Outta here!!!

First thing in the morning I'm off to the airport to fly my way to around 7,000 miles from here... to a wonderful place called Brisbane, Australia. :D I'll be gone for 3 weeks, so get ready to miss me! I might blog on occasion during the trip, but I will definitely make no promises. I do intend to keep a journal of the trip though (in the old fashioned written manner - the journal I bought is totally cute!), so I may post some highlights from it when I get back, if nothing else. And I should have a million pictures... or at least anywhere up to 4,000 (as that is as many as my camera and all it's memory cards can hold). Not sure I'll take quite that many pictures, but it'll definitely be more than just a few.

Speaking of places with palm trees...

Here's a fun memory from Barrow... they really do have palm trees there (or upright logs with baleen tacked on top)!

Hawaii!

John's parents very kindly offered to fly me to Hawaii for Memorial Day weekend. It was a short trip: I left Anchorage Thursday night and arrived in Honolulu Friday at 11:30 a.m. and I left Honolulu Monday evening and arrived back home Tuesday at about 10 a.m. Definitely a short trip, but well worth it. Not only did I get to see John, but I also got to see Oahu. One more state to mark off as having visited (what am I up to now? probably close to 40). I'd definitely love to go back though.

Below are some pictures from the trip. I didn't take very many. I'll have to do better when I go to Australia/New Zealand. The trip is such a blur in my mind that already it's hard to remember what all I did, but a few highlights include driving all the way around the island, having a campfire on the beach, walking along the beach in the evening, the food, Turtle Bay Club (a very nice resort), going out on the scuba diving boat (even if I couldn't make myself actually dive), seeing Pearl Harbor and the U.S.S Arizona Memorial, and never having to wear a jacket because the weather was so warm (only too hot if you were in direct sunlight).

Condo on the North Shore

The evening view from our condo on the north shore of Oahu. Yes, that is the beach.

The view on the inland side of the condo.

Living room, dining and kitchen areas of the condo, with John and his parents somewhat visible.

Views from the scuba diving boat ride

Dolfins!!!

Scuba Diving

John drying off after his second dive.

Someone getting ready to dive.
(Note: I didn't dive. Not this time.)

The east side of the island of Oahu. This is heading toward a tunnel through the mountains.

U.S.S. Arizona Memorial

Flag flying over the memorial.

All the people who died on this battleship when it went down.

Oil seeping from the sunken ship.