Day 1 - Joe took this picture of all of us in a circle.  We made it to the beach, it was Joe's first time to ever see the ocean. 
Steve, Eddo, and Joe on Waikiki Beach.
Joe and Amber
This restaurant was the one with the very tasty Macadamia Nut pancakes, the pork stuffed omelets and the crab fried rice.  I think this place is the reason why I didn't lose any weight on this trip.
Inside Sam Choy's they had this cool boat and you could eat inside it.  When we went back the 3rd time to eat there, I asked if we could sit in the boat and so we did.
Joe and Amber at Sam Choy's
Steven and I at Sam Choy's
Yep, this is a picture of my omelet - half eaten that is -  and a picture of that delicious fried rice.
Okay, some of you may have already seen them, but if you weren't keeping up with my life while I was in Hawai'i then here you go - Banana Macadamia Nut Pancakes! They tasted even better than they look.
Hopefully this one is self-explanatory.
A cool picture of an Aircraft Carrier at Pearl Harbor - my first time to ever see one in person.
A Battleship at Pearl Harbor
Here is a picture of the submarine the USS Bowfin
The actual Pearl Harbor Memorial is still in the middle of the ocean and so you have to take a boat ride to get there.
This is what the Pearl Harbor Memorial actually looks like.
This is an old picture of them cleaning the deck of the USS Arizona - the ship that sunk due to the fact that it was hit with a torpedo and the torpedo hit the ammo storage units and they exploded killing 1400+ men.
On each one of these boards is information about Pearl Harbor and the ships.
A miniaturized version of the USS Arizona.
An ariel view of Pearl Harbor
A replica of the Japanese Ship the I.M.S Akagi
On the wall there were these artistic replications of what happened on the day of Pearl Harbor - the day of Infamy.
I love the way the colors just pop in these pictures.
Last one.
On the USS Akagi they had replicated even the little Japanese Soldiers - I thought they were really cool.
The actual Anchor from the USS Arizona.
Eddo and Joe and the anchor makes even us look small.
It is much easier to take a picture of the details then to try to remember them. 19,585 pounds - now that is a big anchor!
Anyone seen any naval rockets around here? Oh, look, found one - never mind!
Here Joe and I are on the USS Bowfin - armed and dangerous.
Is that Eddo in a really large hair dryer?  Might was well be because I have no idea what it actually was.  We are in the submarine at this point - Joe and I had a blast taking loads of goofy pictures.
Amber took this pic of Joe and I because we wanted to show everyone how narrow the halls were.  These submarines are not really built for the 6' 5" 250+ pound guys.
Here I am coming through one of the portals - it was much harder to squeeze through than one might expect.
Oh, and here is Joe coming through one of these doors.  We had to go through three of them to get from the beginning to the end of the sub.
Joe loves to be behind the wheel.  It is a good thing that he really isn't driving this submarine because if they had underwater red lights - Joe would be running them.
Cappuccino Anyone? Here inside the sub we found the Worlds Largest Cappuccino machine... I would like mine iced please! 
Amber made climbing through these doors look easy. Show Off!
Amber what are you looking at? Stephen and Amber having little trouble getting through the door.

This is a picture of a Pin Up girl on the submarine.  These girls were posted here and there throughout the cabin and made me think of Square Slant when I saw them.
Joe had such a big breakfast that he was a little sleepy... I am surprised that he was able to fit on this submarine bed - it was cramped, but he was so tired he didn't mind.
Joe decided to try out the massive hair dryer - he had an Afro when he pulled his head out.
Apparently you can give CPR without having to breathe into someone's mouth... I wish I had heard about this before I had to give that old man CPR...
Joe thought he would try to work some of the instruments on the submarine... I kept trying to tell him that this sub was just a museum nothing actually worked - but he kept trying anyway.
This is a shoot for a Torpedo - Did I see a Batman and Robin once where they shot themselves out of the torpedo cannon on a sub or is that a false memory?
I wanted to do a Titanic pose here, but Joe and Stephen and Amber chose this pose instead.
I had to take a photo of these old Navy advertisements. Look at that middle one - "He volunteered for Submarine Service" If that is what makes the women swoon then sign me up!
This suit reminded me of "Men of Honor" with Cuba Gooding Junior.

