Oahu Day One

Today I awoke to the sound of palm trees rustling in the wind, waves crashing on the shore and the curtains blowing in our breezy Hawaiian room. I woke up early on Hawaiian time, partially because I hadn't slept well and partially because of the foreign sounds. We spent a relaxing morning in our beach house inhaling the warm tropical air. After breakfast we climbed in the car, swimsuits in hand, and headed to Oahu's North Shore. I was immediately enthralled by the flora and fauna that surrounded me. I excalimed continually from the back seat, "look at that tree! Look at THAT tree! Oooo, pretty bird!" The Pacific Northwest is my home and my muse but the different plants and animals here have me enthralled.

Our first stop was brief, but completely worth it. We hopped out of the car and crossed the street onto a small beach where I had my first sea turtle encounter! This sighting was one that was on my list of must sees  for our trip and I was ecstatic to start things off with something so amazing.

After ripping myself away from the turtle we continued on to visit the temple, where I saw some seriously beautiful flowers and climbed an enormous tree. We grabbed lunch at Ted's, home of the original chocolate-haupia cream pie. With stomachs full of burgers and fries we headed to Waimea Bay for sun and swim.

It was glorious. Glorious! The sand is warm and thick; it's just the right balance between soft and coarse. We plopped our towles down on the beach and ran toward the water. I see why people call this place "Paradise." We swam and sunned and swam and sunned for several hours. I was so content and relaxed, if someone refilled my water and brought me food I could have stayed there all day. Ricky actually fell asleep with his head under his towel.

To cool off we grabbed snow cones in Hale'Iwa and perused the local shops. We ate Thai food for dinner and then made the journey back to our temporary home in Ewa Beach. We are relaxing, reclining and feeling grateful for the showers that relieved our bodies of invading sand. The air is perfectly warm and sweet. Sometimes the air is scented ever so slightly with flowers. I can't wait to fall asleep, rest, and see and do more wonderful things tomorrow. This is going to be a truly amazing week.