Ripsnort

Day 8 found us right back at Waimea bay, spending 7 hours on the beach with nothing to worry about except when we'd eat the next samwich out of the cooler. SUP boarding was alittle tough as the wind was blowing pretty good. Day 9 at the crack of dawn, my oldest son and I hiked around the ancient ruins of Pu'u O Mahuka Heiau up above Waimea valley where 3 from Captain Vancouver's exploration party met their sacrificial fate in 1792. The view of Waimea Valley and Waimea bay was stunning. We spent the morning on the Analulu stream in Haleiwa, paddle boarding with the turtles up and down stream. Later in the afternoon, a good friend on the island who lives near Punchbowl came over for a BBQ and chat. One day left on ... read more

Note: For video, copy/paste URL into browser address and hit enter. To view more pictures, click on a single picture and a picture browser will appear. Day 5 found me once again lined up at Ted's Bakery (5 miles down the road) salivating like Pavlov's dog but instead of the Pavlov's bell ringing to make the dog salivate, it was the much anticipated unlocking of the front door that made me salivate! I purchased breakfast croissants once again, freshly baked, and brought them back to the house so that we could load their cargo up (scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese.) After breakfast we headed to beautiful Waimea Bay for the annual SUP board racing on the 4th of July. Waimea is our favorite destination for the 3 S's.. sun, sand and snorkeling. You can see a short ... read more

Our return to Oahu found us with a milliion dollar view (As my friend Brian called it) peering out the double 24 ft sliding glass doors of our beach home on the North Shore of Oahu. Brrian and Janine Sather, two of our dearest frineds, joined us on this trip. They have been to the islands before, but had not spent alot of time on the North shore like we were about to. Our first impressions were captured in this 1 min HD video I slapped together (Copy/paste text, place in Address URL, enter): http://vimeo.com/25869685 The day was about done when we arrived so much of the time was spent unpacking and putting together a quick shopping list for dinner. Day 2 we set out for Costco and the grocery store to load up for 11 ... read more

It was "Ground hogs Day" as in the Bill Murray movie, a return to Waimea Bay. Again, Ted's Bakery (make those chocolate eclairs illegal!) and we finally got a parking spot within the parking lot, at 7:45am. The kids wanted to return to this beach as the rock jumping was just too tempting for brave souls. Peer pressure got to me and I had to jump as well. I had to plug my nose as I hate salt water going the wrong direction in my sinus cavities. The rock was busy today so I only did two jumps, but the kids wore themselves out jumping time after time. A wild pod of dolphins paid a relatively close visit to the shoreline and the sea turtles were present as well, although I didn't personally swim with any ... read more

This was the first day I actually slept past 6am (Which is 9am my time). The day started with breakfast at Keona's just 3 blocks from the Outrigger for under $30.00 for all 4 of us with one coupon. The kids finally had an opportunity to swim in the Outrigger pool (the pool was reserved the night before for a private party) and I took the opportunity to take some photos around Waikiki. After checking out at 9:45am, we headed up Hwy 72 to take in some sites such as the blow hole, Sandy Beach, Makapu'u beach and finally settled on Lanikai beach for 3 hours of snorkeling and relaxation. We met some folks from our home state of Washington, the father an electrician from Vancouver, WA (Yes, there are TWO Vancouvers, one in Canada, and ... read more