Hawaii here we come!

Two weeks of pure bliss were in our future and I could not wait!!!  Back in July, for my 30th birthday, Bill (a close family friend) gifted James and I to a trip to any place we requested.  With James and I being the avid cruisers and our family trip to Hawaii been postponed, there was no doubt it my mind where we would be headed.  Within no time, our trip was booked and my lists of what to do and what to pack were started!  The trip was phenomenal.

Our cruise started with 4 days at sea. Plenty of time at the pool, tons of naps, trivia and food that stuffed us to the brim.  Somehow we were coerced into participating in the Survivor challenge; one of the ship's many contests that they have on board.  Fairly certain this was due to our youth in relationship to the majority of the other cruise passengers.  We watched lots of movies and read a few books.  Just our kind of conversation.  No cleaning, no cooking, no alarm clocks!

Next it was time to play.  Our arrival to the islands was magnificent.  The weather was perfect.  Not a drop of rain while we were there.  Plenty of time to work on our tans and explore the islands.

First on our stop was the Big Island.  We rented a jeep, immediately took the top off and headed to the Volcanoes National Park.  Our plan was to spend about 3 hours here but we ended up spending nearly 6 hours here.  Pictures do not capture the massive scenery that one is exposed to.  We drove a little further out to a black sand beach.  Such a pleasant surprise, there was a sea turtle sunbathing.  We nearly missed him, he/she blended in to the sand so well.

Lava tube

Steam vent

 

Crater at Volcanoes National Park

Sea turtle sunbathing at the black sand beach

On to our next day of events.  The island of Oahu.  We were up early and headed to Pearl Harbor.  We decided to go through the cruise line so we could be off the ship bright and early.  Plus, if you are familiar with Pearl Harbor, there can be a two hour wait to get on to the memorial.  The cruise ship gets the tickets for you early in the morning which means a minimal wait once you arrive.  We took a little tour around downtown then toured the USS Bowfin (submarine) before our time to head to the memorial.  Though this is a major tourist stop, it definitely jerks your emotions.  After our visit to the memorial, we made a brief stop at the battleship Missouri then headed back to the ship.  In no time, we were headed to Paradise Cove for a traditional Hawaiian luau.  Just as I had imagined.  Beautiful!  Quite the place if you are looking for a luau on Oahu.

Luau with the love of my life!

Hawaiian sunset

Pearl Harbor Memorial

USS Arizona

Our visit to Kauai wasn't quite as planned but it was our favorite island.  Probably because of what we did?  Regardless, I'm ready to go back!  We were planning to rent a jeep and head out for some exploring.  Unfortunately it was incredibly difficult to find the shuttle to the car rental location and the taxi drivers were looking for tour passengers rather than our short trip.  So we hopped on a shuttle to the town right up the street, walked around the shops and then headed back to the ship.  We found a taxi driver, who was amazing, and took us to Kipu Ranch for our ATV tour.  Four hours of fun!  Plenty of history about the property we were on.  It's private land so not the easiest to get on.  As with many parts of Kauai, there were tons of movies/shows that have been filmed on the property.  We had an outstanding time.

This five year old (note the floaties) showed us all up on the rope swing!

James didn't listen to me about wearing his swim trunks -

so he took a dip in his boxers :)

Our lunch spot - the cat eats anything you don't (including lettuce)

If you look closely, there are several piglets 

Peacocks on our ATV tour

The last island on our itinerary was Maui.  We were off the ship bright and early, only to hop on another boat and head to the Molokini crater for some snorkeling.  This wasn't quite what I expected but I still had fun.  James was feeling a little under the weather so he didn't spend much time in the water.  The magnificent part of this trip - the humpback whales.  I would say we saw at least 15.  Beautiful creatures!  We were even able to see two babies.  On our way back to the ship, we made a second snorkeling stop where sea turtles are often at.  They were certainly there!  I was a bit timid on swimming with these creatures so I stayed on the boat.  Thankfully there were plenty that surfaced and so I was content.

Submarine (fast attack) that was near our ship in Maui

We then headed home.  Another several days of complete relaxation.  We made a quick stop at Ensenada.  Just enough time for James and I to grab some tacos.  Mmmmm, mmmm good.

The bar crew that completed our trip!

Hawaii was quite the success!  Another check off my 101 list along with the best vacation of my life!