Oahu, Hawaii – My Sisters Wedding

What do you say after you take a week long vacation to Hawaii? Well, here goes my best attempt at a recap of the events of our trip to Hawaii…

My sister has been looking forward to this week for a long time, as it was the week that she would get married to Josh. For the rest of my family, it would be a week to hang out, attend the wedding, and then enjoy the beach and sun of Oahu from the luxurious location of Turtle Beach Resort.

Just the fact that I was getting away was a pretty major event in and of itself. Running the computer business has been very time-consuming, and in the weeks leading up to leaving for Hawaii, I ended up in Urgent Care because our roof was getting replaced and they closed a vent on our roof and working in the basement with a buildup of carbon monoxide wasn’t a good thing, and could have been fatal. However, once we got through TSA in Denver and got on the plane to Hawaii, the troubles started disappearing. Only a couple times did I have to remote in with customers back in Denver to look into a couple issues or return some calls.

Claire was fantastic on the flight out to Honolulu. It was a direct flight out of Denver, and we caught some favorable wind and made it there in six hours instead of the seven like we thought it was going to be. Getting off the plane was a wake-up call in how humid Hawaii was compared to Denver. It turns out though, even Hawaiians said it was an unusually humid day (good thing because I didn’t know how much I could enjoy myself it it was *that* hot).

At the car rental place, I upgraded the car to a yellow Jeep Rubicon 4-door that had a top you could take off. Why? I don’t know, I guess I didn’t want to drive around the island cramped in a compact car and we had a lot of luggage. Way too much. All you need is swimsuits for Hawaii, and so I have no idea why we had to pay $50 to the airline for extra bags each way.

First off, let me say this…Honolulu traffic stinks. In fact, traffic on the whole island stinks. The speed limits are really slow, and the roads are mostly two lane roads, with cars pulling on and off the roads, surfers walking across the street spotting waves and their buddies and the road signs are pitiful. Thankfully I had my Tomtom with me, and that helped us get across the island fairly efficiently. However, the scenery around us was beautiful, and Colleen kept mentioning that she couldn’t believe we were actually in Hawaii. We arrived around 3:30pm local Hawaiian time, but that was like 7:30pm Denver time. Apparently rush hour traffic in Honolulu starts around 2pm.

On the way to the resort on the north shore, we stopped at Foodland (the local grocery store) to get some food and snacks for the week, so we didn’t have to pay the exorbitant prices at the resort for every meal. By now the sun was setting, so we pulled off the road and we watched the sun set from Sunset Beach. By the time we got to the resort, my dad was already drinking a beer, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and ready to relax. Since our body clocks were now off, even though it was now 7pm Hawaii time, it was 11pm our time and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. (Note to self, go ahead and order that airplane meal.) We ate at the local bar and actually they made a really awesome chicken sandwich, even if it was $16. Claire was somehow still awake and in a good mood. Colleen did a really good job of making sure Claire didn’t eat a lot of sugar and turn into a monster. After our stomachs were full though, it was hard to resist going to bed. Flying to Hawaii makes for a long day.

Turtle Bay the resort was really nice, and I can see why many celebrities stay there. Apparently Justin Bieber was there, and Lori ran into Terry O’Quinn (the guy who played Locke in Lost) and got her picture with him.

Due to jet-lag we woke up around 4am and watched the moon set and sunrise the following morning from our hotel room. Eventually we wondered down for breakfast at 6:30am when it opened, and had a wonderful breakfast buffet. They had everything you could want, and more. I tasted many new fruits and ate a lot more food than I normally get at breakfast, and plus the coffee wasn’t that bad either. Things were looking up!

My parents decided since they were up the first day early due to the same jet-lag, that they would drive back down to Honolulu to go see the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. Parden my French, but forget that. As important as Pearl Harbor is in American history, I was on vacation and our family was going to take advantage of that and relax. Not drive in traffic both ways and spend a day in a car. Instead, we hung out at the beach, snorkeled and swam in the pool.