 

I love the weight belt and the knife - scuba gear has come a loooong way since then.

I don't know who designed this memorial building but it was really cool.  I like this entry door and the over-all angular structure of the building.
The USS Arizona is underwater still and this is a picture of part of it.
This is another part.
There is an actual hole in the floor of the memorial that you can look through to see part of the ship.
Here is a memorial wall with the names of the people that died that day.
A close up of what was written in the center.
I even thought that these windows were cool.
A favorite shot of mine... the flag flying high over the memorial.  Look for this one in the wallpaper section.
A shot of the battleship from the memorial.
A shot of the inside of the memorial.  I really enjoyed the design of this building and that is the reason for all the pictures of it.
Ewa Beach - some guys trying to find some waves to ride.
This is a picture Joe took on the drive over to Ewa Beach - Ewa is pronounced Eva  - sometimes in Hawai'i - people pronounce their W's as V's.
Another favorite of mine.  We went to Ewa beach to catch the sunset but we didn't realize that in order to catch a good sunset over the ocean you had to go to The North Shore.

However, I really liked this one.  It is shot without a filter and it is unedited - it really looked just like this.

I had no idea that someone had made a sculpture using my body and especially my calves.  This one in front of the Hawaiian convention center shows me at my peak. 
Diamond Head National Park - could that sky be any bluer?
Joe and Amber stopping for a kodak moment on the way up Diamond Head Crater. 
I am not sure what these stations were used for, most like gunning down bad men, but since they were inside the crater and so it didn't make much sense for them to be stations for people with guns.... anyone have any ideas?
Joe and I figured out what they were supposed to be used for. Titanic poses.
Far across the distance
And spaces between us
You have come to show you go on.

Near, far, wherever you are
I believe that the heart does go on
Once more you open the door
And you're here in my heart
And my heart will go on and on...

Amber sang the whole song to Joe - it was very touching.
 
Joe and Amber - I only put these photos in here of them so they don't get all bent out of shape... otherwise it would just be a whole bunch of pictures of... ME!
The trail was nice and it had great rails to hold on to - and they were necessary because it was hot and I kept feeling like I was going to faint from heat exhaustion.  At one point Joe asked me what time it was and I said, "Oven-Thirty" - because we were baking.
Yep, at this point I had already started getting dark - so dark that you may have trouble seeing me in this tunnel.
Not one but two tunnels on this Diamond Head crater climb.
It really was worth the climb - the views were breathtaking.
Another shot of Joe and Amber at the top of the Crater.
Here you can see all of Honolulu. It has a bunch more high rises than I would have expected. For some reason I thought Hawai'i would be mostly huts!
Another shot of Diamond Head.  The closest beach to Diamond Head is Waikiki - a very, very popular beach among tourists.  I couldn't believe the number of "white" people that had baked themselves to being as dark brown as me - people there needs to be a limit!
Joe was exhausted after the climb up to Diamond Crater - he just fell out right here on this bench and took a break.
But not Amber - she didn't need a break - she was feeling as cool as a cucumber - breezy and ready to go.
Going back down the spiral stair case Joe thought this would be a cool shot - he was correct.
Here is a pic of me going down the staircase too - notice the sweat on my shirt - yep, I was hot!
This one Joe was able to catch all of the spiral  looking upward- another fun photo that I just had to include in this journal.
Joe got his strength back after his earlier break and so he wanted to prove to us just how rested he was and so he started doing pull-ups.  Amber and I just shook our heads and kept walking.
Here in the tunnel Joe took this picture and I was going to act like I was scaring Amber - little did I know that she was making a scared face.  When the picture was over I said, "I made a scary face" and she replied, "ME TOO!"  We then had a good laugh about it.
Eddo and Joe in the tunnel and once again I look like a Sweat Monster.
On the way down... finally.
Joe wanted to show off his climbing skills even though it wasn't allowed.  When he fell of this North Face I just laughed at him.
Amber just chilled out while Joe climbed the rocks.  She said, "I am used to just relaxing while Joe tries to prove how tough he is... "

I shook my head with empathetic understanding.

