Hawaii Day #3- You Asked For It!!

Day #3 in Hawaii started with a super early morning trip to the airport for some Island Hopping. We hopped ourselves right on over to the big island of Oahu. We flew Go! airlines and as soon as we climbed to a cruising altitude we descended. It is only about a 20 minute flight. Love those short ones!!!

We got off the plane and headed straight for Pearl Harbor at 7:30AM. We got our tickets for the movie and boat ride and then did some looking around at the museum while we waited for the 8:15AM movie. I was brought to tears as I watched the video and real footage from that awful day at Pearl Harbor. I got chills thinking about all of the brave men who risked and lost their lives. We exited the theater to load a boat and go over to the Memorial. Everyone was very reverent as we reached the Memorial built over the USS Arizona that lay to rest under the water holding the bodies of over 1,000 service men. Some men who lived through that day chose to have their ashes laid to rest with their crew members, mates, and friends. It was very humbling for me to witness this memorial. The smell of oil and gasoline covered the air at the memorial. The Arizona continues to leak gasoline and oil after all of these years. Seeing this really brought to reality the fact that, "Freedom is not free"!

After Pearl Harbor we called and got an early check-in at our $364 hotel the Ala Moana. We got these suite rooms with private balconies on an Orbitz glitch for $36 for the night! Amazing! The rooms and hotel were super nice downtown Honolulu not so much. It was kind of scary! It just had such an old rundown feel.

Kelly and Cameron then piloted us to the Polynesian Cultural Center along the coast line. It was beautiful. The ocean and beach line perfectly crisp and clear. it was like riding through a scene in a movie!

We reached the PCC for a guided tour of different Polynesian Cultures. There were 7 different villages and cultures to explore. Luckily we had "Cousin Scott" to help us through. Our group became a "ohana" or family. We traveled the different villages and learned to use poi balls, we ate poi, hula danced, weaved a fish out of tree leaves, and learned how to play the stick game. We watched a man climb a coconut tree, crack the coconut, and milk the coconut. Don't worry he was super funny while doing it all. I laughed so hard I almost wet my pants! We also got to watch the canoe parade and see all the different villages dancing their native dance and singing. These are only a few of the things we did there! At the end of the day we said goodbye to our new "ohana" and went to an all you can eat prime rib dinner buffet. Ummmm Yummy! Next, we caught the shuttle across the BYU-Hawaii campus to the Hawaiian Temple. It is absolutely breathtaking. Unfortunately, the temple is closed for reconstruction but the visitors center was open and so beautiful. They had a special exhibit of new pictures of the Life of Christ. The pictures were stunning! We loaded the shuttle and headed back to the PCC. Then it was on to the night show which was incredible. If I can I will try to post some video for you. There was fire spinning, fire walking, and fire sitting! It was worth every penny we spent! The money we did pay goes to help pay for the students of BYU-Hawaii's tuition. So totally worth it from every aspect.

The drive home was a little scary and nerve racking. We were driving a shorter way back we hadn't taken and we got a little off track. Kelly turned down a wrong lane in downtown Honolulu and we almost got hit. I thin Cameron & Ashley had a heart attack. Sorry guys! Thanks to multiple backseat drivers and Kelly's cool nerves we made it back to our hotel to crash and sleep. Don't worry day #4 holds more!!

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