Hawaii/Alaska Trip Part 4

Day 5 in Hawaii came, sadly. We loved being there!  We decided to check-out of the rental right away and spend the whole day in Honolulu area.  We got up about 5am and left about 7:15am.  Everything was packed, cleaned up and swept.  And we forgot our passports.  Ugh.  Thankfully they sent them to us, no charge!  And we got our deposit back.  YAY!




Love how the mountains look in O'ahu!



We left the rental house early so we could get to Pearl Harbor right away.  You can reserve tickets online for a very small fee, but I forgot to do it.  They give out 1500 tickets each day, but never having been there I didn't know if we would get in or not so I wanted to be there as soon as possible.  We arrived at 8:30am and got tickets!


I didn't know much about Pearl Harbor. We watched a film about it before going to the memorial.  Wow, how sad about all those people dying that day.  Very somber there.  I'm glad they have the memorial.  Hopefully they can get the structure fixed.  Definite must see!


We couldn't go on the memorial to see the USS Arizona because there are some structural problems I guess.












Next stop was the Dole Plantation.  I've wanted to go here for awhile.  Maybe since I heard about my cousins working on a pineapple plantation in Hawaii several years ago? It was nice and hot out.  We saw some gardens first.










The best part of the plantation is the train ride.  It talks about the pineapple plantation and the history of Dole.  We had to wait awhile in the line for the train though.








Pineapple fields!














After we had pineapple treats and a lunch of sorts.








Yum, fresh pineapple!


Next stop, the maze!


The girls and guys split up.  There are different check points you can find in the maze and we raced. The guys one.  We got mixed up and couldn't find the last one.  I gave up because it was getting late and it was still hot out.








Amazing rainbow trees!










One our way back to Honolulu we saw the the ad for the PCC...and the same guy that did our Samoa presentation!


We hit up one more trail before our plane left that evening.  The Manoa Falls Trail.


This hike was short and not very muddy.  Perfect!








































We hit up Wendy's for dinner that night and then one last stop at Waikiki beach before heading to the airport.




Our plane left about 10pm.  We got the car dropped off successfully and made it through security.  YAY!  I had peanut butter and jam from the rental house and tried to bring it on the plane.  It was confiscated but oh well.  I tried anyway. 

Well, we made it!!! ALASKA!  The 50th state for us! Yes, that's right.  ALL of us have been to each of the 50 states!  We stopped to switch planes in Anchorage.




Hello Juneau!






We arrived in Juneau safely and got our beat-up rental van.  Quite different from the Armada, ha ha.  First stop, breakfast at Donna's.  Yum!








They kept opening the doors to let cool air in and I was getting so cold! It's not like we were in Alaska or anything......


Our Alaskan rental....


We then headed out to the Shrine of St. Therese.  It looked interesting from the internet and it was a fun, little outing.


Cute church.




Cute squirrel or whatever it is....




Juneau is split up into two sections, as we could figure.  We stayed in the northern part. But we made many trips to the southern part where the capitol is and more touristy stuff.


We walked around Juneau.




They have popcorn for $0.25 a bag at Juneau Drug!




There are also some very expensive tourist shops.


I didn't realize that Juneau was a big cruise ship port. We made a point to tell people we were not with the cruise ships.  Not that it mattered, but we weren't.  And I didn't know that the only way into Juneau is by boat or air.  Crazy!


Loved this little sign!




I should have taken pictures of our Hawaii rental, but didn't. The condo in Juneau was really cute.






I fell in love with a kitchen island and tall ceilings again.  These are things I would love in a house someday, and staying here re-confirmed that!






We picked up some groceries before we went to the condo, unloaded and then headed to Bullwinkle's Pizza.  We had fun eating pizza and playing the arcade games. They give you free popcorn there as well! And by the way, groceries seemed more expensive in Juneau than O'ahu.








One last excursion before bed...the Rainforest Trail on Douglas Island. It was so cool that it doesn't get dark till about 10:20pm or so.  Even then it doesn't get completely dark.


















Lots of creatures and vegetation everywhere!


Skipping rocks time!










We saw the whale statue by the bridge heading to Douglas Island. Picture time before bed.


















Later that night Lee and I headed out to grab a couple more things from the store.  Love this sign.  It's a different way of life up there!


The outside of the condo.



A full shot of what they look like.  These were the units across from us.