OUR RETURN!!!

OUR RETURN!!

After almost 10 months in beautiful Hawaii, we have decided our adventure here has come to an end and we are heading back home to New Jersey. We will be renting one side of Colleen and Brad Kehler’s two family house in Hackettstown, NJ. Carly has been applying for jobs and has 2 hopeful leads with companies that teach kids with developmental delays and Autism. Kevin is planning on picking back up the clients he had before we left; if we need more income we plan on returning to New Jersey National Golf Club in Basking Ridge.

Our flight (Honolulu (HNL) to Los Angeles (LAX) 8:10 am - 4:25 pm Hawaiian Airlines) leaves on July 30th to Los Angeles, California. Car’s car is being shipped to LA, hopefully by the time we arrive. We are making a bunch of stops along our way to New Jersey, spending either a night or two in each place. So in LA, we will meet up with Carly’s cousin Emily and maybe see a little bit of California (for the first time for both of us). Then we head to Las Vegas!! Kev’s been there before it will be Carly’s first time. We’re not much for gambling but it will sure be fun to see. From there we head on over to the Grand Canyon National Park, spending a night either couchsurfing about an hour outside the park in Flagstaff, AZ, or finding a hotel or hostile near the park. Then we head to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We will be staying with a couch surfer there who will hopefully show us some culture of the city. From Santa Fe, we visit with our friends Ned, Cheryl, and Nathan Rae and hopefully their good friends, the Bellews, for one or two nights in Dallas, Texas. After Texas, we head to another couch in Memphis, Tennessee. Our goal is to eat BBQ and listen to some good music! Then we head to New Albany, Indiana to see Kevin’s brother, Greg, sister-in-law, Amy, and adorable nephew, Bradley. From there, depending on how tired we are of traveling, we hope to stop and see Kevin’s Aunt Sue, Uncle Len, and cousin Micah in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Thhheenn…its 3 hours home to New Jersey!!!
All of this is of course subject to change at any given moment. We will have our laptop with us so anywhere we get wireless internet we will try to update everyone here on our blog with where we are and maybe some pictures.

That’s all for now, for the next 20 days we will be packing up and selling pretty much everything we own and getting ready to move! Our friend Becky is coming in on July 18th to see Hawaii and help us pack up, we can’t wait to see her!!
We have had an incredible time here in Hawaii!! Here’s some recent pictures.

Kayaking out to the Mokuluas (those two islands in the background)

Cliff Jumping!!!

Kaneohe Bay

Hiking Maunawili Falls Trail w/couch surfer Ian from San Diego

The 4th of July

Couch surfers Taylor and Clint (here from Maui for a wedding)

Swimming in our pool

Snorkeling at Shark's Cove with the Raes and Bellews

Miscellaneous Good Times

I know we haven't blogged in a while, so we've compiled a few events that occurred between our visitors (blogged below this entry).

Ka'ena Point Hike

This hike was relatively flat and very dry. It goes up the last bit of the way to the northwest most point of the island. From there you can see most of the north shore, about half of the leeward coast. Really interesting terrain, huge waves that can't be caught on camera, Albatross sanctuary, and a lonely monk seal sun-bathing on the rocks all made for a great day of hiking.

VALENTINES DAY-- POLICE CONCERT

For Valentine's Day, Kev got tickets to see The Police in concert that weekend. It was their 99th and final show of their reunion tour. The venue was small so every seat was good (only about 7000 people) and the show was EPIC! Sting's son's band opened (and encored with them for a final number) and they played all the favorites with a few numbers only the true Police fans would appreciate... luckily Kev is one. :)

EASTER SUNDAY

Easter was relatively uneventful. We went to our usual church and spent the evening together decorating eggs (ok and each other a little bit, too).

WAIMEA FALLS

One Saturday we decided to spend the whole day doing new things and chose the North Shore as our destination. We hiked to Waimea Falls (more of a stroll) and swam under the falls, then snorkeled at Turtle Bay Resort (saw one turtle) and a little at Sharks Cove.

