Mar 16 - Honolulu, Hawaii

Today was a blast!!! We rented a 4X4 Chevy TrailBlazer and drove around the entire island. The views were so amazing that I won't even try to describe them... We stopped at the Dole pineapple plantation and went to the end of the road on the northwest shore of the island - there were some guys kite-surfing...
We drove through several small villages that cater mostly to surfers, since the waves on the beaches here are huge!!!
We stopped all along the way to get pictures. There are panel trucks all over the island's roads that have been converted to rolling kitchens and restaurants. We stopped at one that was parked next to a field of ponds that they farm shrimp in.
They specialize in shrimp and you just can't get them any fresher. The size of those suckers is hard to beat, too.

Mmmmm - delicious!!!! We saw a blowhole and stopped off at a bay that has been preserved as a natural ecological preserve.

I wish we'd had time to stop and snorkel. We saw a pretty cool lighthouse overlooking some cliffs. We drove past the Magnum P.I. house!!!! After making our way back to Honolulu we drove the beach road, skirting around Diamondhead and into Waikiki beach. We didn't know there was some kind of street festival that closed some roads, so we wound up somewhere we didn't mean to be. We weren't exactly lost, but we also weren't entirely sure where we were. My navigation skills came in handy in reading those extremely detailed rental car company maps and I found myself telling Karen stuff like: "I think it's ahead of us," "it feels like we're almost there," "I'm pretty sure we're on the right road here..." We made it OK and got to see the whole Waikiki Beach area pretty well.
We then stopped at the Aloha Tower and Marketplace and walked around sightseeing... Finally, after dropping off the car we met up with our friends at the airport and they got us into Continental's Presidential Club lounge, where we promptly got drinks and got online to upload pictures and update the blog....
It's now 7:15PM and we take off at 9:30PM, so I'll try to get as many in as I can... (drinks AND pictures)

C U all L8R