Last Week

Yes, I know my sabbatical is coming to an end......I'm so depressed. It seems like only yesterday I was planning all my trips! I have decided to use my last week as a relax week and I'm just going to chill out at home and get ready to get back to work.

I would like to give my sister STEPHANIE a BIG shout out for making it possible for me to have such and AMAZING sabbatical!!! I have gotten to do more things then I ever imagined and I had so much fun doing it!! I would also like to thank all my blog stalkers for enjoying my sabbatical right along with me. It was fun!

I do have a few more things coming up so feel free to keep checking my blog from time to time and see what is going on with me!

More to come!
xoxo

Look Whose Coming To Hawaii

As I stated in my last blog I had to stay in Hawaii for an extra day due to the flight being oversold. I had no idea what to do that day so I figured I would just hang out at the hotel for a bit and then later head over to the beach. I do have to say after staying in a hostel for the last few days it was nice to be in a hotel room by MYSELF and not have to worry or deal with other people.


After having a nice lunch at a little restaurant by the hotel I decided to head over to the beach to relax and have a drink. It was so nice to just sit there and just soak in the peacefulness of it all.

As I looked over my shoulder I noticed these two people calling my name searching for me. Look who it was!!!! Stephanie and Cameron!!!

I'm just kidding!! They flew out to Hawaii just for the DAY to hang out with me!!! How awesome is that to make Hawaii a day trip!! Since this was also their first time to Hawaii and we didn't have much time left we decided to just hangout at the beach the rest of the day.


Cameron here was determined to find some sea shells but as I told him before there really aren't any shells on this beach. All I found were a bunch of little rocks! Doesn't he look so cute there in his little bathing suit!! : )

I had to capture the moment of us three in Hawaii. Here we are at the Waikiki beach. It was GREAT having some family there with me!!!

I had to capture this moment as it took us about 45 minutes to convince Cameron to go that deep into the water. He only wanted to let it hit his feet get wet but once he was in he was hooked!! He was out there wave jumping and having a wonderful time!!

Hang loose Steph and Cameron!!!

After the beach I took Steph and Cameron to the nightly hula show on the beach at Waikiki. Cameron saw this guy blowing in this sea shell and he said "I want to learn how to do that!" It was so cute. You will all be notified of when Cameron will be doing his sea shell blowing concert! : )

Here is Cameron taking in the hula show and the girls shaking them hips!!!

After the hula show we were hungry so it was off to Senor Frogs for dinner. This place is crazy! It was like eating dinner at a club!! There was loud music, dancing, and drinks! A great time!! Here we are with our balloon hats!! Jealous aren't you!! : )

After dinner we did a little more shopping and then it was off to the airport to fly home. It was a great day! Thanks again to my wonderful sister Stephanie and Cameron for flying out just for the day to enjoy Hawaii with me! We had a blast and we will have to do it again really soon....but you guys need to stay longer then 8 hours! : )

More to come!

xoxo

The otherside of the island

Today me and my new friends Karen and Jana decided to drive over to the North Shore to check out the waves and the other side of the island. The drive to the North Shore is absolutely beautiful!! It's funny how you drive about 20 minutes and you feel like you are in a completely different place. It was so green everywhere with just little houses here and there. The beaches were so close to the road it was hard to keep my eyes on the road!
I pulled over to take this picture. Safety first!!!
More amazing beaches. I think I want to live in one of those houses right there on the beach!

Not sure what this little island is but it reminded me of the island at the end of Goonies when the pirate ship gets loose!! GOONIES NEVER DIE!!! : )

This is what it looks like once you go under the mountain. It feels like a totally different island.

We got to the North Shore in about 45 minutes and it was crazy busy. See the winds had just picked up that day so the waves were a lot bigger then they had been earlier that week and every surfer was trying to get out there. We found a place to pull over and we just watched these guys surf. It was pretty cool to see the area they call the "pipeline."

This is part of the North Shore Pipeline. The waves were pretty big (not in this photo) but when we asked a surfer he said they were lame. I guess they aren't big enough to get killed. Those crazy surfers!

Oh, yeah and guess what else I saw while I was there??? That is right a shark sighting sign. There were two sharks spotted in that area so they had posted signs to warn the surfers. See my phobia is justified! : )

After a fun-filled day of sightseeing it was off to dinner. Now, I was suppose to go home tonight on the midnight flight but it was oversold. Having checked out of the hostel already my new friends offered to let me stay with them at their hotel. They were checking out the next day but said I could stay until checkout time. Since my options were limited I took them up on the offer and I stayed the night at their place. It was nice to sleep someplace with A/C!!!

