The Big Trip

It's been a week since we got back, but let me see how much of our trip to paradise I can remember.  Sorry, this is going to be a long post.  Wayne and I went to Hawaii for our 10th anniversary! Technically, our anniversary was back in August, but it wasn't a convenient time to leave the boys for a week.  So, we decided to wait until UEA (a fall break from school in Utah).  My mom was so nice to watch Daniel and Benjamin for us.  And it was so nice to come home to a clean house with no laundry (other than what was in our suitcases).  The boys had a great time, and I think they missed Grandma more when she went home than they missed us while we were gone.

Grandma took them to the school carnival.

Looks like Benjamin had fun, too.

This is how our trip began:  We had to leave early on Wedneday morning, so my mom stayed at our house Tuesday night.  We actually flew from Salt Lake to Denver because we were using United frequent flier miles.  All of Wayne's business trips finally paid off.  He actually doesn't leave town too often, but it adds up (especially with trips to Australia).  Our flights were pretty uneventful, and we arrived in Honolulu on Wednesday afternoon.  We checked into our hotel, The Best Western Coconut Waikiki.  Here's the view from our room:

That's the Ala Wai Canal that runs through Waikiki.

We were pretty far from the beach, but that was ok.  We took TheBus (yep, that's what it's called) to the Ala Moana shopping center, one of the biggest outdoor malls in the world.  We picked up a few souvenirs and ate at Alan Wong's Pineapple Room (it was highly recommended by Fodor's).  The next morning, we ate an early breakfast at our hotel (including waffles with coconut syrup!).  Then we went to Hanauma Bay for some early morning snorkeling.  Morning is always the best time for snorkeling in Hawaii because there are fewer people and the wind and waves haven't kicked up much sand.  Wayne snorkeled for an hour or so, but let's face it, I like to look at the ocean a lot more than I like to be out in it.

Our next destination was Laie, on the north side of Oahu.  We drove there and stopped at the LDS Temple before going to the Polynesian Cultural Center (the PCC).

This is at the temple's visitor center.  The famous weatherman Mark Eubank is serving a mission there with his wife.

Outside the Laie Temple.
It was closed in preparation for the big Open House that is going on now.

If you go to Oahu, I highly recommend going to the PCC.  It's divided into 7 different villages.  First, we saw the Canoe Pageant.  There were dancers from each of the villages on different canoes.

Then we went to half of the villages for cultural demonstrations.  There really isn't a way to see all of them in one day, but a pass is good for three days, so we came back for a couple of hours the next day to see the others.  If you only have one day, don't miss Samoa and Tonga.  In the Samoa village, they climb palm trees, husk coconuts, and make fire from sticks.  The Tonga show is drumming.

Wayne learned to make fire with sticks (wild hibiscus branches).  I have hibiscus growing in my backyard.  Do you think I could try it at home?

In the evening, there was a luau and a night show that we went to.  The luau was a buffet with all of the delicious food you would expect.  Even the poi was pretty good.  And the night show is fabulous, complete with fireknife dancers.

We stayed at Keiki Bungalows for two nights.  The location was fantastic (right on the beach).  But there was some seriously loud and annoying construction work on the street out front.  And I think the people on the floor above us never slept because they were never quiet.  The beach was beautiful, if somewhat treacherous.  I only saw Wayne and one local swimming here.  Oh, there were a few other people who tried to, but they were all back on the beach in less than 15 minutes.  There's a reason the North Shore is famous for its waves.

In fact, just a few minutes down the road was the famous Bonzai Pipeline, where we stopped to watch the surfers and the sunset.

So, that's the gist of what Oahu was all about.  The best parts were beautiful beaches, fabulous food, and the PCC.  On Saturday morning, we took an early flight from Honolulu to Hilo for part 2 of our adventure.