Hawaii - I Never Finished

I realized I never finished blogging about my trip to Hawaii. So I'm throwing in all the days in Maui into this post.

We had to cancel our helicopter tour because of weather but that's ok. I just spent more time relaxing listening to crashing waves. I highly recommend that!

Sunsets were gorgeous from our lanai

We drove halfway up to the volcano and this was our view down

We heard people talking and couldn't figure out where they were. Look up!

More sunsets (couldn't get enough of these)

We drove the Road to Hana. Its an all-day trip with hundreds of hairpin turns. At the end the road is a National Park that is gorgeous. We didn't get to spend a lot of time there because we had to drive back the whole way. Got home in the dark but it was worth it.

I definitely recommend Maui as a spot to visit (over Honolulu). I would stay at the same place we did before also.

Hawaii - Part 4

Boy my blogging about Hawaii is taking longer than the actual trip.

We left for Maui and it was quite an adventure. We took Island Air because their flights were cheapest. It was a propeller plane! And they were very serious about the weight of both your checked bag and carryon roller bag. After much moving of stuff we finally got the two bags right (we had to check both of them). Then getting a car turned out to be a production. We upgraded when we got there and had to have a car switched out. Just when I thought we were set, the helicopter place called and our flight was cancelled due to weather. We rescheduled for a couple of days later.

Driving to our condo was easy (it's an island after all). We were able to check in a little bit early and then get a late lunch. I was starving at that point so happy to find a little sandwich shop right at the condo. That place was so friendly. You could tell the locals liked to go to the bar there. A big group was watching Thursday night football which starts at 3 in Hawaii! Our condo was so nice. The view from the lanai was out of this world.

After unloading our luggage we decided to go grocery shopping. Boy are things more expensive there. But definitely cheaper than eating out all our meals. We got our first load in the elevator and that's when things went bad. We got stuck in the elevator! Like really stuck. We had to use the call button and then the power went out and we had no lights. No cell phone coverage. We were on the first floor so we didn't worry about the elevator dropping but it was hot. Like dripping water off of us. After 20 minutes someone came and started to try and open the doors but he didn't know how to do it. The maintenance guy was going to be another 45 minutes away. We were way to hot for this so I told them to call 911 and get the fire department to come. That took another 15 minutes. They were able to get the door open a bit and at least get some air circulating. They could squeeze a couple of water bottles through the door also. After 45 minutes stuck in the elevator, they were talked through how to cut the power to the door and it opened. Phew. Unfortunately we had missed sunset. They fire department was nice enough to help us carry up our groceries four flights. They checked Dan out because he was sweating so much but he was fine. By this time we were ready for a break so we just hung out in the condo the rest of the night.

More adventures to come!

Hawaii - Part 3

I'm going to do it. I promise I will finish blogging all about my Hawaii trip by the end of next week.

Today I'll finish up my trip to Honolulu.

After we went to Pearl Harbor it was time for two days of meetings. We were picked up at our hotel and taken to the University of Hawaii's campus. We met at a lovely building called the East-West Center. Behind the meeting room was a large grassy area with a koi pond. We took a group photo out there.

Aren't we a great looking group?

On our second day we toured the NOAA facility on Ford Island. They took two of the hangars from World War II and built new buildings inside them. So the historic outside is full of beautiful new workspace.

They were so nice to welcome us.

Big mural inside the new atrium

One of the NOAA ships

We were limited in our photos outside of the building because it is an active navy base. They train Navy Seals there and also repair the submarines and we were told not to take any pictures in those directions.

I finally made it to the beach our last day in Honolulu. A quick walk down Waikiki Beach and I realized I didn't miss anything.

It was then time to pack up and get ready for Maui and the real vacation.

Friday Fragments

Mrs. 4444 is recovering nicely from rotator cuff surgery. If you know anyone who is about to do it, she had a great post on what to expect. I highly recommend it.

Friday Friday Friday! I'm so happy it's Friday!

I'm leaving town Sunday for a few days in San Diego for the Society of Research Administrators annual meeting. I know you are all wishing you could go listen to talks on cost-sharing, patents, intellectual property, F&A rates, clinical trials and so much more. I actually do enjoy listening to some of this stuff and glean a few nuggets of information to help me in my job. Plus it is at the Hotel del Coronado which is gorgeous. I'll probably get lost in it.

Just look at this place

Stupid criminal this week was a guy who tried to shoplift a bottle of wine from a store. He was a little drunk and while running out of the store he ran into a display and knocked himself out. Since he didn't get out of the store he couldn't be charged with shoplifting. No word on how many other charges he did receive.

Whitney comes home for fall break tomorrow. We are going for sushi (so happy she likes this now) and some shopping. I've got to spend my Kohl's cash before I leave town. In the three and half days she is home she has to get her oil changed, go to the doctor, get a haircut, study for a test, do a bunch of work and relax. She also wants to bake pumpkin bread.

I made homemade marinana sauce last weekend and we finally had it last night. I'm not sure why we don't do this more often. It is so much better than a jar. We got a couple of sausages and put it all on a bit of pasta. Yummy.

While we were at our meeting in Honolulu, the group provided us with lunch. A traditional bento box lunch. It was one of the most beautiful things I've seen.

And I leave you with my attempt at a panoramic shot from my phone in Hawaii. We were at the edge of the ocean and I just had to try it.

Hawaii - Part One

We arrived in Honolulu late afternoon so we didn't have time to do much. After checking into our hotel (Hawaii Prince Waikiki) and having to get our room changed, it was time for sunset. We were on the 15th floor and the great thing about the room was you could slide the windows open for an unobstructed view. Great picture taking!

Our first sunset in Hawaii

A quick trip across the street to McDonald's and the ABC store for water and it was bed time. A five hour time difference does that to you plus we wanted to get up early the next day. 

On Sunday we rented a car for the day to drive around Oahu. Our first stop was DiamondHead. It was crazy hot that day and they warn you to bring water. Many did not head the directions.

The view from up top toward Waikiki

When we made it back down there were several fire trucks and a helicopter landing and taking off. Rumor was that someone couldn't make it down from dehydration or fell off the path. I'm not sure what happened but it was exciting.

We drove around the east shore of Oahu before heading back to town. We ended our day walking around the 'Iolani Palace. It was closed on Sunday but it was nice to be someplace that there were not a lot of people. Honolulu and especially Waikiki Beach is crazy crowded.

The crazy banyan tree

Another early night after dropping the car off. Still trying to catch up on the sleep and on Monday we were going to go to Pearl Harbor. Which is where I will leave you.

H - Hawaii

As I mentioned before, one of my goals is to go to all 50 states. Hawaii is definitely on the major to-do list. And in September of this year, my dream will be realized. I am going to a work meeting (I know rough) there and will spend some extra time on vacation.

The meeting is in Honolulu so we will go see the Pearl Harbor Memorial.

Photo from History Channel

And I definitely need to eat a luau.

Photo from oahuluaus.com

I want to see the volcano national park.

Photo from nationalparkgallerys.com

And black sand beaches

Photo from Hawaii Magazine

Anyone want to give me more ideas? I'm not sure how long we'll be there but I think it may be my only time to go so want to cram as much as I can into one trip.