Tiki's

Our 6th day in Hawaii-By this time I don't think I could even remember what day of the month it was. Which is a good thing when you are on vacation. The days were really going by so quickly and soon it would be time to go back to reality. All day Rhett had to attend Station tours while the ladies were free to do whatever we pleased. While on the tour of the research facilities Rhett had the opportunity to speak with Paul Schickler who is the president of Pioneer. He also learned some interesting things about farm stuff & I will just leave it at that! One option for the wives was to take a shuttle to Waikiki for some shopping. Well of course I chose that because I had to get souvenirs for all the nieces/nephews. It was nice to get a little exercise walking up and down the strip checking out many stores. Near the international market place my friends & I decided to shop where the little vendors were set up. Most were hard to understand but you could haggle with them and try to get reduced prices. I ended up buying lots of goodies. Mostly small items but 1 each for all 13 kids. That was a process! I love Christmas ornaments and found a really cute wooden one. The little Hawaiian clothes were so so cute. I got Roxy a pink Hawaiian print dress. Totally adorable. For our lunch it was set up to eat at Tiki's Bar & Grill. Yummy food and such a fun setting. We loved our frozen pina coladas in our coconut cups!! At 1 point Rose had two sitting in front of her and we were just dying laughing. It was getting very close to our time to head back to the resort so we were sucking them down and getting brain freeze like crazy. About 2 minutes later the waitress comes out with clean cups for us to take as our souvenirs. Ahhh!!! Then we were really rolling.

Our evening event planned was an official laua on the lawn right next to the hotel. When we arrived a heavily tattooed man was blowing into a big shell making loud noises. Their were tiki torches everywhere leading the path to our destination. Hawaiian girls were making lei bracelets and stars/fish shapes out of bamboo leaves. A young man sat on the ground mashing up what looked like a purple potato and turning it into poi. I didn't taste it but Rhett said it was nasty. I have heard people describe it is tasting like wall paper paste. No thank you! At one point many people had wandered to the edge of the ocean to watch the sunset and see some whales in the distance. Rose had some major issues operating the camera and this picture is one she took. Kinda fun looking!

We had a traditional laua dinner complete with whole roasted hog. It looked disgusting with its smashed in face. A little laua show was also put on. Overall it was a fun evening but we retired  back to the room pretty early. Being so busy was taking its toll! 

That Loving Feeling

Entrance to USS Missouri 

Our Friends!

We just had to attempt to recreate this!! Now looking my feet are totally all wrong. Ha!

I honestly don't remember very much at all about history class from my younger years of school. That is a sad sad thing. I don't remember ever being interested in it either. Visiting Pearl Harbor while in Hawaii was a little history lesson for both Rhett & myself. I think it is safe to say we both thoroughly enjoyed our visit there. At Pearl Harbor their are several different things to see including the USS Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri Battleship, USS Bowfin Submarine, Pacific Aviation Museum, & the Visitor Center. We didn't have enough time to visit all of these areas but on February 6th, 2013 a Wednesday evening we got acquainted with the USS Missouri. Even from the moment we stepped on the bus that night our brains were filled with detailed information about the battleship we were headed to see.  A young Chinese girl talked the entire bus ride from our resort to Pearl Harbor. I would say the drive probably lasted 35-40 minutes. She rattled off all the information by heart. One thing in particular she spoke about was why President Harry S Truman chose the USS Missouri as the official surrender platform involving Japan & World War 2. Missouri was his home state and also because his daughter Mary Margaret Truman had christened it. We learned about a kamikaze attack that occurred on the USS Missouri. After the attack the Japanese pilot's body was discovered in the wreckage on the ships deck. Instead of just throwing the body overboard into the sea a commanding officer made orders that the man have a proper burial at sea. When she spoke of this it truly did bring tears to my eyes. It is difficult to remember everything she told us because it was such a large quantity of information. Once we reached the ship we were able to walk around and tour whatever area we pleased before our dinner.  We got to view the below deck which was very interesting to see where men slept and dined. Everywhere maps, pictures, artifacts, and posters with information were set up.

View from front deck

 Exact spot the surrender documents were signed with the Japanese

 Ever seen "Men of Honor"?? It is one of my favorite movies. Based on this guy right here. When Rhett found this I was ecstatic. He was excited too because he knows I love the movie.

