Hawaii pt. 9 (last one): Another Beach, Hiking, the Museum, and Heading Home

The next morning we walked over to Kahala Beach by my aunt's house.  It's only five minutes away, and is gorgeous.  There is a really nice hotel up the beach a ways and we wandered up that way and explored the grounds.  Then we headed back to my aunt's for a relaxing morning and so Emma could work on a little of her homework she brought.  She had done quite a bit on the plane on our way there, but still had some she needed to do.  I just didn't want her to have to do it all the weekend we got home before going to school on Monday.  It worked out really well with our plans though.  We did some laundry too.  You know, all the exciting stuff.

Can you imagine living so close to this?

My cousin Matt has some property he wanted to show us.  We headed up (and up and up) near the Manoa Valley on one of the windiest (as in it winds a lot, with several switchbacks, not that the wind blows a lot) roads I've ever been on.  Then his long driveway was super steep.  We finally made it and he showed us around.  There was a hike he wanted to take us on, but only advised it if we had pants and long sleeve shirts to protect us from all the mosquitos.  Eric and Emma were prepared.  I was not.  So I let them go on the hike with Matt while I ran some errands and did a little more shopping.  I did stop at Pu'u 'Ualaka'a State Park on my way down from Matt's place, and this place had the best views of Honolulu.  You could see all the way from Pearl Harbor to Diamond Head.  Amazing.  I made sure to tell Eric to stop on his way down later with Emma, so they could see it and so they could take some pictures, since he had the camera with him.

Parts of the hike were steep, muddy, and very slippery.  Matt
had cut some bamboo hiking sticks for everyone to use.

Great view along the way.

Resting under Matt's favorite Koa tree.

Part of the view from the state park.

Dinner was followed up yet again with another ukelele jam session.  I think I could do this every night.  It's just so nice and relaxing.  And it was so nice having the time on our trip to be able to spend it this way, and not feel as though we had to be running around non-stop to see everything.

The plan for early the next morning was Diamond Head.  Luckily my aunt only lives a few minutes away, so it doesn't take long to get there.  My aunt hikes up two or three times a week in the mornings, so she knows the best time to go.  Not right when they open because that's when all the Japanese tour busses pull up.  It's best to go half an hour later.  This way you're still early and ahead of the day's crowds, but after the huge tour busses.   The hike is made up of several switchbacks leading you up to three different staircases (totaling approximately 220 steps) and a tunnel before you finally emerge at the top of the crater.  On your way you can see inside some of the old bunkers too.  At the top the view is a great one of Kapiolani Park, the Honolulu Zoo, downtown Honolulu, and Waikiki Beach.

You can see how packed the trail always is.  Look at all the people!

Looking at all the people further up the trail.

Almost done with the 99 step staircase!

The spiral staircase.  It's really old.

The Diamond Head lighthouse.

Emma and Jo at the top overlooking Waikiki.

Overlooking the crater and Kahala in the background.

Great view of the bunkers.

Next we headed off to the Bishop Museum.  They have a planetarium where we watched a couple great shows about the stars, which made us want to go back to Mauna Kea on the Big Island!  It's funny talking about this now when it's freezing outside here at home, but the air conditioning inside the planetarium that day was really nice!  We also saw a really cool exhibit on the science of roller coasters and participated in a great demonstration of centrifugal force and centripetal force.  I wish the guy who ran that demonstration could be Emma's science teacher - he was great with the kids!  We explored their Hawaiian Hall all about the history of Hawaii and its inhabitants as well as seeing an exhibit all about iridescent butterflies and beetles, coral and other dainty creatures which was really pretty.  And finally we went in the Adventure Center where we learned more about volcanoes, the ever growing Hawaiian Island chain, and watched them make oozing hot lava.  Really neat.

Jo had learned that tonight was their ward halloween party, and she thought Emma might enjoy going.  So we went and had dinner and Emma was in the parade and did some trick-or-treating there.  We had to be a little creative for a costume though, because we obviously hadn't brought one with us, and I didn't really feel like buying her one just for this party.  So, using what we had, we decided Emma would dress as a typical tourist for her costume.  We had all the pieces.  Just needed to put them together.  She wore her new Hawaiian shirt, really tall socks, had a camera around her neck as well as some binoculars, and carried a guide book.

After the party we wanted to spend one more evening with my cousin Matt, so he came over and we hung out.  He played and sang some beautiful Hawaiian songs (he's really good!), which was perfect for our last night there.  Sometime during this trip Matt had given Emma a nickname.  He named her Pele iki, which means little Pele.  Pele is the Hawaiian goddess of fire.  It's believed the lava is her hair.  Peridot gemstones, which are created deep within the earth and brought to the surface through volcanic activity, are known as Pele's tears.  Peridot is August's gemstone, which is when Emma's birthday is.  So basically, Emma is just a fiery little volcano.  =)  She likes it.

The next morning we finished packing and stuck around for some lunch with Marcellus and Jo.  Then we were off to the airport.  Our return flight was a nonstop flight and was supposed to be later in the evening, more of a redeye.  I had wanted it that way so we could just sleep.  Unfortunately a few months ago our flight times were changed, which bumped up the flight.  The eight hour flight left Honolulu and would land at 5:00 in the morning local time, which was midnight Hawaii time which our internal clocks were set to.  Since I am such a night owl, I'm routinely up until midnight.  So I knew I was unlikely to get any sleep on the return flight.  I just don't usually get tired earlier than that.  I was right.  I didn't sleep at all.  After we landed, between getting our luggage, waiting for the shuttle and going to pick up our car, and then driving home, it was 8:00 local time (or 3:00 am for us) when we finally arrived home.  Needless to say we crashed and slept for awhile.

Our welcome home from our fantastic Hawaiian vacation had been snow.  It was snowing as we drove home from the airport.  Not the easiest thing to come home to, but worth it given the amazing time we had.  I am so grateful to my aunt and uncle for wanting us to come and for letting us stay with them.  I wish I could see them more often.  And while we plan on going back again, this is a trip Emma will never forget.  You never forget your first trip to Hawaii.  It truly was 15 days of absolute bliss.