Hawaii Trip -- Pearl Harbor

this post will chronicle my trip to Pearl Harbor.

This was pretty cool too. as I recall, you start out watching a historical film about Pearl Harbor in a small movie theater.  Then you get on a boat and take a trip out to the Arizona Memorial.  It's definitely not the funnest experience you will have in Hawaii, but it is well worth your time.

actually, I think this picture is out of place.  Apparently I'm wearing a different shirt than in all of the other pictures.  I'm not sure where this is.  But it is somewhere in Hawaii.  :-)

needless to say it's a lovely self-portrait :-)

these pictures are out of order also , but I believe this is part of the USS Arizona.  That is sticking up out of the water.  I wish I could remember the details, but it's been too long.

this is the view from the boat as they were heading to the memorial.

another view from the boat going to see the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor

proof of purchase that I was there :-)

this is me standing in front of the list of names of all the men who died at Pearl Harbor.  This is actually inside that structure you see that they built over the sunken Arizona.

I don't really have much to say about this because I don't remember the details.

I guess most of these pictures will have to be self-explanatory.

proof of purchase that Juliet was there :-)

Juliet again

this must be in front of the USS bowfin-- which I'm sorry to say I don't remember anything about. Except that it is at Pearl Harbor.

a lovely photographic composition of Juliet and me standing in front of the USS Bowfin at Pearl Harbor :-) 

next up, let's go to the beach!  :-)

Hawaii Trip -- Polynesian Cultural Center

this was by far my favorite thing to do in Hawaii.  The Polynesian Cultural Center.  The cool thing is is that it's owned by the church.  It is located next to the BYU Hawaii campus, and the Hawaii Temple.

a lot of the performers are BYU Hawaii students it's really fun environment and they even have a tour bus that will take you to the Hawaii Temple.

It is set up in different Polynesian countries and they have presentations about each country.  They even had Juliet and I up in front of a group trying to learn different Polynesian dances.  I'm sure that was a sight :-).  I dance about as well as I sing.  And we all know that I can't carry a tune in a bucket.

PCC is in Laie which is on the opposite end of the island from Honolulu, on the North Shore.

Juliet and I were trying to remember if we went to PCC both years that I was there.  It seems like we did , but I don't know how we got there and it looks like I'm wearing the same outfit in all of the pictures.  So maybe we did just go one year.

I think my favorite presentation was Samoa -- I might have been a little biased because that is where my missionary companion, Sister Wilson, was from.

And my second favorite presentation was Tonga.  That one was really funny with drums and the people in the audience.  Coincidentally, Sister Wilson's husband, Rob, is Tongan.

It's a really fun way to learn about the different Polynesian cultures. And at the end of the day they have a luau and a show.

me sitting on the Polynesian Cultural Center sign

one of the perks of going to PCC, is that you get to have your picture taken with a bunch of big Polynesian dudes :-)

I don't remember which village/country this guy was from.  I think he was just walking along the path in between all the different villages/countries and we asked him if we could get a picture taken with him :-)

okay this is definitely Tonga.  As evidenced by the drums in the background.

Juliet, did they call you up to do something in the presentation?  It seems like they might have.

okay this is Samoa.  The guy on the left was the tree climber.  He climbed up a coconut tree and brought some coconuts down.  That was pretty impressive.  The guy in the pink lava lava is the guy who did the presentation.  He was really funny.

Juliet with the Tongan guy.

I think this was the Samoa presentation.

it seems like they taught us how to braid the thing on my head out of banana leaves. I don't remember which country it was where we learned that.  Seems like maybe Tahiti or Fiji.

I think it was Tahiti, where we tried to do the hula dance or whatever it was.

I think we took the tour bus from PCC to the Hawaii Temple.  I actually did go do a session in the Hawaii Temple one time.  I'm not sure which trip it was.  But there will be a whole category about the Hawaii Temple :-) so that's something to look forward to in a future post.  :-)

Juliet in front of the Hawaii Temple.

If you are ever in Oahu the Polynesian Cultural Center should be at the top of your list of things to do.  

Next up, how about Pearl Harbor?  

Hawaii Trip -- Hard Rock Café

this will be a short one today.  There aren't very many pictures of this, but I made it a separate category anyway.

This was our trek to Hard Rock Café in Honolulu.

Juliet standing outside of the Hard Rock Cafe in Honolulu.

me doing the same.

Juliet eating her sandwich :-)

looks like I ordered a juicy burger :-)

of course, we had to buy hard rock T-shirts.  That was the thing to do in the 90s :-)

I remember running in my Hard Rock Honolulu T-shirt quite often at Utah State.

Juliet with her bag of goodies in front of the hard rock.

I know this wasn't a very good post today. This is by far the shortest one.  I will do a better one tomorrow.  Let's see, how about the beach? No, let's do PCC -- Polynesian Cultural Center :-) that will be a fun one :-) 

Hawaii Trip -- Diamondhead

as I mentioned before, the first year I went to Hawaii to visit Juliet, she didn't have a car so we literally ran or walked everywhere.  So this is our journey to diamond head.

Of course Juliet was on a full ride cross-country scholarship to the University of Hawaii.  So obviously she was in great shape.  Luckily, I continued running after my mission, while I was at Utah State, so I was also in pretty good shape.

