When we left the drop zone, it was right around 9:30 AM. Our flight to Kona was leaving at 4:48. We wanted to be at the airport no later than 2:48 just in case my rig caused problems at security. That gave us roughly five hours.
We took Highway 83 along the North Shore looking for the "big waves", but we didn't find any.
When we stopped at the famous Fumis Kahuka Shrimp truck for lunch, we asked where we could find the big waves. It turns out the best places were behind us - the places we'd already stopped. Apparently, the 30ft waves only happen in the winter - November to early March. I guess that just means we're going to have to come back again!
It had been a long time since breakfast. Even though it was only 10:40, we were ready for lunch. The shrimp truck was just opening when we arrived. Neither of us were sure what to order, so we asked which entree was most popular. The woman suggested that we get the garlic shrimp.
After a quick trip to the porta potty, I was happy to discover a sink with running water.
It didn't take very long to get our food. OMG...It was the best shrimp I have ever had. So far, it was the best meal of the trip!
With the exception of a few flies, this was a perfect experience!
The shrimp truck was located at 56-777 Kamehameha Hwy on the east side of the Island. We continued along this route. About 30 minutes later, we were at the corner of Naniloa Loop and Kamehamena (83) Highway when I saw these large wooden idols. They reminded me of the Brady Bunch episode when Bobby finds the Tiki idol. We grabbed Cathy Baits and Baby Baits from the car and took some pictures.
Just before noon, we stopped to check out Huilua Pond. This is the Google Earth view.
This was my view.
As we continued our drive, we were searching for the best place to take pictures of the mountains that were used in Jurassic Park. We had a difficult time because there were so many power lines! I took a ton of pictures. This is really the best one of the bunch. We were in the parking lot of Kualoa Ranch & Zipline
Our next stop was Kualoa Regional Park. There was a small island right off the coast!
When we left the park, it was 12:40 and we were about 30 minutes from the airport. We decided to skip the southern part of Oahu and we took H3 back over to the west side. Although we didn't have much time, I convinced Matt to go to Pearl Harbor. It was so close to the airport that it made sense.
Once we were through security, I asked one of the people at the information desk, "What can we do in 30 minutes?" His reply, "NOTHING!" He went on to say that we could look around, but all guided activities took more than 30 minutes.
No worries...we could still check it out and we did!
We weren't there long, but we learned some interesting facts. If you want to know more about Pearl Harbor, check out the website!
Even with the quick stop at Pearl Harbor, we had plenty of time to get through security. Once we were at our gate, I called Jennifer & Jane to tell them about our adventures. Our day was AWESOME and it wasn't over yet!
