Hanauma Bay to Hale'iwa

We headed out to see Oahu - the whole thing - in one fell swoop. The rain came in early and followed us back and forth the mountain ranges for most of the day. We learned extensive history of Hawaii and the land that is our nation's 50th state. Taking pictures today was difficult on me, everything was too cloudy or too hazy for me to snap the way I love to snap. I couldn't have been more wrong - the adage is that the best light for pictures is on a cloudy, hazy day. This held true, for after sifting through what I had taken; I was pleased with the deep colors, hazy or not!

Just off of Hanauma Bay and the Halona "blowhole", we recognized this popular movie spot (From Here to Eternity & 50 First Dates).

The water's edge was gorgeous to see...This is Nu'uanu Pali, where King Kamehameha I pushed his enemies up this lookout point and forced them to jump; thus gaining control over the Hawaiian islands.

We stopped at the Byodo-In Japanese temple. The kids love the abundant Koi that swim through out most of the ponds.

Raise your hand if you are a fan of Jurassic Park and LOST. These mountains are so intimidating in the real! It didn't help that the fog loomed and protected us from their vastness, it just made you worry how much bigger they really were underneath.
For fun, we used a crazy fake dino and the kids reinacted a cool scene for you...

hee hee...isn't that pretty cool?

We can't complain about the rain. Hawaii has been facing drough conditions and really need the rain. Here's beautiful proof why:

Tomorrow's journey will carry us to Pearl Harbor.

Stay tuned.