Day 3

Today we went to breakfast with Matt and his roommates Steve and Bobby. It was a place called Sm . It was pretty good.

Went to Waikiki beach after that for a few minutes to see if we could body surf a little better. That didn't work to well. Matt called and gave us the 15 minute warning so we had to head out anyway. We got all ready for the day and Matt picked us up at the hotel while we were trying to make reservations for the busy week we had planned. We ended up not making the reservations then and it was a big mess. The lady was calling us and she sounded upset.

Anyway, Matt took us to Sandys Beach. It was unreal. We thought we were up against some normal sized waves. Little did we know that the waves there were outstanding. Matt tried to warn us but I had no idea what to expect. I have never experienced waves like this. The most memorable instance occured when I tried to catch a wave right at the break. I thought I paddled pretty well but I was actually going backwards. I figured the wave was or something so I kinda stopped. Then I got hit by this wall of water that just flipped me over and threw me pretty much every direction possible. The cable from the boogie board wrapped around my neck, everything went TOTALLY black and I was being slammed into the sand and twisted around so fast that I never had any guage of what way was up and what way was down. It was so bad that I started thinking about the best way to let the beach know that I was so that they could resesutate me. It was bad.

Its not that the waves were terribly big, I mean they were, but it was the vectors of the water that threw me off. It was so much water going in exactly 2 directions but interleaved within eachother all over the place. It was bad. I tried again and failed just as bad. I decided to give up soon after that.

Since we were on that side of the island, we saw the Halona blow hole. That was sweet. Kathy saw a turtle and was very excited to be the only one who saw it. She was still talking about it the next day. Crazy .

Matt took us on a tour of the southeast side of the island after that and it was pretty slick. There were some really nice areas as well as some amazing sites. Of course, I didn't have my camera on me so I didn't get to capture them. Damn.

After that, Kathy and I went out to a very nice dinner at Halekulani's House without a Key. It was great. We were right on the beach. There was some live entertainment. Food was great. Drinks were great. I got some pictures so I will post them ASAP. Kathy and I took a nap and waited for Matt to call us about the night out.

That night we went to Tsunami's Bar. It was alright. Matt was already drunk. It was fine. We were a little nervous about the skydiving event we had planned for the next day. So we only stuck around there for a short time. I had 2 shots and a beer and we called it a night.

It was 2 AM and we had an 11 AM appointment at Skydive Hawaii

Day 2

Matt picked us up from the hotel and we headed out to Hawaiian Adventures Water park. It was a pretty good time. I got a little burned though. It wasn't too bad. I had quite a bit of sunscreen on so I was pretty covered. I was significantly pink though. Decent place. It was small but the slides were pretty good. I would say it was a bit too expensive. It is small because I think many people don't want to go to a water park when there is the Ocean ALL around you.

There were some slides there that were just like races. It was sweet. I totally dug em. Matt and his friends REALLY liked them though. The wave pool was SOOOO awesome. I had such a good time there.
One of the highlights of the place was the GIANT half-pipe that you used with a tube for 2. It was great. Just picture a skateboard half-pipe only there is water on it. You get the idea.

After the park we went over to Matt's place. His view is AWESOME. He can basically see all Honolulu and at night this view is incredible. He has a nice place that he shares with a few guys he knows. One of them is his cousin. We were talking to a few of them about housing costs (wink wink) and as it turns out, things aren't so bad down here. Yeah its an arm and a leg for anything but it is not a shock to us as it is remarkably similar to DC/Maryland/Virginia.

Left his place and we ended up eating at a place called Duke's Waikiki Restaurant. The food was pretty good. I had some Fish Tacos (which I love) and we ate RIGHT ON THE BEACH. We were so close that on the same pavement was a shower for the surfers. They would walk up basically right next to us and shower off. It was great.

After dinner Matt and Shelly and we went to this place on the windward side where the houses were right on the beach. Shelly said that it was titled the "Number 1 beach in the United States". The sand is VERY VERY VERY soft and there are little specs of phosphorous that glow in the moonlight. Kathy was able to find one glowing even though the sun was covered by clouds. Off in the distance about 1 mile away you could see little islands. I forget what they are called now. I will update this when I get the name.

The 45 minute jeep ride back to the hotel was FREEZING. It was rough but we made it.

We called it a night at about 11:30.

Day 1

So the trip to Hawaii was pretty uneventful. LONG, but uneventful. Ryan picked us up at my place and we left EXACTLY at 11:30 which is a great start. We took a wrong turn on the way to the airport. That was dumb. We got to the airport after midnight and apparently I slept for a good hour or so while we waited for the desk to open.

Flight was uneventful. Arrived in Houston on time. Left Houston on time on a really large 767. I don't know that I have ever been on a plane that big. Not in recent memory anyway. I took about 5 or 6 catnaps (30 minutes or less) throughout the trip. I basically woke up when I realized my mouth was open and it felt really uncomfortable.

Arrived in Hawaii and it was great. A little overcast so that is a bit disappointing. Matt called before we even got to baggage claim so that was cool. We saw some people getting "leid" which was kinda cool. Except that one of the Lei s looked ed. Hot, but ed.

We were a bit groggy from the lack of sleep so it wasn't laughing and joy when we got here.

First thing I did was shower up and shave. I didn't want to hit the beach with a beard and end up with a perma-beard-tan. We scouted the hotel for a bit and found the pool and all that jazz. Its on the roof. Its cool. Our view is decent. I will post some pictures when I get back. Till then here is where our hotel is.

Went to the beach for awhile. We had to meet Matt Pounds at 5 for dinner so we knew we wouldn't have much time (it was about 3:30 at this point). We went to the beach and walked around, saw some nice hotels and trees and beach areas. Swam around for about 45 minutes. It was great. Rolling around in the waves is a really good time for me. The best part about Waikiki Beach was the view we had of Diamond Head State Park. It looks great from the beach.

So we went back to the hotel and hung out in the hot tub while it rained. We got all cleaned up then we met up with Matt Pounds and he took us to Dave and Busters. It was pretty good. Met up with a couple of his friends from the school he teaches at. They wanted to catch a movie and we were pretty tired from traveling. So we walked back to the hotel. It was kinda far. We crashed at about 8:30PM.

Woke up at 5 the next day.

I am off to Hawaii

So I am at work. It is 6:30. That means it is time to go to Hawaii.

I leave at 11:30 from my place to the airport. Kathy and I will have to wait till 6:10 for our flight. I think thats fine. Kathy has a shirt she is Crocheting and I can read or sleep cuz I am tired.

We will be in Hawaii for 10 days. Its gonna rule.

I am taking bets as to how many pictures I will take.
Ten to One over unders on 783 pictures.
1003 place.
645 to show.
783 1003 and 1003 783 get the quinella.

That didn't make sense.