Lookin' For Adventure

Charlie and I took a long ride around Oahu on a Harley he had rented for the day. We were able to get some awesome pictures of the scenery this beautiful island has to offer.

There were gorgeous bays,

and points that jetted out into the ocean,

stories behind every island,

and sudden mountains,


islands that were all alone,

chilly lookouts,
where roads wound around the mountains,

so many islands you loose count,

and beaches all around.

We had a great time, just the two of us. It was a beautiful day and great company. I'm looking forward to having many more days like today.

Scuba Hawaii

Charlie was able to get some great shots of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head from the ocean while scuba diving.

Charlie had an awesome dive off the shore of Waikiki Beach. He was able to do a wreck dive and a reef dive. While he saw many of the same fish from Okinawa, he saw some new amazing fish too.
a spotted toby,a jelly fish,
A spotted moray eel,

coral fish,

a huge sea turtle,
moray eel,
and spotted eagle ray.
He loved his trip but said it didn't compare to diving in Okinawa. I think diving there will always be his first love.

JAWS

We headed north to North Shore Shark Adventures. This was a once in a lifetime event. We were going to get in a cage with sharks circling around us.

The boat ride out to the first sightings of sharks was only a few minutes. We traveled about 2 miles off shore.

Before we knew it, the sharks had arrived.

The cage was lowered into the ocean and we climbed in.

Immediately, we were surrounded by sharks.

They came really close to the cage. We were so glad we were protected or it would have been a different story.It was awesome seeing all the sharks and "swimming" with them.

Diamond Head

Today we hiked Diamond Head (Le'ahi). It was much more of a hike than we had expected.

It was about a mile to get to the top of the crater.

And lots of steps followed.

But the scenery was beautiful once we reached the top. There was an awesome view of Waikiki Beach and Honolulu.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. It's just gorgeous here.

We've Made it to Hawaii!!

It is so beautiful here and incredibly nice. The weather is a cool 85, no humidity which is awesome! We arrived at 8 am hoping to take in some sites but jet lag took over and we decided to take it easy the first day.


We rented a nice car with a GPS that makes getting around easy. Thank goodness we got it because it's been much easier at finding the simplest of things.

Our first stop was IHOP for breakfast. It was yummy. Then we made our way to our hotel. This place has everything. We love it.

Changing our plans for the day, we decided to check out Hawaii's biggest mall. We found CoCo's (which we thought was only in Japan. Charlie loves it so much. I know he'll stop in before we leave). It was a big surprise. Deciding on lunch was more difficult. There is such an international flare here, nothing American about the food court at all. But we ended up getting pizza just because we really did not want Asian food and it sounded so good at the time.

Shopping was next on our list. The girls had never step foot in a mall (how could I deprive them so?) They weren't into it much at first but all it took was one purchase to get them started. 250 stores later and we were buying new wardrobes with the latest accessories. I think we've started something here. The girls were in heaven.

We took a break from it all and got THE best shaved ice in the world. You haven't had anything good until you've had this. You can pick one flavor or as many as 6 flavors. It was huge and so good.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

We are finally leaving Okinawa after living here for four years. We are so excited to experience new adventures. The girls have never lived in the states besides Jasmine's first year. So it's going to bring lots of excitement and changes.

We flew on Japan Airlines from Okinawa to Tokyo.

And saw some pretty islands along the way.


We had a long lay-over in Tokyo and then a long flight to Honolulu. It was by far one of the worst flights I had been on. Turbulence was like riding a roller coaster, there was no music or movies, the two ladies behind us talked the ENTIRE time (I don't think they ever caught their breath) and I'm not mentioning how bad the food was. At least the girls slept.

We made it to Hawaii and we are looking to have a great vacation.

1 Day and a Wake-Up

It's our last days in Okinawa (did I actually write that? days? last days?). Woohoo! The rain decided to fall again so we've been stuck inside for the past week just counting down the days until we leave. We really haven't been doing much. We had our phones cut off yesterday and our mail is being diverted to GA. Charlie is at his final-out as I'm writing.

We went to the theater and saw Prince of Persia last night. It was a good movie. I was impressed. Today Charlie will be doing his last dive in Okinawa. The charter he is going with says white tip reef sharks have been spotted there. Charlie really wants to see one before he leaves. So we'll know tonight if he saw one. Tomorrow, Charlie, Jasmine, our friend Jasmine and I will be going to Forest Adventure Park to ride zip lines through the trees. Charlie has been there once already with his buddies but the rest of us wanted to do it before we leave. Maya and Kiera are staying behind because they barely reach the height requirement and they are hesitant to try it. If they get scared during the practice, then the guide won't let us go through the course. So to be safe than sorry, they are staying home. The weather today and tomorrow is suppose to be sunny. I checked out the weather in Hawaii for the next 10 days and was happy to see nothing but sun and 84 every. single. day. (Excited!!)

We can't wait for some new adventures! The time just can't go fast enough.

Reserved

Plane tickets - check

Hotel reservations - check

Rental car - check

We are ready to go!! All of our paperwork is done. We have nothing left that has to be completed. So now we are just waiting for the days to go by until we leave. I've been researching online for some fun things to do in Hawaii and it looks like we are really going to enjoy ourselves. We can't wait!

Moving Day

It's official, we're all packed up. The movers came today to pick up the last shipment. All of our stuff is on it's way to the states. We are living out of suitcases, the girls are out of school, their transcripts are picked up, paperwork is near completion. Tomorrow we pick up our plane tickets! 8 more days!!!

Bye bye! See you in a couple of months!