We took sort of a last minute trip to the North Shore of Oahu over Spring Break. From what I can tell from the weather reports it was a well timed escape from the Northwest. The trip grew from Veep's frustration with the last 2 long Winters here in Spokane. Though I love having snowy winters, I have to confess that swimming and a sunburn felt really good in March.
7 am, Sunday morning.
Wednesday evening. Nothing like a mango smoothie in a pineapple husk (our kids are officially spoiled).
I had never been there before and it was nice to add a new place on my map of "places I've visited."
A few observations:
If I go back to Oahu, I will definitely stay on the North Shore. The resorts near and in Honolulu aren't our style. And I'll make sure I rent a bike in Honolulu on the way from the airport because there aren't any places to rent them anywhere else on the island, and riding a bike would be very nice. Although if we go back we'll probably try another island.
Hawaii is great for warm weather and beaches and scenery. It is not great for food (except shave ice).
While sitting in the Honolulu airport waiting for the flight home, I was inspired to travel more. I don't know why, but I was. I'm trying to get two weeks in a row off this summer so Veep and I can go somewhere and actually use our passports.
There really are a lot of rainbows in Hawaii.
But not a lot of fancy houses. Of course when the temperature only varies between 65 and 80 degrees, you barely even need a house.
Now that we're back, I'm still recovering from the measly 3 hour time difference and suffering through a full week of work.
It was a good trip.
I've been wondering what you have been up to lately! Hawaii is great for relaxing. I hope you took the kids to see BYUH and the Polynesian Culture Center. I love the North Shore.....have some good memories about it in the 1960s when it wasn't so crowded and commericalized. How about China in June?
ReplyDeleteYour and V's blogs are making me want to go to Hawaii. We'll see what next spring break brings.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you guys went there and didn't tell me sooner! I so agree with your assessment - it's beautiful, but don't go there for the food. I think mainlanders think everyone eats fresh mahi mahi and pineapple everyday, but I have distinct memories of eating lots of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and apples because everything is so expensive and not the greatest quality.
ReplyDeleteAlso agree with you about the difference between North Shore and Honolulu. I was really miffed with Mom, Dad, and Cary came for my graduation and I had dreams of just getting a rental house somewhere on the North Shore, but they made reservations at some highrise hotel in Waikiki. I can't believe tourists go there so much.
I have observed that Maui and the Big Island have lots more fancy houses than Oahu. Did you see any cockroaches or geckos? that's what makes a truly cultural experience.:-)
Maren,
ReplyDeleteWe did see geckos. But thankfully, the place where we stayed was clean and I think Vanessa saw one cockroach and I didn't see any. It's funny you mention PB&J because we brought food around for lunch and after about 3 days all of the kids were sick of PB&J--but there really wasn't anything more appetizing. Plus I'm not a huge fan of pineapple--it overpowers everything and I can only eat so much of it until I'm saturated. But the weather IS really good.