HAWAII!!!

The view from our Waikiki Beach hotel.  We only paid $64 a night which is why I won't be posting any pictures of the room itself.

Hawaii seemed like a bit of a generic destination but we came across a good deal on airfare and went for it.  The itinerary was originally more rugged including 2 backpacking trips.  Unfortunately the backcountry campsite was closed on the Kalalau trail and we ended up with only a day or two of camping which didn't seem worth it to drag our backpacking gear several thousand miles.  We ended up hiking the trails but just in a day hiking capacity.

The USS Arizona Memorial and the USS Missouri

The exposed portion or the Arizona

Oil leaking from the Arizona

Crystal exploring the submarine USS Bowfin

Crystal scouting for incoming aircraft...

 We flew to Kona on the Big Island and drove to Volcanoes National Park.  On the way we stopped at one of the National Historical Sites.

Waipi'o Valley.  We hiked down to the beach in the lower left corner.

The Waipi'o Valley was one of the trails we initially were going to backpack but ended up just hiking down the the beach which ended up being satisfying enough.  The trail is seen in the above picture crisscrossing up the opposite side of the valley. 

We stopped by a coffee plantation on our last morning in Kona.  Considering how much coffee I drink on a regular basis, you would think I would be more knowledgeable on coffee production.  The farm was very cool and the staff actually stopped bagging coffee to show us around and explain how the roasting process works...very cool.

COFFEE!!  The red one is ripe for picking.

After the beans is extracted from the cherries they are dried out.

Spotted this little guy hanging out where the coffee was drying.

Old school roaster

The Kona airport is entirely open air...very cool until it rains.

An old lava flow that came across the road.

Almost a quarter mile deep in a lava tube.  I'm glad the battery in my headlamp held out.

 One night while we were in Kona we went on a night snorkel with manta rays.  I don't have any pictures but if you ever are on the island you HAVE to do this.  We basically floated around on the surface and watched 2 manta rays swim in loops eating plankton that was attracted to our lights.  The two manta rays were 8 and 12 feet wide and came within feet of us.

This is the boat we went out on to do a night snorkel with the manta rays.

 After 3 days on the Big Island we caught yet another flight and spent 4 days on Kauai.  Most of which was in Hanalei where we rented a condo.

Baby Bird

The Wishing Well.  The best shaved ice I have ever had.

Queens Bath is a tide pool on the north shore large enough to swim in.

The sobering warning before you head out on the rocks.  Not recommended when the waves are big.

Waimea Canyon, this place would make a sweet backpacking trip.

Shipwreck beach.  These waves were rough and were crashing in about a foot of water.  I cringed as these guys tried to surf.  If they didn't catch the waves they were punished.

Also at shipwreck beach

On our last day in Kauai we hiked the Kalalau Trail.  This trail is covered in several outdoor magazines and said to be one of the most difficult trails in the country.  You can hike 11 miles to a secluded beach where you can camp.  Unfortunately the beach was closed when we were there so we hiked the trail to another trail to a 120 foot waterfall, 8 miles roundtrip.  It was rocky, muddy, wet, with several river crossings. 

On our last day we decided to hike Kalalau trail to a 120 foot waterfall...It was muddy but a great time.