When we got married June 6, 1981, we took a driving trip to Colorado. We had just graduated from college and money was tight. We had a wonderful honeymoon trip and then both started our jobs. We decided that on our 10 year anniversary we would go to Hawaii. But when we were married 10 years we had 2 adorable boys ages 3 and 6. I was only working part time, Dave had just graduated with his BS in Electrical Engineering, and we had just purchased our second house. We didn't want to leave our boys or spend that much money.
So after nearly 32 years of marriage our boys were grown, college educated AND supporting themselves. We were living in CA (closer to Hawaii) and living in our third house. So off we went to the islands :)
The first night we stayed with David Todd and LaVonne ( cousins) at their condo on their last night in Waikiki. Waikiki was fun to experience but after a few days we were tired of all the people. Too big of a city, mobs of tourists (can you imagine :)), and high end stores everywhere. Although I did love this store which I saw on all the islands and resisted temptation!
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| The view from the condo we stayed in the first night. A special thanks to our hosts! The next two nights we stayed in a hotel right across the street from the beach. |
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| Cousins staying in the shade while their wives sat on the beach. David Allen and David Todd are first cousins just 1 year apart who grew up together. |
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| Waikiki Beach |
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| Duke the famous surfer guy. |
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| LaVonne |
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| View of the beach and Diamond Head from Duke's at the Outrigger hotel |
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| Yum! Fish tacos. |
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| Lunch with our hosts before they flew back to cold and snowy Illinois. |
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| Hula pie- one piece fed all 4 of us….mainly LaVonne and I. |
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| Saw this native Hawaiian at the ABC store in Waikiki. Meant to be a dart board?! |
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| Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go to Pearl Harbor. A very touching and sobering place. As the daughter of a WWII veteran it was a "must see". |
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| God's promise stretching over the USS Arizona memorial |
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| All those who died aboard the USS Arizona. It sank in 9 minutes. |
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| USS Arizona survivors who chose to be interred with their shipmates upon their death- 37 so far. |
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| Oil still seeps from the ship |
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| May we never forget the sacrifice of so many….. |
Next we headed up the east side of O'ahu to explore….. and eat at this fantastic shrimp truck. The lady who served us was originally from Chicago. A huge change from the "Windy City" although it was very windy right there on the coast!
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| One of many breathtaking beaches. |
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| I like simple instructions like these! |
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| Every view was prettier than the next. The water is so blue it looks fake. |
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| After exploring the Windward coast and the Northshore we hiked up Diamond Head. And saw our second rainbow of the day. |
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| Overlooking Waikiki |
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| Another Waikiki sunset |
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| Sunday morning we headed to Leonard's for the well known and beloved Malasadas. Deep fried donut goodness! |
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| On the way to Sunday morning meeting we drove through the Punch Bowl cemetery |
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| We had lunch with Dave's Aunt Sandy and ….. |
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| Relaxing at Kailua Beach before heading to the airport |
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| Daryl and Flo |
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| Lanikia Beach |
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| Hanauma Bay |
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| See you on Kaua'i …... |
Looks beautiful and well worth the wait! I'm waiting for the next installment! :)
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