Darek + Stacie

Darek did some research and found Byodo-In Temple in the Valley of the Temples. (I love the name so I had to throw that in.) It’s actually a replica of a temple in Japan and was built to commemorate the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants that came to Hawaii. It was a misty, drizzly day when we went which really added an amazing atmosphere. Totally beautiful and very peaceful.

For any of you Lost fans reading this, you might recognize it as the setting of Sun and Jin’s wedding.

Some of the mountains we passed on the way:

The temple is actually located in a cemetery.  I think I want to be buried in a cemetery with mountains and palm trees.

I like to take pictures of signs so I have a record of places we visit. Plus then I can just read it when I get home:

This is the color version of the first photo above but I think it has a different feel to it and I couldn’t decide which one to post:

Breathtaking, right? And you can see the Koi swimming around:

BABY PEACOCKS!!! Love their little mohawks:

This bird was totally giving me The Eye:

Us:

Darek took this one:

And because I’m feeling indecisive:

Every time it rained, I looked for a rainbow – and I’m pretty sure there was a rainbow in the sky every time it rained. Unbelievable.

Taken from our balcony:

At breakfast one morning (kind of hard to see, between the trees):

Walking back along the beach after dinner:

Lots of rain = lots of beautiful flowers:

I’ve only seen these in grocery stores and wedding arrangements until now:

So pretty.

Whenever I’m on vacation at the beach, I like to start out every morning with a sunrise walk. Because of the time change, we didn’t do as many sunrise walks as we intended, but we still got out there a few times. I think we were on the wrong side of the island for a really good sunrise; there was a mountain in the way or something. But it was still beautiful.

On our second full day in Hawaii, we hiked up to Manoa Falls. It was supposed to be a super easy hike, so we wore flip-flops.

We didn’t realize it would be the Hike Of Mud.

Beautiful though. Incredibly beautiful.

I love to hike. It’s one of the things I hate most about living in texas (specifically dallas) – there is nowhere to hike that has mountains, lots of trees, hills, or beautiful scenery in general. Plus it’s always too hot or when it’s not hot everything is dead.

So I was super excited for the chance to hike through the hills/mountains to a waterfall in Hawaii. As an extra bonus, we later found that several scenes from Lost were filmed in the area.

I tried to organize everyone for a group photo before starting on the hike. It didn’t work out that great…

Second attempt was not much better…

Mr. Uncooperative wanted his picture taken more “candidly,” I guess:

He was very excited about passing through the gate:

I love the banyan trees; they are so cool:

I also love all the green:

Sometimes people get in my shots:

I posted the black&white version of this one awhile ago – I love the light; the way the sun was coming through the trees was amazing:

DANGER:

I was just shocked when we got there, I guess:

The waterfall:

Ah, boys…

Darek shows off his modeling skills:

Darek shows how big the trees and sticks are:

Rawr…

Aloha and welcome to the new blog!

This is where we were 2 days ago: Makapu’u Beach, Oahu, Hawaii

Much more pictures coming soonish…