Okay - I'm going to try this again. I had all my pictures and story line set up on here Saturday, but lost everything somehow when I tried to post it. Sigh. And just to make this legit. I'll post a picture of Charlie the day before I left.

Sniffing in the snow.



The first morning at Waikiki beach. It was a little overcast, but a balmy 80 degrees.



I did a bit of walking around Honolulu that morning because my friend Pat had to work until noon. I thought I did very well thinking of you guys and even found some sights that reminded me of you.





I mostly thought of Julie and Donna.



And Melissa...



Later that day it was wonderfully sunny and there were surfer "boys" hanging out.



Pat and I caught lunch at the beach bar.







Saturday we started out on our Island tour at 6:00 a.m. First stop was Pearl Harbor and it was rainy steadily when we left. Fortunately, it cleared up a little bit, but it was a bit dismal that morning. Pearl Harbor was solemn, but an amazing thing to see. I hadn't realized that the memorial was actually built right over the remains of the USS Arizona. There was still oil coming up from the wreckage and the smell was intense.







Then it was onto the Pineapple plantation. We were amazed to learn that most of the plantations in Hawaii are no longer going to grow pineapples because the labor is too expensive. Most plan to shut down by 2012. How sad is that? Good thing Matt got his pineapples early!!



Heading towards the North Shore.



We weren't suppose to go down to the beach, but I broke away from the tour and snuck down to the shore before I could get yelled at! (apparently it's a liability thing with the tour bus. The waves there can come in at 12 or more feet and catch you by surprise and drag you away or something like that - I didn't see any more than 4 feet max.)





All the well behaved people watching me.



The rain trying to clear out.



A big rock with a hole in it.



Then it was off to the Polynesian Village. We were able to get a little history about Hawaii and other Polynesian island such as Fiji and Tahiti during our visits. I think Tahiti is cool, but Samoa was the best. They believe that the men of the village should hunt, cook, clean and take care of their women. The women just need to make babies. Now there's a deal. There was a parade of boats at the end of the visit and a lot of dancing going on. Tahiti had the best belly dancers.







Then we saw some movie/tv show scenery. I only got a pic of Jurasic Park, but we saw the harbor where the Gilligan's Island crew started their "3-hour tour" and some Hawaii 5-0 back drops.

Jurasic Park mountains.





Then we went to the top of this mountain that they called part of the rain forest of this island. Great. More rain. The view was beautiful, but it was difficult to get a good shot with the wind blowing you off the cliff.





Me with a grass skirt. My date was a little shy and hid his head.



Me being silly. Again.



Another one for Melissa.



Another couple hours at Waikiki the next day.






Time to get in from the sun for a bit for happy hour.





Oh say it isn't so! My last sunset Sunday night.





Thanks for looking!!!

Great pictures! It looks like it's really nice even when it rains!

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Happiness is.............. two labs

Awesome pictures Sharon! Glad you had a great time!

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Kate, mom to Kaylee and Jazzy

Looks like my kind of place! Thanks for sharing those, they're amazing. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii. It's on my bucket list. Glad you had fun! You deserved the get-away.

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Foster and rescue dogs are forever dogs. We are forever part of their journey home. They are forever in our hearts.

Wowie! I was wondering when I would get to see some of those pics...just beautiful Sharon. Those shots from the mountain are just fab. I'm glad you're home and brought some aloha spirit with you to share. :)

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Wonderful pictures! Thanks for sharing with us :)

I LOVE the one in the grass skirt!
Hawaii is beutiful!
Glad you had such a great time!

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Rolling Ridge Labrador Retrievers

Amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God I need a vacation!!!!! Thanks for sharing Sharon....just beautiful pictures...beautiful...

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I'm jealous all over again! What stunning scenery!! I'm SO glad you had a great time. God knows you work hard enough to certainly deserve it!!!

Hawaii has never been on my radar as for as a place I was itching to go. I'm rethinking that now. LOL

I think we need to get a Mostlylabs group together and go on a holiday there next year.

Any takers??

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Judi and The Three Bears



Never argue with idiots, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.

Wow, this had to be a shocker going from a NH winter to Hawaii and back.

Thanks for posting all those pictures... twice. It looks like you have quite the variety that told the story of your vacation quite well.

Incredible trip, I know you were loving every minute of it and it was well deserved.

I can't decide if my favorite is the Crocs picture, the wave one, or one of that chocolate lab in the snow.

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Kiley's Nestle Heel CGC, CL1, CL2, CL3-F, FMX
Emmie's Yosef Hill CGC, CL1, CL2, CL3-F, FM, Delta Society Pet Partner

You can still be courteous when all else fails.

