I'm Carolann! I'm a military spouse and new mom currently calling the DC area home. Finding Ithaka is all about the journey and about finding yourself.

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Hawaii has been filled with breathtaking scenery, delicious food, and lots of time on the beach. We’ve done tons of touristy things and I’ve loved it all, but here are 5 of my absolute favorite Hawaiian moments.

1. Climbing the Pillbox Trail with my husband and my brother to watch the sunrise.

My brother loves photography and wanted to catch the sunrise. We hiked up the mountain in the dark with flashlights so that we could see it get lighter and lighter. Lanikai is known for its gorgeous sunrises, but seeing it from the top of a mountain made it all that much more beautiful.

 

 

2. Driving up to the North Shore to see 50-foot waves.

When we heard that the waves were going to be the highest they had been in a decade, I knew that we could not miss out, no matter how bad the traffic was going to be on the one-lane highway getting up to the North Shore.  The waves were so high that the beach was roped off, but we still got pretty close to these breathtaking waves.

3. Having a picnic with Nick on top of this mountain.  

4. Seeing whales

Whales migrate to Hawaii to mate and give birth from about December-April. I went on a whale watching tour when my friend Joe came to visit, and we got pretty close to a lot of whales. But that did not even compare to the awe I experienced a few days later. We were eating breakfast on the beach, looked up, and saw whales breech. Later that week, we saw them again while hiking. As we walked along the shore, we kept seeing whales  playing in the water.

These are the kind of moments that just can’t be photographed, but you can sort of see the outline of the whale underneath the water in this picture.

• Seeing my parents and brother for the first time, being able to show them around my new home

Not only was it amazing to see my family after not seeing them for so long, but it was so much fun to be able to show them around the island. The best part was having them over to my first apartment, and cook the first meal I’ve ever cooked for them – all on Thanksgiving. We also got to do a bunch of touristy things that Nick and I hadn’t gotten around to yet – Pearl Harbor, the Diamond Head Trail, and a luau.

 

#oahuadventures #hiking #whalewatching #visitors #pillboxtrail #northshore