Last of Hawaii

Well, unless I find some more pictures on my camera cards, this should be the last of our lovely vacation. :-) One of my favorite things about visiting my brother is being on base...it is just such a different life from what we are used to. And on Hawai'i, they live on an island in the middle of Pearl Harbor, so there are some fascinating things to look at. I thought I would take you on one of our bike rides.

From random aircraft landing in your backyard...

...to massive trees on which to climb...

...to vines to swing on, there is plenty to do...

...and see.

This is the USS Arizona Memorial.

My favorite quote from all the memorials on Ford Island.

Won't this be a great shot when taken at the right time of the day?

This was a submarine that was coming into port as we sat there.  Can you see the men on the top waiting to get off?

This is how K was getting around.

And Em...

On the other side of the island, the USS Utah is still a little above the water line.

The memorial in front of the USS Missouri.

You can see the USS Missouri in the background.

Ah, it was a blast!

Don't forget all the wrestling in the house.

Or the playing.

Or the building of forts in which to hide.

K even made some signs for this fort...

(No Tigers)

Well, t'was a grand 'ol time.  God Bless!!

Tour de Big Island

One of our days on the Big Island, we decided to take a tour around the north and east sides. We stopped at one historic site...there isn't a lot of life on this side of the island so these mushrooms were quite interesting to me.

A wall to one of the temples.

One of the original boats.

It was hot, so we didn't spend long there.

Random church along the way. :-)

After seeing black lava rock for two days straight, to suddenly see fields of green was amazing.

We spent the day in our dresses hoping to get a family photo somewhere in this beauty.  :-)

One of the roads we traveled on.  I love trees!

On the way to see Akaka Falls the kids kept holding hands which was so cute.

After the hike, we stopped off for some ice cream.  K doesn't normally like cold things, but for chocolate, she went for it.

These remarkable geckos were everywhere.

Sorry, these got out of order.

Valley after lush valley and waterfall after waterfall became the story of the day.

Eating lunch...

Sitting like the Africans they are.

Ok, now we are back at Akaka Falls.

It's only 410ft high.

One of our favorite waterfalls...right into the ocean.

I love the Big Island for this reason - the variety.  On one side, black lava rock and a stark landscape with very little vegetation and black sand beaches; on the other side, green, lush land teeming with waterfalls and the beauty we have come to expect from Hawai'i.  I think it is my favorite island, even over the amazing hikes of Kuaii.  So nice!