It was a trip that started with this sunset on the beach behind our backyard, at the North Shore of Oahu…

Can it get any better… ?   We awakened the next morning to the great news that my stepson and his girlfriend were engaged!  He invited her that morning (her birthday!) for a walk on the beach, and when they reached a beautiful spot near some rocks overlooking the ocean, he popped the question!  How cool is that, folks? We were thrilled!

Phil made margaritas at sunset to celebrate the double happy event: the birthday and the engagement…  Afterwards we kept our momentum with a nice dinner at the Turtle Bay Resort.  Yeap, the one from that movie, remember?  😉

So the festivities began!

The beautiful house we were fortunate to find (VRBO) and the incredible beach in our backyard….

The owners of the house have two gorgeous Golden Retrievers, quite likely the happiest dogs in the known universe!  They often dropped by the beach in the morning, hung out the whole day with the regulars for occasional  quick swims, then came back to lay on the sand or the cool grass in the backyard.  Tough life!   One of them assumed the “belly rub” position at the sight of any willing human being, and stayed like that forever. Patiently waiting…
Who could resist that belly?   None of us did!

We went for long walks, marveled at nature, relaxed on the beach, and took stand-up paddleboard lessons (harder than I anticipated, folks!). The strong swimmers followed sea turtles underwater.

We were impressed by the little Go Pro camera my other stepson had. The tiny thing is a workhorse! You can take it under water, clip it to helmets, to surfboards, to bikes, and make videos or serial time frames that are amazing! Take a look at this one, of the chase of a sea turtle under water (make sure to watch to the point the turtle goes up for air, it’s beautiful).  He also made several time lapses of sunsets, like this one, while some other folks were preparing to camp for the night on the beach, and lit a fire at sunset.

To close the week we had a farewell dinner at Tiki’s Grill on Waikiki, with the best Mai Tais, great food and wonderful ambiance, particularly if you arrive before  sunset, as we made sure we did!  😉

UNTIL NEXT TIME, ALOHA OAHU, and MAHALO!

ONE YEAR AGO: Feijoada, the Ultimate Brazilian Feast

TWO YEARS AGO: Vegetable Milhojas

THREE YEARS AGO: Italian Bread