On the back deck a huge tent was set up for our dining area. The meal was delicious and the entertainment was awesome. Their was an 8 piece band with 5 singers. The women would take turns singing and then change outfits ever so often. They played a variety of music including a few songs by the Righteous Brothers and Rhett commented that his Mom loves them. At one point the whole audience was singing "You've lost that Loving Feeling" and then 1 man got suckered into doing a solo to his wife. He was down on his knee singing away. He was horrible and it was just fantastic. Kinda like a little Top Gun Moment. Haha!! The band also played some American tribute songs that I'm sure made every woman there want to shed a tear. It was then announced in front of all 330 people that newlyweds Rhett & Sara Simpson were in attendance for the evening. We had to stand up and everyone was clapping for us. Although we were both a little red from the sun I think Rhett turned a few shades redder. What a wonderful moment. Not sure who set that up but my money is on little Ms. Rose Streaker. No one at our table would ever fess up. No expense was spared for this evening at all and we were so lucky to have been a part of it. It was a night I will never forget. 

Dolphins & Whales!

Our 5th day of the trip began a bit early for Rhett. He had a short meeting to attend. I slept in and then met the girls for breakfast in the ocean ballroom. Afterwards Shelly & I took a nice walk on the path along the lagoons. We never even turned on our i pods because we talked the entire time. She is from Michigan and has 3 children-all girls. We talked about everything from food to working out to being married to a farmer. She recently has lost quite a bit of weight as well. (80 lbs to be exact) Around 11 we got bused a short distance to the marina for our catamaran cruise. Neither Rhett or I had ever been on a boat like this so it was an experience. We had to remove our shoes before entering the boat. We saw a ton of dolphins, a couple whales, and got to snorkel. The dolphins got extremely close to the boat and I got many pictures. Trying to snap 1 at the exact moment they jumped out of the water was tricky.

I enjoyed the snorkeling way more this 2nd time around. Our masks got sprayed with special substance so they wouldn't fog easily. We took many underwater pics with the disposable camera I bought. The water was so clear and beautiful. The coral reef and fish were neat to see. I did manage to swallow some salt water and that made me so sick to my stomach. Yuck! I hate salt. Rhett got very close to a manta ray and hopefully got some great pictures. I still don't have them back from being developed. We had a nice spread for lunch on the boat. The whales we seen were from quite a distance but it was better than seeing nothing.
We had a short amount of time before our evening event so Rhett napped and I spent the entire time getting ready. We were having dinner on the USS Missouri @ Pearl Harbor. That night totally deserves its own post so I will fill ya in next week!

Catch a Wave!

Tuesday our 4th day in Hawaii is when all the organized Pioneer activities began. We slept in and then spent time at the beach with our friends. Everyone was teasing us like crazy since we were the "newlyweds" and on our "honeymoon". You can use your imagination here with the jokes. Rose & Trudi especially enjoyed cracking little tid bits the entire trip. Every stranger we came into contact with soon knew our new marital status. It was actually pretty funny and those 2 ladies are a hoot. Despite the age differences we had a fantastic time with everyone. We probably were the youngest people in the entire group. Allen Streaker taught Justin in high school way back when....It was pretty fun listening to those stories from him. Approx 330 Pioneer people were in attendance for the first wave and the second wave (they arrived the day we left)  consisted of 220. Their was a hospitality room set up every day at the hotel. If we had any questions or concerns we just took a little visit there. All the ladies were extremely friendly and helpful. It always had snacks & drinks too. Their were these chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies that were so so good. If sugar didn't make me fat I would have probably eaten about 10 a day. No joke! I even took 3 to go on the last day and we ate them on the plane ride home. From our room balcony we watched the lagoon lawn get transformed into our evening party area.