This meant I had another day in Hawaii. I mean if you are going to get stuck someplace I couldn't have picked a better place. Now I just had to think of something to do tomorrow.

More to come

xoxo

Time to Hula

After Pearl Harbor I was ready to hit the beach and just relax. I dropped off my stuff at the hostel and walked over to the beach. It was so nice just to sit there and chill out!
Here is Waikiki Beach. Beautiful huh??
The water was so clam people would go out and just float on pool rafts! It looked really relaxing....assuming a shark doesn't come up and bite you!!!

It was a nice and cool....for a little while and then sun was no longer behind any clouds and it was just hot! Now, when I say hot I don't mean Arizona hot. I just mean hot enough that I would need to go in the water to cool down and for those of you that know me and my shark phobia that was not going to happen. I did splash some water on me and laid out a bit longer and then called it day. This is the deepest I went. I know. I'm a baby but I just can't do it.

OK, so I get out of the sun and I'm sitting under this patio with tables and benches and I look over at this lady. Now don't tell me that you all are not thinking/singing the famous "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag." I was laughing so hard when I saw this lady. I mean she had them on her back and arms and everything. It was creepy that she let them do it but the picture is pretty fun. That was my Mary Poppins moment on the trip!

My Mom had talked me into going to this luau show in a place called Paradise Cove so I was off to the hostel to get ready. Once I was ready I had to walk over to the Sheraton Hotel to get picked up. When I got there I noticed these two women waiting around as well. I asked if they were going to Paradise Cove and they were so we started talking.
Now, here is the strange part.....we kind of hit it off. Just like that. I know it's weird. I think it was more of a Mother/Daughter thing as they are older then me but they were just so nice that I ended up sitting with them and hanging out with them all night. Oh, yeah and before you get your mind going these women were cousins on a trip together not a couple!!

This me with Jana (the one next to me) and Karen (on the outside) at Paradise Cove.

With my new friends in tow it was off to the luau for some fun. We got there in time to see this amazing sunset and to have a few drinks before the show/dinner started.

Nice huh??

It was really beautiful. Here I am at Paradise Cove and since I made friends I didn't need to do the self-taken photo!! : )

Here are some photos from the luau performance. It was about an hour long and they did fire and knife dancing too. It was really cool.

Nice outfits huh?? I bought one as a souvenir for the next Hawaiian themed party!

The dinner was pretty good. We had some roasted pig and a few other Hawaiian foods and some awesome desserts with my favorite....COCONUT!!

The show was awesome and lots of fun! It remind me of my Mom and Dad's 50th B-day party but just a bit bigger! : )

After the show my new friends (Karen and Jana) decided to make plans to hangout the next day together. I was excited. I mean traveling alone is fun but it's also fun to met people to hang out with. I mean how often do you get to hangout with strangers on an island??? Let the adventure begin!!

More to come!

xoxo

A Morning of History

I was up at 5:30am to get showered and ready to start my first official day in Hawaii. The first order of business was to visit Pearl Harbor. They recommend you do it first thing in the morning because it gets more crowded as the day goes on. With that in mind my plan was to be there around 7am. I was out the door by 6:30am and on the road. I figured out how to get on the freeway but not without stopping at Jack in the Box for a large Diet Coke and a Breakfast Jack sandwich. I know it's not an exotic breakfast but whatever it was close and on the right side of the street for easy access in and out!!!

I arrived to Pearl Harbor a little after 7am. The line was already about half way down the sidewalk so I hurried over and took my place. The visitor center didn't open until 7:30am so I just stood around listening to all the tour guides tell their groups what to expect.
Once inside I was in the first group. We watched a 23 minute movie on the events that lead up to the Pearl Harbor attacks and some actual footage of December 7, 1941. I know I learned about all this in school but to actually be there and hear it all again made it so much more real to me.

Once the movie was over it was off to a boat to take us out to the Memorial. On the way out to the Memorial I was trying to imagine how this place, that was so beautiful and peaceful, was the same place where one of the worst attacks on the U.S Navy occurred. It was very hard to fathom.

Here is the Memorial from the boat as we approach. Now, just a little history on the design of the Memorial. The architect described the reason for the design "wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory."

Here is the wall with the names of all the people that were killed that day on the U.S.S Arizona. There were 38 sets of brothers on the boat and 23 of the died that day.

These cement blocks are placed where each battleship was lined up in the harbor.