Yep, you did already see this one if you were keeping up with me while I was away - but this one is cropped down more so you could see our faces better.  I look so happy because we are finally done!
After we finished at Diamond Head we were famished - I saw this place and I thought it said something else - but it is pronounced - Foo - Ket - not F$%@ it - Like I first pronounced it. Mom get out the soap!

North Shore Drive - Dole - Polynesian Cultural Center
On the way over to the North Shore we went through this tunnel - the camera just took the picture this way and I thought it was cool.
As soon as we came through the tunnel we were greeted with this... awesome isn't it.
The mountains on the North side of the island. 
We pulled over and took some great photos of Chinaman's Hat. You can see it there in the distance behind the palm trees.
Amber didn't realize I was taking this picture of her.  Here she is looking pensive into the sun, contemplating the reality of life, the awesomeness of God, and what in the world are we going to eat for lunch!
The sun was freakishly bright right here - but it sure was pretty.
A better shot of Chinaman's Hat.  I shot this one with the Polarizing lens to minimize the glare of the sun and to maximize the blueness of the sky.
Of course Joe and Amber wanted a picture of themselves in front of the Chinaman's Hat - an ancient Chinese superstition says that if you take a photo in front of the Chinaman's Hat you will crave Chinese food every day for the rest of your life - did you hear that Amber?  Maybe that is why you kept wanting Chinese Food.
And while we were taking pictures of the Chinaman's Hat - we actually saw a chinaman - IN A CHINAMAN'S HAT! What are the odds!
A nice shot of the sky and some palm trees on the same beach.  Look at that blue sky - thanks to Maksim's (The Russian) camera for this great shot.
Joe once again wanted to climb this tree - I snapped the picture and then told Joe to stop it with the climbing!
Don't even get me started on how beautiful the North Shore is.  This is just a small beach we found on the way to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  This one will be a wallpaper for sure.
Another nice one.
I couldn't stop myself - picture after picture.  I kept clicking, scanning, clicking as if I was a photographer and this beach was my model - and boy did she pose for me.
A rare shot - these crabs can move and they blend in with their surrounding so well they are hard to see.  This one decided to pause for me just long enough for me to take it's picture.
This one I have called Primordial.
The last of this little piece of the North Shore.  I took so many pictures of this little place it was hard to choose which ones to publish.
We arrived at the Polynesian Cultural Center to find that it was closed until Noon.  Ugh, we were livid.  And then we realized we were just a stones throw away from the Dole Plantation and suddenly we were ecstatic.
I was mesmerized by this tree and the fact that people had carved stuff onto it. 

 

Look at that one leaf that says, "I love you mom" And it is dated 4/30 it made me wonder how long it would last on the tree since Hawaii only has one season - warm and balmy.

I had no idea that pineapples grew out of the ground and that they could look like this. Very cool.  I might need to plant a pineapple garden someday.
Joe and his big pineapple body playing his mandolin.
Amber dances to Joe's beautiful music.
Joe and Amber looking like the pineapple heads they are. Love you guys and your big pineapple heads! :)
Joe and Amber made me stick my head in there. Joe is twisting my arm, you just can't see it.
I was in love with this tree.  I just couldn't get over the fact that it was actually colored like that - I thought it was painted at first.
A bunch of Banana's - Dole doesn't just grow pineapples, they also grow banana's and mango's and papaya's -a whole smorgasbord of goodness.
Joe and I are lost and so thankfully we found this guidance pole to help us find out way...
There was this maze that we decided to do and it was NOT FUN.  It was really, really difficult and we finally gave up.  It was also swelteringly hot in this maze and so it was not worth the 5 dollar admission.  However, it did remind me of "The Shining" - anyone remember the scene I am talking about?
In the middle of the maze they had a garden and I had Amber strike a pose next to these purple flowers. 
Hibiscus Perenialis - which translates to "Flower that grows everywhere like weed in Hawaii"

These beautiful flowers were literally all over Hawaii. The Dole Plantation just happened to have a bunch of varieties.

