This is our first picture the day we arrived in our hotel room. We booked the hotel room on priceline and got a pretty good deal. It didn't have an ocean view, but we weren't in our room all that much so it was perfect.
This is the view from the pool at our hotel. As you can see, the hotel was right across the street from the beach! It was so neat being able to just walk directly onto the beach and directly into the ocean without wearing a wetsuit- I've never been to a place where you can do that. Our hotel was in a perfect location- right in the middle of all the shops and all the beach activities.
I don't know which is more funny- Travis's white hairy chest- or the old man's hairy butt!!!
We were walking along the beach one day and this monk seal was just sunbathing- pretty cute ;)
This is just a picture of the Waikiki Beach strip in the background- I think my head is blocking our hotel- but you can see the strip of hotels behind us. We did a lot of walking and exploring the beach front.
This is an eel that I saw when we walked out onto a pier. It was really neat looking- there was a man snorkeling about 3 feet from it! We were able to look down and see so many colorful fish.
We went on a catamaran for a sunset cruise one night. It was really fun- all you can drink!! This is my attempt at an artistic picture ;) (I hope you're proud Betsy!)
Again, on the sunset cruise.
This was one of the highlights of the trip for me. We hiked up Diamond Head crater and this is the very top. You can see Honolulu and Waikiki Beach behind us. The hike was pretty short (.8 miles I think) but it wasn't made originally for tourists so the path is pretty narrow. You have to go through a narrow tunnel to get to the top and then there are a few lookout spots, but not a lot of room. It was originally for military lookouts and holds a lot of history. The view of the inside of the crater was really breathtaking.
We rented a car one day and drove to Hanuama Bay to snorkel. It is supposedly the best snorkeling spot on Oahu, and the tourists definitely come here! We were able to go out in the Bay and see lots of fish. The problem was that Travis doesn't like to snorkel that much and I have to put my head up and take a breather every few minutes because I think I get kind of claustrophobic!! Anyway, we did it for about an hour and it was a great experience- it's only the second time I've snorkeled so hopefully I get more and more comfortable with practice!
We had lunch near Hanuama Bay at Kona Brewing Co. They had a great passion fruit wheat beer that I really enjoyed, and Travis, well you know- enjoyed them all! ;)
We took a shuttle one day to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It's a big park where they have different sections for different cultures. They share the traditions and ways of each culture. We learned about Tahiti, Tonga, Fiji and Hawaii among others. At the end of the day, they put on a Lu'au and above is a picture of the roasted pig. We also were able to try traditional Hawaiian food. At night, they put on a show and performed traditional dances from the different cultures; it was really entertaining!
This is the entrance to the USS Arizona memorial at Pearl Harbor. This day was so interesting- it was really moving to see the history there and to know that there are still people alive that witnessed those events.
We also went on a tour on the USS Missouri- the battleship the Japanese surrendered on ending WWII. It was interesting seeing how the Navy lives on the ships- Travis was really interested in the missiles and guns on the ship!
This picture was taken at our hotel on our last day :(To top off our trip, on the way home Travis upgraded our plane tickets to first class! That was quite the experience- they just keep the drinks comin'!! It made the flight a little easier for me because I pretty much SUCK at flying;)
I was so happy Travis and I took the time and money to do a trip like this- we have never really made saving money for trips a priority- but now we are! It's interesting how things happen in life and things happen for a reason. I was supposed to be pregnant at this time and going on a trip like this would not have happened. It was so nice spending the time with Travis too- we get so used to our daily routine at home and doing our own things that it was so refreshing to spend all my time with him and we enjoyed every minute of it! It made me realize even more that I love our life together and things just seem to keep getting better and better!! I can't wait for whatever happens next.....