 

In our little packet of info it stated a dress code for all the different events we would be attending. Trying to figure out what to wear that evening was a trip. I would change and then change again. Rhett got dressed and then watching from our balcony and seeing other guys he debated about changing. Eventually we made our way down to the party. Upon arrival we received fresh lei's. They were so pretty! Rhett was able to pick out a Hawaiian shirt while I picked out a poncho. It is a cute swim wear cover up. Later in the evening we snuck back over and swiped 1 for Margaret & Justin too. We weren't really supposed to do that but it was fun being secretive. We also got a very nice canvas bag with all type of goodies-sunblock, nuts, Hawaiian chips, cookies, choc covered nuts. I think their goal on this trip was to get everyone to gain about 10 lbs. Their was a band and a photo area set up with a surfboard/wave background. Everyone had the opportunity to hop on and get a pic taken. The meal was delicious and so were the many drinks we had. Meeting and mingling with new people was fun. At our table all the couples took turns telling stories from throughout their many years of marriage. We laughed a lot!! At one point Rhett said, "Are we that boring we don't have good stories to tell?" Haha!! I know we have plenty of stories we could've spouted out but it was nice just listening. We took it all in. That nigh I lost 1 of my favorite earrrings which was a total bummer. At the end of the evening Rhett stole the pineapple that was the centerpiece on our table. I did notice a few other tables with missing fruit too so we weren't the only ones. It was a wonderful evening!

 

Pineapple Express

Our last stop of the day on our little jeep tour was at Dole Plantation. Home of Pineapples!! Rhett & I love pineapples so this was a must see. We enjoyed yummy soft serve pineapple flavored ice cream. Their was maze to go through but we chose not to do that. Inside the store their was everything pineapple imaginable-choc covered fruit, choc covered nuts, t-shirts, whole pineapple, dressings, bags, and much more. I was running around like a fruit loop trying to decide what to spend $ on. We didn't have a huge amount of time before the store closed. I ended up getting all kinds of goodies. Rhett & I both got t-shirts and his is a red dirt shirt. The dirt in Hawaii is very red and that was used to make the shirts color. Very neat! When he went to the Pioneer research facility he was told to not wear white shoes bc they could stain easily. The chocolate covered pineapple I bought was amazing!! I only wish I would've bought multiple boxes. We discussed buying a box of pineapple and getting it shipped back home but never did order any. Boxes of 2 and boxes of 5 were available and 2 could be used as a carry on for the plane ride home. Outside the building at Dole their was a little farmer's market (if you could even call it that). It was really just 2 tables set up with some locals selling produce and plants. Rhett's cousin Marc told us about apple bananas so we decided to buy a small bunch. I might have already talked about them so if I did Sorry but they were AWESOME! I don't think I can ever eat another normal banana. Seriously never!!! They are yum yum. We also got our picture taken in the lovely huge pineapple as you can see. Their were people walking around with cameras taking pics and then trying to get you to buy them. I just had the guy snap a few with my camera. We rode the "Pineapple Express" which was a short train ride through the fields.  I just thought the name was too cute! Got to see pineapple growing in fields and many other plants/produce growing. Overall visiting the Dole Plantation was a lot of fun! I wish we would have had a bit more time but just glad we made it before they had closed for the day. That evening we had dinner at the restaurant Monkey Pod across the street. We had delicious fish tacos & lobster/mushroom pizza. Both my picks and we shared!! 

Yummy Supper @ Monkey Pod!!!! Wearing our new shirts!

Our 2nd & 3rd Days!

Our 2nd day in Hawaii we spent very leisurely and go with the flow. We slept in and had a late breakfast. We also spent some more time walking around just taking it all in. We discovered our first ABC store. It is basically like a little grocery/market store. We got a few groceries and items we needed. When we visited the Waikiki area their were ABC stores on every corner. This was Super Bowl Sunday so everyone around the hotel was all gaga over watching the game and drinking. Rhett & I could have cared less about watching it so we swam some more in the ocean. Rhett decided we should practice snorkeling. Everyday we were able to use the snorkeling gear for free for 1 hour. I wasn't really into it but he enjoyed it very much. We took several pictures with the underwater camera. Their were a ton of crabs hanging out on rocks. Rhett's cousins Marc & Annie Parrone live in Hawaii so we gave them a call to see if we could hook up for a visit. Marc came in his jeep and picked us up from the hotel. We went back to their place for the evening and had a wonderful visit. Marc grilled supper for us and made some hot (HOT) wings.They gave us all kinds of tips and ideas of places to check out. It was very spur of the moment giving them a call so it was a happy day that we got the chance to hang out. They offered us their jeep for the next several days. That was amazing because a taxi ride one way was approx $80. Renting a car for the week was almost $600. This also meant that we would have to navigate ourselves in the dark back to the hotel. Rhett did a great job and we didn't even got lost. Their are only 3 highways in Hawaii...H1, H2, H3. People that live there also gave us encouragement by saying even if you do get lost your just going to be going in circles. haha!!

