OAHU

Entrance to BYU Hawaii

Finally, I am posting about my trip to Hawaii,
but I am not exactly doing it in order.
I actually spent a week in Kauai first, but these pictures are from my
time with Mckenzie at BYU Hawaii, which is on the island of Oahu.
I flew from Kauii to Honolulu on Thursday the 26th.
Loved this flight. It took all of a half an hour....
Once I got there I had to get a rental car and then drive to Laei
where BYU Hawaii is and McKenzie is living.
Thank heavens for GPS. Even with that I found myself lost a couple of times.
Pretty sure the little voice in the box wanted to jump out and slap me!
It seemed most of the time it just said, "recalculating"!

Campus

Beautiful campus but not what I expected.
Kind of located in the middle of know where.
Very small school, and very islandy. (Not sure if that is a word)
But nice and friendly. McKenzie seemed to know everyone.......
We could walk from her house to the school just a few blocks away.
She usually rides a bike.
I could tell she really loves it there.

I loved this tree that looked to me like a big pineapple!
They do have some of the coolest trees and plants on these islands.
I just love them.

One of many afternoons at the beach!

One thing that McKenzie did tell me is that
she knew living and going to school there was not real life.
That someday she would have to come back and join the real world
but for now she was just going to enjoy not living in the real world.
She said that in her classes they are always making announcements like,
"Students, you must wear shoes to class. Flip Flops qualify as shoes"
Now that is funny!

McKenzie and her friend Christian

On one of my nights there we went to dinner at a Thai restaurant.
Never had Thai food before but thought it was good.
The best though was the fried coconut ice cream we had for dessert!
So, so good!!

I just love spending the time with McKenzie.
I miss her and hate having her so far away.
But love that she gets this experience
and loved experiencing some of this with her.

In this picture there was a guy spear fishing, but I cant see him now.....
some of his gear is at the bottom of the picture though
but he is somewhere out there in the water.

One morning when McKenzie had classes
grabbed my camera and went for a walk to the beach.
I was staying at a Condo at Turtle Bay,
it was not right on the beach but I could easily walk there.

A lot of the beaches are sandy but this one was really rocky
which made it fun to explore.

These crabs were everywhere.
They were so fun to watch and so hard to photograph.
It is like they knew you were trying to take their picture
and as soon as I brought the camera up they would scurry under a rock.
They were pretty big too. Not like the small sand crabs in Kauai.

I love how a lot of the trees have their roots growing out of the ground.
That is just so fascinating to me.
They just look so cool.............
Kind of like they could just walk away!!

I love the ocean and could never get enough of it.
Simply Beautiful............

I thought this was interesting.......
This was at the beach I was walking on.
There is a lot of history on this island.
We never made it to Pearl Harbor. We tried, but got lost!!
Next time I am there we will go for sure.

When McKenzie and I have been in New York
we always eat at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Factory
like everyday.....
You can not imagine our excitement when we discovered one at the
Mall in Honolulu! Thought I had died and gone to Heaven!
I took McKenzie, Her roommate Andri, and a friend to lunch there!
As always I had the Crab stuffed Shrimp
and had Calamari for the first time and loved it.
Calamari is squid for those who don't know.
It was sooooooo good!

Yep! McKenzie is holding a deep fried squid....
see all of the tentacles????

If you love Forest Gump the movie you would love this place
just because of all of the little reminders of the movie!
On the Women's bathroom door it says "Jenny" in stead of women.
I loved it!!

My name is Forest,
Forest Gump.
Everyone calls me Forest Gump.....

Best meal of my whole trip!!
And I had some pretty good meals, but I love this restaurant!

At the Ambercrombie store the shirtless models
just aren't on the bags.
They actually greet you as you walk into the store!
McKenzie was actually liking this just a little too much!
Did I mention that this was the most amazing mall I have ever been to?
Oh my gosh, it was the best............
For sure going back next time...........

I think the above trees are the kind Tarzan swings on........
Ya think?????

The Hawaii Temple that is just a couple blocks from McKenzies house.

McKenzies cute blue house that is located
on Kamehameha Hwy!
Try saying that. Nothing is pronounced how it is spelled in Hawaii.
You should hear the GPS say it. McKenzie was laughing about it the whole trip!
You get on this Hwy and it will take you basically around the whole island.
She lives right accross the street from the beach.
Lets just say that if there were a sunami she would be in trouble!

On Saturday I took Kenze and her room mate to Costco
and we stalked their fridge and pantry.
When I arrived, both were basically empty and they were living on Oatmeal!
I am sure they can hardly wait for me to make a return trip!
Honestly, they were all so grateful, how could I not want to do it for them!
Nothing worse than being a poor college student.

Below is their kitchen sinks which also double as their bathroom vanity!

Just for fun!
Mother/Daughter Tatoos.....
They were originally going to match but at the last minute I changed mine
but ended up liking McKenzies best.
Hers is the top
mine is the bottom!

Before anyone freaks,
they were just Henna and were not real.
Mine was gone within a couple of weeks.............

Went to the Dole Pineapple Plantation
where the best part was eating Pineapple icecream!
Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Had this made for Noah. It spells out his name!
He loved it!
Hunter was so jealous and wanted one
which surprised me!
So next time, I will have to go back and get one made for him!
(Yes, there will be a next time)

These are pineapples.
In my mind, I picture pineapples growing from a tree,
but they actually grow out of the ground.
The bush things are the top of the pineapple!

We did some fun shopping
and brought home chocolate covered pineapple for everyone!

Sleeping on the beach!
What a life...........
What you cant see in this picture is that she had sand stuck all over her
because the wind was blowing so hard!

McKenzies transportation!
It is so cute and she has always wanted one.
I wish we could figure out away to get it home
after she is finished with school.

On my last day we were driving by a beach
and I could not believe how big the waves were.
It is hard to tell in the pictures
but they were massively scary and they were not letting
anyone in the water.

The sign says "No Swimming"
I love all of the signs that I see when I am in Hawaii.
I love the little pictures of the people! Like the guy falling head first into the water!
Too funny!
It would lead you to believe that Hawaii is a very dangerous place!

Good Bye Ocean and sandy beaches and warm weather............
Hello cold, dreary, Utah.........

After flying all night I look like something that the dog dragged in.
I was dead tired. Not just from flying all night
but because of the 3 hour time difference that my body was use to.
No matter, I was so, so happy that Noah skipped school
and came to the airport to pick me up.
Being gone 2 weeks was so long,
but I loved my trip.
Loved the time I spent with McKenzie and plan to return in April!
Can not wait!