However, we wanted to go check out the northwest point of the island where there was a 4WD road and we heard there were big waves. On our drive there, we had no idea that we were passing famous “Lost” (the TV show) sites, and instead just took in the beautiful scenery. We found a place to park and as far as we could see there were only a couple fisherman along the entire coast of Oahu where we were at. We collected some rocks and some shells and then when we reached the end of the bumpy (and in some parts rough) road, we turned around and headed back. Claire didn’t mind the off-roading, which was a good thing, and she actually enjoyed shopping with us in some of the smaller surfing towns on the way back to the resort. We had to be back at 5pm for Lori’s rehearsal dinner at Lei Lei’s. We stopped in the town of Haleiwa to look for a Hawaiian shirt, but couldn’t find one. But we did find the best smoothie shop ever (sorry Jamba Juice and Juice Stop, this was way better), and bought Claire a Hawaiian dress. We were running behind time-wise, but made it to the resort just in time to be carted in a golf cart over to the restaurant where we had a fabulous dinner with adult beverages. We met Lori and Josh for dinner, my dad gave a speech and I ended up drinking four Mai Tai’s, and while they were extremely good, I was now extremely tired. So, the Esser clan, still a little jet-lagged, went to bed early for the second straight night.

Up at 5am again, we watched the sun rise and went to breakfast early on Saturday morning. We met my parents there as we had to leave early to drive all the way across the island for Lori’s wedding. Lori was getting married on the beach in front of Sherwood Forest, but because that beach gets a bad rap, the photographer and wedding planner call it Angel beach. While I still didn’t feel safe leaving stuff in our car due to the numerous signs stating not to, and the spray paint tagging on all the fences in the area, the beach was absolutely gorgeous after you left the parking area. My sister looked great and things were running on time.

The weather was cooperating and it was a blue-sky Hawaiian wedding, just like my sister had hoped for. The ceremony was nice, and Claire was continuing to be an angel herself. The most interesting part of the ceremony was how long Captain Howie could blow the conch shell. Those things take a lot of air to make sound and he did a great job of producing a long sound. He said it was for good luck.

After the wedding we went to go check out Captain Howie’s house, which is impressive to say the least. After running around there for a while and sweating some more in the hot Hawaiian sun, we went to go have lunch at Cinnamon’s. Mmmm, they had a really yummy velvet pancake, which really tasted like cake, and I ordered the Maui-style Mahi-Mahi, which was equally delicious.

However, the wait at Cinnamon’s was longer than we anticipated, and the OU-Missouri game started at 2pm. Lori and Josh parted ways and left for their honeymoon cruise around the other Hawaiian islands and we started driving back to Turtle Bay. We didn’t get back until about 2:30pm, but I watched the game while Colleen and Claire played in the pool (thanks Colleen!). My dad was stuck on some “Lost” tour with my mom, and missed the game. I was texting updates the whole time to try and make him feel a part of the action. Even though OU lost, it was good seeing it. Although it was weird watching a “night” game, when it was perfectly sunny out in Hawaii.

For dinner we went to the “All you can eat” Alaskan King Crab and Prime Rib dinner buffet. This was probably the best meal of the whole trip. Even though it was $39 a plate, it was worth it. (Hence, why I gained weight on this vacation.) Luckily, Claire ate free.

Again, we retired to bed early, only to wake up as a family before 7am for breakfast the following day. Claire was going right to sleep on her blow-up mattress and the king-size bed Colleen and I had was pretty comfortable as well. Something about the sun and water make one so tired at night…we tried watching TV but couldn’t make it very far before it was lights out.

Sunday my dad and I had made plans to play golf in the afternoon. Even though we wouldn’t get a full round in, if we played after 3pm, the normal green fee for the Fazio course ($150) was only $15. What a bargain for a round of golf in Hawaii! The girls were also very accommodating with our golf outings.

That morning, we went with my family to visit a few beaches along the northern shore on Sunday morning. At Sharks cove we looked at fish, and then at Waimea Bay we tried to snorkle, but the rip tide was pretty strong and it was hard to see anything anyway. We ate lunch at Haleiwa Joe’s on the recommendation of a friend in Colorado and it was yummy but expensive. By the time we got back it was time for golf!

