A Great Vacation

Well, we are back. Eight days and seven nights in Waikiki. We had a great time. It started wonderfully by the fact that we had a non-stop flight from Newark. You have to love modern technology. Maybe this is not so modern, but the fact that you can go almost 5,000 miles in the air without stopping is amazing, convenient, and very much appreciated. Thank you Continental Airlines.

When we arrived we got a proper Hawaiian greeting with a lei and a hug (for Erin). I went for a hug, but apparently it is not tradition for the male to get a one. Thankfully, the greeter turned just as I went for my welcome hug and my gaffe went unnoticed, but not by Erin who proceeded to laugh about it intermittently during the week.



We stayed at a great hotel right on the beach (above) and our room had a beach view. Every morning we would wake up (early) and see that the surfers had beat us to rise. They must be out there just as the sun peeks out. Every morning there were at least 20 of them in action when we woke.

We spent our days lounging at the beach, snorkeling, and one day we drove then entire island. We started in Waikiki, and headed to the farthest western point of Oahu. When we got there, to our surprise, we found out that the roads do not connect and we would have to backtrack 25 miles to head up to the north shore. This was inconvenient, but I am glad we went out there. It was very quiet and lightly populated unlike most of Oahu. I was also surprised by the homeless villages that are out there on the west shore. There are entire towns of homeless folks that live in tents, lean to's, and cars in makeshift communities along the shoreline. There were literally hundreds of the shacks. You can kind of see one in the picture below.



After we backtracked, we headed to the north shore that is famous for its large waves and surfing. It was rainy up there, so we did not hit the beaches, but it was cool to see all of the surfer types hanging out.

Erin and I fell in love with the snorkeling while we were there and spent two days out at Hanauma Bay. It is not only great snorkeling out there, but a little less crowded than Waikiki, and definitely more quiet. We took some photos there with an underwater camera that I look forward to seeing. They were shot on film (I know, what?) so they require a trip to Walmart to create the digital files.

All right, that is all for now. There was a lot of stuff in between, but the pictures do more justice than my words. TONS more photos on Flickr.