Escape to Hawaii

Going into this last Christmas season without my boys was just to hard to think about. So I decided to run away! I ran far away . . . to a place where it didn't feel like Christmas in any way . . . . Hawaii! It was warm, beautiful and full of people everywhere, even on Christmas day. Hawaii turned out to be the perfect place for me to get through the holiday season without going crazy.

                       This was about as festive as it gets in Hawaii

 This was not something I was expecting to see in Hawaii. But it was a beautiful and fun place to shoot. :)

 The tour guide had a fancy Hawaiian word for this place, when translated means "eye sore". Also, the crazy tour guide asked if we wanted a 5 minute picture stop. 5 MINUTES!!! He must be crazy, that's not near enough time. :)

 I so wanted to try and ride this guy . . . like the kid did in the old "Swiss Family Robinson" movie. Of course that kid was much smaller than I am.

 I was so excited when I found out we were stopping at the Dole plantation. I LOVE fresh pineapple and was excited about the opportunity to take some photos. However we only had 15 minutes and I had to try pineapple ice cream, that didn't leave much time for shooting. But the ice cream was well worth the missed photo ops. :)

For all the LOST fans . . . . .

While in Hawaii I had the opportunity to take a "LOST" tour. For 5 hours I rode around in a Humvee (yes we did go off road) checking out places where the the TV shot Lost was filmed. Being a big fan of the show (I own all 6 seasons on DVD) I had a blast!! To see places like Locke's Dad's house, the place where Jacobs cabin was, the Other's island, the dock, Hurley's golf course and many other places was so cool.

There are a lot of pictures . . . . sorry I had a hard time choosing. If you make it to the end, you'll see the fun photo's the tour guide took. :)

 In the photo above you can see The Other's island. Also, if you look really close, you can see the dock where Jack, Kate, Sawyer and Hurley were captured by The Others

The photo below doubled for at least 2 different places. They used the inside for Jin's Dad's house. The outside was used when Mr. Ecko was selling drugs.

 These photos are on the other side of the building above. This area was also used for scenes in "Tears of the Sun"

 Above is the dock for Hydra Island and below is the infamous Darma Sub! :)

 Above is Richard's home . . . where his wife died. The photo below is from a set for a movie they just finished shooting. It's a sequal to "Journey to the Center of the Earth"

 Me sitting on the log AnnaLucia sat on while talking to Goodwin, just before they got into a fight resulting in Goodwin's death.

 The tower that held the atom bomb is still there! Interestingly it was also the communication tower where Jack called the freighter from . . . . they just filmed from a different angle.

                                             The Atlantis set . . . . .

 Above is the hill Hurley used to jump start the old 1960's VW van. Of course if Hurley was there today, he'd push the van into the Atlantis set. :)

Below is the view just to the left of Hurley's hill. If you watch the first or second episode . . . where Jack, Kate and Charlie are going to find the cockpit, you'll see this exact view.

                       Any direction you look, Hawaii is beautiful!!

 They also filmed scenes from Godzilla in this location. Can you find the 4 Godzilla footprints in the photo below. I have to admit it took me a long time to find them . . . . and I was there!

 The last 4 photo's were taken by the tour guide. He had a lot of fun photo ops! However the tour guide, who was an extra in "LOST" and many movies, was not impressed with my acting abilities . . . . or I should say, lack of acting abilities.

                                      Giving Hurley a push . . . . .

                                          Being chased by a polar bear

Giving Hurley a kiss. And my favorite, shooting at the smoke monster!

I'm a sucker for a good sunset. Hawaii is a great place for sunsets. You don't have to wait for the right conditions. Every night has a beautiful sunset!!

 I couldn't resist the photo with 2 little boy's playing in the evening light.

 This last photo isn't really a great photograph. But I HAD to include it. I don't know if you've ever heard of the green flash. The first time I heard of it was on Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought it was just a movie thing. However it's real. Sometimes, just before the last bit of sun sinks over the horizon it flashes green. It happens so fast if you blink you could literally miss it. I was taking photo's of the sunset, but I put my camera down just in time to see the sun flash green. I didn't know I'd captured the flash until I was uploading pictures. You can barely see it, but if you look at the edges of the sun . . . it's green

Pearl Harbor and The Arizona

I've always wanted to see the Arizona Memorial. WWII history has always fascinated me for some reason, and the Arizona is no exception. So when I decided to go to Hawaii to avoid Christmas, I knew the Arizona would be on my list of things to see. It was really interesting to walk around the visitors area and read about the events that led up to, happened during and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. After a 30 minute video, a large group of over 100 people were taken to the actual memorial. I thought it would be a very solemn thing to be standing on the memorial looking over the ledge at the sunken ship. But there were so many people there you had to move quickly to see the whole thing. Not to mention we were there for such a short time period. By the time I was done taking pictures and ready to just take it in, it was time to get back on the boat. It was really neat to be there, but I'd like to go back someday when it's not as crowded so I can truly take it all in . . . .

 Almost every quote I've ever read from Eleanor Roosevelt, I've been impressed with her. But I think this quote really speaks volumes

                  This anchor was recovered from the Arizona

 This monument is called The Tree of Life. There is an identical one on the side of the Arizona Memorial.

 I knew there was still oil leaking from the ship. However I expected to see a steady oil sheen on top of the water. I was not expecting black dots of oil to keep rising to the surface. It was really interesting to watch.

 The USS Missouri, viewed from the Arizona Memorial. The USS Missouri is where the  war officially ended when Japan signed the surrender on her deck.