I know this is going to sound elitist or something, but golf was only okay. The rental set of clubs they gave us were top-notch, however the grass wasn’t very thick, it was hot as all get out, and the wind was never ceasing. However, the price was right. Also, it makes sense that you can’t grow Kentucky Blue Grass on top of volcanic rock and sand. Nice grass requires a little more soil than is found in Hawaii. Joining us for the round were two guys who didn’t really have a job on the island other than surf and golf, but they had plenty of Coors Light to share with us, and really lived up to the typical Hawaiian bum stereotype you hear of and imagine. They talked up the surfing so much that at dinner that night at the bar again, my dad, Colleen and I decided the next morning that we would try learning how to surf.

Unfortunately, we woke up Monday morning to storm clouds and rain. However, we went forward with the surf lessons even though there were only two other people out surfing in the crazy conditions. (I joke that one must have been surfing for 30 years and the other has a death wish) We went to the concierge and he said the morning was booked, and since my mom planned on attending some Polynesian Culteral Center, Colleen sacrificed herself to stay home with Claire so my dad and I could go surfing. (Thank you Co!)

After receiving our special shirts so we wouldn’t rub our stomachs or chest raw against the surf board, our surf instructor gave us the most minimal instructions possible, and then swam his little surfboard way out into the rough seas and basically told us that we had to be able to paddle out to him and only once we got to him, would he would help us pick out a good wave and then we could try catching it. Well, the problem with that is, he is constantly changing his location to match up with the wave pattern and paddling in the rough conditions was extremely tiring. I only managed to make it out to him twice in the hour and a half that was our lesson. However, thanks to my years of snowboarding, I did stand up on both the waves I caught and it was a lot of fun. My dad made it out to him a few more times than I did, but crashed and burned a lot, however did manage to stand up on a couple of them at the last moment before he reached shore.

My dad tried making it out the instructor one last time, and unfortunately got lazy with carrying the board between him and the water and a big wave came on shore and knocked the surfboard into his nose causing a gash that required us to go get it checked out at the Emergency Room. This should give you an idea of how rough the conditions were. He wasn’t even out deep enough to start paddling, and the waves were already huge! As luck would have it, turns out he lost a chunk of skin and cartilage, but he would live and the vacation could continue. Little did we know that the waves were getting massively big this time of year, and the Vans Triple Crown surfing championships held on the north shore of Oahu started in two days. Go figure! Maybe someday we could try surfing in slightly less than epic conditions and have a little more success and less blood.

Since we were now behind schedule, my dad and I got lunch from the shrimp carts and took it back to the hotel. I was unimpressed. It was good, but not great. Not to mention, overpriced. However, any food after a strenuous surfing session tasted good.

My mom ended up not finding the car to go to the cultural center, and so we decided to all go look for the banyon tree that was in a few episodes of “Lost”. My mom was obsessed with finding “Lost” sites on the island, and we decided going for a walk would be fun and so we set out to go find it. After a while, we found it, and noticed that they were filming another movie in the area, as we passed many sets, props, cargo vans full of audio equipment, generators and make-shift trailers with changing rooms.

That evening my mom wanted to go out for Chinese to a place called Chop Suey’s. Sorry Mom, but it wasn’t very good, although Chinese was different than all the typical Hawaiian food we were eating for all our other meals.

Tuesday being our last full day at the resort, we just hung out and swam at the pool and relaxed. I got a free scuba diving lesson, where I put on the full outfit and practiced going underwater and using hand signals and it was pretty neat. However, I don’t know if I’m ready to go do that. Maybe next vacation. Claire is a little swimmer. She swam and swam and swam, and having Abby around gave Claire a buddy to play with at the beach and in the pool.

That afternoon my dad and I played another round of golf at the same Fazio course at Turtle Bay for another $15. After neither of us losing a single ball in our first round, we both went through our first sleeve by the 6th hole. The wind had kicked up compared to Sunday and we were playing by ourselves, which meant we were just whacking the ball and not concentrating. We made it back in time to join the girls for drinks by the pool and then we all went out to Surfin’ Taco’s for dinner. It was pretty good Mexican food for the price.

