Hawaii Day 6 ROAD TRIP! 08/22/15

I got up early Saturday morning to pick up a rental car...
make that a clown car.  Look how TINY the dash is!
We managed to cram three beach chairs, three boogie boards,
snacks, drinks, beach bag, towels, and the SHEET, and off
we went. Our plan was to explore the west coast of Oahu.

First stop? Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve.

I hadn't been there since I was 17 on the high school band trip!

We girls are all water babies- and we can 'hang loose'
with the best of them!

I look ridic in this pic as I was wearing a hat
to keep my hair from getting tangled and torn in
the plastic strap- I miss my own dive equipment :/

Still hanging loose, lol

I snapped one pic underwater with my iPhone, then had a
sick feeling of potentially losing or ruining my phone when
I had leave to go back to China the following evening.
Better to be safe than sorry; so I tucked it back in the beach bag.

The sky continued to clear as the morning wore on...

We enjoyed our picnic, then went back for one more dive.
The clouds rolled back in and it started to rain, so we headed
on down the road.  I wanted to go by the Blow Hole that
I also had not seen since I was in high shcool.

I was glad to not be out on the water in a sailboat-
it looked quite menacing out there.

Still, it was beautiful listening to the
waves crash against the rocks.

You can see the Blow Hole as the rollers
hit the cliffs....

When a big wave hit, it went wooooooosh!

Once again, the clouds rolled through, and it got nice out.

Gorgeous shades of blue :)

Back in the pip squeak of a car to find Waimanalo beach.
See the lighthouse out on the cliff?

Found it!

Again, what a gorgeous view!

The girls played on the boogie boards, having
a blast getting tossed to shore- until Ellen got
tangled up with a portugese man o' war.
That sting packs a powerful punch.

It takes about 30 minutes for the pain to subside-
and no, Emily and I did not offer to pee on her foot.

We no sooner snapped this picture, and I looked behind me...

The clouds and rain were really about to bear down on us!
I quickly gathered our things, went into the surf to
rinse off a bit and I got stung by a jellyfish, too. Dang it :/
(and a few other choice words, perhaps)

We spotted this funky little restaurant called Goofy's and
it is a MUST DO if ever you are at Waikiki Beach.  The
food is organic, and delicious, and the place only seats
about 40 people.  Emily and I shared and acai berry bowl
and the Hawaiian french toast (breakfast is served all day)
and Ellen had a traditional Hawaiian dish- Loco Moco.
It's brown onion gravy, rice, chopped beef, with eggs on
top- probably a heart attack on a plate for all the
cholesterol, but it was delicious- I had more than one bite :)

I had to finish the night with this pic, as now I am at
T-24 hours from returning to Beijing.  There was a
Chinese couple at the table next to us, and I love how
the woman 'un-photo bombed' us!
It's the Chinese Way.
Unless, of course, they are taking the pic ;)

G'nite, y'all!