Welcome to my DREAM

This dream is REAL.

REAL, I tell you!

Lanikai Beach.

One of the most beautiful, white-powder beaches that you would ever hope to visit.

It has changed a lot since last time I visited 10 years ago.

There was about 4 of us on the beach back then.

As you can see by my pics and videos, there was about

400 people on the beach the day we went.

Still love it.

Just wish it would have maintained it's secrecy a bit better.

The islands in the picture are called Moks.

I think that is Hawaiian for "island" or maybe I made that up..

This is some of the crew chillaxing at the beach.

While Chillaxing on the beach, I spotted a familiar face.

Oh yes.. yes it was a movie star.

Well, not really a movie star but a TV star.

It was Desmond from "Lost".

You remember Desmond.. the guy who punched in the numbers 

so the island wouldn't blow up?

I thought it was super dee duper cool that I saw a star.

No one else cared.

(Desmond is the one in the white tank top, or "wife beater" as we call it)

He lives in the town, Kailua, right next to this beach.

I hate him..

Some of the crew getting ready to paddle to the Moks.

 

This is the view from the Moks.

We are looking towards Lanikae beach where we left our loved ones.

The Moks are a sanctuary and you have to have a permit to land on them.

So pretty.

I wish I would have had my good camera.

 The island to the left is one of the Moks.

We are standing on the other.

Just to the right of center is Lanikai Beach.

After paddling to the Moks, we decided to paddle to another island that is also 

a bird sanctuary.

We were the only ones on this island.

In the picture below, you can see the Moks that we had just been.

Check out the paddle boarders.

It was fun to watch them paddle out to the surf that

was created coming around this small island.

Below is a view of the geography of the bird sanctuary island.

In the distance is the island called Rabbit Island.

Can't go to it, or we probably would have!

I love some of the filters on my Iphone.

See below.

Goodbye, Dear Lanikai.

Until we meet again in my dreams.

Selfies, Turtles & Specials

We stopped at one of the typical scenic stops, the Halona Blowhole.

We watched it for a few minutes, but were unimpressed.

But as we were getting back in our car we spotted this little hidden beach

just a short hike down from the parking lot.

It looked so beautiful and fun, but we were on a mission to see

the SPITTING CAVES OF PORTLOCK 

(sounds like a Harry Potter destination...)

so we didn't hike down.

But, we did admire it for several minutes.

And oohh and aaahh.

Then, of course, we snapped a selfie. 

Did you know that I love Hawaii?

I don't know why.

I just love it.

I could sit on the beach and listen to nothing but the water for hours.

 The only thing that would have been better is to have

a fresh Pina Colada hand delivered to me every hour by

Adam Levine.

(Shh.. Adam's feeling tired from bringing me drinks all day)

Oh.. Adam, just sit down and rest a while by me in the sun.
You will feel better momentarily.
I know I feel better already.. ;)
Yes, I am delusional.
A girl can dream can't she..


Actually, the only person that is better at servicing me at the beach
belongs to that big foot on the left of the picture below.
No, it is not the un-named Hawaiian Sasquatch of Lanikae beach,
'tis my dear sweet husband of 20 years who is the
only man I know who could out-sexy Adam Levine.
Even with those feet, he out-sexy's Adam.

The longer I look at this picture the more horrified I become!
I just realized that not only is that not Adam Levine's foot.
But it is not my dear husband's foot.
It is my sister-in-laws foot.
Ruined.
Ruined.
I am ruined.

Carrying on..

We saw many green sea turtles this trip.

We saw them up close while swimming at Aweoweo Beach.

We probably watched over a dozen at that particular beach..

We saw one basking in the sun at Laniakea Beach.

I videoed one coming out of the sand.

It made me exhausted just watching how much work it was for them to move 

onto the land from the water.

It reminded me of Sophie.

And myself, after a workout.

Which.. let's be honest.. doesn't happen much anymore.

I am still on ALOHA time!

This turtle looks huge 

because it is huge!

There were some completely "special" people at this beach-

total losers that were trying to catch the turtles and make the

turtles pull them along as they swam.

The woman was swimming in a bra and some spanx-type shorts.

And even with wet hair I could tell she had a really bad hairstyle--

maybe even 90's bangs,

Many of the people on the beach were disgusted by them, 

but like most "special" people, 

they cared not, or noticed not.

Too busy antagonizing one of my favorite animals, EVER!

At this beach we also watched a local do some fishing for dinner with some sort

of a sling shot spear type weapon.

It didn't take him long--came back with this really long skinny fish that looked like a pencil.

I should have asked to borrow the spear and speared the dumb lady and her live-in

loser boyfriend in her spanx covered bum.

Yes, Yes she is.

WHOOPSIE DAISY

TOO MUCH OF THIS..

WITH NOT ENOUGH OF THIS...

 EQUALS THIS...

 AND THEN A BIT OF THIS..

P.S. JUDGERS.

I KNOW I HAVE UGLY FEET.

I KNOW THAT I HAVE A FEW HAIRS ON MY BIG TOE.

IF IT MAKES YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOURSELF TO MAKE

FUN OF MY SHORT FAT HAIRY SCALY LEPROSY-LOOKING FEET THEN 

BY ALL MEANS--POINT AND LAUGH.

I CARE NOT.

IT WAS THE ONLY PLACE I ACTUALLY GOT A LITTLE BIT OF

COLOR FROM MY HAWAII TRIP.

AND NOW IT IS PEELING AWAY.

MY HAPPINESS IS THUS FADING AWAY ALSO.

Hawaii continued... Pali Lookout, Laie Temple & Byodo Temple

The Pali lookout.

What can I say?

No words can express how beautiful this place is.

It is another must see when you come to Hawaii.

The day we went was clear, and not terribly windy which is fairly rare.

This lookout overlooks the prettiest little town and some of my favorite beaches.

We also visited the Laie temple.

When we went, it was nearly closing time, but we wanted to stop.

I am so glad we did.

The cute sister missionaries and the Visitor's Center couple were so cute.

All the sisters had traditional muumuus on.

That is my kind of uniform.

Send me on a mission to Laie!!

 Another absolutely spectacular place to visit is the Byodo Temple in the Garden of the Temple.

Last time I visited Oahu, I don't remember going into the temple, but this time we did.

We gonged the gong.

We looked at Buddha.

We took lots of pictures.

My favorite was the pair of beautiful black swans peacefully swimming in the pond.

I wish we could have spent more time here, but we only allotted ourselves 20 minutes 

because of our next adventure had time restrictions that we needed to be wary of.

(stay tuned...)

The temple is actually in a memorial garden.

Yeah.. it's a cemetery.

When I die, I want to be buried here.

When I live, I would like to live here.

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.

Of course, because I am now bilingual, I was drawn to the Chinese section of the cemetery.

Then I realized I was very NOT bilingual, as I do believe this is not Chinese but Japanese.

Spitting Caves of Portlock

This is majorly hidden gem.
I was totally proud that we found it (an amazing app "Waze" made our entire trip and getting around soo easy- you should totally check it out, fellow travel and Iphone junkies..)

The hike down was a bit sketchy for some in our group, but the views were totally spectacular and worth the effort.

There were no jumpers when we were there, but I have read that people jump off the cliff into the waters at the mouth of the Spitting Cave. Completely crazy if you ask me. It looks like a suicide jump, but.. to each his own.

The immense power and beauty of the ocean takes your breath away at this spot. Very humbling, but also very peace-inducing. I would come here often if I lived on the island. Which I don't, and yes, I am bitter.

Video of some spitting at the cave.

It is not the hugest spit, just a little spittle, but nonetheless

I was glad I caught it on video.