Once at the Memorial you can walk on either sides and see what remains of the U.S.S Arizona below. It is very rusted and has coral and other things growing on it now. However, it's still quite clear that it's a huge battleship below that is now also the final resting place of those men who were unable to escape. The ship went down with over 1.5 million gallons of oil on it and this oil today is leaking out slowing at a rate of about 1 quart a day. They call these slow drops of oil that appear on the water the "black tears" of the men who perished that day on the ship
Here you can see the oil shimmering on the top of the water. It was actually pretty cool to see.

This is one of the visible gun turrets. They told us that a few men that survived the attack that day had requested to be buried here with their fellow crew mates when they passed away. There ashes are normally poured into this gun turret.

You may need to click on the picture to enlarge it but you can see the boat below the water.

As a special tribute to the ship and the lost crew, the flag flies from a flagpole, which is attached to the severed mainmast of the sunken battleship. Yeah, I went black and white on this one to make it look a bit more historic......

It's hard to describe what it was like being out there that morning. I felt sadness for those people who lost their lives. I felt honored that I was able to pay my respect to these men for what they gave up for our country. I also felt proud to part of a country that fought back after this attack and won! It's a very humbling experience to be here and I highly recommend it to everyone. I also got to meet a Pearl Harbor survivor that day. He wasn't on the U.S.S Arizona that tragic morning but he was there in the Harbor and it was an honor to have met him. This is me with Alfred Benjamin Rodrigues.

Here is some video I shot on the Memorial. I tried to be as still as I could so you could see the boat below.

It was a wonderful morning and I am very glad I was able to visit this historic site and pay my respects. Now I'm off to have some fun!! : )

More to come!

xoxo

Aloha

I arrived to Hawaii (island of Oahu) late this afternoon. I went to pick up my rental car at Alamo. Once I got all checked in they told me to go outside to get my actual car. I mean I got the cheap economy car so I was expecting a little Hyundai. The lady outside asked if it was just me and I said yes. She then offered me a FREE upgrade to a convertible if I wanted it!!! Ummm.....let me think about that one....YES, I want it!! THANKS ALAMO OF HAWAII!!!
Here I am in my car!!! Let the fun begin!!
It was awesome!! First off I have never driven a convertible (well expect for my friend Denise's car when she was too drunk to drive) and to have one in Hawaii was just perfect! I put the top down and I was off to the hostel. I arrived to the hostel and checked in. They offered free parking which is huge in Hawaii. Now this hostel was not bad at all. I had one roommate who was an older women and she was very friendly. Sorry I didn't take any photos inside my room. I forgot. Here is the outside of the hostel. I was on the third floor....that is like the penthouse suite in the hostel world! NOT!!!

I unpacked and I was off to the beach to watch the sunset. The hostel is LITERALLY around the corner from the beach so for $23 a day it was a steal!!! I mean it's all about location in Hawaii and this place was so close to everything. I highly recommend it!!

The beaches of Waikiki were beautiful!! The water was so pretty and the sunset looked like something you would see in a movie. I just stood there and took it all in.

Here is the sun setting. I was just waiting to see that couple come running down the beach holding hands. Then I would trip them!! : )

Yes, like always the self-taken photo.

The water was so nice that people stay in it even when the sun goes down. Crazy people. I guess they never saw JAWS!

This was the first picture I took when I got to the beach. The water was so blue it reminded me of the beaches I saw on my cruise a few years ago. I loved it!!

After about an hour I walked over to this grassy area and watched a free hula show that is put on every night right there on the beach. It was very cool.
Here is one of the younger girls dancing. I think it's a group from a dance company that comes to perform.

This was the band that played during the show. The guy in the middle would explain each dance as it happened. It was cool.

More hula

Here is some video I shot of the hula show. Sorry if it's bumping I never said I was a cinematographer!

By the time it was over I was starving and tired. I grabbed a bite to eat and I was off to bed. I had a busy day planned for tomorrow and I had to get up early. I needed to be out at Pearl Harbor by 7am and since I had no idea how to get there I had to get up early to give me plenty of time to figure out my sense of direction. I mean it's a island how hard can it be!!

More to come

xoxo

Hawaii Here I Come!

Being true to my word I stayed home and saw Obama become the 44th President of the United States so I'm ready to begin my travels again. I'm off to Honolulu this morning. I will be back in a few days. I was going to try to see the volcano but that is not on the island (sorry Mom) that I will be at so I will have to do that another time. My goal for this trip is to visit Pearl Harbor and then just sit my butt on the beach and do NOTHING!

This may be my last sabbatical trip so I intend on enjoying it and really just trying to relax in a place I hear is like paradise! I'm excited!!! Stay tuned.....

More to come!
xoxo