HAWAIIAN BLISS

 Kapolei, Oahu

A couple months ago or so, Roger got a call from our friend, Jim Jensen. 

Jim and Kathy were good friends in Ogden, and they moved to St. George about a year ago.

"How would you like to come stay with us in our Marriott timeshare in Hawaii for a week?"

Do fish like to swim?

Do birds like to fly?

Do I love that man of mine? (Sorry, I digress.)

On Saturday, April 20, we drove to Las Vegas to catch our flight to Honolulu, where Jim picked us up.

They had already spent a week on Maui with their son and family.

The next morning, Sunday, we headed for the nearest LDS Church.  

The Sacrament meeting time was different from what was on the print-out at the Marriott, so we had an hour to kill.

Eating hot malasadas, Portuguese doughnuts, was a good way to kill time!

Kathy and Jim knew the ropes on this brilliant idea!

Ummm!  Finger-lickin' good!

It is always a great experience to go to church in Hawaii!  Everyone is so welcoming and I love the Aloha! greeting before every speaker.

That evening we had a fabulous dinner at Roy's, on the Ko Olina Golf Course. 

Roger and I shared a roasted beet and greens salad and delicious Hawaiian (can't remember the name) fish with saffron lobster risotto.

Roy's uses Hawaii's fresh ingredients when possible.

Jim's Hawaiian medley

Kathy's short ribs 

Ko Olina Beach Resort

This is the view from our balcony of our room on one side . . .

. . . and the other.

The grounds were lush, with several beautiful pools.

Our lovely suite was on the 8th floor.

The tropical flowers' beauty always amazes me.

We went out on lawn chairs and watched the sunsets almost every night.

Roger, true to form, captured some magnificent ones!

OuOuOu - AhAhAh!

So beautiful!

On Tuesday we drove to the North Shore.  

Jim and Kathy knew about this ancient temple ruins high on the top of the mountain overlooking North Shore beaches.

This was the site of a temple where many rituals took place, including the wives of ancient chiefs giving birth and also human sacrifice. 

Native Hawaiians leave offerings there, including rocks wrapped in ti leaves.

Fruit, flowers and coins were placed at this crude altar.

Overlooking Waimea Bay

North Shore is the site for the National Surfboarding Championships in November.  

The ocean was a bit tamer this time of year.

A must stop along the North Shore is Ted's Bakery.

Jim had already purchased us a chocolate and coconut layered pie from here at a drugstore at Ko Olina that has them shipped from Ted's.

We all picked out a yummy goodie to eat at the tables outside.

These cute kids, who are in a dance show in Honolulu, shared their table with us.

The girl drinking the smoothie is from Cuba and spoke no English. The others were from other Latin countries.

We chatted with them for awhile and found out that their show has performed on Dancing With the Stars.

 We got a feel for the total grind of a 7 night a week show, but they love it.

Another must stop on North Shore is to have shrimp from the shrimp trucks.  There are shrimp farms there, and the shrimp are succulent and delicious!

The best must stop is the Hawaiian Temple, grounds and Visitor's Center.

The Jensen's daughter, Jaimie's, close friend's parents, Elder and Sister McDonougn, are missionaries over the Visitor's Center.

They were gracious and delightful and we had an interesting visit about their calling and their lives there.

The Hawaiian Temple truly has a majestic setting of beauty and tranquility.

We found a great spot for shave ice with ice cream at the bottom, a favorite must eat in Hawaii!

Back at our place that night, I cut up a mango we had bought at a fruit stand on the North Shore.

During the week, Roger also cut up fresh pineapple and we had papaya with lime every morning.

Nothing beats Hawaiian fresh fruit!

A gorgeous sunset topped off our day!

Jim is shielding his eyes from staring constantly at the setting sun - a cautionary tale to us that Kathy teased him about!

Each morning Roger went for a run, then he went on a walk with me before we went to the beach or the pool. It was so pleasant, whether it was raining, misting, cloudy or the sun was shining brightly.

Roger also enjoyed the sauna and the hot pools.

The Chapel on the property had a wedding in session every morning when we went walking by. 

One morning the bridal party had just come out.  

A gong sounded, leis were placed on the bride and groom and Roger caught some pics on his iPhone.

In the pic, we had just finished sharing an ahi tuna wrap at The Longboard, 

the beachfront restaurant on the property.

As you can see, we didn't enjoy it at all!

On Wednesday, we drove to Hanauma Bay to snorkel.

It was great weather, in spite of an erroneous weather forecast, and Roger and I saw a few pretty tropical fish.

Kathy and Jim are avid snorkelers, and they ventured out further and saw more, but it was just fun being there.

We shared the snorkeling equipment, and while Jim and Kathy were snorkeling, we lay on a towel under the palm trees and Rog got some cool pics.

Overlooking Hanauma Bay

I read the book, "Honolulu," on my iPad during the week.  It is historical fiction with the main character, a Korean Picture Bride in the 1920's, coming to Hawaii, and it follows her life.  I learned much about Hawaiian and Korean history during the time period of her life.

Our wonderful friends, Kathy and Jim, resting after snorkeling at our resort.  

We had so much fun enjoying their company all week.

They are The Best!

A final Hawaiian Sunset

Jim and Kathy had to leave a day early to go to a grandkids' concert in California.

Our last night, we had a delicious fish dinner at Monkeypod Kitchen, a new restaurant that opened last January. It is constructed kind of like a giant treehouse and is named after the monkey pod tree, and it brought back memories of the beautifully-grained monkey pod coffee tables my dad made when we lived on Oauhu when I was five and six years old.

Our waiter said to get banana cream pie for dessert, and he wasn't wrong!

A farewell full moonshot to wish Aloha! - until we hopefully return!