I think it was about 6 miles each way from Juliet's apartment in Honolulu to diamond head.

as I recall, we packed a lunch and put it in a backpack, which I think we took turns carrying.  When we got to the base of diamond head.  We ate our lunch in a grassy area to refuel and then hiked to the top of diamond head.

The actual hike was quite panseric.  The run was much harder.  I don't even think it was a mile to the top.  And it was kind of weird because you have to climb a bunch of stairs, and part of it is in the dark.  I think they have flashlights there for you to use. anyway the views from the top are spectacular.  As you will see in the upcoming photos.  :-)

You'll have to pardon all of my heathenic pictures.  :-( But hey, it's hot and muggy in Hawaii, and I had to run 6 miles to get to the bottom of the hike :-).

Juliet on our run towards Diamondhead.

me running towards diamond head from Honolulu.  I think that's the aforementioned backpack in the foreground.  It was actually really fun to run there, hike diamond head and then run back. I'll bet not too many people do that :-)

me standing by the sign as proof of purchase that we went to diamond head :-)

me hiking diamond head

Juliet and me at the top of diamond head.  Check out the view!  That is Honolulu in the background.

Juliet atop diamond head.

check out the flashlight in her hand :-) I'm not sure if we had to bring our own flashlights or if they were provided.  It seems like they were provided, but I can't remember.  Can you help me out, Juliet?

me at the top of diamond head with flashlight intact :-)

okay this is a picture of Juliet pointing to her apartment building tower.  That is where we ran from.

still a top diamond head, but facing the other direction, away from Honolulu.  I think, they say on a clear day you can see the neighboring islands. as a matter of fact, I do think that we could see an island, but I don't remember which one.  :-( Do you remember, Juliet?

I don't think I'm actually flexing in this picture, but if I was it wouldn't look much different :-)

my siblings and I share a trait that we affectionately call spaghetti arms :-) .  It is very apparent in the above photo.  I don't know why I'm still holding the flashlight :-)

this appears to be my favorite pose.  You will see it, over and over again, unfortunately, in subsequent pictures.

behind Juliet on the trail, where you see all the people, that is where all the other pictures were taken.  I don't know if we were supposed to leave the area to go to where Juliet is what we did.  I mean, there's a trail to it so I guess it was okay.  I'm not sure what this metal thing is that Juliet is sitting on.

me standing by the same structure.

note the backpack at my feet :-) and notice I'm still hanging onto that flashlight :-)

So, after all of this, we had to hike back down and run another 6 miles home :-)

I think we probably stopped at the beach on the way home. Maybe a couple of different beaches :-) As intimated by our swimsuits underneath our running clothes. 

so I think it was more leisurely, 10K run back home :-)

tomorrow I think I will do, Hard Rock Café.  So stay tuned.

Hawaii Trip -- Random Pictures

I had so much fun blogging about my mission that I decided to blog about my Spring break trips to visit Juliet in Hawaii. I know that I went two consecutive years in a row.

 I think Juliet and I figured out that it was March 1994 and March 1995.  Although I'm not sure which pictures are from which year.  So I'm just putting them all together as if it were one trip, but it was actually two separate years.

I've separated the pictures into 11 different posts.  I will start with random pictures and end with random pictures, and in between will be separated into categories.  So get ready for 11 consecutive days of Hawaii pictures :-)

I won't have as many stories as I did with my mission pictures, but hopefully you will still enjoy the journey through photographs.

So let's go to Hawaii!  :-)

me eating frozen yogurt

Juliet eating frozen yogurt

me and Juliet, taking a self portrait :-) I believe this was taken inside Juliet's apartment.

Interestingly, they have the same kind of louvered windows at Hawaii, as they do in Florida.  Notice the window behind us.

a beautiful picture of me on the bus to Hilo Hattie.  They have a free bus that runs to Hilo Hattie, because they want you to go spend your money there :-)

Of course Juliet and I weren't opposed to going shopping :-)

Hilo Hattie is a fun store.as I recall, they give you a lei when you arrive at the store.  That was pretty cool.

Since Juliet didn't have a car that first year I was there, we had to walk or run everywhere we went. It was actually quite fun :-)

I don't even know if this is a picture from my Hawaii trip or not. I have no idea where this is. This is definitely a random picture taken from the inside of an airplane. but it's a cool picture :-)

I believe this was on the North Shore.  This would have been my second year in Hawaii because that would've been way too far for us to run :-) the North Shore is on the other side of the island from Honolulu.  Which is where Juliet lived.  This is definitely when Juliet had a car.

I don't know why this picture is so blurry :-(

not the most flattering picture of me :-(

You have to pardon all of my heathenic pictures.  But it's hard not to be a heathen in Hawaii.  You always have to be prepared to jump in the water :-).

I hope these are pictures of Hawaii :-) I have no idea where this is.  Can you help me out Juliet?

beautiful scenery anyway :-)

I'm not sure where this is either.

looks like we're at a bus stop.  That is my Temple bag that I'm holding.  But I'm not dressed to go to the temple, so I don't know what this is about.

I'm not sure where this is either but I must be in Hawaii because I'm doing the Shaka.  :-)

I have no idea where this is either.

Look for the Diamondhead pictures tomorrow!  :-)