Another trip to paradise

Husband had the opportunity to go to Hawaii for work and of course we jumped at the chance to visit Oahu again. I tagged along because, well, it's Hawaii. We went down a few day before his work conference so we could have some leisure time on the island. June in Hawaii is different from December in Hawaii. The sun is much hotter (we both got sunburns this time), and the weather was nicer overall. The waves on the North Shore are calmer, almost non-existent. Beaches that were too dangerous to swim at in December were perfectly safe this time. Husband was able to jet ski this trip, something he wasn't able to do in December due to the rough waters on the North Shore. The highlight of this trip, however, was coming across sea turtles while snorkeling in Hanauma Bay. On our trip in December I desperately wanted to see sea turtles. We went to the popular spots to find them but had no luck. It was disappointing. This trip we got lucky and saw some in the water! It was amazing! The turtles are huge and absolutely beautiful. We were able to watch them for a long time, as they seemed content to hang out in the same area, eating their breakfast. We don't have any pictures, as we did not bring an underwater camera with us. To be honest, it was nice to just watch the turtles instead of trying to get the perfect picture of them.

Since we didn't hike to a waterfall on our last trip, we decided to do one this time. We hiked Manoa Falls, which took us through a bamboo forest. One crazy thing about Oahu is that there are wild chickens everywhere! I even saw one try to go into Target! These chickens were in the parking lot at the falls.

Besides seeing the turtles, we both got to check things off our bucket list. Husband got to ride a jet ski and I got to drink water from a coconut. Husband enjoyed the jet skiing more than I enjoyed the coconut water. If I was ever stranded on an island and coconuts were my only food source, I would most likely die. I never want to taste that nasty stuff again!

We also discovered the Ko Olina Lagoons this time around. These four man-made lagoons are stunningly beautiful and picture perfect. While the snorkeling wasn't amazing here, the calm water, protected coves, and white sand beaches made for a great way to spend the day. The lagoons quickly became one of my favourite places on the island. We also saw a few mongooses (mongeese? mongi?) at the lagoons.

We had a bit of rain one day so we decided to visit the Iolani Palace. This is the only royal palace on US soil (well as long as you aren't counting Cinderella's castle!). It has a throne room, so you know it's legit. We took a tour and learned the history of the royals in Hawaii and how they were overthrown. Fascinating stuff.

While Husband was hard at work, I got to explore a bit on my own. I spent one morning at the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden. I am convinced this is where they filmed Jurassic Park. As I wandered around, I kind of expected a dinosaur to appear on the path.

We ended our trip with a drive up to an overlook of Honolulu, a tour of the USS Bowfin (which sits near the USS Arizona memorial), a stop to see where the USS Utah was sunk during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and a visit to the USS Oklahoma memorial, where white pillars line up representing the 429 Sailors and Marines killed when the Japanese attacked. The USS Oklahoma was pretty sobering, especially when we read that the design was inspired by the Navy tradition of "manning the rails." Manning the rails occurs when the crew of ship, dressed in full white dress, line up along the ship's rails and stand attention. It is the Navy's way of rendering honour to important people.

Anchorage in April

After a long, cold winter, we were able to go to Anchorage for a few days. While there, we kept running across this little moose family; a mama with her two babies. Husband saw them on his way back to the hotel after work one day so we hopped in the car and drove over to watch them for a bit. 

The next day while out for a drive, we came across the family again.

A friend told me about an eagle's next not far from our hotel so we just had to check it out. The first night we drove by we didn't see any eagles. We got lucky the second night and were able able to see this beautiful bird keeping watch over the nest. We also got to experience a gorgeous sunset.

Our drive back home gave us great views of Denali most of the way. Pictures don't even begin to capture how this mountain LOOMS over the road. It is massive. Along the way, we came across another moose. No matter how many times I see a moose, it never gets old.

Sharks!

