Last weekend of adventure

I don't know what is going on, but I cannot seem to post any photos. Sorry,
I am feeling this blog business sucks. oh well, that is the way it goes. Just e-mail me if you want to see photos of beach and Diamond Head view. I am so dissapointed ....sorry

Saturday we went to Bellows Beach. I thought it was a great place. The sand was so fine and the beach was so wide and just plain beautiful. I am sure a great example of a lovely beach here in Hawaii. You could park your car like right at the edge of the beach area.....many tents.


Today is Sunday (vacation is just about over)....
We got up and went to Diamond Head
I made it to the top of Diamond Head!!!! I did it!!!!
Can you tell that I am excited!!!????
this is partially up the path looking to the inside of the crater (see parking)

the huffing and puffing was worth it!!!


My motto for this trip: No, I did NOT just take a shower, I just hiked up Diamond Head!



We left the house around 7:20....got there??? ummmm 7:50 ish???
Well, when we were finished with being on top....it was time to head on down. I must say there was alot of foot traffic! very busy for people going up.....Lots of huffing and puffing. I did not feel so bad for ME and my huffing and puffing going up. My knees were fine! I was kind of surprised. I guess my dd's stairs to her 3rd floor apt. are deeper than I think.
Well, the funniest thing....as we were ALL done and right next to the restroom...there were tons!!! I mean TONS!!!! of tourists heading on up!
there were FOUR!!! bus loads .....even if HALF the crowd made it to the top together , the top would not fit them all! I am so glad we got there when we did.

Afterwards, it was abou 9:12 when we were in car and heading out of area.
We were hungry! But we made a pit stop at Kapiolani Park right next to zoo. There were several vendors ....we roamed some. I did not have much cash at all, but did buy a few cards with such colorful prints on them for only a buck each!!!!

Then, we headed to Waikiki and found parking for $4 only and walked over to Perry's Smorgy Restaraunt on Kuhio very close to the Hyatt.
I feel this restaraunt has done a terrific job! to create a lovely atmosphere with a tropical setting amongst the tall jungle of hotels and condos!


That was my adventure for today. Went to NEX for some last minute boxes of macadamia chocolates.....dd had to take a long nap .....they are now
going to spend time at a local carnival set up at Hickham AFB for the community. I will relax, and watch Desperate Housewives!!!

My visit is coming to a close....not sure what we will do tomorrow.
I will need to get to airport around noon on Tuesday... sad to go, but I have spent quite a bit of time here and I guess it is time to head back to my boring town and work. (town is boring, work is not -I actually enjoy my work, crazy as that sounds)

Friday Night - Dinner and a movie

Friday night we went to a place called Dave and Busters. This is a combination restaraunt and games (like Circus Circus or Chuck E Cheese).
I don't normally like those type of games...I get bored and ansy. But for some reason, Fri. night was fun! We ate downstairs, which is much more quieter than eating within the gaming area (way too loud). We had a nice dinner. I had the:

Bar Burgers
Four mini-cheeseburgers served on Hawaiian rolls with our secret sauces, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles on the side. Served with French fries.
It was great!. Hawaiian sweet rolls are delicious! Then Audrey is getting ready to turn 21, so she convinced KC (or rather I, since KC dissapeard quickly to look at the game area) to order a "Scooby snack". Something with banana .....
she did not like it. hahahha I had a taste and it was good! I ended up ordering a Chocolate Martini. Yummmmmm It was delicious.

It was time to head upstairs to the games. I kind of roamed some with Martini in hand (there is a bar downstairs and then another bar upstairs right in the middle of the games....definitely not your Circus Circus or Chuck E Cheese). KC loves this place. Audrey has fun here too. I ended up buying a game card. Pretty much you swipe and play. At one point Audrey and I sat together at this horse race place. We created a horse, trained it and fed it and it was ready for a race....we lost. Played it for another race and lost. oh well, it was a relaxing sit down moment. Then, we noticed this lady (rather KC noticed) standing next to a particular game...and the tickets were coming out and no sign of stopping! Must have been a glitch in the mechanisims... She stood there like forever. Finally it stopped. She collected (later, she told us) 14,000 tickets. HA. Then it was KC's turn. He told the "repair guy" something was wrong, no tickets, he placed a new batch of tickets ready for play, and now it was our turn to have the tickets spit out without stopping. What fun! What a challenge! HA. They did not count how many tickets they collected, but it is a handful

http://images.snapfish.com/34634%3B938%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3243%3E498%3E984%3EWSNRCG%3D323353%3A7%3A287%3Anu0mrj

I cannot seem to add any images right now so I hope the above will let you view the photo.

Today (Saturday, will be beach day ==not long, but fun in the sun)

FRIDAY - WIAMEA FALLS

We drove to Wiamea Falls. It is just the prettiest place. So lush.....and tropical....

More photos

We (cannot remember what day) drove to the Aloha Tower Marketplace.....This tower was built in 1926. In it's heyday, it was the tallest structure in all of Hawaii. But, of course, it is dwarfed by downtown Hawaii offices and condos. It welcomed boatloads of tourists arriving in Honolulu Harbor.








Thursday, we dove to Waikiki for a short roam and lunch.



Blech, here I am

few more photos

I get frustrated with posting here at this blog.....sorry......

After seeing Dog the Bounty's place of work, we were just down the road from Punchbowl National Cemetary.

