Day 3 – March 13th
Today is Thursday. It is second morning to wake up in the beautiful place. I slept in again. It happens. And I can’t pretend I don’t love it. After I showered I did a little research on a few places I want to see while I’m here on the island of Oahu. It’s always hard to know what is worth seeing and what is not worth seeing but I guess that is the risk you have to take when you want to make sure you get as much in as you can.
I packed a beach bag full of lots of crap because I wasn’t sure where my day would lead me. After I checked in with Kara and the twins I grabbed the keys and headed out the door. Not only am I lucky enough to get to stay with my friends, they are rockstars and are letting me borrow Kara’s Escape while I am here. Life can’t get much better than this!
I still hadn’t really decided want I wanted to do. Top of my list was going to Diamond Head State Monument to hike. So I plugged it into maps and headed towards Honolulu. Sadly maps was being a little bit of a pain so I headed out without really knowing where I was going. I could retrace the first few steps of getting out of their neighborhood but then made a wrong turn. I filled up with gas and found an ATM to get cash out and then turned myself back around. Finally my maps kicked back into gear and I was making my way to Diamond Head.
I followed the directions and ended up outside a Community College. Thankfully Diamond Head is located right next to a Community College and I found my way to it. I paid $5 to park. Kicked my flipflops off and replaced with my favorite green Toms. Lathered myself down with very strong sunscreen. Packed my purse full of water. And headed up the trail. 
Being by myself, I worked my way up at a pretty fast pace. I was hoping this would be a nice little workout before my race on Sunday and I wasn’t wrong. Being the super pale white girl that I am, I sometimes simply melt in the sun. Literally. I can pass out so fast. It’s ridiculous. So I was careful and made a pit stop or two to inhale some water. I passed several interesting people and noticed how nice some people can be when it comes to taking other people’s photos for them. I even offered to take a few family’s photos for strangers…but no one offered to take my photo in return. Blarg. There were several steps to hike up which was the hardest part for me. I tried keeping count. I did a good job and then lost track after 100.
I don’t really know how long it took me to get to the top. I wasn’t really watching the time. But I made the time worth while. I spent lots of time at the top taking photos of the beautiful view. I am really getting into my panoramic photos right now. It’s just too beautiful here not to take advantage of the long shots. There was this “nice” family from New Zealand that were hogging the highest point for the longest time. I was trying to be respectful of the space but they spent over ten minutes there by themselves. I finally hoisted myself up the ladder and invaded their space. I have no patience for people who are not considerate of others.
Several other pairs of people came and went while we were all waiting to get to the top. One of the more enjoyable couples to watch started taking awesome pictures of this chick doing crazy yoga poses on these high places. It was entertaining. There was also an Asian couple who had their tripod with them and timer so they could take their own photos. Show offs. Oh – I forgot to mention – there are Asians everywhere here. I knew I would be in the minority here. And I am. But I hadn’t really imagined the amount of Asians I have seen here. I am pretty sure I have seen more Asians than I have actual island folk. It’s crazy! 
I made my way down part of the path and landed myself in a secluded area overlooking the bay. There was a bench so I sat and enjoyed the view for a while…until the “nice” family came and invaded my space. I guess it was Karma. But I moved out of their quickly once they showed up and took over the bench.
I hiked the rest of the way back down and treated myself to a shaved ice. It was a nice treat to cool down with. I had gotten so hot and sweaty from the hike up. I ordered mine with half pineapple and half strawberry. I found a bench in the shade to sit at. I took a couple of bites and then a bee swooped in to get a taste. I wasn’t too frightened right away. I figured it would buzz off soon. But then another showed up on my icy treat. I tried running around a little bit to deter them but they followed me closely. Running in a circle probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do. Ha. I ran faster and eventually dodged them. I’m sure I looked like a crazy person. But I finally got to enjoy my shaved ice in peace. 
After that I washed up and headed back to the car. I decided to head over to Pearl Harbor to see the historical sites and pay my respects. I put in my maps and headed out. It’s always interesting to see where maps is going to take me on Oahu. It always gets me close but never in quite the right spot. Eventually I can follow signs which is nice but I need maps to atleast get me headed in the right direction. I arrived in the last hour of their day. I walked around and looked at all the memorials. I called my mom after and told her that in order to really get the experience I think you have to go ahead and pay the money and go on the real tours. I still learned a lot and got a lot out of what I did but I would like to see the ships. One of the strangest things about this day is that while I was walking around the memorials I small animal darted across the path. I think it was a ferret but I can’t be too sure. I tried telling Kara about this and told her it was hard to explain. And said that if it wasn’t a ferret than it was similar to a very small seal that didn’t have flippers but had hands and feet, was small and skinny, and that was on land. She laughed and told me that, that was indeed hard to explain. Note: I told my dad about this recently and he laughed so hard. And then asked if I saw a Sea Otter. It’s possibly. I still have no clue. But it was strange.
After that I started to head back to Kara’s. She told me to take my time and to stop at the Pali Lookout. Oh my God. The view from this place was fantastic. It actually overlooks Kaneohe which is where my friends live. It also has historical significance. It was unbelievably windy while I was there. Clouds were gathering around the mountains and I thought for sure I would see some rain. Rain has been on the radar every day I have been here and is still on the radar for the rest of the time I’m here. Apparently it rains somewhere on the island every day. I believe it with all the greenery in the area but I have yet to see it. I did however nearly get blown over by the wind at this lookout. Literally. I’m not joking here. I’m a full figured woman. I have some meat on me. And I almost got knocked over by the wind. It was crazy. Also, there was this crazy tree out by the parking look. It’s fantastic. That is all.
I made my way back to casa de Smith and made it just in time to feed my little boyfriend Knox. He is so stinkin’ funny. He loves to suck on my finger. But today he was all about sticking my whole finger in his mouth to teeth on. And then he didn’t stop there. He started sucking on different parts of my hand. Slobber was everywhere. But he is so adorable it doesn’t even matter.
Dinner was served by Mr. Smith. Spicy tacos. It was delicious. We enjoyed and episode of the Voice. And then an episode of The Americans. Knox was getting crabby around bedtime so I sat with him some more until it was time to put the babies down. I caught up on my email, facebook, and pinterest while they took care of their babies. And then we ended the night with another episode of the Americans. It’s so good. Watch it! Now!
Now I’m in bed. I thought I would do more research on what I want to do so that my day tomorrow will be planned out. But I’m tired. So I guess it’ll wait until tomorrow.
20twenty7seven 