4th of July Weekend

Our 4th of July weekend started early this year. Eric's unit had a BBQ down at Ewa Beach in southern Oahu on the first. The best thing about this beach? Dogs are allowed!! Most of the tourist beaches don't allow dogs, but this beach is part of a housing community that some of Eric's coworkers live in, so they allow dogs. This was the first opportunity we had to take Kimber to the beach, so we were excited. She was a little timid when approaching the ocean at first, but as soon as we got in the water she was okay with it. I can't say that she loved the water, but she didn't run away either. She had more trouble dealing with all of the people than the water and spent most of the day hiding under the picnic table.

This beach is located directly west of Pearl Harbor and provides great views of Honolulu as well as Naval ships entering the harbor. Above, you can see Diamond Head, which is on the far east coast of Oahu and below you can see a naval ship on it's way in to port. It was pretty cool sitting on the beach all day watching ships come in. We even got to see a submarine!!

These two videos are the ships that we got to watch entering the harbor. It was the first time either of us had seen an operational submarine out in the ocean. Pretty cool!!

The next day, our neighbors went out on a shark tour so we watched their dog Amber for them. Amber and Kimber are best friends and will not go out to the bathroom without saying hi to each other. You can see how good they are together as Kimber shares her spot with Amber on the couch below. It's a little hard to tell them apart, but Kimber's the one in the back.

On the third, we decided to go on a hike with Kimber up to the Makapu'u Lighthouse. There's a great view of Koko Crater about halfway up the trail, so we stopped for a picture and water break. We all needed it. Even though it was only a two-mile hike, it was a hot day.

A view from the almost top, you can see Rabbit Island behind us. Rabbit Island is also visible from Bellows AFS, which is our favorite beach.

Here's the lighthouse. Even though the hike is known as the Makapu'u Lighthouse Trail, you don't actually go to the lighthouse. You go above it and can look down at it.


Yes, Kimber made it to the top too. Here she is with Eric at the top. You can see the lighthouse down on their right through the fence and there's even a hang-glider over Eric's left shoulder. There were actually hang-gliders all over the sky that day.

On the fourth, we went to a BBQ at one of our neighbor's houses. It was great for Kimber because everybody brought their dogs and we stuck them all in a fenced backyard so they could run free. Kimber isn't allowed off leash much, so this was a treat for her as she got to play with all of the dogs without us around. After the BBQ, I headed over to Schofield Barracks for the 4th of July festivities. We were severely disappointed because they didn't have funnel cakes, but other than that it was an okay celebration. The fireworks were actually better than I expected and they put together a good show. Sorry, no pictures of that day.

On the fifth, Eric and I decided to hit the beach again. This time, we went to a secluded beach suggested by our neighbor, Heather. It was great, there were plenty of shady spots for me to cool off in, as well as a sandy bottom in the water so we could wade and cool off as well. We even got to see some sea turtles. They came right up to the beach. The one above happened to stick his head up as we were taking the picture (thanks for posing, Mr. Turtle). Below is a video of the two turtles that came the closest to us. There were quite a few in the little bay we were sitting in. At one point, somebody said that they had seen seven turtles in that area alone. We'll definitely have to go back and go snorkeling there sometime.