Hawaii - Day 2: Pearl Harbor

We finally arrived at our first accomodations: Kristi's apartment on the BYU campus. It was really cramped living quarters that first night - I think the entire living room was covered with people. I don't know if it was the Thomas family just trying to be nice to me or what, but I lucked out and got a bed. :) I felt pretty honored. Besides the scary gecko lizards that were crawling on the wall next to me, I got some good sleep.

We only ended up staying at Kristi's for two nights before the rental house became available, and then all of us (all 15 or so of us) moved on over there.

Above: Will unloading our things from the rental car the morning after we arrived, since the first night we were too tired and just went straight to sleep.

Will came and woke me up bright and early around 5:30am on our first morning there. Being that we didn't even get to bed until after midnight and after a long day of travelling, I was not excited about this. But he told me he had something he wanted to show me. I kept asking what it was, but he said it was a "surprise".

In our pajamas and flip-flops, he led me outside and we walked towards the beach. Being that we had arrived so late at night, I didn't realize how close we were to the beach. And then, all of a sudden, Will told me to stop and turn around and look.

We both turned and right in front of us in all of its magical beauty was the Honolulu Temple. Rows of palm trees, flowers, and fountains lined the entry way up to the front of the temple. I was absolutely awe-struck. Turns out that Kristi's apartment was only a couple of houses down from the temple.

We then walked to the beach and sat on the sand and watched the rest of the sunrise. I couldn't believe how warm it was. It was very magical and definitely worth getting up so early for. Thanks Will. :)

Above: Will and I in front of the rental car on our first "real" day in Hawaii. So happy together. :)

Below: Our first outing in Hawaii - Pearl Harbor

Below: Will and I on the shuttle boat riding across to the Pearl Harbor Memorial for the U.S.S. Arizona

Below: Reverently gazing down at the ocean depths where thousands of sailors were buried alive. We could see the oil in the water that was still leaking from the ship.

Below: It was a pretty hot day, so after Pearl Harbor we walked over to a marina and dipped our feet in the water. This is me being goofy.

Below: On our way back to Kristi's apartment, we stopped at a public beach and walked around.

Below: Dry and heading towards some rocks to climb on

Below: Totally soaked from a huge wave catching us as we were standing on the rock ledge (seen behind). Good thing it was hot enough, even in the evening, that we dried off in no time.