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As some of you may recall... the hubinator and I are trying to visit all 50 US States.

We had planned to Alaska and Hawaii till the end because of the distance and the fact that I cannot get long periods of time off from work because of the demands of my job. But, one of many nieces married a young man who is in the airforce and they are living on Oahu ... so we decided to go to Hawaii this year so we could also visit with her.

When I was booking the flight we were going to be changing planes in Las Vegas anyway... and being as my husband's mobility issues make navigating an airport challenging, and the fact that we needed to officially mark Nevada off our list of states, I decided that spending one night in Vegas coming and going would be a good idea.

We are not big gamblers, but on the night we spent in Vegas on the way we went to see Donny Osmond. He put on a great show.., but I was surprised at the number of women swooning over him. and I managed to stay awake even though I had gotten up at 3 a.m. to make sure be go to the airport, through TSA, and onto the plane for 4 hours and 15-minute flight. I must say with all the flying we have done in recent years that Nashville TSA seems to be faster and the agents friendlier and more helpful than most... thought the ones in Bozeman Montana were awesome.

The next morning we got to sleep in till 6 before we had to go through the airport fun again... Vegas TSA was unorganized and chaotic. Somehow one of my shoes got separated from the rest of my belongings and it took a few minutes to find it. Fortunately, it was bright red and kind of hard to lose. We made it alive onto the 6 and 1/2 hours flight to Honolulu.

We arrived very tired... bought food for the condo we were staying in... went to eat... drove by Waikiki beach briefly and went back to the condo and collapsed.

I had pre planned things I wanted to see on Oahu so on Monday we went to the Dole Plantation. Though tourist trappy in some regards, the history lover in me enjoyed it greatly. As did the "wish I was a great gardener" part of me. They also had a mini train that took visitors all over the grounds that was narrated and gave the history of John Dole and the pineapple industry etc. The train made it possible for my husband to take part, which is one of the reasons I chose this as one of our activities. I try to avoid things that he can't take part in. Oh and they have Dole whip... which if you have never had... and you like pineapple you have to try. I learned later it is available at Disney and sometimes even in store... but this was the first time I had experienced it

After the Dole Plantation, we drove on to the North Side of the island. We went to Waimea beach. This beach is famous for huge waves in winter months and on this windy day it lived up to its rep. It was too rough of us to try to go into the water but we spent a while there just enjoying the beauty and watching the surfers. We then drove downtown and did some souvenir shopping and I was very happy to find that many items are actually made on the Hawaiian islands.

The hubby wanted to visit Pearl Harbor so I bought the "see it all" ticket package for Tuesday. We arrived for that at 7:30 am. as the tickets instructed us to. It was indeed a full day. We took a boat out to the Arizona memorial, I got to go into a WWII era submarine which is essentially now a museam with lots of pictures and memorabilia and the casings of actual WWII era torpedos etc. We got to visit the USS Missouri battleship. We also went to airplane museum etc. It was after 4 when we left exhausted. If you like history... this is worth the trip. All of the areas (except the Arizona memorial) give you ear plugs and a device to listen to details as you walk through so you do not have to read if you do not want to.

After two very full days we decided to chill on Wednesday. We traveled to the Pali overlook to get pictures but ie was so foggy, rainy, windy, that was a challenge. We drove onto the Windward side of the island (east side) to visit Kailua beach. I had read online that it had one of the better bathroom facilities on the island and good accessible parking close to the beach. Both of these things were true. We spent most of the day there and then drove south along the beach as much as possible and pulled over in numerous places to take photos of the beautiful beaches.

We took my niece and her husband out to eat Wednesday night at Highway Inn. It is where my niece suggested we eat to get authentic Hawaiian food. I had the Hawaiian Moco and I liked it. The Taro leaves used tasted like turnip greens to me. We then got to spend a few hours catching up with my niece which was nice.

Thursday we "attempted" to visit Diamond Head but got there and learned we needed reservations. So we drove on the Halona Blow Hole. We spent our morning there as it is a great place to get photos. I was hoping to see some humpback whale mommys with their newborns there as well... but had no such luck. I would have taken one of the whale watching tours out to see the Humpbacks but it was so windy while we were there I knew I would get sea sick. My whale adventures will have to wait until I go to Oregon... hopefully next year.