Hawaii was never on my list of places to go either, but I'm glad I did. The country side was spectacular, and I must say, the city of Honolulu was very clean and very safe. You could walk around at night and not feel any threat whatsoever. There were a few homeless people wandering around. Like the guy who was crossing the street with us when we were going to the beach. When we reached the sidewalk, he promptly got down on all fours and started drinking out of a puddle in the street. I didn't actually see it, but Patti did and she said that that was something she could have lived without seeing.

He liked us though. He followed us to the beach and then took a salt water bath, whooping and splashing, right in front of where we were sitting. He had the entire beach to play on but he chose to put on a show for us.

Makes me feel all warm inside.

Beautiful pics. Glad you had fun!!!

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Erin
Sally's mom

And then there was Diamond Head. A nice volcanic mountain that Pat insisted we had to climb. Climb? A volcanoe? Ah, no thank you. But she insisted.

The last time we climbed a mountain together was ten years ago in Germany. We climbed the mountain behind the Neuschwanstein castle in Barvaria to get a better photo of the castle. And we did it in flip flops! At least this time we had sneakers.

Here is the nice little view of the mountain from the patio beach bar at the Sheraton Waikiki, where we enjoyed drinks and appy's. Surrounded by the comfort of soft chairs and friendly wait staff.



Sunday afternoon we arrived at the base of the "crater" and began the 1 1/2 mile trek to the top of the mountain. The sun was HOT and the paths steep. This was no leisurely stroll, let me tell ya. There were not waiters along the route either.

This was taken at about half way up. There was a look out spot here. I'll admit that I looked and looked and looked (and rested) before continuing on. A lot of other people "looked" too.



Once my heart beat was under control, we continued on.

Here's one of the rocky paths we endured.



A partial view of the path we already conquered.



There were two sets of steep, steep stairs. The first set being 50 or 60 steps and then another 100 or so to climb after you went through this narrow little tunnel. And to think I complained about the first set of steps.





This was the second stairway. I took a pic once I got to the top because I couldn't believe I'd made it that far! (And Pat was tired of me taking pictures of her butt.)



We finally made it to the top and the lookout tower!!! The views were absolutely stunning. Well worth sacrificing one lung to make it up to the top.

I almost missed this! Is that a YSL store behind you?

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And I LOVE this picture! Just gorgeous!

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Foster and rescue dogs are forever dogs. We are forever part of their journey home. They are forever in our hearts.

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Okay. Pat and I did A LOT by day, but we also did a lot at night. No wonder I need a vacation from my vacation...

As I said previously, you could walk around at night and feel totally safe. Mostly because there were so many other tourists walking around taking in the night life.

The first night we went out to dinner and we were walking back to our hotel when I decided I would take some pics of the nightlife.

A very nice gentleman pretending to be a newspaper person or something.



The fortune teller. Saw a lot of guys hanging around that place.



Some girls hanging out at Macy's.



Then I started taking pictures of the people walking along the sidewalk. Got into a bit of trouble there. lol. These gentlemen were a bit taken aback, but then thought we were kind of fun.



The guy on the left reminded me of one of my father's friends when he was 40 years old, Pete. And they were locals who invited us out for a drink. We accepted and ended up at Jimmy Buffet's bar.



It was true! I was there!



This was our waiter, Mike.



This was a really, really weird couple who, apparently, are regulars at this bar. They dance non-stop every night and the freaky thing about it is their choreography consists of the Mr. flipping up Mrs. Skirt throughout their routine. And she likes it. A lot. Very freaky. And then they go around and talk to people sitting at the tables like they are paid to do it, but they aren't. They just wanna be.



Me holding a drink that I never finished. It was 11:30 and I was cooked. I can't believe I made it that far.



Pat was doing okay though...



This was our Saturday night out and I can't for the life of me remember the name of the restaurant, but it was busy and we met a bunch of people there.

This was Patty from Texas. She was a hoot!



Pat, Patty and Carmella (a lady Pat met out on the plane on her way out to Hawaii who was from her home state of New Jersey and who was there on vacation).



A bunch of crazy people on vacation enjoying themselves.





I think that's it. It's funny because it's been a week since I've come home and I feel like it was just a dream. I'm grateful I was able to go though and that I have such a good friend who thought to ask me to join her.

I have thoroughly enjoyed your pictures Sharon... But I was wondering where the nightlife pictures were! I love the guy posing in your last picture behind you! Ha!

Looks like you had a Ball, good for you and your travel buddy Pat, you deserved this get away.