Woohooo Oahu!

 For Christmas this year we treated ourselves to a winter trip to wonderful Oahu! Being on the West Coast makes the flight to Hawaii shorter than a flight to DC and with our super ticket-finding skills we got our flights for crazy cheap. My very bestest friend, Nellie, lives in Pearl Harbor so we decided to go to Oahu so we could spend time with her and her beautiful family while we explore the island.

We used Airbnb to find a great condo right on the beach. We stayed at Makaha Beach, Nellie and my friend Jess (who also lives in Honolulu) told us that not many tourists stay in Makaha. Its a bit "off the beaten path." The history of this place is pretty cool, it has a rough reputation.
Makaha is the last town on the western side. The word Makaha means "savage." According to the travel book Nellie let us borrow Oahu Revealed by Andrew Doughty -A notorious band of robbers and cuttthroats lived up in the valley and ambushed groups passing by. Nowadays the cutthroats are gone but many homeless people and rundown shops remain. This did not really phase us, coming from San Francisco... so this was the perfect place for us to find a cheap place to sleep while we enjoy the rest of the island. Besides, who spends a lot of time at their hotel anyway?!

We spent most of our days driving around the island. It typically takes about 3 hours to drive around the whole thing, but sometimes traffic can be DUMB and it might take 6 hours. But as we sat in traffic, I like to point out, "There are much worse places to be stuck then Paradise."

      

 One of the days we hiked the Waimea Valley. This is where they filmed Lost and Joe Vs. the Volcano (along with many other movies and TV shows. They had big signs in the front about the wild peacocks so I was on high alert! Luckily we only saw one and the random little kids around us scared it away before it could get too close.

 While in Oahu, we ate some of the best seafood I have ever had and enjoyed some Food Truck Shrimp on the side of the road. We had Poke bowls and fish tacos and amazing Mai Thais at MonkeyPod Kitchen (a fancy restaurant near the resorts) We may not have stayed in a resort but we sure did eat like we did!

And like they say... when in Rome... We did the super touristy, must do thing when you are in Hawaii. We went to a Luau! We went to Paradise Cove.    

 Located right next to the Disney Resort, this place was filled with tour buses and big  family groups. But we had a blast! They did a really great job of not making you feel like you are being herded in like cattle. They had several stations set up all around the beach with crafts and games and demonstrations. We watched them pull the pig out of the ground that had been cooking there all day and it tasted fantastic! After dark, the fire dancers started and since it was Christmas, they had some special holiday additions. It was not something we would usually do on vacation but it was a lot of fun!

 Our trip was fantastic! We enjoyed the island and enjoyed spending Christmas Eve with the Baggett family. Nellie's family welcomed us for Christmas Eve dinner.
       The boys played football in the yard and I got to spend time with the newest Baggett, Rory!   We walked around their adorable neighborhood in our shorts and t-shirts and looked at the Christmas lights. Deacon taught me how the Santa Tracker works on the computer. They were very excited for his arrival. It was great to see how happy they are and how perfectly the Baggetts have fit into Island Life.  Even Rory is ready for her toes in the sand!         

Mele Kalikimaka!!!