Hawaii Day 8 & 9

Our last day in Hawaii we got up and left our beach house by 5 a.m. Sounds crazy, but it was 9 a.m. in Idaho, so really not that bad. We wanted to hike Diamond Head before it got to hot. Diamond Head is a crater that was formed from a volcanic eruption. The Federal Government bought Diamond Head and built fortifications for coastal defense. The trail to the summit is only about 1.6 miles round trip, but it has lots of steep stairs. The first stairway has 74 steps and the second stairway has 99 steps, then there is a spiral staircase of 52 steps that takes you to the top of the control tower and we finally reach the summit after climbing the last last stairway of 53 steps. I banged my shin on these steep steps twice. Ouch! We also went through two tunnels to get there.  It was a different hike than I am use to. 

At the top we had great views of the ocean and coastline as well as Diamond Head Lighthouse. On the way down you follow the trail along the rim and loop back to the tunnel to avoid congestion in the stair ways. This trail has a stair way with 82 steps. 

After finishing our hike it was time for a treat. We stopped at Liliha Bakery and Jeremy and I got some Coco Puffs. They were good.

We then went to the Swap Meet at Aloha Tower. I wish we would have done this sooner in our trip. It was hard to know what to buy for souvenirs and what we would be able to buy at the Swap Meet. We finished up our shopping and headed out. Peter and Andrea were still shopping, so this is where we said good bye to them. They were staying until Saturday and checking into their new hotel. 

We waited until our last day to go to Pearl Harbor. We were hoping the government shut down would end and it would be opened back up before we left.  No such luck. They opened it the day after we left. The good news was on the dock of the Battleship Missouri Memorial looking out at the USS Arizona Memorial they had a really wonderful free presentation. We had to ride a free bus out to the Battleship Missouri Memorial because it is still an active base. You are not even suppose to take pictures when you are on the bus crossing over the bridge.  The lady giving the presentation was very passionate and it was very touching. I definitely shed a few tears. She kept telling us it was not about stepping foot on a piece of property it was about feeling it in our heart. I would still like to go back and actually go out to the USS Arizona Memorial, but I don't feel as bad about missing it because of this presentation.  

This picture of me on the bus was taken just as we were leaving not on the bridge.

After the presentation about the USS Arizona we decided to take the tour of the Battleship Missouri. It was pricey, but very interesting to me and even more to Jeremy. I am glad we did this because I think he really enjoyed it. We started by taking a guided tour with one of the tour guides. He was so knowledgeable.  I wish this 35 minute tour would have taken us through the whole ship but it was mostly the main level and level one. This included things like the the bow, Main battery turret, surrender deck, kamikaze attack site, etc.  

After the guided tour we used our informational audio phones. They have signs through out the ship and you punch in the number on the sign. The phone plays a recording telling you about this area. This is how we saw the second deck and levels, 2, 3, 4 and 5. I am glad I do not have to live in these small quarters. I found it interesting that the Mighty Mo has to retain all of the physical characteristics of  her service. In other words they have to keep her ready to go back into service at any time. 

While we were waiting for our bus to take us back to the parking lot Jeremy and I walked over to the USS Oklahoma monument. 

There was a little park over looking the harbor that we eat lunch. 

Before our flight we explored some of Honolulu starting with the Aloha Tower. We went to the top to look at the city. 

We walked along the water an looked at all the ships and the fish that we could see in the water.

We walked over to Iolani Palace. We did not go in, just looked at the outside. This is the only palace where a king/queen lived in the United States because Hawaii had a king before becoming part of the United States. 

Across the street from Iolani Palace is The King Kamehameha Statue in front of Aliiolani Hale. King Kamehameha conquered the Hawaiian Islands and brought them together.

We found the closest beach, Ala Moana Beach (Just west of Waikiki), and enjoyed one last walk in the sand and water. 

By this time we were hungry, so we went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. It is so expensive, but the food was so, so good. Who goes there and does not even save room for cheesecake? Us! Oh well maybe next time. We saw street performers as we were walking back to our car and stopped to watch for a while.  It was a beautiful area in the middle of all the crazy you find in Honolulu. 

We returned our rental car, check in for our flight and waited four our flight home at 10:50 p.m. as you can see were were tired after such a fun vacation. We loved it, but something about knowing it is over just makes you wish you could be home right then. 

Last view of Oahu as we were leaving. 

I was able to sleep some on the flight, but Jeremy could not. This is what I woke up to.

We were suppose to fly to Bellingham then to Seattle then back to Boise, but because of fog they could not land in Bellingham and we got to go strait to Seattle. That was great for us, after they got our luggage figured out. Not so good for others. Even after flying into Boise we still had to take a Taxi to pick up our car from Michele's friends house (who let us park it there.) then drive to Pocatello to pick up our kids and still more driving to get back home. It is a long way when all you want is to be home. I loved our vacation, and one of the good things about vacation is it makes you miss your kids and appreciate your own home.

Our kids were excited to see what we brought back for them. We got welcomed back to reality with runny noises, coughs, fevers and topped it off with pink eye. I am so glad that they waited to have all of this until we got home and Jeremy's parents and sisters did not have to deal with it. Thank You to them for taking such good care of my kids.

I am asked what I would do different and what I would do again a lot. That is hard to say. I can say that I am really glad we did everything that we did and stayed were we stayed. It was perfect for this trip. I would not change anything. On the other hand some things I think are fine to just do once and there are other places that we did not go that I would maybe try if we went again, or other kinds of activity's. It's hard to say because really if I went again I think I would like to go to another island just to see what it is like.