Since we had some transportation we decided to devote an entire day to driving around the island. One of the Pioneer activities offered was an island tour but it would be on a bus with many other people. Taking the jeep on our own was great because we just stopped whenever we wanted. The Rohlfings came with us and between Rhett & Allyn's gps on their phones we navigated our way around Hawaii. Our first stop was Pearl Harbor and we arrived there around 8 am. Their were a lot of people and the wait was going to be around 3 hours. We didn't want to kill our entire day in 1 place so we chose to move on. Along the coast we made many stops for pretty pictures of the ocean.

Near Diamond Head Crater

Halona BlowHole

 We spoke with some local people at Sandy Beach who told us it is a dangerous area to surf. Many broken neck & back injuries have occurred in this area. From a distance we saw Makapu'u lighthouse and China Man's Hat. (a pointy island) The next big stop was at North Shore. We drove by Kualoa Ranch & the Polynesian Culture Center but did not have time to stop. Those will both be on the list for next Hawaii trip. (Which I will hold my breath for bc it will probably be a long time!) For lunch we were on the lookout for Giovanni's Shrimp Truck. It is basically just a van on the side of the road that sells shrimp. We were told it was a must to try! Knowing there were 2 locations we opted to look for the one at North Shore. It took a little while to find but eventually we made it. At this point in the jeep trip I was just a tad crabby & hungry!! It was so nice to get out and stretch the legs and eat. Now I know it doesn't look like much but it was yum yum!! The van is covered with signatures & names everywhere. We of course had to sign! The chick that was working handed us the black sharpie. Rhett & I had the shrimp scampi with white rice. Definitely a meal to remember!

 After eating we walked around the North Shore shopping area. I purchased a couple souvenirs including coconut purses and homemade soaps. All the soaps smelled lovely and it was hard to choose. I also got a few postcards to send back home to our families. 

That's all for now folks. Next time I will fill ya in on the Dole Plantation.

Our 1st day!

As most of you already know we went on this trip through Pioneer PaceSetters...translation everything was paid for! Airfare, food, alcohol, tips, activities, hotel. Souvenirs and any extra activities we wanted to do where on us. We also decided to lengthen the trip a few days so instead of flying out on Tuesday the 5th we left on the 2nd. We were responsible for paying for everything on those days. Let me tell ya thank goodness we only had those few days on our tab. Holy crap! 1 gallon of milk was almost $10. We would never make it living in Hawaii full time. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to go on this trip. Huge thank you to Margaret & Justin for letting us go in their place. Rhett is such a hard worker on the farm and with Pioneer. He really deserved all of it! The great thing about having everything set up through Pioneer was the ease of no planning, no stressing, just excitement. The resort we stayed in had several hotels including the JW Marriott Ihilani which was our home for the week.

 Entrance to Hotel

 This area had water on both sides that contained a waterfall, fish, eel, mini sharks, starfish. Just taking a walk around the hotel was so pretty! On the last day I kept snapping pictures moments before checking out because I was afraid I had missed something. 

It was GORGEOUS!! Weeks and days before leaving I kept saying how excited I was and Rhett never really expressed my same feelings. Typical Man! When we walked into room 416 & out onto the balcony this was our view.

I can't remember his exact words but I know he was pretty impressed & excited! 

We immediately changed into our swimsuits and went to check out the ocean. It was 75 degrees outside but the water was actually a tad chilly. The longer we stayed in the better it got. After our little dip we got cleaned up and had an early dinner at "Naupaka Terrace" one of the hotel restaurants. We had to make reservations right after getting checked in earlier in the day. Allyn, Trudi, Rhett & I enjoyed a seafood buffet and we stuffed our faces! After eating snacky items all day it really hit the spot. I especially enjoyed the crab legs & swordfish. Rhett was loving the cold shrimp. They were so big & plump. I had 3 mixed drinks. All different of course. I think they were kinda getting to me though bc I accidentally knocked the lid on the crab legs box over and it fell behind the table. Oooppps! They were all yummy but my fav was the strawberry mojito! We called it an early night around 8. What a wonderful 1st day we had.