San Francisco---->Hawaii

Hey everybody!
Whoohoo 6 views yesterday!  We are really churning up some interest here!

Let me start by saying, Grace was quite modest and didn't regale you all with the details of my plight but the first night in San Fran was not good to me. I will never see a Safeway trashcan the same way again.  So, after catching up on my rest and regaining my dignity we decided to explore a little.  I don't know about you, but I feel like I could swim the distance between Alcatraz island and the wharves that line the bay (and I am not crazy swimmer).  Pictures make it seem far away, but if there were still inmates there, I think it would be a bit close for comfort.  There must be a lot of sharks or something...

Then the obligatory "Bridge in the background while sitting on a cable car in San Fransisco" selfie.  Too bad you can't tell we are on a cable car and the bad lighting almost eliminates the bridge all together... just trust me; we are and it's there.

After getting into town we decided to get something to eat.  This was the "half sandwich and bowl of soup" option on the menu.  Yikes.  SO MUCH FOOD.  I was still feeling "Meh" from the night before and I think the "I'll eat a crumb or two of my wife's" would have been a better option.

Had to get up at 4:30 to get to our flight out of Oakland the next morning and the weather was AWEFUL.  High winds(30-40mph), torrential rain(buckets and buckets of rain), and a fully booked flight(3 empty seats).  Not an encouraging start... We were asked to gate check our backpacks and reluctantly did so only to watch them get literally kicked down this chute in the pouring rain, and then have them sit there for 15 minutes before being loaded.  You can see Grace's pack near the bottom (its the green one) and mine is closer to the top (its the orange one)

Ahh well, if the bags can't take a little rain or kicking they might not be the bags for us.  However, the Osprey bags came through with flying colors.... but when the airline offered a survey immediately after we disembarked the plane, the airline got some scathing feedback.. justice served. How upset CAN you be Hawaii?  We went from rainy San Fransisco to this:

We were in Hawaii for a family wedding and had a lot of fun hanging out with family before, during, and after the wedding, and couldn't have asked for a better time.  

Me, all dolled up.

 The view from the venue

I had the hottest date at the party bar none

Then, after the wedding some friends were gracious enough to host us till we leave for our next destination, allowing us time to do a bit more sight seeing.

There are beaches in Virginia.  But not mountains like this:

The beaches ARE pretty nice though

I just cant get over the beauty here!  The view is nice too.

 A little jog up to the Makapu'u lighthouse..

 This picture doesn't convey the nearly shear drop several hundred feel to the raging water below.
--"Sharp rocks at the bottom?"
--"Most likely..."
--"Bring it on"

Then we did hit some of the tourist spots as we are, after all, tourists.

I was subjected to this sign...

Went snorkeling in Hanauma Bay, and saw a bunch of fish and even a turtle, but it wasn't quite bright enough for the pictures to come close to conveying how beautiful and vibrant everything was.  So here is a halfway decent picture of the turtle.

Anyway, thats about all for now, but we will be updating soon, and miss all of y'all already.

Aloha

~Chris