Hiking in Hawaii
On Thanksgiving day, my daughters and I hiked the Hawaii Loa ridge trail. I thought it would be a good way to get a little exercise before Thanksgiving dinner. The trail is located at the top of Hawaii Loa ridge. There’s a park/bar-b-q area at the end of the road. Just past the park is the start of the trail.
The trail is relatively easy. We can’t go on any difficult trails since my younger daughter is only 6 years old. It’s a little steep in some areas, but my daughters had no problems going up. Coming down was a little harder for them since the trail was a little slippery from the previous day’s rain.
We hiked about an hour in, and then turned around. I’m told that it takes about 2 to 2 1/2 hours to hike to the top of the ridge. Plus, it gets much steeper towards the top. We’ll have to try the trail again when we have more time.
We’ve been hiking quite a bit over the last year or so. We’ve done the Diamond Head trail, the Makapuu trail, the Pacific Palisades trail, the Mariner’s ridge trail and the Kamehame ridge trail. On the Mariner’s ridge and Kamehame ridge trails, we were able to make it to the top. It’s a nice view of the windward side from the top. The Makapuu hike also provides a stunning view Makapuu beach and the Waimanalo coastline.
My daughters seem to enjoy the hiking, so I’m sure there will be more hikes in the future! Please comment if you know of any other kid friendly trails. I’ve hiked the Aiea loop trail in the past, so that might be our next hike.
Viva Las Vegas!
I visited Las Vegas again from 09/18/09 to 09/21/09. It was a quick visit mainly to check out the UNLV vs Hawaii football game. There were 10 of us from Hawaii who went up. We met with a friend who lives in Las Vegas and another friend who drove up from San Diego.
Although we went up to watch the game, there was plenty of time to gamble and shop as well! I left Hawaii on Friday afternoon with a friend. We arrived late Friday night and met up with everyone at the California Hotel in downtown Las Vegas. We stayed in downtown all night (actually early morning). I did well gambling wise, so it was a good start to my vacation.
On Saturday, we did a little shopping during the day. We went to buy beef jerky from a shop in downtown Las Vegas. We also made a Trader Joe’s run and bought some other stuff to bring home. We all met at the California Hotel for a tailgate party before the game. We had Hawaiian food and Hawaiian entertainment, then caught the bus to the game. It was a great game. Hawaii had their chances to win, but ended up losing by 1 point. Oh well, at least they made the spread! I put some money on Hawaii, so I was already up headed back to the casinos. We ended up going to the Orleans Hotel after the game. We gambled a bit, but we went back to our hotel around 3:00 am because we were pretty tired.
On Sunday, we did some major shopping during the day. We visited a couple of outlet malls. I bought some gifts for my daughters. I bet with my friend who lives in Vegas on the Rams vs Redskins game. I’m a Rams fan, but I didn’t have high hopes. Unexpectedly, the Rams made the spread and I won dinner from my friend. We ended up at the Red Rock Casino, which is a newer casino in northeast Vegas. Although the dinner was free, the gambling was a losing proposition. I ended up losing all the money I made in the first two nights.
I can’t complain, though. It was a quick, fun vacation. I broke even gambling. I got my fill of shopping. The only thing that would have made the vacation perfect was if the Warriors won the football game.
Aloha from Hawaii
Aloha from Maui, Hawaii.
