Work Trip / Girls Trip to Hawaii

For work this year I was very fortunate to attend a conference in Hawaii, and since I was going all that way, I decided to extend my trip a few days and have some fun in the sun with some friends! So on Tuesday, July 26th, at the crack of dawn, Jacqelli and I headed out of the Juneau International Airport to Anchorage. There we meet up with Rose for our flight to Honolulu, Hawaii! And these girls know how to travel - thanks to some quick thinking on Jacqelli's part, she found upgrades for her and I to first class! WOW - if you've never flow first class, I've got to say it was totally worth it :)The three of us in the Honolulu Airport! We made it!

So prior to leaving we made plans on a few things we wanted to do or see. . . I REALLY wanted to go kayaking and convinced Jacqelli and Rose it would be great! The picture on the company's website made it look so peaceful and serene.

So we booked reservations for Wednesday morning!

And off we went! We were kayaking in Kailua Bay on a 4 hour tour. Rose was in a single kayak and I was in a double with Jacqelli.

I know the girls are glad they went now. . . but during I bet they thought I was crazy!

First, there was a 15mph headwind pushing on us and creating some pretty large waves.

Second, the guide who was supposed to stay with the slowest kayaker. . . he didn't.

I am so glad Jacqelli and Rose stuck it out for me! I had a blast

Look we made it to the little island!

Can you see the waves? Yeah they were a little on the large side!

Thankfully, while you were kayaking you could see the bottom of the ocean!

We took a little tour of the island, which is a protected bird sanctuary.

We found eggs!Birds with eggs!

We even did some jumping into large pools of water. . . crazy yes, but fun!

This was called the queens bath according to our guide - fresh ocean water is constantly filling this hole up.

I went in first. . . Then Rose. . .

We survived!!

Jacqelli was the smart one in the group and didn't jump - it was only eight foot hole (give or take). Cuties!Those waves are getting bigger!We kayaked back to Kailua Beach for some snorkeling and a little more sun! This is a great picture of the Mokulua Islands, we kayaked too the one on the left had side. It was a really long ways and took over 2 1/2 hours to get there and only a short time to get back without the head wind!

Did I mention a little more sun? Well we learned our lesson on day one. We put sunblock on in the morning before leaving on our little kayak trip but all the salt water splashing on our legs washed it off (yes we reapplied while out and about, but it didn't help) - the tops of our legs were burnt!

So days two and tree were spent at the Aqua Bamboo pool under the umbrella and a little time in the malls :)

We ended our days with some yummy drinks of course!
And a few beautiful sunsets~ And a BONUS -- Fire Dancer!!
We also took a little tour around the island. This is right past Hanauma Bay.
My killer photography skills at work here. . . not! Rose and I~Jacqelli and I~

The tour around the island turned into a downpour - torrential downpour to be exact! It was wet and windy - so we spent some time in the car. So we just drove and did some sight seeing. . until the girls came across Romy's. It's a shrimp shack.Shrimp Lunch! These girls are brave!! And on we continued. . . to Waimea Bay. The beach and water there was beautiful!
No pictures there. . . We drove a little further and came across TURTLES!!

They were on the beach, in the water and it felt like there were a whole lot of them!!
We continued our drive to the Dole Pineapple Plantation :) Can you see it??

Classy girls!

Oh yes, now this is the look I was going for! LOL!

I thought this was a really cool looking tree -- the bark was all sorts of colors!

Pineapples~
Rose's brother Denali lives in Hawaii
- so she got to visit with him too~Out for a fancy dinner~The second hotel we stayed at was the Sheraton. This was the view from our hotel room! I loved it - you could see the ocean and downtown! At this point I had to start working and go to my conferences. . . So the girls hit the pool and beach at the hotel. Bean bag chairs in the pool - I think Jacqelli was in heaven!And there were turtles swimming right out front of the hotel. There are two bodies snorkeling on the right hand side of the picture below them is a brown object - that's the turtle!

So relaxing~

The hotel patio next to the kids pool/slide!

One morning Jacqelli and I decided to wake up at the crack of dawn and hike up Diamond Head.
It was dark when we left -- this was taken at the entrance to the park before it opened.

Beautiful sunrise and beautiful Jacqelli!

Incredible!

The stairs! The hike isn't too long, but what gets to you is the heat. I am so thankful we did it so early - I can't imagine in the middle of the day!

We made it!

View of Honolulu from the top - our hotel was the one to the left of the pink hotel on the beach.

This was taken after the hike - but the white structure is where you hike too.

We made it! Then we walked back to the hotel - just over 4 miles from Diamond Head Crater Park to the Sheraton Hotel. . .then to conferences!

Part of my conference included a few tours. I was able to tour the Hawaii State Capitol Building.

Out front of the Capitol Building.

The Senate - blue reference to water and the moon.

The House - red reference to fire and the sun.

The Governor's Office.

We also were able to tour the Iolani Palace.

This was the only picture I was able to take - no pictures were allowed inside.

I was also able to tour the Honolulu Fish Auction - we left the hotel at 5:15am!
Talk about some big fresh fish! Off loading the boat
Lined up ready for bidding~
Lots of fish~
The harbor and sunrise~ Loading the fish up~
Dropping them off in the auction building~ Jacqelli and I also attended a Luau~ We were given leis and ate delicious hawaiian foods!
This is my favorite picture from the whole trip!
Music and dancers~
Even fire dancing! More!!
While on this trip we ate the most delicious foods and tried a variety of resturants. On our last day in Honolulu Jacqelli and I headed to a resturant called Cream Pot. By far my favoride place ever. It was a little bit of a wait but totally worth every minute. It is located next to the canal and has a nice atomosphere.
And amazing fresh foods! We ordered two items to share - one was a french toast with bananas and carmel sauce.
The other was creme filled blueberry crepes ~ Delicious!! If I am ever in Honolulu again I will be making my way there more than once!
It was a great girls trip and the conference was actually really good too!

Thanks for coming along with me gals!

A trip I will never forget - here's to next time :)