Hawaii

We had a planned trip to Mexico at the end of May and were looking forward to it.  I found out that I was pregnant at the end of April... called to make that first appointment with the doctor... mentioned that I had a scheduled trip south of the border, and doctor strictly forbid, 100% no'd, and put the kibosh on me going due to the threat of Zika virus.  Naturally, I looked up cases found of Zika in Hawaii... and BOOM... with a few fees here and there, and not much headache,,, we were going to HAWAII!!!!!!!!  It's good to be young, and childless (at least for the moment!)

We spent 4 nights in Maui and 3 nights in Oahu.  It was really a wonderful time and I can finally see what all the buzz is about.  It's just beautiful there and there is so much to do... that even a month wouldn't be enough to visit all the islands and really enjoy it all.  One of our highlights was reconnecting with an old friend, Beth, who Adam met in Washington D.C.  Beth is now a Maui resident and was able to show us all the ins and outs and local spots.

We celebrated 7 years of marriage on Memorial Day in Hawaii.  Starting the day at 2:45 am leaving our hotel to make it for sunrise at the top of Haleakala.  It was worth the early start and was so amazing to see.

After which we headed back to the bottom, stopped for food, and then back to the hotel to lounge the rest of the day at the pool and beach.

Our anniversary ended at The Feast of Lele Luau.  It rained some of the time, but it provided this excellent very real rainbow in the background of this photo.

The next day we ended up snorkeling.  It was either that or do the Road to Hana.   Weather conditions were just rainy.  And I was nauseated basically the whole trip.  So it didn't make sense to be driving on a 2 lane windy, curvy road all day, where we were told had 600 turns.  We opted to snorkel.  I was a little worried with the bad weather, and bobbing of the boat.  But what really did me in with the "sickness" was the smell of the bathrooms.  That mix of mold and bleach to cover the mold was horrible.  After jumping in and exploring a bit, I finally saw 2 sea turtles.  They were magnificent and so gentle and graceful, it was worth the trip.  After that, I quickly got back on the boat and watched Adam snorkel around.  

We flew back to Honolulu... and drove around one day.  The coast line in North Beach is just amazing, and clearly you can see the weather was amazing.

After a beach day, we met up with my friend Shamim who I worked with at SAMC and just so turns out she had been living in Oahu for exactly a year that day.  We also met up with Vicki and her little lady Frances.  All together we enjoyed dinner at Dukes, with a great view of Diamond Head in the back.

  

   

Vicki met us again the next night and we ate at our hotel in this fancy Italian restaurant.  So I got to see her 2 nights in a row!

     

Hawaii really was a dream... and worth every penny we spent.  I would love to go back.  There was really not much not to love... except my 6 dollar cup of coffee... but even then... I can't wait to return.