Hawaii

This August, I attended the American Psychological Association conference in Oahu and Jillian came with me (12th anniversary). Some friends watched our children while we were gone. I presented an R graphing package I wrote. But most of the time was spent exploring the island, armed with tips from my sister Effie (who used to live on the north side) and cousin Adrienne (who currently lives there). Our favorite was hiking the mountains and rainforests, I'm not sure I got enough of that. I'd also like to take my children there and spend more time in the waves. Here are some highlights of the trip.

Our first day there was very windy. This is in front of our hotel waiting for the bus. After one ride, we decided the bus wasn't worth waiting for and just walked everywhere. We put in 13 miles one day, including a walk to, climb of , and walk back from Diamond Head crater.

The same windy day, though my hair is not as conducive to estimating wind turbulence in a still shot.

We woke at 3am our first morning and couldn't sleep, so we walked Waikiki. This is a picture of the sunrise over Diamond Head crater, though it is hard to tell the sunrise part.

A picture of use from the top of diamond head, looking back on Waikiki from where the previous picture was taken earlier that morning.

We went on a tour of the island put on by the Polynesian Cultural Center (where my sister Effie used to work). This is one of the beaches on the East side.

Nu'uanu Pali lookout looking East. It was very windy here too.

On our way to see my cousin Adrienne and attend the Laie Hawaii LDS temple, we stopped to hike Waimea Falls Park. Being in the rain forest was amazing, I wish I could have spent more time reading about all the plants.

Jillian in Waimea Falls Park

It was good that I didn't have a shovel with me, because there was ginger everywhere, and I was tempted to smell each one's roots.

Us in Wimea

Waimea Falls. We decided not to swim, but that is an option and there are lifeguards on duty.

Waimea Falls

Jungle foul, from when modern chickens descended. I was tempted to capture a couple chicks and bring them home, but I wasn't sure how I would get them on the plane or past agricultural inspections.

The grounds of the Laie Hawaii Temple

Jillian in front of the Byodo-In Buhdist temple

A small waterfall behind the Byodo-In temple.

A picture of the Valley of the Temples Memorial Park facing north west with the mountains in the background. After visiting here, we were tired, already checked out of the hotel, and missed our children. So we went across the street and caught a movie while waiting to go to the airport.