Disclaimer: Despite this being a vacation for both of us, David will be writing today’s post. (He hit his 50th state on this trip!)
This is it: The culmination of eight years of planning, working, and dreaming. The goal? To be able to visit and see all 50 states by the time I was 50. For those who have been following along on our adventures then you know that Jenny hit her 50th state (Montana) last May. However, I was still short by one state……Hawaii! Thanks to COVID the trip was postponed in 2020 and then postponed again in 2021. As my 50th birthday fast approached, I was determined to make this trip happen one way or another. Finally in 2022 the states did away with the COVID rules. The day after Hawaii reopened (with no testing or rules) we booked our flights. Now we are here enjoying this beautiful state and thinking back on what it means to have accomplished this goal. I will pontificate on what this means for us (and where we go from here) in another post, but for now, I will just focus on our days here in paradise.
About 12 hours prior to our flight we received a notification that our flight would be delayed leaving Rapid City. This delay would only allow us less than 10 minutes to make our connecting flight. Needless to say this caused quite a bit of anxiety and stress, but we arrived to the airport with prayers and positive expectations in front of us. Luckily, the pilot was up to “speed” on the situation and we made our two hour flight to Salt Lake City in an hour and twenty minutes! Not only did we made our flight to Honolulu with time to spare, but our luggage made it to! That was a win/win.



We had a smooth flight, and landed in Hawaii ahead of schedule. After a quick stop to pick up our rental car (thank goodness for being a Fast Break member with Budget) we were on our way to the North Shore.

We chose to stay on the North Shore on Oahu because this is Jenny’s favorite part of the island.
Fun fact: Jenny actually lived on Oahu for five years after high school. The North Shore is a huge part of her old “stomping” grounds. Visiting this area of the island was a chance for her to share that time of her life with me. We were both eagerly anticipating this part of the trip. It was wonderful watching and listening to Jenny as she reminisced about her younger days and seeing her get excited to revisit places she hasn’t seen in almost 30 years. Many of the restaurants and stores she went to were still there all these years later.
After a long travel day we decided on an early dinner. (We will write a separate post about some of our favorite meals, so stayed tuned for a lot more to come.) Afterward we did a little light shopping at the shops at the Polynesian Cultural Center. Jenny was excited to get me my first Dole whip and she even found herself some Hawaiian made macaroons (Guava, Mango, Pineapple flavored). We sat outside feeling the ocean breeze and listening to some Hawaiian music while we enjoyed our treats.

The next morning we were up bright and early to explore the island. We decided to hit the beach first and found a nice little secluded beach area that we got all to ourselves.



If you end up on the North Shore there are so many little hideaways and small beaches you can enjoy. My recommendation would be to get away from the main tourist beaches. Explore and find your own hidden treasure. We ended up finding two delightful beaches with no one else around. That is a memory we will cherish for the rest of our lives. Here we are on Oahu relaxing on a beach all by ourselves. That just did not seem possible, yet it was our reality. It was a dream come true

After some much needed beach time, we stopped and visited some local shops before heeding towards the Dole Plantation.

(Are you really in Hawaii if you don’t have a Shave ice?)



After a delightful morning and early afternoon we decided to head to Byodo-In Temple. We love to immerse ourselves into local cultures when we travel. We could not miss an opportunity to visit this site while on Oahu. I was even allowed to sound the gong three times. It reverberated throughout the valley. This experience was breathtaking, and we soaked up every moment.





Overall the travel day and first full day in Hawaii could not have gone any better. We made a lot of stops, took a lot of pictures and just sharing memories and making several more!









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