Wednesday was the day that we headed home. Our flight didn’t leave until 10:05pm Hawaiian time (2am Denver time), so we spent most the morning hanging out at the beach. I took plenty of pictures of the giant turtles since I hadn’t gotten them earlier in the week and Claire enjoyed playing on the beach with Abby. Once it was time to leave the resort, we decided to head for the Dole Plantation and do the tourist thing and have pineapple ice cream there.

Once we arrived there though, somehow we ended up with Claire having chop sticks digging out an oyster to uncover a natural pearl for Colleen. Claire did awesome and picked out one that had a giant white pearl in it, and I was impressed. It only cost us $7. I have no idea if this is a good price for one single pearl. Impulse buy I guess. Lunch at the Dole Plantation was mixed. I had an awesome pulled pork and pineapple sandwich, while Colleen’s panini was only okay. We walked around the garden after it had stopped raining and then eventually bought tickets for the train ride. The Pineapple Express was okay, a little overpriced, but you learn all about pineapples on the trip and Claire enjoyed it. We fed the fish, tried the pineapple whip (I wasn’t impressed, surprise, surprise), and then headed to Honolulu.

On the way back to the airport, we did take a detour on Highway 3, which supposedly cost $160 million per mile to build. That’s quite an impressive number. Good thing it was only 11 miles long or so! After that, we drove around looking for a place to eat, somehow ended up in Chinatown, and then decided we needed to floor it back to the airport as Claire had entered melt-down mode for the first time on the entire vacation.

Once at the airport, we returned our car, and went through security. Due to the rocks and sand we collected our bags were too heavy and we had to adjust, and then Colleen got chosen for some special body scan they have going on at the airport that required no less than seven TSA employees to stand around and watch. We had Quiznos (which was yummy) and some Starbucks and then boarded the flight back home, which flew during the middle of the night.

Claire slept pretty well, but freaked out the last 30 minutes into Denver. I had trouble sleeping, and watched two horrible in flight movies. Thankfully, we had a neighbor pick us up from the airport in the morning and it was an amazingly blue sky Colorado morning, but boy, coming home and having the weather be in the 30′s was a lot different than the temperatures in Hawaii!

So, now that I have written all of this and experienced Hawaii, the million dollar question is, “Would I go back?” Well, yes and no. Colleen and I felt like the pluses Hawaii has is that they speak English, and you can feel safe walking around, and the weather was nice and warm. However, the negatives were price, time difference and just the cost to do anything once you were there. One definitely gets more bang for the buck staying at an all inclusive resort in Cabo compared to Turtle Bay in Hawaii. However, Hawaii makes for an excellent vacation and I would like to go check out some of the other islands if we do go back. Thank you though Mom for all the planning to make this trip as awesome as a vacation as it was. We had a fabulous time!

Alright, enough banter, onto the pictures!

Canon Rebel T2i

So, a couple weeks ago I got a new camera. I got a Cannon EOS Rebel T2i that came with a EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6IS lens. It’s an 18.0 Megapixel camera with Canon’s DIGIC 4 Image Processor. That’s 5184 x 3456 pixels! I added a complementary EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS lens for the zoom (and for our upcoming trip to Hawaii). The ISO goes up to 12800…not that I would ever want to take a picture that high with the lenses I have, so, it’s a great bang for the buck. It has 63-point metering and a shutter range of 1/4000 sec. to 1/60 sec. with X-sync at 1/200 sec., 9 point auto-focus and a respectable 3.7fps shooting speed.

The main reasons to get this camera was that it was much, much cheaper than the 7D that I wanted. It also can take full HD video, supports SD Cards, supports EF and EF-S lenses, and was lightweight. It looked like a great beginner DSLR camera for the price, and when compared to the 60D, the specs looked pretty similar as well. As with any DSLR camera, it’s all about the glass…and while I have cheaper lenses, at some point I’m sure I will upgrade those as well.

So, this is the reason I’m actually updating the layout of Toid.net….so I can show off my progression with this camera. I’m trying in manual mode to take some good shots, and while I’m slow, I’m sure I will only get faster. And pretty soon, I’ll be a master at bokeh shots! (ok, maybe not a master, but you get the point!)