The Hawaiian Holiday

Aloha! Last week, we were blessed with the opportunity to take a week-long vacation on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. The first half of the trip, we stayed at the Lodge on the beautiful Marine Corps Base in Kaneohe Bay, and spent the remainder of the trip at the Hale Koa, an exclusive military hotel on the famous Waikiki Beach in Honolulu. The weather was perfect! Above is a nice shot of us in Waikiki with the Diamond Head Crater in the background. Here are a bunch of photos from the trip:

A driving the coolest rental car ever, a Ford Mustang convertible!

Two photos from our hike up Diamond Head (a 1,000 year-old volcano, nice work-out, great view of Waikiki).
A perfectly arched rainbow, as seen from the car window (doesn't really do it justice).

Hanging out at the North Shore (no big waves though).













A on the boat leaving the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor (the Missouri battleship behind).

L "holding" a rainbow, also in Pearl Harbor (there's a ton of these in Hawaii).
At a traditional Hawaiian luau on the beach at sunset.












The scenic road on the east side of the island, heading up to Kaneohe Bay.

Sunset in the hills, as seen from the east-facing Marine Base (did I mention how much we really liked this base?).

An ocean view from our room at the Hale Koa (not bad for a military hotel!).
We hiked a mile through a rainforest to the Maunawili Falls (although not seen in this photo, the trail was dangerously muddy and we had to maneuver over a stream several times; the best shoes for this would have been combat boots...)

More from Waikiki (we eventually got nice tans).

A typical Hawaiian neighborhood, with the coolest, smoky mountains ever.

We still have too many more photos but this could take all night. Overall, it was a fantastic trip, and we wouldn't mind if the Marine Corps ever stationed us there!