Oahu!

Most of you know that we recently went to Hawaii, and most of you probably know how long I have been wanting to go there.  So I thought it was pretty awesome when we had a fairly last minute opportunity to go courtesy of Aaron's work.

Little did I know how much it (Oahu anyway) was going to remind me of a place I have spent a lot of time...Taiwan!!  Any of you who have been to both agree with me?

Similarities:

Asians everywhere

Lots of delicious fresh fruit

Lots of fish and rice

Crowded on the westside, rural on the east

Tropical climate and plants

Anyway, you probably don't care, just had to share.  It was just so nice because it made me feel so easily connected to the spirit, such peace.  Or maybe that was my lack of children!

The first morning we got up and Aaron went surfing while I tried the stand up paddle but we didn't have the camera.  For about 20 minutes of being stuck in one place I thought I was going to get carried out to sea, but I said a prayer and was immediately directed how to get back (see what I mean about the spirit?) .

After his meeting we headed to Pearl Harbor but they weren't doing tours because of the high winds, so kept heading north to check things out.  Below is the North Shore.  Hard to believe how big the waves get in the winter because it was like a lake the day we went.

We stayed the next few nights on the windward side in Kailua.  The beach there by our house was GORGEOUS!!!

The next day after Aaron's meetings we headed up the east coast.  Here is the Chinaman's Hat island (more things sending my thoughts to Taiwan).

We hit up the temple, which had just been reopened from remodeling.  It was beautiful and the grounds amazing.  You notice our pictures are pretty cloudy...yes it rained a bit most days we were there...so much for escaping the Washington clouds!!!

After the temple we hit up the Polynesian Cultural Center for a luau and the night show.  I couldn't believe how good those fresh leis smelled!

Taiwan also has a native people and customs separate from the mainland Chinese who fled there during their revolution.  

We got to see them taking the pig out of the ground.  It was pretty good, but I have to say I loved all the taro stuff more (poi excluded), yes, more similarities to Taiwan and more good memories.  Are you sick of it yet?  Definitely never saw fire knife dancers in Taiwan though, which was so awesome.  I must admit to almost falling asleep in the night show until those guys came on.  Amazing.

The next day Aaron was actually in meetings all day, so I biked up to this little hike through the jungle to a viewpoint overlooking the bay.

This is where I went, though I didn't go all the way to the top.  The guy at the gate at the bottom told me they had two people fall last year, one of whom didn't make it.  Definitely enough to scare me off!  I did manage to see some wild pigs on the hike, though they were too fast for me to get a picture.

We had enough time that evening to do a little bit of boogie boarding at Mokopu'u, which was of course really beautiful (and yes, yet again cloudy).

We weren't the only ones who felt like hitting the beach...we were joined by a Hawaiian monk seal.  The lifeguard said she was pregnant and would come here to rest while swimming between the islands on her way back home.  

She slept the whole time we were there and missed my awesome skills.  There was a huge rip current there that would suck you out even just standing on the beach, so we took it easy but still had a good time.

The next morning we headed to Maui, so more on that to come soon!