Saturday, April 26, 2008

I love Hi.

So, I finally went to Hawaii. Ever since my childhood friend, Elizabeth, moved to Laie I've wanted to go. It was even better than I had anticipated.





Day one: I went to Waikiki Beach until my friend, Ellie, got off work and came to pick me up. While I was there lots of strange people talked to me and I got the biggest pinapple saved ice on the planet. It was awesome. Later, Ellie and her friend picked me up and we met her brother-in-law's brother, wife, and mother. Cody, Louise, and Carol. They were very kind and let Ellie and me sleep on the boat that night.







Day two: On my second day we woke up at 5 am and set out deep sea fishing. Cody gave us a narrated tour of Pearl Harbor, which was very cool. While we were out we saw a tortoise, some birds, dolphins, and some flying fish (seriously). This is Ellie and me hanging loose on the back of the boat waiting for the fish to bite. Notice the fishing poles in the background. We had five total.

When we got out of the harbor, Ellie and I got brave and decided to go to the front of the boat and sit on the little ledge. Louise told us it was kinda like a roller coaster up there. Once we found out of deep the water was, we made sure we put on life jackets before we scaled the side of the boat to get up there. While we were up there some dolphins came and swam right underneath out feet. It was so out-of-a-movie. Pretty soon we heard Cody yelling for us. The first fish we caught was a tuna. This was the second fish we caught. It was a 21 pound Onah. Cody said that people sometimes call it a Yahoo because that's what they say when they catch it. I thought that was cool. It has really sharp teeth, so it kinda freaked us out at first. We put it on ice and forgot about it.

After that Ellie and I chilled some more. Man, I love fishing. Good thing we did, though, because pretty soon Ellie had to bring in a Mahi-Mahi all by herself. We caught three at once and Ellie's was the biggest. We took naps on the boat after that.

This is a picture of all of us except Louise after we cleaned the boat. We looked pretty dirty, but we didn't care. From Left: Cody, Carol, Ellie, and me.

We got cleaned up and went to the place where they auction the fish. That was pretty cool. Cody took Ellie, Carol, and me into the room where they keep all the fish. It wasn't pleasant, but we still managed to got eat sushi that night with one of Ellie's friends from church. I was so thankful for Cody's family taking us deep sea fishing. They were probably the nicest people I've met in a long time.











That night after we ate sushi we went to pick Jalene up from the airport. Then, we drove up to Ellie's camp, Camp Erdman, on the North Shore.

Day Three: The next day we went on an Ellie narrated hike to a crystal cave and waterfall. Above is a picture of Jalene and me at the top. That day was Sunday and Ellie got to teach the lesson in Relief Society. So Jalene and I laid on the beach while Ellie prepared. We shared my IPOD and soaked up some sun. Then, we went to church with Ellie.



Day Four: This is a picture of Ellie and me on the boat ride at the Poylnesian Cultural Center. I had no idea it was going to feel like Disneyland. Below are some pictures of the various islanders doing dances from the island they represent.










I liked the New Zealand boat best becasue that's where the cute guys were.

This is Jalene and me in front of the Laie Temple. We stopped there on the way back to camp. Jalene loved it, so we took some extra picture of her there. The sisters gave us some Pulmeria flowers for our hair. She told us it goes on the right if you're single. Jalene is dating Adam right now so she has hers on the left. As you can see, I am still waiting for the New Zealand boys.


Day Five: This is a funny picture of me on the Bowfin at Pearl Harbor. Dan and Kat, this is where I got you a smashed penny. Ellie didn't get to go with us that day because she had to work. This is a picture of me climbing through the door. Family, I felt like I was in Down Periscope. All I needed was a hammock and a srunken uniform. The other picture is of me in one of the engine rooms.



After that we took the boat to the USS Arizona Memorial, which was a little sadening. Below is what you can see from the memorial of the sunken Arizona. Sadly, many of the bodies weren't able to be recovered from the ship. The other picture is the wall that lists all of the men who died on the Arizona.




On the way back to camp that day, Jalene and I stopped in the historic part of Halewia to do some more shopping and get some malasadas for Ellie. We also got some bubble drinks and decided we didn't really like the bubbles.


Day Six: On my last day, before I went to the airport, Jalene and I hung around camp and laid on the beach. This swing was my favorite place to hang out at Ellie's camp. I guess some guy came to do some handy work for the camp. He wanted to stay longer, but they told him he had to be working on something to stay, so he put up this swing. Quite the contribution, I thought. The other is a picture of camp. Across the street is where they filmed the homes of the others on Lost. Jalene said she'd get a picture for me becasue my camera died that day. Ellie saw Sawyer there recently while shooting for Lost.


This is me doing like my Aunt Janet always did with pictures and writing my name in the sand. I wish I had the one of Jalene on my camera to put on here. It was cute. Hawaii was wonderful, but I think the best part was hanging out with Ellie and Jalene.