30th Anniversary Hawaii Trip

A rock formation rises in the distance as a stream flows through the Waikolohe Valley at the Disney resort of Aulani in Hawaiʻi.

We saw lots of natural growth on the trail to Mānoa Falls on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi during our June 2023 trip. Looking at this photo, you would almost expect an Ewok to jump out from behind one of those trees. Or maybe Bigfoot. Except that everyone knows Bigfoot does not live in Hawaiʻi. And Ewoks are on Endor.

Waves crash into rocks along the shoreline at Kaʻena Point State Park on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi. We visited Kaʻena Point State Park early in our trip, as we were looking to check out some of the beaches of Oʻahu. If you have not already done so, you might want to read about it in Part 4 of the trip report.

Lanterns hang from tree limbs at the Four Seasons Resort along the shore on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi. As you might know from reading our Hawaiʻi 2023 trip report, we went for a walk every evening of our stay at the Disney resort of Aulani. On our very first night there, we walked past the Four Seasons Resort, which was right next door in the Ko Olina resort area. These lanterns were hanging in a tree near the path, and of course I could not resist taking a photo.

A lifeguard station on the beach at Kaʻena Point State Park on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 Hawaiʻi Trip. During our visit to Kaʻena Point, we happened to walk by the lifeguard station, which looked to me to be a good photo opportunity. For whatever reason, lifeguard stations are interesting to me, such as this one at Cocoa Beach, Florida and this one on the Hawaiian island of Kauaʻi. In fact, the Kauaʻi station linked above looks very similar to this one, which would make sense as they are both part of the Hawaiʻi parks system.

The view from Makapuʻu Point on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 Hawaiʻi Trip. During our trip, we had hiked up the trail to see the Makapuʻu Lighthouse. But before we climbed, I was not quite expecting to see the view that we found there.

The sun sets past the lagoon and ocean near the Disney resort of Aulani on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 visit. As you may know from reading the trip report, we went for a walk just about every evening that we were there. Part of that was to work off some of the calories we had eaten (do vacation calories even count?), part of that was to unwind from the day (not that we were stressed, but it is always good to relax at the end of the day), and part of that was to enjoy the beautiful scenery and sunsets. And as you might imagine, photos were taken on most of those nights, too. Not quite every night, but most of them.

Looking down the shore at Kaʻena Point State Park on the island of Oʻhau in Hawaiʻi, as seen during our June 2023 trip. If you have read part 4 of the trip report, you may recall reading that I took lots of beach photos, but that I did not include all that many in that post. This is one of the many that I did not include. Not that it was not good enough to “make the cut”, but just that I had too many to choose from. I decided to hold on to most of them to post at random times. The next post after that day of the trip report might not be all that random, however. But there are still plenty more to share later on.

These two kids got married 30 years ago today! Happy anniversary to my beautiful wife Laura. Thirty years into the future seems like a long way off when you are just starting out. But it does not seem like that long ago when you look at it from this direction. We have had lots of fun adventures, and of course a few difficult times to work through together, too. But the good times have far, far outweighed the bad times. And for that, I am thankful.

Evening View The ʻEwa tower of Aulani - A Disney Resort and Spa is seen across Koholā Lagoon in Hawaiʻi during our June 2023 visit. Each evening during our stay, we would go for walks along the Ko Olina lagoons. The views from our walks were quite nice, to say the least. The Ko Olina resort area is along a series of four lagoons, and a path goes along the edges of each one.