Brandon and Carrie: Day 2 - Let's Go Exploring and Brandon Climbs Diamond Head

On Thursday, Day 2 (July 2), we woke up really early, around 5:30am, which is actually about 10:30am CST. We still hadn't quite adjusted to the time change, and we had gone to bed early the night before.

Due to my ruptured/herniated disk in my back causing me all kinds of problems, I had made the tough decision not to climb Diamond Head. Diamond Head is a crater that was a once active volcanoe but is no longer active. Brandon headed out about 6:30am, and I stayed behind in the hotel to get ready for the rest of the day! Whenever Brandon made it to the top, about 7:45, he called and said that it was a pretty tough climb and the air felt thicker, making it harder to get your breath at the top. I wish that I could've made the hike as well, but I'm glad that I didn't try it and injure myself further.

On the way back to the hotel, Brandon called and said that he was going to have to take our rental car back to the car place and get another one, due to it dying several times while he was stopped at intersections. After Brandon got back to the hotel, we were ready for breakfast, so we ventured out to IHOP.

After coming back to the hotel and a brief nap, we ventured out to drive around Oahu in our new ride for the week. We drove past Waikiki Beach, Hanauma Bay, Blow Hole, and eventually made it back to Honolulu for a brief stop at Wal-Mart. We wanted to pick up a few necessities for the week (water, snacks, souvenirs, etc.). Plus, I wanted to check out the Back to School section, since Hawaii sets their Back to School very early. This store was CRAZY! First of all, it was attached to a parking garage, and Brandon said that it was worse than Wal-Mart on the day after Thanksgiving! All I can say is WOW! Although we didn't visit it, there was a Sam's Club on the 3rd Floor, on top of Wal-Mart.

After making it back to the hotel, we decided to walk down to Kalakaua, which is the heart of Waikiki to find some dinner on the beach. We walked about a mile to get there, and things had changed from 10 years ago, when I last visited with my parents and Laura. Everything was so commercialized and different. It was very pretty, but just different. We also walked down Lewer's Street, where my family had stayed back in 1983, the first time that Mom, Dad, and I traveled over with some families from church so that the guys could run the Honolulu Marathon. The hotel, Harry's Holiday Isle was still there, despite Lewer's Street getting a complete makeover; however the hotel was undergoing extensive renovations and was close until January 2010. It was neat to see this still standing.

We stopped at Duke's Canoe Club for dinner where we enjoyed great steaks and a nice atmosphere before heading back to our hotel for the evening.