It lies in the Middle of the Puowaina (consecrated hill) crater - or hill of sacrifice. An Extinct crater. It was offically dedicated on 9/2/49 on the 4th anniversary of V-J day. 112.5 acres





AFter Punchbowl, we kept driving up the road, and saw this view...



Sample view of the drive....

Update (photos mostly)

Today is Friday.....

Saw this ship in port. It is a 15 day cruise....starting in Los Angeles and then it stops at several of the Hawaiian Islands.

Then we had to check out where Dog The Bounty has his business. We were not the only ones checking this place out while we were there....





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Just more photos of North Shore and Windward Side

Just wanted to add some more photos....had some problem with posting....

See KC???









We make it to the Turtle Bay Resort

Here is a resident of the Resort

North Shore and Windward Oahu drive

Sunday:

Went around North Shore and Windward side.
Just beautiful. I think pictures say it all.
Audrey is only 20 miles from Dole Plantation area...
Total drive was about 100 miles (give or take a few miles) and about 6 hours travel time
which included few stops, of course, and lunch at a local bar/food place on windward side













Several recommendations to come here for shave ice.

Update....date: 2/12/06 Sunday morning

Okay, let's see....Thursday, 8th: I WAS going to tour island via THE BUS.
I chose not to and actually, it was a good thing. DSIL needed to visit Dr. (at Tripler Hospital). DD took DSIL around 10ish for a shot (shin situation).
He returned to work and would need to return to Hosp. later in afternoon.
So DD and I went to lunch! at Zippy's and then I tagged along for couple of her errands. Then it was time (2pm) for her to take DSIL back to hospital for them to take some photos. I tagged along. Got to go inside Tripler Hospital. So , I am glad I chose to stay behind, since I got to spend some time with dd.(no photos)

FRIDAY. This was a fun day. Lots of adventure for me. Tonight was going to be the Luau! (Germaine's).

But I cannot hang around an apt. ALL day .....dd was going to sleep in....so I knew this was definitely a lazy day for her .....so I walked to the bus stop (mile away)....and boarded #32 and then transfered to #2 to Waikiki. Walked in the Kuhio beach area.

Three boys just having fun.

I love this shot.

Here are those boys again.

Facing Diamond Head


Well, It was a short visit to Waikiki, but I enjoyed myself. Well, I returned home and then it was pretty much time to get ready to leave for Luau! (we left the homefront around 4:10, and arrived around 5pm)

The lady that Audrey befriended at her work (maybe it should be the lady befriended Audrey!)....and she must be a owner or part owner or whatever with Germaine's since it was free for us!
How wonderful was that. When we arrived, dd said her name is on a list, the lady said "oh, how nice, you know the boss to have it comped(sp?)"
We were very much appreicated.
It was pretty much easy to get there from Pearl Harbor. There were about 10 bus loads! , plus many private vehicles. Yes, it is next to an industrial park, but once you are inside, you see the ocean and it gets dark and thus, you are alllll alone on a special island in your mind. We enjoyed it very much.
Here are some photos.







Hunky hunks getting the pig out.....



Entertaining music....

Yum.....

gals learning the hula...





Saturday:

Today was fun and different for me! Unfortunately, I did not bring my camera (what a doltz..) Though i did meet a lady sitting next to me with husband and she said she would send me photos of event and even some of the pro bowl the would be attending on Sunday. I hope they don't lose my address i have them (e-mail) and if they even remember. LOL

Sunday is the Pro Bowl here at the Aloha Stadium just down the road from dd. I read that today would be Ohana Day -FREE and the Backstreet Boys would be there!. Well, "FREE" sure did sound good to me. I mentioned it to dd and what did she say? "it's over at noon?, yeah, I could come back and take a nap".... She never mentioned that she was interested when we went to bed Friday night, so I decided to head down their by myself and let them sleep in.....So I am up around 5:30....
I shower and dress....Now I am thinking, wait, this is a concert with the Backstreet boys! OMG, I am going to be the only 49yr old fart with a bunch of screaming neamies! I was saying to myself, 'what are you thinking'?
Well, I decided to go anyway. I make my way to the bus stop, but missed the bus by just a few minutes (that is what I get for hesitating).
So I decide it cannot be THAT far, and I walk. Well, it was not far at all!
My stroll took 20 minutes. I did NOT power walk. I got in line at 7:25.
Stood in Line for 1 hr.

Once inside, finally; we got our seats (just one side). It was WARM/HOT and sunny. Lots of music and fun! It was televised on ESPN. It was not a concert! It was sort of a practice (but it's not like they practiced HARD, they seemed to be out there for show sort of). the National League cheerleaders did their thing, and then they introduced the Nationa League Team and they stretched and practiced. LOTS of football fans with memorbilia that they hoped would get autographs, but no signing today. Then there were fun and games during commercials, and lots of interviews.
Just fun to be there and watch.

The American league team and cheerleaders did their thing.....

Backstreet Boys were there and did a simple and short acapella song....nothing much ....and then it ended with the Navy Seal Paratoopers!
they flew in and landed right there on the field. All 8 of them. That was the coolest thing ever! I have never ever seen such a thing!

Later, dd and I went to furniture store (she was bored) and she was looking for a chair and I took photos of the cool hawaiian pillows, and pictures. So pretty.











Today (Sunday) I am hoping to get dd out of the house before 2pm (actually KC is hard to get out since he can spend ALLLLLLL flippen day playing his PC games (World of Warcraft?).... and tour around the island and roam North shore! and find that Shaved Ice place!

That's it....I hope to have great photos tomorrw....