1st Weekend in Hawaii

Well, I have to say, it was pretty awesome...it was so awesome that I am not in the least bit bothered about the fact that our house is still no more unpacked than it was on Friday. Instead of unpacking, we got outside and did somethings.

We went to Sandy Beach on Saturday, after telling Jeff that I could stay there until 6pm, he insisted we come home, and it good we did: Hawaii's sun did get us both! No swimming here, the tides are incredibly strong and only the locals, brave or stupid go in the water here. It is a

popular surfing and body surfing place, and the "Beach Biscuts" are out in full force! I didn't miss swimming, the sand was perfect, the breeze was awesome and the "talent" kept me watching!! The life guards here are said to do more rescues on this beach than anywhere else on the island. After our tour at the beach, we took a quick drive to Kaneohe. The bay there is absolutely stunning and you'll see pictures in the near future, I promise! The weather there was rainy, so we didn't get out of our car, but we did see some amazing cloud/mountain action.



On Saturday evening, I made dinner: Ahi with Wasabi, Rice Vinegar and Soy Sauce dressing on a bed of lettuce, and the starch of the islands: rice! That dinner was SO yummy. On Sunday, we went to Makapuu Lighthouse Road for a walk with Rudy. Its a good 3 miles up and down; its paved and we expect that we will take all of you there - it features some BEAUTIFUL scenery, it overlooks the whale sanctuary (and supposedly, its a good spot to whale watch). Its also got some history: still remaining are WW2 bunkers. From the top, you can see the lighthouse and Kailua. One of the more bizzare discoveries of our walk was the realization that Cacti grow here! We had heard that this was the "dry " side of the island, but at 70%+ humidity, it didn't feel all that dry to us and yet, the Cacti flourish.



Our walk took about 1.5 hours, but it was beautiful and we stopped in several places along the way. In fact, I think it will be a joint goal of ours to be able to run up and down it...something neither one of us feels in shape enough to do right now. After that, I guess Jeff was sort of "done" because we went to a movie. It got out too late to take the bike ride around Hawaii Kai that I wanted to take. Its OK, though, because there is always next weekend! Who KNOWS what adventure it will bring.


Here are 5 things I learned about living in Hawaii this weekend:
1) Pineapple is cheaper than oranges (per pound)
2) Locals DO say "Aloha" and "Mahalo"
3) "Hang Loose" symbol is an acceptable way to say "Thanks"
4) Everything is in limited quantities, EXCEPT at Costco
5) Haunama Bay appears to be less crowded on Sundays, judging by the fact that the parking lot was never closed today.


Here's a little map of this weekend's adventures (you can click on it to see our notes of each location and zoom in/out:


View Larger Map