Exploring Oahu

Have you been reading my comments?  Several people have added to my blog in the comment sections - maybe you could go back and read the additional information if you are interested - especially the Pearl Harbor one.  

Oahu is gorgeous!  My aunt and her friend met us in Honolulu and was gracious enough to take us on a tour of the island.  As I said, when I was young, my grandparents had gone over there and in my mind I had envisioned what I believed Hawaii to be like.  Believe me, I was no where near close!  It is much more beautiful than I even imagined.  We went above the island in a park and looked at the scenes below and around us:

It was awfully windy up there.  Did I mention that I was freezing almost the entire time I was in HAWAII??!  It was cold in the morning and windy all the time!  Aunt Jacque said it was the tradewinds.  I would love living there - it was not hot at all.  Very nice climate.  I love being cold... and I grew up in windy conditions like these:

Yes, I could even get used to that.  Thankfully it was only that windy on the mountain  :-)

We got a picture with my Aunt Jacque - doesn't she look great?  I won't say how old she is, but she is my daddy's sister and we all know how old *I* am  ;-)

When we came down off the mountain, we were in and around Kona.  The differences in this side of the island was crazy!  Look at how dry it was!

Dryness mixed with lava makes it look like a desert.  

But it is beautiful by the water:

It has very interesting rock formations:

And the water was gorgeous - even the surfers and snorkelers were enjoying it:

I couldn't get over the mountains in Oahu had - we were in Hawaii!

I wasn't disappointed even in the trees and flowers  :-)

So, the dream trip I had always wanted to go on was every bit as special as I thought it would be.  The next day, we were off to fly to Hawaii, the big island, where we would meet up with my sister - and once again see my aunt and finally my uncle. We were looking forward to more adventures and seeing more family.  The time on Oahu was much too short, though I knew we would have one more day when we came back to fly out to San Francisco.

As I said before, I was most surprised in the huge mountains, the great amounts of lava and the dry parts of the island.  I wondered what the big island held for us in surprises... we shall see tomorrow  :-)