A shot from the garden that is located within the maze.  Those trees look out of place to me, but they were still nice to look at.
Joe and Amber inside the Dole Garden. 
Birds of Paradise - this one to me actually looked like two birds and so I took a picture of it. If you look at the red part as the beak and the orange part as some fancy hair, or you can look at it as the red part as the body and the orange part being the wings - that way it looks like a humming bird to me.
Another interesting flower.
Coconuts - or papayas I am not real sure which.
After the Dole Plantation we were famished.  We stumbled upon this place in The North Shore town of Haleiwa. I had a chimichanga, Joe had quesadillas, and Amber had chicken enchilada suizas - everything was delicious and the homemade salsa was fresh and spicy hot.  It was a little taste of Texas and it almost brought a tear to my eye it was so good.
Outside the Polynesian Cultural Center - if you hadn't already guessed.
Joe posing next to a Polynesian Totem - either that or he is constipated.  lol. 
I finally found the futureMrs. Edward Charles Renz.  This girl is EXACTLY what I am looking for. I sidled up to her and I said, "Alooooha baby - How you doin'?"

Unfortunately she didn't want to date me long distance.  However, if you look like this girl and you are a Christian - please drop me a line immediately - I already went to Tiffany's and picked up the ring.

This was just a cool building at the cultural center.
Eddo and Joe posing with a Tahitian Totem.  This time Joe decided to smile even though the photographer called for "Angry and/or Moody" - apparently Joe has never done any professional modeling like I have.
This is a Fijian temple I believe.  However, these no longer exist in their culture because these temples were temples to gods and they sacrificed humans inside.  Missionaries came to their islands and introduced Christianity and so now these temples no longer exist.
All of these men were married and they pulled them out of the audience and made them come up and go through some rituals - here they are killing the "pig".
These guys were breaking it down - I so wanted to be a part of this show, I would have looked awesome in one of those outfits.
This girl could also be a candidate for a Mrs. Renz - but she would have to wear that cool outfit any time I asked her to.

The nuptials would have went something like this...

PastorTom Nelson: "Do you Mehalani promise to love, honor, dress up and dance for Eddie as long as you both shall live?"

Mehalani: "Of course I do!"

 
Amber and I posing by the Tahiti sign.
Tongan Drummers rocked the house.
And later we saw some serious cultural dancing on the canal.

 

 
Tongan
Tahitian Treat Part Deaux
Hawaiian girls if I remember correctly.
Check out the face paint on these guys - they were working that paint!
These guys were from New Zealand and for some reason I didn't think that New Zealand had so much funk, but out of all the cultures, these guys danced the best and they had some of the meanest looking outfits as well.  They actually looked tough in a grass skirt - which is really hard to do - believe me.
This guy was Samoan.  He did a number of demonstrations and he was so funny I almost busted a gut! Of my entire trip this guys performance is in my top 5 "best things we did while in Hawai'i".

 

 
He made fire using a the old method of rubbing two sticks together. And then he used the husk of a coconut to get the fire going.
And then this Samoan guy climbed this tree like it was nothing.
He was so funny that Joe and I had to take a picture with him.

Joe bumped into him and he said in a very humorous way - "Don't touch me" - almost like a little kid would say it.

Did I mention that Joe and I got Tattoos?  Yep, Rangauan - I think that is how you spell it - Tribal Tattoos - they were very cool for the 24 hours that they lasted.
Amber started talking some noise and I thought I better deliver her a butt whoopin'!
I was thoroughly enjoying it...
And then she retaliated - or at least I let her think she was getting me back...
Joe and I posing at the Fijian cultural area - as you can see I am poised and ready for attack because that is just the way that I roll - you give me a weapon and I am ready to bust some heads... However, Joe is actually posing for the picture oblivious to the fact that I am about to start bludgeoning him in the head with this club.
That night we went to a huge cultural show in this cool arena.  However, the camera's could only pick up so much of the performance due to the lighting and the fact that we weren't allowed t use flash photography.
The same hilarious Samoan was also the fire baton twirler guy in this show.
Fire Dancers
This guy is twirling two baton's at once - even though it looks like he is just some guy that has been set ablaze. 
I am not real sure that I would be holding a flaming anything right there... no need to show the "Look Ma - No Hands" trick when you got a stick with fire on both ends.
Nothing like a really cool ring of fire to get a show started.

