It's a New Day

I am so unbelievably happy that we have elected Barack Obama as president (and, I have to say, pretty relieved). Unfortunately, my home state has made me quite sad - I just keep hoping that the votes left to be counted are enough to keep Prop 8 from passing. It is beyond my comprehension that in this day and age people can continue to hate those who are different from them and that the majority of Californians are willing to write discrimination and second class citizenship into their constitution.

Beautiful shot of the sunset over Waikiki Beach by Michele


Ok, election talk over. Time to talk about my last full day of fun with Sarah and Michele. We started the day at the Kapiolani Community College farmer's market where we had delicious fried green tomatoes, ginger basil drinks, and the girls got to taste loco moco (hamburger patty, rice, fried egg, gravy) and a hummus like dip made out of taro - way better than poi. Sarah also ate some interesting raw organic cereal type something that apparently made her mouth taste like soap the rest of the day. Yum.

Because no trip to Honolulu would be complete without malasadas at Leonard's, we made room in our stomachs and headed over there for a sampler. I think the girls liked them.



After that we loaded back into the jeep and set off to Kailua for kayaking. Unfortunately, all the pictures we took of kayaking are on a waterproof camera that actually requires film to be developed. When I get those pic I'll post some.



On our way to Kailua on the Pali highway we stopped at the Nuuanu Pali Overlook, which is part of a state park. It was a bit too overcast to see very far, but it's still a beautiful spot on Oahu.



We set off from Kailua Beach to a flat little island that is a bird reserve you can walk around on (and the name is escaping me right now). We saw some shearwaters and then set back off to paddle over to Lanikai Beach. Lanikai is famous for its super fine grained sand that is also pretty white. I hung out on the beach wrapped in a towel -windy and chilly day- while Sarah and Michele attempted a little snorkeling.

Kayaking was suprisingly much easier than I thought it would be and we had a great time. That is, we had a great time until Michele capsized our kayak as we were pulling back up to the beach. With Sarah on the shore watching, Michele and I ended up in the water with our kayak on our heads. My paddle leash wrapped around my throat and I just kept thinking, "Don't panic." So I didn't. Some windsurfer guy lifted the kayak back off of us and the whole experience lasted about 15 seconds. When I got out of the water I was shaking a bit, probably partly from the adrenaline, and partly from the fact that it was rainy and cold! We had a lot of fun though, and rewarded ourselves with delicious burgers back in Waikiki.

Wait! Before we got back to Waikiki we drove around the windward (east) coast of Oahu and stopped at the Halona Blow Hole. It took several tries and some waiting, but we finally got to see it spurt up and actually grabbed a picture of it.



And that's our vacation together. With the exception of hiking Diamond Head (because it was closed) I think we hit all of our must sees and must dos. We had a wonderful time - it's all too rare that the three of us get to be together.

Thanks to Sarah and Michele for the wonderful trip and being so gracious as to allow me to post pictures of them (some of which they took)!