I know this is my Disney Website, but in 2006 Marc surprised me with a trip to Hawaii to celebrate his birthday and Valentine's Day. We have never taken a honeymoon so in many ways this was our honeymoon (lol).On January 31st my husband informed me I had less then 24 hours to pack for a surprise trip to Hawaii for ten days! I am keeping a trip log of the trip and have reported back to family and friends daily about our trip thus far. I will update with the full report upon our return to the mainland. Until then.....ALOHA COUSIN.
Day 1: Arrival Day
Wanted to check in, before I begin the day. We are staying in Waikiki for the next few days at the navy lodge ( which is real nice ) before heading to the beach bungalow for the rest of the week. We will then be back here for the last few days before getting back on the plane for home. Will try to send some pictures soon. Will not have internet access at the cabin but will check back in at the end of the week. We arrived at 3:00 ( Hawaii time ). Our friends wife picked us up at the airport ( along with five of their kids ). Marc's friend is in the US ( even though he planned the whole trip ) along with one of their sons ( he will be back on Saturday ). They have 7 kids total ( two which they are in the process of adopting ). Shelly greeted us with "Aloha" and two beautiful Leis. We then headed to their home for dinner and then to the Navy Lodge . Marc crashed right away, so we are now paying the price by being up at 4:30 am ( 9:30 am your time ). We have already talked to the girls this morning. All is well. Plan to relax today and then do some exploring tomorrow. Maybe I can give a daily report ( when I can get to the computer). Marc is up and dressed and has gone exploring. The room has a mini kitchen so we will try to get some food in us soon. The flights were ok ( I hate flying). We left home early morning ( Nicki dropped us off at the airport at 4:30 am ) and landed in Ohio 10 am, then spent nine hours on the plane from Ohio to Honolulu. I slept a little ( Marc slept a lot , because he never went to bed the night before we left ). The food was pretty good on the delta flight ( surprising to me since, its been a long time since I had airline food ). We took a few pictures while en route but did not have window seats to Hawaii. The traffic here is crazy. Marc kept commenting on how American it was (lol). I had to keep reminded him we were in America ! It gets better as you get away from the city. Our friends home is a little further away so it started to look a little more "tropical" as we got further away from the airport. We will be roughing it a little at the bungalows but it has a living area, kitchen, and separate bedroom and bath area, and it is on the beach. No air though , but not needed this time of the year. It was cold last night when we checked into the navy lodge ( which is brand new and is very pretty ) so I turned the air off ( yes, I actually turned off the air ). Still waiting for the sun to come up ( its not due to rise until 7 am ). There is a pool here so I plan to relax by the pool today ( ok, reading back on this two days later, I have yet to make it into a pool ). At the camp where the bungalows are there are lots of activities. Including a lei making session, beach hikes, Hawaiian breakfast, etc. Will have to try a few things. There is a lot of oriental influence here. Last night we had stir fried rice and orange chicken ( Yah ! I actually got to eat real food yesterday after 4 days off eating mush ). It will be fun to explore all of the different taste. Well, that's today's report so far. Will check in later. Aloha everyone.
Day 2 : Waikiki Beach
We finally pulled ourselves together enough to head out around 10:00 am ( we did stop to take pictures of our surroundings ). The navy has it pretty good if you ask me. When we came in last night I did not realize we were on the water. This morning while heading out to the car I was amazed to find myself surrounded by mountains and water. Gorgeous! Our friends have given us the use of their van for the week. So there will be lots of opportunity to explore. We thought we would head downtown near the beach to check out the area and grab something to eat. We got lost and did circles around the area downtown for a while. Eventually we found the restaurant we had been looking for. It was a disappointment ( if you are ever in Hawaii ignore the Chinese buffet place that advertises in the vacation brochure ( I think it was called Perry's restaurant or something ), but it filled me up enough to take a walk down to the beach to see the Pacific ocean on Waikiki . A very beautiful view. We strolled around for a while , took lots of pictures and then walked hand in hand back to our car. Got caught in traffic coming back ( but somehow Marc found an Office Depot on the way back. It was not the same as home, so we got away without buying a lot of stuff ). Not sure where we are going to eat tonight , but we are back at the hotel right now chilling. Made a few phone calls to the kids and one of my girlfriends . Will check in tomorrow with Day 3 of our Hawaii Adventure. Aloha until then.......Cyndi
Forgot to add tomorrow we plan to visit Pearl Harbor which is next door since we are at the base on Ford's Island. Hoping to get to the north Shore before we leave and also to the Dole Plantation. Planning to go to a Luau for Marc's birthday next Friday. Hopefully all of my plans will pan out (lol).
