Running Around in Hawaii

With the gloomy weather we've been having lately, I wanted to look one last time at my warm vacation in Hawaii.  Hawaii is just the most beautiful, relaxing place that I can think of...

 Morning on the beach

 My Baby Girl and I decided months ago that when we made it to Hawaii we would SURF!  Now, talking about surfing and actually going into a shark filled ocean are 2 very different things!!  But, my Baby Girl thinks I walk on the "wild side", so I couldn't back out!  We surfed with a company called North Shore Surf Girls.  The gal that owns the business drives an old 4 door diesel Mercedes with surf boards strapped to the top - so Hawaiian!!   I managed to stand up about 5 times and Baby Girl surfed longer than I did.   It gave me a new respect for surfers.  It seems so easy - just paddle out, find a wave, stand up and repeat!  No - it's not quite that simple.  Every muscle in my body ached after 2 hours of surfing, but - we had lots of fun!

The day after we surfed, we climbed Diamond Head - what a fabulous view!  Did I mention how every muscle ached after surfing?  Well, I found brand new aches after hiking up Diamond Head, 

but the view was absolutely worth it!

We visited Pearl Harbor during our stay.  It's amazing what quiet and reverence is shown when everyone is gathered on the Memorial platform.  

So much to consider as you look down at the remains of the USS Arizona.

Our friend Bunny goes on vacation with us, actually, he goes everywhere with us!  Aren't you glad to know he had a good time too?

Well, now I'm back to reality, but my Hawaiian memories will last forever, 

especially through the rain predicted for this week!  

Aloha!

Running (slowly) With Turtles

In January my family and I went to Hawaii.  It was our first big trip for the family - first plane ride for Baby Boy and Baby Girl.  We rented a house right on the beach and began the most relaxing week of our lives!!

The most magical time during this week was our early morning searches for sea turtles.  It turned out that we didn't have to search far.  We had sea turtles visit us on the beach every day.

We were able to walk very close to these turtles and this one didn't mind us taking his picture.  Look at that face...I truly wouldn't mind being a turtle if it meant I could live on the beaches of Hawaii!

Now a few "Cliff Claven" tidbits of knowledge:  did you know that sea turtles can stay underwater for more than 5 hours?  Sea turtles can live to be over 80 years old?  The longest migration for a sea turtle was believed to be aver 12,000 miles?

Another beautiful place we visited was the Manoa Falls (really more of a Trickle than a Fall though).  The hike to the Trickle Falls was through a rain forest-like area with lush greenery and tropical flowers.

And finally, another colorful and magical place we visited was Matsumoto's Shaved Ice.  We discovered the melt in your mouth texture of shaved ice and went back everyday.  However, it took us 3 days to discover that if you ask for a scoop of vanilla ice cream in your shaved ice it takes heaven to a new level!

Hope you enjoyed a short tour of Hawaii!  It has taken its place as my favorite vacation spot of all time!  Do you have a favorite destination?