After lunch we decided to go change into our swim suits and spend the afternoon on Waikiki beach. The wind died down somewhat in the afternoon and spent a few hours enjoying the sun and surf. At one point in the afternoon a monk seal swam up right in front of us then took off again. I had read how aggressive they can be and was glad this one seemed chill...

Friday was our Polynesian Cultural Center day. We took highway 63 to Laie and took many beautiful beach photos along the way. This was another all-day adventure. I can't start to describe everything at the cultural center. But it was well worth the money... especially if you like history and learning about other cultures. It included a 1 and 1/2 hour luau... and a 2 hour show at the end of the day. We got back to the condo exhausted.

All day long on Friday I kept getting notices that due to high winds in Vegas, Reno, and Salt Lake City that flights to those cities on Saturday could be delayed or cancelled.

When I woke up on Saturday morning I learned our flight had not been delayed or cancelled... We flew out of Honolulu going back to Vegas at 8 a.m. leaving Hawaii you have to go through not only TSA but also USDA checks. This is to ensure you are not taking certain thing from Hawaii back to the states... seeds... plants... etc. We got to take off on time... but flying into Vegas was eventful. There were 50 mph wind gusts and the pilot had to circle around the air port a few times trying to catch a time when the winds were not too bad. We landed 45 minutes late... and I was more than a little motion sick.

We got to the hotel checked in played a little slots and went to eat at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse. Food was good but not worth what it cost. Holy Cow! LOL... being as neither gambling or drinking hold much interest to me... nor does spending too much for food. I am not much of a fan of Vegas. Two days was plenty to do me a lifetime! I will say all the taxi drivers we used in Vegas were great. We gambled away less than $200 but spent three times that much on meals the limited amount of time we were there.

Sunday and the flight from Vegas back to Nashville was pretty uneventful... thankfully. We made it back to our house alive but tired. lol.

* Assorted notes: I had never given much thought to Hawaii. After we planned the trip I got curious and started reading about the island. There are 8 major islands (and many islets and atolls) but I really only knew anything about 3 of them. Those being the Big Island (Hawaii)... Oahu (where Pearl Harbor and the state capital of Honoulu are located) and Maui. I read a lot about the other 5 and found it very interesting. If I ever go back to Hawaii I want to stay on Kauai. I think it would be much more suitable to my idea of a vacation.

* The 5 hours time difference is something to keep in mind. I was finally getting adjusted on Friday... just in time to leave on Saturday. A longer trip would allow a visitor time to adjust and enjoy things more. It is hard to go to sleep at 10 p.m. Hawaii time when your body is on Tennessee time and thinks it is 5 p.m. Same thing in the morning you wake up at 2 a.m. in Hawaii because to your body it is 7 a.m.

*Awesome produce. I ate so much fresh Hawaiian produce... pineapple... apple bananas.. payaps... sweet potatoes and saw so many beautiful plants! for me the plants and produce were the best part of Hawaii.

*Chickens roam around all over the place... well not really in Honolulu/Waikiki but in the less populated areas they are everywhere like you see pigoens in mainland cities.

*Homelessness... we saw homeless people and sometimes whole tent communities all over Oahu. I cannot say if this exists on the other island.

*Military presence... there are army, navy, airforce, and marine bases on Oahu... as well as a significant coast guard presence... these areas are off limits to civilians so lots to the island you can't visit

* All beaches in Hawaii are public beaches... but that does not mean they are all easily accessible. Some citys have nice beach parks with good parking and restrooms etc. Some do not.

*my advice...

* go when you have plenty of time to spend there a week is not enough.

* Read about the islands before you go and decide which one (that you can visit because some you are forbidden to visit) sounds most compatible to you... I didn't really have a choice as I wanted to spend time with my niece who lives on Oahu.

*Break up the trip if you do not live on the west coast. We were much less exhausted thanks to stopping and staying a night both way in Vegas...

*take lots of money... Hawaii is expensive!