i love new york.: Hawai'i Part 1

Hawai'i holds a special place in my parents' heart. They've been there many times and even had their honeymoon there. One such trip was to a resort to hear a pitch for timeshares. I never thought anybody actually became convinced on one of those trips, but my mom and Tom decided to go for it. They've always wanted to share the Hawaii experience with us kids, so last year, they planned a vacation that all five of us could go on, and finally the week came. Last week.

This trip came not a moment too soon for me, as I've been mulling over a lot of changes in my life and needed to get away from a lot of crap. I know I've already taken a big vacation this year, but really, you can never have too many, right?

My travels consisted of two parts: a five-hour flight to Salt Lake City (which is like Mars to me - I just don't get it), and a 6.5-hour flight to Hawaii. Luckily for me, Greg was on the long flight with me, and a young man sitting next to me was nice enough to move so that we could sit together.

As we flew over the ocean, I couldn't tell the difference between sky and sea.

Soon we approached the islands (we were on Oahu) and I got all giddy.

We were so excited to see the 'rents, and I think Greg adequately portrays our level of exhausted relief.

We drove about a half hour from Honolulu to Ko'Olani, where the resort is.

It was exactly what you'd expect from a Hawaiian resort: gorgeous!

The rooms were plenty spacious, very clean and nicely decorated. As we were driving, Mom said, "The view's okay. You can KINDA see the ocean, if you crane your neck."

YAH RIGHT! This is the perfect view from our balcony.

I was delighted, and happy to be there, with my lovely fam. And, as you can see, very quick to put on the bikini. I tell ya, you can't get me to wear a shirt if I don't have to.

Mom and I walked around for a bit, then met up with the boys for a snack at the restaurant.

Ain't she cute?

There's nothing I love more than the feeling of sand rushing around my feet as water retreats on the beach.

These stunning birds were spotted a few times in our trip, just chillin' on the golf course or inland from the beach.

That was July 4th, and we ended up in Waikiki to watch the fireworks with 30,000 people on the beach, the black ocean vast beside us.

The next day, Nathan arrived and we all crowded into the car to go see the North Shore, site of many righteous surfing waves. Greg navigated.

Tom guided us safely to and from (as we all joked about him getting lost and all of the times he's, well, led us into "adventurous situations," some involving empty gas tanks in the middle of nowhere. Good times).

We hung out at North Shore for a bit, which was one of my favorite destinations on this trip because there were very few tourists, just locals who keep their lives simple - full of surfing and shaved ice and swimming.

You can't see it very well from this photo, but there were 3 sea turtles that swam close to shore, popping their heads up every now and then. This is kind of Loch Ness-y though.

As you will see, I am very fond of taking photos of my and other people's feet. I don't know why this is, and I never realized how much I do it until this trip. It's like my fondness for taking pics of people from behind walking down the street, or looking up at treetops against the sky.

This shell was about half the size of my thumb.

We continued our tour de North Shore, stopping for a snack at this cool li'l pie shop.

This is a weird angle of my shadow - kind of alieny. Or kind of like the lollipop starlets of Hollywood - big head, tiny body.

There were a lot of murals in Hawaii, and this one in particular was great - a giant wave painted as a tribute to a famous surfer from the area.

Nate caught up on some light reading while we ate.

Next we went to a slightly more populated area, where we could swim for a sec.

Which Greg, Tom and I totally did. It felt great to get out of the car, out of the heat, into the water, into the great expanse of ocean that makes you feel so small.

On our way back to the resort, we stopped by a little "Main Street" type of strip, where there were a few surf shops.

Someone made good use of this old car.

I became enamored of signs against the brightly colored walls prevalent on the islands.

We got some shaved ice for like a dollar. I don't know these people, I just liked the composition.

Our group dissipated for a sec, and Tom and I walked around a bit and found this cool shaded area.

This is what teenagers on Oahu do for fun after school. Not too shabby.

We regrouped and hung out with our shaved ice. I love all the different yellows in this shot.

Nothing like some good ding repair.

Again, feet (Mom's) - I love the look of sand grains on painted toes.

The sun began setting, and we wanted to get home before dark for dinner, so we headed back.

On the way, we passed sugar cane fields.

The sunsets are amazing. Duh.

Now, I'm not sure of the sequence of these photos, what's sunrise or sunset from which day, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. I didn't do much on Saturday. I woke up upset because I got about three hours of sleep the night before and was still so wound up from my life in the city that I just needed some decompression. Ergo, Mom and I spent the day together taking long, slow walks and got massages. I bought us a big delicious breakfast. I don't remember how I filled the rest of my time - probably sitting on the beach and reading.