Hawaii, Part 2: Sun-Tues

Sunday: 

We walked over to the church closest to us and enjoyed sacrament meeting before driving over to the temple grounds. We walked all over, met some nice people, and overheard some sisters talking about the history of the temple. Travis also looked up and found an incredible story. Back when the temple was being built, they didn’t have enough wood to complete the building. Unable to move forward, a ship ran aground and many people went down to the water to help them out. They ended up having to unload extra weight in lumbar and as a thank you for helping them, the captain just gave them the unloaded lumbar. It ended up being exactly the right amount of wood needed to complete the temple! 

We decided to just drive and explore and see as much of the island as we could. The first place we stumbled on were some little tide pools; very cool.  Along the way we found some amazing food! Then we reached the furthest point on the island you could go and we hopped out and went for a long walk up the beach. We even saw whales along the way back to the car! We then drove around to the opposite side of the island so we could watch the most gorgeous sunset over the ocean! Breathtaking. 

Monday: 

We ran to the point and didn’t get a sunrise, but instead we were able to watch a storm form and roll in over the island. Then we ran back in the rain; amazing! 

We had breakfast in the hotel 

Enjoyed amazing views as we drove down the island 

We rented a kayak with the intentions of kayaking out to China mans hat and then hiking, however, we rented from the wrong place and were too far away. Instead we had an impromptu snorkeling adventure. They had different sandbars and holes marked in the bay so different snorkeling experiences. The place we decided to try first was definitely not the right spot for my very first time! The water was very shallow over the Coral and the dropped into a hole that, for my first time, was overwhelming. I breathed wrong and fogged up my mask and panicked more. While pulling my head out of the water to fix my mask I didn’t realize that the waves had washed me back to the coral and as I kept bumping into it I was worried about damaging it… and in the end, the coral won. I was torn up all over my legs and arm. I went back to the kayak and decided, nope! I hated snorkeling. I took in the views while travis swam with the fish, and even got to swim with a turtle! The turtles were the best part! We past quite a few during the outing and even had a BIG one surface by our kayak! Oh and the views! Amazing. And our team paddling skills have come a LONG way since our first try 14 years ago! 

We got back in time to run over to the PCC and finish looking around. We met a performer named Kap, and bought some art from his stand and watched him climb a coconut tree at 53yrs old; impressive. 

We ended the night with dinner in our room and watching movies. 

Tuesday:

 We started with a beautiful walk to the sunrise point. Breakfast at the hotel. And then we set out on an 8 mile hike up to Laie Falls. At first we couldn’t believe we didn’t see another soul in this hike, however, it ended up a more technical hike and by the time we reached falls, I wasn’t surprised we had the spot all to ourselves; talk about another heavenly moment! We swam around in the falls and pool… mostly Travis; it was ICE COLD so I swam right back out. And we made friends with a giant crawdad that was starting at us from the water. And there was a spot on the bike where you’re so high up you can see over the mountain tops and just see ocean off in the distance. There were pines mingled in with palm trees and I just couldn’t get past the smell in the air. 

After the hike we stopped at a local food truck area and grabbed lunch from a Hawaiian just using his actual grill to make lunch; it smelled amazing, and it was. I didn’t care fir iced coconut milk. 

We walked over to BYU CAMPUS and had a professor offer to walk us to the campus store and along the way he told us about how the goal is to take line up your classes from 8-11am so you mornings and afternoons to surf. We just couldn’t stop picturing the life these kids were leading; perhaps a little jealous that kid college experience wasn’t so warm and relaxing!

We ended the night trying out Angels Ice and getting a shaved ice just the way my best friend, Mackenzie recommended it. We tried eating it on the beach, but it was too cold, so we walked back to the hotel in time to catch some live music in the lobby. 

 

Hawaii, Part 1: Thurs-Sat.

Thursday: I was still super nervous about leaving while Maddix was so sick. However, we was on the mend and my Mother-in-law kept assuring me there wasn’t anything she, and the list of neighbors/ward members/friend who’d left their numbers couldn’t handle. 

We left much later than hoped and spent the evening getting pampered and eating at Olive Garden for a late dinner. We spent the night at the Hyatt, and parked our truck there for the entirety of our trip. It was so nice to just unwind from all the preparations, cleaning, and illnesses we’d been burning ourselves out tackling for the past month!

Friday: 

We had an early flight from MSP to LAX. While waiting we ate a delicious breakfast in our terminal (it was -30f outside). Along the way they updated us that our connecting flight was significantly delayed, so we decided to grab an Uber and head to lunch at Ruby’s (it was mid 50’s outside)! Unfortunately just as we ordered our food, we were updated again that our flight was moved back up… so we rushed back to the airport and had to throw away most our food. Oh and then just after our Lyft dropped us off, Delta updated that they had changed our terminal… so we ran back to the place we’d just past! Oh and then there was one more surprise line to get our Hawaii-Covid wristband; we made the cutoff by 7ppl and then they ended the line. Everyone else had to wait in a multi hour line once they landed in Honolulu; we did meet some nice people in line though. 

Finally it was time to fly to Hawaii! It was weird knowing that it was getting late, but to know we were gaining time. When we landed, it was sunny and 6:00pm, even thought it felt like bedtime for us. So we rented a jeep and found some dinner at Ziggys (my least favorite food/place of the trip). Then drove in the pitch black to our hotel, wondering just what it looked like around us! Because the smells were heavenly! It was 71 degrees outside! 

We checked into the Marriott Hotel and the staff were all incredibly friendly. We got to know a girl named Na’ha really well because she helped us with our ant infested room. We could switch rooms until morning and just had to deal with it for the night! 

Saturday

I was so grumpy with Travis for waking me up at 6:30am after all the traveling we’d done over the last two days, until he asked if I wanted to go for a sunrise run… umm, yes! We jogged across the street to a beachfront and began watching the sunrise and then Travis had an even better idea. There was a decent hill that crested into a point out over the water and it made the perfect spot to watch the sun rise! While there we read a plaque that describes the history behind the rock formations surrounding us and how legend said they were the pieces of a reptile monsters head that had been shattered. I LOVED this morning.

We ate breakfast on the patio at our hotel. 

We then parked a ways away and enjoyed a beautiful walk down to watch the Pipeline competition. I’ve never sat and watched people surf, but after hours of enjoying the surfing/crowd watching I still wasn’t ready to go. We stopped at a place called Kahuku Farms on our way back and it instantly became my favorite spot on our entire trip! There was something very special/zen about it and the food was the most heavenly food I’ve ever tasted! Not to mention that eating farm grown vegetables in a garden is just an incredible experience. 

Back at the hotel our new room was ready and we enjoyed the ocean view while getting ready to go to the Polynesian Cultural Center. 

The market outside the PCC had a fun energy and some extremely good salesmen! We ended up purchasing several turtle necklaces made from silver and “the wisdom of the sea” stone… Aasnndd I don’t regret it. The PCC was so fun to tour around and learn about the different traditions of the Polynesian islands, but the buffet and HA; Breath of Life show were amazing! Those fire dancers! Wow.