Hawaiian Summer

Hawaiian Sun

Every trip has highs and lows. We started this one off from the very start with our first flight being delayed about 3 hours. Needless to say before we even checked in, it was obvious we would miss our connecting flight of Atlanta as we only had a 55 minutes layover in Atlanta. So we had to rebook our second flight, which I did when I first got the delay notice. It meant a two hour layover and getting to LA at 7:30 instead of 3:50, but hey we made it. Several days before we were to leave, I got nervous about trying to get to Hawaii in one day. I decided (because Delta changed some of our times I had the option) to break the trip up into two days with a night in LA. We were even able to stay in our room in LA on the 2nd until 3pm when we need to go to the airport for our flight to Honolulu.

We got in later evening on August 2nd and went to our suite, which we got upgraded to a 2 room ocean view suite. Totally awesome. This was our view that first night.

Our first day there we started out with a walk on the beach and then breakfast. After fueling up we went out walking some streets near our hotel and doing some shopping. 

After lunch at Cheesecake Factory, I headed back to the room and Dale took the 3 mile round trip walk down to the Big mall. His shoes gave him a couple of blisters on his toes of one foot, but with a bit of watching and care, he did not let it slow him down much. He also brought back a box of see’s candy for me. So sweet! We just chilled for the evening after that. The next morning we took our walk on the beach

Then headed into the dining room for breakfast

Then we went for a little more beach time

We took lunch at the food court in the shopping area right next door to our hotel, The Royal Hawaiian. Great place and will stay there the next time we are in Oahu.

I took a outdoor yoga class the hotel offered and the guys and I did a couple of craft projects. The exercise and craft classes were complementary. The first was making a flowers lei

First we had to sort out 40 flowers for our lei.

Then we had to use this big needle to thread through the flowers. After that we tied off the two ends of string and

We had our finished lei. The girls were so good to show it off. Babs even grab a extra flower for over her ear.

I got a wonderful massage in the late afternoon in an outdoor cabana. It was the first time I have ever had one like that.

That evening after dinner at PF Changs, we went for an evening stroll on the beach. Several places had hula dancers, fire Dances and light displays

The next morning we again had a nice early morning beach walk and breakfast before crafting.

The other craft project that was offered while we were there was stringing a kukui nut bracelet.

First week had to sort through our options. Kiki really hopped into the project, while tiny supervised Kiki and Babs efforts.

Then we designed the order we wanted them to be in

After we choose are nine painted nuts and designed them, we threaded the stretch string through them.

Babs thought it looked right fine on her wrist 

And as a head dress!

The beach was lovely, but I have to say it was total crowded. This picture doesn’t really show it but the surfer were so numerous that I watched a couple of collisions in just the few minutes I stood there. If I had turned around and taken a picture of the beach behind me you would have seem row on row of lounges, blankets, towels. It was like an obstacle course in some parts. I guess everyone loves the sand, water, and warmth of this famous beach. It is ranked as the most crowded beach in the world I was told.

The next afternoon I finally got my hair cut. I took about 6 inches off. It had really gotten long and a bit shaggy, not to mention the split ends.😉

After four lovely nights and 3 1/2 sunny day it was time to get on another airplane and head out.

Aloha Hawaii, I had a great time on Oahu.

Thank you Royal Hawaiian, you were a wonderful experience!