This was our last day. So sad to think about. I didn't want to leave yet! But I loved this day. Grabbed a few pictures of the view from our room. We weren't willing to pay extra for an ocean view, but I think we had a pretty incredible view of the city and mountains anyway.
We went to the temple and were able to do some sealings. It is way, way more gorgeous in person than I thought it would be. I've never seen that there are mountains right behind it in any picture. I don't think any of my pictures captured them either. You also can't tell very well, but it sits at the end of a long palm tree lined driveway, and it sits elevated on a small hill.
This is the back view. We walked around the grounds and saw some beautiful things.
These trees were my favorite. They are so cool!
A nice man and his daughter took a picture for us. They were checking out the BYU-H campus to see if she wanted to attend, and we were able to tell them a little about Jake and Lana's experiences there, which was cool because they didn't know anyone who had attended. They were also from Houston, so we shared that bond too. I love how Heavenly Father puts people in your path in small moments like that.
For the rest of the day we drove around and stopped at a bunch of random sights. We were getting back on the plane later and were checked out of the hotel, so we didn't want to get all sandy again. We felt like we'd had our fill though, so were happy to just take in some sights. This is Laie Point. The view was fantastic. The point goes out into the ocean so we walked out as far as we could.
We saw some crabs. Josh got really close and while I wasn't looking a huge wave came and almost drenched him. It's not easy running on rocks.
It was windy!
So then we had lunch at this bus that Jake loves. He said he ate there once a week. It was sure good!
Talking to Jake and rubbing it in his face we were there.
Some random trees that we liked.
Pineapple fields.
We stopped at the Dole Plantation.
We weren't going to stop here, but then Jake told us we would see some rainbow trees there. We had heard about them, and hadn't seen any all week, so we made a quick stop to check them out. So glad we did, they were so cool! And since we were there we had to try the world famous Dole Whip. I've had it at Disney World, but supposedly it's better in Hawaii. We liked it, but our tastes lean towards chocolate, and we just don't relate to why people rave about it. I'm sure if you prefer fruit desserts, this is for you.
Rainbow trees! They shed their bark to reveal different colors underneath so you never know what you'll see.
Our last stop was at some lagoons. What we didn't realize was that these lagoons were at the really nice resorts, so that was kind of an added bonus. It was a really nice area. There was a path that ran all along the beach for miles, so we took a stroll. I wish we'd had more time to spend here.
This is the Disney Resort, Aulani, so of course I had to get some pictures.
The sunset was really pretty. We missed the end of it because we had to get to the airport. I was bummed because I think it was going to be the best one of the week. Oh well. You probably won't believe me, but I've seen sunsets 100 times better in Idaho from my window than any we saw in Hawaii.
Can you tell Josh was about done with taking pictures?
We took a red eye home so we could squeeze in that last day. I think I slept an hour total even though I was beyond exhausted. I can't sleep on planes, but it was worth it. Goodbye Hawaii! I hope we can go back someday, but if not, I can die happy now.
