Sunday, July 20, 2008

U-TURN!

We dropped Ryan and Martha off at the airport last night. It was sad to see them go because the week went by SO fast! We miss them already. Then, we picked up our new rental car...white, soft-top mustang convertible. (Marth - riding in the front seat is a totally different ride.) Today we are just taking it easy. We went on our last snorkeling adventure before returning the gear and now we are just going to chill at the house for the rest of the day.

The road system on O'ahu is confusing, to say the least. I think we have done a good job navigating, but u-turns have been frequent. Even the car rental lady warned us that we would use up our gas just navigating around.

On Friday, we went to the Halona Blowhole. This is a hole in the rocks where water comes gushing out...kind of like a geyser. The observation area was closed for renovation. That doesn't stop us, though. We hiked our way right up to the blowhole so that we could get some pictures. The first picture below is of the blowhole and the second is just a great picture.





We then went on a hike to see the Makapu'u lighthouse and the Dragon's Nostrils (which are more blowholes). The noise that came from these holes really sounded like a dragon breathing - very loud and powerful. We walked up about 400 feet, climbed down rocks for 400 feet, climbed back up the rocks 400 feet, and walked down 400 feet. Phew.









Friday night was our first night in Waikiki to check out the sights and enjoy our last evening together. We ate at Duke's Canoe Club on the beach and checked out the hoity-toity stores. When I saw that a wallet cost $580, I knew we were in the wrong store. Or, the fact that we were being stalked by employees in every area of the store. We did see a poker set for Richard that was a mere $10,000. No, I didn't type too many zeroes. They had a small fireworks display on the beach that night. Martha bought me the beautiful lei I am wearing. It is made of plumeria and smelled so wonderful. So wonderful that I actually attracted a bee to ride on it!





Saturday morning we went to Leonard's for hot malasadas. I forgot to tell everyone that they should get the malasadas. My three companions opted for the apple fritters - bad choice, I guess. The malasada, however, ONO (hawaiian for delicious)!

We decided to do one more hike before Ryan and Martha left. This hike was a 1,600 foot climb in 2 miles. If that sounds painful, it is. We felt like we were in the Rockies for a lot of the hike. The view at the top, however, was well worth it. We were at the very top of the mountain range and walked along the ridge until we climbed 139 very large stairs to get to a peak. We could see for miles, though.







Afterwards we took a drive on H-3. It is an interstate that cuts through the mountain and cost $100 million per mile to build (16 miles total). I bet you are wondering how Hawaii could have an interstate. Well, it turns out if you call it an interstate, you get federal funding. Here we are holding our breath thru the 1-mile tunnel.
Well, I think I need to go for a dip in the pool. Aloha!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

FUN! FUN! FUN! Thank you for sharing the pictures. It is great to see you enjoying yourselves. Looks like those shoes you took got a good workout!

Keep having fun and go safely.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY ON TUESDAY!!!!!

Love- Mom/Joan

Audrey said...

It looks like you guys had a wonderful time! I love the underwater picture of the turtle and the pink flower picture. so lovely

Josh and Erin said...

cool! :) When Josh and I were there, and things were yummy we'd say 'OHN' for 'delish'. :) Nothing like slang hawaii lingo

Abby McNair said...

you look so happy in that hiking pic:)