Honeymoon!!! ...6 Months Later

So we finally made it! We finally went on our honeymoon, and let me just say it was totally worth the wait! For those of you who missed the memo the first time, our honeymoon was initially delayed due to an unplanned incident involving snow skiing, insta-care, and Chad's leg. BUT broken bones heal! And we finally made it happen!

It was kind of sureal landing in the Honolulu airport. I still couldn't believe we had finally made it there. I mean, for so long all Hawaii had ever been to me was all those pictures you see in the brochures... Stuff like this.

....Not this. Our shuttle driver decided that the best route to take for all of us first time visitors was right through the slums of Waikiki. Needless to say...my first impression of Hawaii was a tad disappointing. Although the above picture was not of the slums, it was actually the sunrise view taken from the top floor of our super nice hotel (fyi: booking on Priceline is the way to go) at about 5:30 in the morning. Our internal clocks were still on Utah time which was 9:30 in the morning, but I digress...where was I....Oh yes! First impressions. Well you know that old adage "You never get a second chance to make a first impression"? Well, I think they made an exception for Hawaii. Downtown Waikiki may have left me wanting...but Hawaii as a whole, is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.

With it being my first trip to Hawaii I wanted to see all the tourist-y stuff i.e. The Polynesian Cultural Center, Pearl Harbor, The Dole Plantation, etc... And thankfully, Chad indulged me, even though he has been to Oahu twice before.

The PCC was one of my favorite places we went. The canoe parade especially. SO fun! The Dole plantation and the super yummy pineapple ice cream was a highlight as well. One of our favorite parts was just cruising around Oahu and just seeing what we could see. North shore was great and we stopped at some gorgeous beaches and just chilled for a while and played in the surf.On Monday night we met up with our friends Lindsey and Jason and they were gracious enough to take us to a beautiful beach for Family night. We loved it! It was so pretty. Unfortunately, I was so excited to see Lindsey I totally spaced bringing my camera so I don't have any photographic evidence of this. Can you help me out with this Lindsey? You know you've got a good friendship when it's been years since you've seen them but it feels like no time at all. Thanks for the good time guys!

On Wednesday morning we met up with our fellow honeymooners, Lou and Phil, who had just gotten married on the 8th. As it turns out they were in our exact same hotel! Ha! Who knew? It was pretty handy for car pooling to Pearl Harbor and the swap meet though, which by the way is the PERFECT place to buy suvinors, SO much cheaper than anywhere else on the island. And it was SO much fun! We ran into a jam lady, Sylvia...or Sherry...I forget, but she makes her own jam. And it is GOOD! We got suckered into buying 3 jars of Jam, one of which was a "man jam" which Chad is ga ga over. BBQ's at our place this summer! These jams are great on meat! I know...it sounds weird, but trust us...you'll love it!

Wednesday we flew over to Kauai and started part 2 of our trip. In comparrison to Waikiki this island is pratically bare with habitation, but it is called the Garden Island for a reason. SO SO beautiful! Especially the north shore! Chad and I pretty much decided that when we are rich and famous there is where we want to retire. (HA...dream on.) THIS is the Hawaii I had pictured!

All the pictures really don't do it justice. You've got to go people. Find a way. Make it happen. Kauai is TOTALLY worth it. While we were there we went on a kayak trip up the Wailua River where we went on this GREAT hike to a secret falls, and we saw an old Hawaiian village. Way cool. And our great adventure was a raft trip to the Na Pali coast line! (that one opening aerial shot in Jurassic Park...yeah...we were totally there...just yesterday!) The raft trip was kind of rough...not going to lie. 35 miles in a little raft on the HUGE choppy ocean...my tail bone is STILL tender. BUT...once you get past that part of things...it's TOTALLY worth it. We were able to cruise right into some of these incredible caves with the bluest water you have ever seen, and we were also able to go snorkeling. A first for me. I was a little trepidatious about getting in because, me, a land locked girl all my life, has this thing about large bodies of water and the fish that swim in them. Kind of freaks me out. Okay...REALLY freaks me out. But I did it, and it was unbelievable! LOVED it! We were fortunate enough to see TONS of dolphins, a handful of turtles and even a Momma Whale with her calf! CRAZY cool!!! And it wasn't just a spout of water either. They gave us a whole show as they jumped and played. The baby would jump and then the momma would show him how it's REALLY done. SO amazing. I have a deep respect for the ocean...and the power that is in it. SO intimidating and completely awesome. This is one of our favorite parts of our trip.

We'd like to thank all the people who made this possible. #1) Chad's Aunt Heidi who hooked us up with buddy passes on Delta which saved us exuberant amounts of money. #2 Jason and Lindsey who showed us one of the most beautiful beaches where the locals go. #3 Lou and Phil for introducing us to the Shave Ice (mmmm...just talking about it makes me want one). #4 Delta Airlines for giving us first class accomodations on the night flight back (this is the way to go) and the lovely airport of Seattle, in which we currently sit, waiting for ANY flight to get us the rest of the way home. BOO on standby. And Tyler and Janet for being willing to be on call for local pickup back in our hometown!

Best honeymoon a girl could ask for!