LANIKAI PILLBOX TRAIL

We've been to Lanikai beach dozens of times, but never hiked up the hill behind it. Finally one day Carly hiked it by herself while Kev was at work and came back to tell Kev to do the same the next day. So Kev took pictures the next day while Car was at work. GORGEOUS!

CARLY'S 24th BIRTHDAY!!

We planned a fun night out with some friends from work and church. We all went to Dave and Busters for some food and games! It was a fun night and we'll definitely go back.

PUNCHBOWL CEMETARY OF THE PACIFIC

"The Arlington of the Pacific" is a cemetary in a small crater (like Diamond Head) and has graves as well as a monument with the names of all the fallen soldiers from pacific wars whose bodies were never recovered from their respective battles or the sea. Not as somber as Pearl Harbor, but equally as reverant and peaceful.

Random Beaches

This section includes pictures from random events like new beaches that we visited... enjoy the montage... :)

On line to audition for "DEAL OR NO DEAL".... we waited 4 hours for a 20 second audition and Carly made it to the 2nd round!! We're still waiting for the call from Howie Mandel...

"The Moks" at Lanikai

One of the lagoons at Ko'Olina Resort

A tiny gecko in our kitchen... we get a few visitors like this per month.

The tiniest hermit crabs EVER... from "unnamed beach" near Barber's Point.

Kahala Beach
Snorkeling on our lanai.... 'nuf sed. :)

More family VISITORS!!!

Kev's family came to visit from

April 26 - May 3


Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister-in-law, and nephew all stayed in a time share unit in the heart of Waikiki. Kev stayed there with them most of the week and Carly joined them on most nights except for the few she had to work... so it was like a mini vacation for everyone. AND it happened to fall on Colleen and Brad's (mom & dad) 38th anniversary (we got them matching scrabble t-shirts).









First things first... we planned a hike up Diamond Head.





After the hike, Kev had to work at CPK so everyone came in for dinner.




Monday we tried to see some of Windward O'ahu, but it was a little cloudy and windy, so after a quick picnic lunch at Sandy Beach watching Halona Blowhole, and a hike up to Makapu'u Lighthouse, we hung out at the apartment for the rest of the evening....












The next day we stopped at a windy Pali Lookout, went to the Ho'omaluhia Botanical Gardens in Kaneohe, visited the Byodo-In Temple at the Valley of the Temples, and then went back to Waikiki to relax at the Hilton pool and have take-out Hawaiian dinner...







Wednesday was our big trip to the NORTH SHORE. It started a little cloudy but ended up one of the most beautiful and memorable days of the trip (and our lives!). We made some quick stops at our favorite sights like the Macadamia Nut Farm, Chinaman's Hat, and Banzai Pipeline, Laie Point, the Mormon Temple... then on to Shark's Cove and set up camp at Waimea Bay. There we swam and snorkeled and, as the skies cleared and the sun began to shimmer off the water as it set, WHALES started putting on a show for us! They were playing, and breaching, and blowing, and waving their pectoral fins at us as they said good-bye to Hawaii and headed back to Alaska (they are usually in Hawaii thru april, and it was april 30th). They were just a little too far off shore for a good photo op.





(whale watching)
Whew! Big day...

Then on Thursday most of us went to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona Memorial (Greg and Amy stayed back with the baby), then we went to Lanikai for some relaxing beach time, and finished the night with a WONDERFUL dinner together at the famous "DUKES" restaurant in Waikiki...




From above the sunken Arizona, tiny drops of oil still float to the surface from the wreckage. Survivors call it the tears of their fallen comarades.

From the AZ Memorial, you can see the USS Missouri.


Kailua Beach








Friday was their last full day with us, so we went to Hanauma Bay for some snorkeling.




Saturday everyone packed up and left the Wyndham Waikiki for our respective homes... One for the record books. Thanks everyone!!!