Oahu Dive Shop - Scuba!
Amber's family knew this guy named "2-Bob" who owned a dive shop in Hawaii.  We got discount scuba diving and it was a blast.
Here is Captain Mike - the Captain of "Enzo".
And this is 2-Bob - Nicknamed 2-Bob because at one time he had a bear that was so long that it made two of him. He no longer has the beard.
Stephen is about to take the plunge.
And here we are in the water figuring out how to breathe...
A nice view from the boat.
Here I am post dive looking like a fish out of water.
And Stephen post dive as well.
Here is Stephen and Jerry one of the other dive masters that went with us.
And what day is complete without a Starbucks? Guess what flavor I had.
Stephen and Amber placing the order.  And since I didn't mention it before; Stephen is Amber's brother and he got stationed at Pearl Harbor and we stayed in his new apartment the whole 11 days we were there- Thanks Stephen!

Dinner at Sam Choy's
We liked Sam Choy's so much that we went back for a huge barbecue dinner. After dinner we took a few pictures.
A great shot of Joe and Amber - we all decided to wear something Hawaiian to dinner - we looked very touristy.
Amber loved to "Bring It" - he she is keeping Joe in line using the ancient Hawaiian "Open Palm Thumb Up Fist-to-Face" death slap - something we learned at the cultural center.
Amber was all fired up about something because here she is again about to pound her unsuspecting brother Stephen into a pulp with the Tongan "Close Fisted Gouge the Adam's Apple" trick. 

Manoa Falls National Park

I loved this hike up the mountain - I could have stayed just built me a little hut and lived up there it was so nice. 
Joe and Amber color coordinated for this mountain climb - something only married people can do and get away with it.
Amber and Joe in front of the waterfall.
Eddo and Joe looking for The Predator... I kept hearing that ticking sound that the Predator makes and I just knew that at any moment he was going to jump out and eat Joe.
Amber and Joe wowed by the size of these trees.
The same trees Joe and Amber were just looking at - Tall these trees are.
As you can see this rain forest did indeed have a few monkeys in it.
What the bottom of the mountain looked like as we came back down into a clearing.
A nice lavender flower for the ladies. Aloha!
I could hear the rat-ta-tat machine gun fire in the distance.  Napalm grenades explosion's followed by wicked screams that should only be heard in the bowels of hell.  Oh, wait, sorry - I just had a flashback of Nam when in reality this is just the same pretty rainforest in Hawai'i.
How may I help you today?
These were as big as pine cones and I thought they looked cool and so I took a picture of them.
At first glance these things look like flowers, but they aren't.  I don't know the name of them but I would call them Christmasanthemoniums - because they are the color of Christmas.
This palm tree was huge  and very cool - it is the size of a tree but it doesn't have bark like a tree.  It looks like a really large plant that someone has put on roids.
These cool palm fronds were also fun to look at.
Welcome to the Jungle...
   
On Friday we went to the North Shore and went swimming while Joe played golf at the very posh Turtle Bay Resort.  Amber and Stephen pose in the water with a flotation device.
I took this picture because the little girl was so stinking cute.  I was actually laying on my back while I took this picture and that is why it has such an odd angle. I am pleased with the clarity of it considering it's randomness.
A close up of the cute kid.  This is a second photo while laying on my back and then I cropped it down so you could see her.  She had her own little paddle and she kept talking really cute too.
Rainbows are everywhere in Hawai'i.  It rains and the sun shines at the same time and so with that combo you get lots of rainbows.  I liked this one because you could see all the colors purple, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.
A black and white photo of Amber at her request.  I purposely set it off-center so you could see the cool sand.
Sunset at the North Shore.
A black and white over at The Turtle Bay Resort.
Eddo watching surfers at the Turtle Bay Resort.

I had on khaki shorts earlier and so please don't think that I had matched my swim trunks with that shirt - I know how you ladies like to spot fashion mismatches. 

Amber in one of my favorite black and white shots.  If this were a picture of me I would print it out, frame it, and hang it on the wall.
Buca di Beppo - so much goodness cometh from thee - oh how I loveth thine overwhelming portions...
That same street in the above picture just shot with a cool camera setting.
Joe took this shot of the sun setting - he is on hole 17 of the Turtle Bay Resort.
Another one with the Flag.
And one more because it is so dang pretty.

The End