I will get a blog post up about our recent trip to Hawaii but it might take a few days. In the meantime, I wanted to post about the shark diving we did while we were there, especially since so many people keep asking about it. This was hands down one of the coolest, most amazing things we have ever done. We were able to watch eight Galapagos sharks up close. It was unbelievable. I can't even find the words to describe the experience of being in the crystal-clear water and watching these animals swim in front of us.  

Here's how it worked: A boat took us 3 miles offshore (by the way, we saw a whale on the way out!). Once at the spot, they attached a cage to the side of the boat. We were given snorkel gear (very high quality gear I might add), and proceeded 5 steps down a ladder into the cage.  The bars of the cage were open so we could put our hands and feet through them if we wanted too. I kept my appendages in the cage since I like having hands and feet. We were able to spend about 30 minutes in the cage, watching the sharks.

We were told that the sharks have become conditioned to show up when they hear the sound of a diesel engine. They weren't kidding. We had barely come to a stop before the sharks showed up. They would bump up against the boat, exploring it. They did not bump up against the cage while we were in there, thank goodness. That would have freaked me out! And no I haven't seen the movie 47 Meters Down, even though many of my "friends" told me I should watch it before going shark diving (what is wrong with you people??). 

I have to admit that ever since we booked this tour, I have doubted my sanity. I came close to cancelling more than once. Even as I was descending into the cage, I thought, "What in the world am I doing? I must be crazy!" But I knew if I didn't do it, I would regret it. It also helped that a family was in the boat with us and they had a 5 year old that went in the cage. I thought, "If he can do it, so can I." You'll be happy to hear we all survived. There was one mishap, however. For some unknown reason when we transferred the pictures from the memory card to the computer, the pictures that Husband took of me were nowhere to be found. We don't know if it was equipment error or user error--Husband isn't certain he ever actually captured a picture of me, so we have no idea what happened. Despite the lack of photo proof, trust me when I say I was definitely in the cage. After all, who do you think took the pictures of Husband?

Again, this was an amazing experience. It was worth every penny we paid. We would do it again in a heartbeat, which says a lot because we don't like repeating activities (why do the same thing twice if you can experience something new instead?). If you find yourself on Oahu, you should add this to your to-do list. We booked through Hawaii Shark Encounters. They were courteous, professional, and very knowledgeable about sharks and the ocean in general. They were also a nice, calming influence to have around right before we stepped off the boat to our almost certain death. #thisishowidieinhawaii

Game, set, match

The story for this post has its beginnings in December 2014. Those of you who have been long time readers may recall the time we stole an inflatable Christmas hippo from our Virginia neighbours' yard and put it in our yard. Those of you who are new to this blog can read all about it here. The neighbours retaliated by placing a garden gnome army on our doorstep. A few days later, the neighbours took it one step further and left an inflatable Santa on Fire on our lawn. And this is where the story ends...or so we all thought. Fast forward to this past October (2017). We are living in Alaska. Said neighbours still live in Virginia. Husband and I were able to take a trip to Virginia at the beginning of October. As we were packing, Husband suggested we take Santa on Fire to Virginia and set it up on the neighbours' lawn, just for old times sake. That's exactly what we did. We all had a good laugh over it, and Husband and I were pretty much declared geniuses for coming up with such a great plan. I must admit, we were extremely proud of ourselves. We thought we were so clever. Well folks, I have to tell you, we have been bested by our Virginia neighbours. Last night as I went to make sure the front door was locked before going to bed, guess what I noticed sitting on our snow covered front lawn?

I have no idea how it ended up back in Alaska. The only logical explanation is our Virginia neighbours somehow got in touch with friends here in Alaska. Promises were made; backroom deals were brokered; alliances were formed; and Santa on Fire ended up in front of our house. The Virginia neighbours have refused to names their co-conspirators thus far, most likely to protect the guilty.

To the person or persons who set this up, I commend you. It was -20*F/-29*C out last night. That is pretty cold to be outside helping a stranger try to win a battle that started almost 3 years ago.

To our Virginia neighbours: You have definitely won this round, but the battle still RAGES on. Although to be honest, I am not sure how we are going to top this but you can bet we will definitely try.