hawaii trip illuminated

Man, it's late, but I gotta post about Hawaii before I forget about everything.

Our resort was totally plush, the interesting taxi driver said it's where the Pro Bowl'ers stay when they're in Hawaii. The area of the island was kinda strange, big oil refinery, radio towers and electric plant. But the way the resort was laid out, you couldn't see any of that stuff unless you left the "set."


View from our lanai, to the left.


I decorated the fine marble bathroom with tacky birthday decorations as a surprise Friday morning. In hindsight, I don't know why I chose the bathroom instead of the bedroom. Can you see the little paper hula girls?


Speaking of hula, here's a little hula dance goin' on by the pool.


This was all Kevin wanted to do for his birthday, sit on the beach and read. So by golly, that's what he did. I bought that book for him about a double agent in the CIA, true story, and that guy had issues.


This is his flaming pineapple birthday tart. That's a bundle of 24 candles and then 6 more festive candle for a total of 30. The old folks at the table next to us were concerned for their safety.
And no, I didn't have the waitstaff do the cake, I followed the Golden Rule, because I hate when the waiter sings to me. I just busted out my prepacked candles and some matches I appropriated from the hotel bar.

Here's a view of our hotel from the catamaran we sailed on. It made me laugh that the brochure said "dolphins or whales guaranteed or your money back."
And lo, we saw dolphins.
They must get a cut of the profits.


Here's what our captain referred to as "the pirate ship."
It was a replica 18th century trade ship, complete with cannon, that they fired at us as we passed. Yar.


Look, there it is again, sneaky up on my booty.


And again, sailing into the sunset like One Eyed Willie.


Do you like my leisurely repose?


We often opted not to take the automatic rotating door. It was like trying to jump in on a game of double dutch.

We went snorkeling at Kahe point, which according to this guy on the internet, it's the best place to snorkel in all of Hawaii.
It just happen to be .2 miles from our hotel! Kismet!
We heard it was called "Electric Beach" because it's next to the power plant (which is why the sea life hangs out there, because it's warm and cozy.)



On our walk there we saw some scenes in which Dog the Bounty Hunter might have come looking for ice heads.
Just keep walking.
Pay no attention to the men living under the tarps.
Then later, we learned that the real locals call it "Tricks Beach."
Yeah...I can see that.


H-O-T! Haven't looked this cool since 10th grade chemistry class.

Normally, I really really hate swimming in natural bodies of water. I'm like the Woody Allen of water sports. I have bad dreams about getting stuck in the ocean, etc, I fear aquatic snakes, etc-- you get the picture.
But the water was clear and warm and the marine life book I checked out assured me there were no human-eating animals or sea snakes. So swam way way out to where the fish hung out. I was so proud of myself.




Fish fish and more fish. They don't like to be petted, such a shame.
I spotted a sea turtle, but we didn't capture him on film.
Imagine a big turtle swimming, and that's what it looked like.


See that guy in the background? No, it isn't Kevin. It was this little hawaiian kid's dad. And shortly after I took these, he jumped.
He jumped into the not-that-deep water with big rocks. He didn't die, do I guess those natives know what they're doing.
How cute is that boy, c'mon! He brought his cat to the beach too.

Did I mention I got an hour long massage at the Spa? Yeah I did, and it was worth every penny.