Marc is sleep and it is only 10 pm here. I told him I had better not wake up at 4:30 am again. We didn't go far after our rest at the hotel after making it out of the traffic of the HI freeway. We went to the small shop at the front desk area to pick up a light dinner and something to eat for breakfast. Marc still wanted to explore so after picking out some fruit, sandwiches, water and packaged french toast and sausage for breakfast we put them in the fridge in the room beside our leis ( Marc is trying to preserve them as long as possible ). I realized I did not have syrup or butter for the morning so we left the base to find a convience store. So far I have yet to see a familiar grocery store ( although I did see a Safeway-thought they were gone a long time ago ). We headed in the opposite direction from that of this morning and to our surprise saw lots of places that are familiar to us. From McDonald's, to Burger King and even a Home Depot ! We were starting to believe there was no Walmart near to us. Just as we started to head back to the base lodging we noticed a Walmart sign up on a hill. Marc turned the car around and we headed towards a really huge WM. We would find out later that it is not as big as it seems, and there was way too many people. Plus there is not as much to choose from like at home but there was a whole section for Asian style food. We picked up a few more items for the next few days ( I also got a gift for the girls and a cheap swimsuit for me, so that I can at least dip my feet in the water before I leave Hawaii ). I forgot to say that my husband actually stopped in the WM parking lot to take a picture of the Walmart building (lol). He is a true scrapbook spouse. We will probably explore the area some more after our Pearl Harbor tour tomorrow morning. We got back a little later then I would have liked to be when eating, but the tuna sandwich nd chips ( I only ate a few ) were worth the wait. So now I am sitting at the computer waiting for my food to settle. Marc is out like a light, and I will not be far behind. Well goodnight everyone........Cyndi
Day 3 : Pearl Harbor/Aloha Stadium
We will be heading out in a bit to view the Pearl Harbor Memorial. We just finished breakfast in the room, and I am about to go get dressed. Marc's friend gets back today, so we will probably meet up with the family some time today. Glen's wife and children are sick so we will probably come back here and stay after the few days at the bungalow ( I think originally we were suppose to spend the last night with them, but with a few of the kids sick, not to mention poor Shelly herself , the last thing she needs is two house guest ). Tomorrow we check out of the Navy Lodge and into the bungalows.
This morning was awesome. I only recently saw parts of the Pearl Harbor movie. The fact that I am here and seeing the site first hand has been amazing. I cannot even describe it. I will have to send pictures for you to get the full effect ( as much as you can get seeing it through our eyes ). We left this morning and went immediately to the Arizona War Memorial. The whole exhibit is free , but I recommend getting the audio tour ( $5.00 per person ) . It made all the difference while we were doing the tour. You start out viewing a mural of the ship ( The Arizona ) and then go through a series of displays about the base, and the different events that lead up and included the Pearl Harbor attack. You then are called to see a video presentation about the days following up to and actual footage of the attack. After this you board a boat out to the wreckage of the ships and the memorial to those who died and are still entombed (sp) below the memorial. It was very sobering and to think of all of the lives lost that day is mind boggling. It also served as a reminder to me that my stepfather served during this time and the irony of his recent death. Marc and I walked around the museum shop after we returned from the memorial area. We feel blessed to have the opportunity to have been here and to have seen a part of history in person. Its also amazing to me that we have stayed on the very island in which all of this occurred. I can almost imagine what it must have been like for the wives who watched from the windows of their base housing as there spouses and friends were attacked . Its as if paradise put a spell on you and for a moment in time our people forgot the reason for which we are here. As beautiful as it all is , one must remember this is a military base and that are men and women are here for a purpose.We came back to the lodge for a light lunch ( left over sandwiches, chips and some fresh fruit ) and will go out again to explore some of the area near the base that we saw briefly last night. Glen called just as we began the tour to ask if we would pick him up from the airport this evening ( 9 pm Hawaii time ) , because Shelly and the kids are still very sick. After all they have done for us that is the least we could do. Until later......Aloha.
After lunch we went to the Aloha Stadium where they have a swap market set up three days out of the week. We were able to pick up some souvenirs for the family ( we got there right at the end of the day, so we may go back on Wednesday to pick up some things for the girls and my mom that we missed out on ). We then went a little further down the road near the Walmart that we went to last night. They had a bargain store ( named Price Busters ) where I found of all things, some scrapbook supplies including some vacation stickers and USA military embellishments that I can use on the Pearl Harbor pages. I also got some tropical looking plates that I will put up at home. Also couldn't resist some Hawaii style placemats and coasters for the kitchen. Marc will probably have Glen mail some of our stuff back home. I still have to pick out something for my mom and there are a few things that I would like to get before leaving for the kids and us. We then stopped at a Kentucky Fried chicken place to pick up dinner ( I have a salad waiting back at the room ).
We are chilling at the lodge right now until Glen's plane comes in tonight with him and his son ( I guess Marc will not be in bed by 9 pm tonight ....guess who is asleep as I sit here typing ). Tomorrow we will be going to church with them and of course Marc has been talking about the Superbowl game tomorrow. We have been waiting for Uncle John to send us the address and number for one of our church members who is stationed here. Hopefully we will catch up with them and there family before the week is over. We check out of the lodge in the morning and into the bungalows. I am not sure if I will get to use the internet over the next few days. But I will still keep up with my reports and when we can get internet access I will copy and paste them here. Not sure what the plans are for the next few days either, taking a day at a time. I do want to take advantage of the fact that the bungalows are on the beach and spend some time sunning by the water ( never thought I would say that ! ) We are hoping to go to the North Shore and I hope to get to the Dole plantation the same day ( of course I am not leaving Hawaii without attending a Luau ). Aloha Cousin
