Friday Round Up 6/21/13 — Hawaii Vacation Edition

Aloha!

This week, I don’t have a link roundup for you, because I have mostly been staying out of the news, off of blogs, and generally escaping reality while on vacation in Oahu.

For those that are interested in the more nitty-gritty of what we’ve been up to, I did a daily travelogue over on my personal blog.

But, for those that want the short version, here are a few snapshots from our week. I love to hike, so we found a few hikes – two less traveled (Aiea Ridge Trail and Koko Head Tramway), and one very popular one (Diamond Head). While we stayed on the northeast, Windward side, we managed to make our way to the Honolulu area quite a bit.

The photos below are pretty much straight out of my phone – no editing at all — which gives you an idea of the crazy blue skies and water. Coming from the dreary Pacific Northwest, this was quite a treat!

Some of the best views were on top of Koko Head Crater after hiking up an old tramway that climbed over 1000 vertical feet in about 3/4 of a mile.

Here is a side profile of the hike we did – it goes straight up the left hand side of Koko Head. Quick and too the point! (And a challenge!)

The top of Diamond Head was almost as spectacular, but this hike was way more crowded (probably because it is more famous and much easier).

This view of Honolulu was a complete accident, as we turned into a neighborhood on our way to lunch and it took a while to realize we were in the wrong place.

We have some great hiking in our area of the Northwest, but nothing that looks like this when you get to the top.

The trip wasn’t all hiking. We also did all the requisite Hawaii things, like snorkeling, boogie boarding, and touring the downtown Honolulu. We are definitely best at hiking, though. We make quite amusing boogie boarders and snorkelers, I am sure of that!

For the most part, we cooked at “home” for dinners. There aren’t many restaurants around where we stayed, and I really prefer to cook when we can. Not having a real kitchen will do that do a wary home remodeler! But, we did take in a nice dinner at the Kula Grill in the Turtle Bay resort. I would go there again in a minute – check out this vegan charcuterie platter. It was way too much, but all very delicious.

And, that about does it for our Hawaii getaway. I’ll be back with normal posts and links next week. Have a great weekend and thanks for reading!