OUR TRIP TO PARADISE

I honestly never thought we would ever get to Hawaii.  It has always been on my wish list but we have never been the traveling type, mainly because we never had the extra money while raising our family and maybe because we enjoy our little portion of the world and spend quite a bit of time camping.

Luckily for us we have some very wonderful friends that coaxed us into venturing out of our little world.  They also couldn't believe that we had never flown before and they wanted to see it with their own eyes.  All in all, six couples went (I somehow managed to not get a group picture, darn it)  and what a fun bunch they were.  We were guests at Bellows Air Force Station for our stay,

 two of the guys are retired military and part of their benefits include access to some of the most beautiful private beaches in Hawaii (Oahu)

 

WARNING:  Many photo's to follow and I must add that I forgot the battery to my good camera at home so I had to use my camera phone to take pictures.

 

Our arrival.



 

 

Our first order of business was to tour Pearl Harbor.  The next two photo's are images I got off the Internet, this particular photo is of the memorial over the U.S.S Arizona.  What a sobering and humbling experience to know that many bodies are still in the hull of the ship of the men who lost their lives in the attack.  There is such a feeling of reverence when you stand there.

 

 

 

 

This is the sunrise on the first morning we were there.  Although it was cloudy that morning it was warm out and the water was just the perfect temperature to swim in.

 

Here is hubby Jim on the beach that was literally 100 feet from the front of the cabin we were staying in.

This was "our" beach.

The tide was in here and the water was up to the rocks but we were still able to swim, which we did every morning at 6:30 a.m.

 

 

John, Dan and Jim.  You just couldn't keep these guys out of the water.

 The photo's don't do justice to how beautiful the water was.

 

 

The moon was full and certainly added to the romance and ambiance.

 

Here is the La'ie Temple (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints), it was gorgeous and we were able to attend a session while we were there which was very special.

I believe these are hibiscus flowers which were all around the temple.

Next we were on to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  All I can say is if you EVER get the chance to go there it is so very well worth your time.  Fantastic entertainment from all the Polynesian islands including Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand and others.

The ladies in yellow are from Tahiti and boy can they shake what their mama's gave them.  Notice the one in the middle and how high the right side of her hips are.

Dan and Kathy were our room buddies, we certainly enjoyed them and their easy going, laid back personalities.

Here is Jim and I at the Luau at the PCC.  Notice my funky bangs?  No amount of straightening and hairspray could keep them from curling.

 

 

The moon put on quite a show for our final night in paradise...

 

We certainly enjoyed our time on Oahu but seriously six days just wasn't enough time.  Oh shucks, I guess we will have to go for two weeks next time.