Roy + Ell: January 2011

Since I'm in flashback mode, I thought I'd post a little about our honeymoon to Hawaii.

Oh you probably think this picture was taken in Hawaii. Nope, still in Newport. Isn't it gorgeous? But we wanted a little warmer. :-) So the day after our reception there, we hopped on a flight for the island of Oahu.

And since we had a bit of a wait in the Portland airport, we made friends.

Our flight landed after the sun had already gone down. Since traveling always makes me unbelievably drowsy, I was excited to get straight to our hotel. But straight to our hotel turned into a snaking, round-about trek that lasted for two hours. Note to self: only take the bus if you are certain you are within the first 40 stops. After that, it's not worth it. Walking would be faster.

We were literally the last stop on the bus. Because it was dark we couldn't even enjoy the scenery. My head kept bobbing as I forced my body to stay awake, which made my neck sore. And to top it all off, the couple in front of us were from a country that apparently doesn't believe in deodorant.

You'd think this would be a rough start to a honeymoon... but Roy and I were still so high off of our wedding weekend, it really didn't bother us so much. As gooey as it sounds, we were just happy to be together. Even if it was in a crowded, dark bus shrouded in weird smells.

Day 1:
Pearl Harbor

As soon as we learned the Hawaiian tradition-- having a flower over your left ear symbolizing that you are "taken"-- Roy kept picking flowers off of the trees and sticking them in my hair.

Here we are, in the middle of the Pacific! Yeah, I'm huge.

One of Roy's favorite things about the whole trip was Pearl Harbor. We read every sign and played with all of the toys, many of which were retirees of WWII.

We took the boat out to the USS Arizona memorial, the final resting place for 1,177 men that were on the vessle when Japanese bombs sunk it in 1941. It was sobering to look at the long list of names engraved on the marble inside.

The memorial is built right across the center of the sunken ship.

Interesting fact: It has been 70 years since the ship sank, and it's still leaking oil. I guess 500,000 gallons takes a long time to seep out. The guides were quick to reassure us that it isn't enough each day to do great harm to the environment, and it is worth leaving the ship and its sailors intact.

This part of the ship isn't visible like this from the memorial. It is blocked by a wall, which I reached across and aimed my camera down. Later I looked at what I had captured and chills gave me goosebumps. It seems like the stairway down to the watery graves. Into the depths where men had been sleeping, eating, reading when the bombs hit. So unexpected and so terrible.

So after a somewhat solemn morning, we spent the day exploring Honolulu. It's definitely a crowded, polluted city, but it's got a unique vibe. Half of the people you pass on the street are walking barefoot on the warm pavement and there's an ABCs on every corner selling chocolate-covered macadamia nuts. Roy was obsessed with them the whole trip.

Day two: the Polynesian Cultural Center.

Our boat had quite a few people on board. This guy was trying to cruise past us, but he cruised into us. The result was a big crack in our boat. But the Polynesians know how to make a boat :-) we didn't sink.

The center has different areas of the park that represent different islands and different cultures.

I liked the New Zealanders!

They gave me a free henna!

This is where we watched a river parade!

And this is the same river that I dropped Roy's cell into.

Roy waited, laughed, bought some ice cream with fruit-- and all the while I was freaking out about his cell. Maybe just to make me feel better, Roy got into the water (almost waist deep) and pulled out his phone. And guess what... it still worked.

Because the center is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's no surprise that they take you on a quick tour to the BYU Hawaii grounds as well as the Laie Hawaii temple grounds. It was a gorgeous place.