It was an early wake up to try and ‘compete’ for Space A flights to Hawaii at JBLM. But we successfully made it a onboard a super cool Air Force plane. Our friend Abby was there to pick us up and take us to Hale Koa to see if we could get a room……. we didn’t (Plan b) we got an ocean view room next door at the Hilton (using all our Hilton Honors points!!!) The kids had to try out all sources of water so we went to the beach, the pool and the lagoon!! Leif & I had to try out their drinks!!
We wandered around Waikiki and grabbed some local seafood for dinner from a few food trucks at Pau Hana Market….. so good. It was an early night to rest for more adventures in the morning.
Super excited to arrive in paradise and stay a few days discovering all that Hawaii has to offer.
Checking State 48 off the bucket list 💙💜💙
Another amazing day in paradise. We had to check out of our room and recheck in because we didn’t book all the nights at one time…. no biggie…. flexibility is key with Space A! And we got an even better ocean view room!!!
We hiked to Likeke Waterfalls where the kids had a dip in the not very warm water! Amazing views on the drive to and from the falls. We had a picnic lunch at Safeway full of local fare, even Mochi ice cream!! We hung out by the pool for the whole afternoon.
Our ride for the afternoon 😊
A submarine ride to the bottom of the ocean!!.
Guys……….. dreams do come true…… 😳🐢Ronan, Ella and I just got done swimming with this little guy 🐢 😳
Another memorable day spent in paradise. Thanks to the time difference, I watched the sunrise over Waikiki (I’m never up before sunrise…..ever) we had a picnic breakfast of local ‘scones’ from Diamond Head Bakery thanks to Abs. We boarded a boat out to the submarine launch site…… that was the coolest thing ever! Saw lots of fish,turtles and even a shark amongst the reef of a sunken boat and downed aircraft.
We ate some Spam Masubi for lunch and all liked it!! Ronan, Ella and I went to the reef right outside our Hotel and swam with a sea turtle. We spent about 20 minutes in the water with her. Another family was snorkeling and taking pics/video. When we got out I wrote him a note asking for an underwater pic to be text to me – he sent the awesome 2 minute video (priceless memory)
Again all water sources were swam in before heading to dinner with Abby, Luke and family at the Yard House. Everyone cleared plates and we headed back to the hotel but not before getting cool light up ‘rockets’ and flying them on the beach.
Space A Life :
We went to bed with 24 seats available on the Guam flight but woke up to only 8 seats available. We headed to the terminal and were #3 on the roll call. The 1st family had 2 passengers, 2nd family had 4 passengers so we were offered the 2 seats but had to refuse them 🙁 ……. again 🙁 After not getting on the flight, plan C (car to cruise around in) kicked into effect! Leif took the bus downtown Waikiki because there were no rental cars available at either base or Honolulu airport 😳. I took the shuttle to Navy Lodge and did a load of laundry!!
Leif was able to rent a Jeep and reserve a room at the Hale Koa!!! Abby gave us a list of things to see and do so off we went!!
He picked us up and we headed towards North Shore stopping at the Dole Plantation for some delicious Dole Whip!
We saw the coolest thing off Lanikea Beach, Sea Turtles right on the beach. They were busy eating the algae 5 feet from us!!!! Next we went snorkeling at Shark’s Cove where we were all able to see schools of fish swim all around us. We stopped by Ted’s Bakery for some killer Garlic Shrimp, BBB Chicken, Seafood, malasadas and their famous pie….. all plates were cleared.
We the stopped off at different beaches along the drive and checked out the scenery, China man’s hat was a great sight. There was an island off the shore that looked like a turtle so we called it turtle Island!! Leif stopped into Tamura’s Market for some Poke!! Finally making it back to Waikiki at sunset!!
There was no better way to spend our ‘no flight today’ day than seeing the whole island!!
July 25th has literally been the longest day in our history.
Flew from Guam to Hawaii at 6am 7/25.
It took 8 hours.
Arriving at 6pm on 7/24 (20hr time difference) Flying back in time 12 hours!!!
Relived the last 6 hrs of 7/24 again — trippy
Lived 7/25 all over again —-trippier
Basically 7/25 lasted 44 hours!
What we hoped to be our last day in paradise was a fun chilled out day. Checked out the museum. Bought floaties (I know……. last day 🙄!) but we got to swim with more turtles and they’ll be used on the plane tomorrow 🤞 We rented a water bike and biked Waikiki Beach! Ate delicious lunch at the Steak Shack and Shaved ice & ice cream for dessert. Swam in the pool before having L&L dinner with Coast Guard friends Ed & Michelle Lewis. Fed some wild parrots, pigs & mongoose in their back yard!
We ultimately waited 2 days in Hawaii to try for the Fairchild WA flight but woke up this morning to find out that there were only 8 seats available 😧. We went to the terminal to compete and they listed all present for all the Mainland US flights – there was 2 category 2 and 4 category 3 ahead of us (6 passengers) 😫
BUT the 4 cat 3 passengers didn’t show up!! 🤗 So the 5 Oksendahl butts were selected and are heading home to Washington after a whirlwind 3 week vacation of a lifetime.
Our final Space A flight was on a KC135, a refueling plane. Ronan and Ella sat in the cockpit for take off and Kian sat with the boom operator! They had the best time and the crew was amazing. They then switched and Kian helped land the plane right at sunset as Ronan and the boom operator watched the landing from the underbelly of the plane. Such a cool experience for them.