomoe and her daughter visited us from Japan, Leah
has been obsessed with anything Japanese and has taken every picture with
her two fingers like this. This photo was for her.

Day Six

Day six was a beach day at Pounders and Bathtub Beaches then a luau!

We've always gone to Germaine's Luau, but this time we went right next door to Paradise Cove Luau. It was much better. I think it is a little more family friendly with several activities to do beforehand. It was a very fun time and worth every penny.

On occasion I find a place and think to myself, "This place can't be any more
beautiful", and then Sarah walks into the shot.

Sarah and Josh learning to use Poi balls. It's an art of concentration for sure.

I'm definitely not meant to use the poi balls.

I'm not sure why, but we thought this would be a good shot. Not.

Getting a tat.

Josh and I are Tattoo brothers.

Josh showing off his Polynesian warrior skills.

After a long day at the beach and luau, plus driving and having eaten way too
much, we got home late (about 9:30). Sarah and I got into some comfortable
clothes and were expecting these two lovebirds to play cards with us and wind
down as we had the other nights we were there. Instead, they were going on
a walk. Marie didn't look to excited to go on a walk as she was pretty tired,
but obliged Josh's request. Unbeknownst to us or to Marie, Josh had brought
a special gift to Hawai'i with him. After walking to Sunset Beach, he proposed
to Marie and she said "Yes"! She came back much happier than when she
had left. We were very stoked for them and happy we could be part of their
special trip.

The proof!

Day Seven

Our last day in paradise. We left our rental around noon and headed to Honolulu, taking the long way by Sandy Beach and Halona Blowhole. It was a gloomy day and the blowhole wasn't really popping, but we did watch a few giant sea turtles. Our last day was most definitely a food day. We started out with another trip to Boots and Kimos before packing and leaving the rental. Once we found ourselves in Waikiki, we hit our other favorite place, Lulu's and then had a Puka Dog and went to the airport. We had a great trip and hope to visit yet again sometime soon.

Sarah changed it up and switched from pancakes to waffles with Mac Nut Sauce. The
waffles are where it is at for sure!

We love Lulu's and we've introduced so many to this place. The location and
environment are the key to their success, but the food is good too. It has
slipped a little bit since Frank died in 2008, but the family still owns and runs
it and we make sure we visit every time.