*Disclaimer: The date on the pictures say that these were taken sometime in 1994. WRONG! This trip was in the summer of 2003, so just ignore the nasty little orange date in the corner of the pictures.*
We flew from Birmingham to San Diego so that we could take a few days to enjoy California before traveling on to Hawaii. California was much more comfortable/enjoyable this time around since we were staying in a hotel instead of our camper from our previous road trip. My dad's cousin, her husband, and their two daughters lived in a suburb of San Diego and we had so much fun visiting with them and sightseeing around San Diego and La Jolla. Honestly, they could have dropped me back off in La Jolla on the way home from Hawaii and left me forever! Breathtaking!!
After a few days in San Diego, we boarded our Hawaiian Airlines plane - destination Oahu! We figured that since we were staying on the famous Waikiki Beach there might be a COUPLE of tourists crowding us while we soaked up our time in relaxing, deserted, dreamy Hawaii. Ha! Right. Tourists were EVERYWHERE! So much for our hopes of not seeing anything but greenery, the beautiful sandy beaches, the cascading waterfalls, the plummeting, mountainous coast lines, each other, and the occasional native or tourist if we just happened to stumble across someone else. What can I say, we dream big!
Oahu was definitely, ummm cozy, but what was even more crowded than the sidewalks, was the water. I would have had a panic attack out of fear that someone was going to surf right on top of my head.
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| Surfers everywhere!! |
There was so much to do and when you travel with my mom, you WILL do it ALL! After our trips I am thankful that she is a crazy tourist, but in the midst of the craziness, I wish she had an off button. Gotta love her.
We took a day to visit Pearl Harbor and learn about the events of that horrific morning of Dec. 7, 1941. What a solemn and blessed experience to be able to stand directly on the site of the sunken USS Arizona, in remembrance of the thousands of innocent lives that were taken so suddenly in that attack.
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| USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. |
On a lighter note, the attack (heart attack that is) that almost took my innocent little life, was our hike up the famous volcanic crater, Diamond Head. Many stops were made on that trek and I wasn't sure the view was going to be worth it. IT WAS!!
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| View from the top of Diamond Head. Totally worth the near heart attack! |
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| View from inside Diamond Head. |
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| The Road to Hana. |
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| Watching the sunrise from the top of an inactive volcano before our bike ride back down to the bottom. |
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| Enjoying the breathtaking views on a Blue Hawaiian Helicopter Tour. They are the same company that did all of the ariel view filming for Jurassic Park! |
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| The pit at the Old Lahaina Luau. Old Lahaina Luau is the recipient of several "Best Of" awards. |
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| My mom and I at the Old Lahaina Luau |
Now the BEST part!! After we spent several days in Maui, it was time for my dream graduation trip to come to an end. No, that's not the best part... wait for it! We had checked out of our condo and we were on our way to the airport to return the rental car and board the plane headed back home. Now THIS is the best part... somewhere on the midst of all the complaining about going back to the real world, the comments about how much fun we had, and then silence because we were all staring out the window sulking in self-pity... the car turned into a resort, a room was reserved, our flight was rescheduled, and we were unloading the car running to our new home away from home! That's right - WE STAYED!! I don't remember much from those last few, additional days... I think I just laid out in the sun and pinched myself a million times to make sure it wasn't a dream!
Next Destination: SPAIN!
The destinations only get better from here so get ready to take "A Life Hiatus" with me!
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