Washington State: Olympic National Park (Olympic Hot Springs)

We've lived in Washington State for most our lives, but had yet to visit the Olympic National Park. So we decided to pack up and go for a little hiking adventure. We weren't sure what to see or where to go, so we just picked an address we found on google and headed out.

We ended up going to the Elwha Valley portion of the Olympic National Park. I was surprised that in order to drive up to the trail head that we had to pay $20 for parking. Once parked we headed out with a couple of backpacks, loaded with water and snacks for our day hike.

The trailhead marker at the end of the parking area

We started our hike with nowhere in particular to go, we just wanted to get out of the house, see some nature, and get a little exercise.

The start of the trail is wide and well maintained

The start as you can see above is an easy trail with a slight incline. We headed out and just enjoyed the scenery. Not knowing what to expect and hoping that we may see a waterfall or two. The day was nice and the scenery was amazing.

This was the first bridge we came across along the trail

The first bridge we came across along the trail was pretty big. In the picture above you can see our friend standing in the middle of the bridge. We kept going soaking up all the scenery and nature.'

Here you can see the trail is smaller and trees are everywhere

We continued through the forest...amazed at all the large trees everywhere. In the picture above you can see how small our friends are with all the trees around them.

The second bridge (well more like a large log) that we came across

After crossing the second bridge we decided to take a break and eat snacks...and drink water. This is one thing that is important to bring...water! There are no water fountains or any other service areas out on the trail. This particular spot was pretty cool, we enjoyed the running water all around us and even a little waterfall as well.

Some girls hanging out in front of the small waterfall

After our short break we continued to head up the trail. We then started to smell what I'm going to describe as a strong sulfur smell. We came across the first natural hot spring on the trail. We had already seen a couple people walking back on the trail with towels around them as if they had just finished swimming. We now see that they were probably hanging out in the hot spring. There were a few people in there when we arrived. We had to go up and stick our hands in to feel just how hot it is. It felt pretty similar to a hot tub. This is just one of several hot springs I've read that are located around the park. The water is heated from the earth's interior.

Looking up at the hot spring from the hiking trail

Folks just relaxing in the hot spring

We continued hiking up the trail for a while, but then decided to turn around and head back. We realized we could have used some more water along the way, we finished ours on the way back and were still pretty thirsty by the time we arrived at our car. Our total hike was a little over 8 miles. More than we had planned for a first time here, but we were enjoying ourselves so much that we just kept wandering around. From the trailhead to the hot springs is about 2.4 miles.

When we got back to the car we all drank a bunch of water we had left in the car and ate more snacks. On the drive back we stopped to take a quick picture of what we thought was a dried up lake due to drought conditions, but I later read was a dam removal for the Elwha River restoration. You can take a look at the pictures below to see the dramatic difference now that the dam has been removed.

We all had a blast and look forward to checking out a lot more of the hiking trails that the Olympic National Park as to offer. The place is beautiful!!

Hawaii: Kualoa Ranch

The beautiful view at Kualoa Ranch while we were waiting for the short bus

We were looking for something a little different to do with the kiddos while in Hawaii. After looking at a few different options we decided to try the Zip & Dip at Kualoa Ranch. We purchased all our tickets at the MWR office during our visit to Fort Shafter. I recommend anyone who is active duty or retired military to get any tickets they can at the MWR, you'll get better pricing. Unfortunately for us, the Zip & Dip was sold out, but we were able to purchase just the Zip portion (Treetop Canopy Zipline Tour).

The drive from Waikiki to Kualoa Ranch took us about an hour and we had to get up fairly early to make it there by 8:00AM, the kiddos weren't too happy about that. Plugging the address into the GPS was easy enough and we found it without issues. The first thing we noticed was how beautiful the place was. Once we checked in we waited for our short bus to give us a ride to the ziplines. The ranch actually offers several activities you can sign up for. I wish we came across this place earlier in our trip, we probably would have signed up for a few more things (Horseback Tours, ATV Tours, Movie Site Tour, and more)

Nine of us headed out on the short bus. Our driver gave us a guided tour of the Kualoa Ranch during the ride showing us where various movies have been filmed such as Jurassic World and 50 first dates (and many more - there have been more than 50 Hollywood movies and TV shows filmed at the ranch) Once we arrived at the zipline arrival area, we all got off the short bus and geared up with the help of the 3 guides that were there to help. The gear includes a harness and a helmet. They have free lockers for anyone who wanted to leave items there. We were told we can take pictures and do whatever, but if anything is dropped it will be lost forever. (we used our iPhones to snap pictures and short videos while on the waiting area for each of the ziplines, I also had my son use our GoPro during the zipline with express instructions to hold it with a death grip!). The zipline adventure includes 7 ziplines ranging from 200 feet to a quarter mile in length!

Our guides were awesome and the ziplines were a lot of fun. Everyone enjoyed the views, which were so beautiful...we all just soaked them in. We couldn't stop taking pictures of everything around us the entire time. I would recommend checking out Kualoa Ranch to anyone interested in movie history or just wanting to have some fun and adventure. We all had a complete blast!!

Another view while at the ranch waiting for our short bus

One of the amazing views during our Treetop Canopy Zipline Tour


 

My son making his way down the zipline

A photo to show you one of the short trails we took to one of the stations

This was the start of the quarter mile zipline

Watching my kids do "the coconut" down the quarter mile zipline


 

One of the suspension bridges we crossed

Another view of us ziplining


 

A picture we took with the GoPro of the entire valley
You can see some of the trail and 
one of the zipline stations below 
 
 

On the short bus ride back to the ranch...a view of
Mokoliʻi (Chinaman's Hat)

Hawaii: Pearl Harbor

One thing is for sure...when we visited Hawaii, I wanted to make sure the kiddos took a little break from the beach and visited Pearl Harbor. They knew what they had learned in history class and what they've seen in the movie Pearl Harbor, but I wanted them to take in a little bit of history. I wanted them to see Pearl Harbor. Walk around where the attacks took place and let all of what happened really sink in.

Pearl Harbor is Hawaii's largest tourist attraction! Some of it's free and some places do cost a small fee. The first thing I did was start planning my trip. I didn't want any surprises when we arrived. The first (and very important) thing I learned was that even though the USS Arizona Memorial is free, it is very important to reserve your tickets! The tickets are free, but they only give out a limited number each day. I went through a little bit of a panic when I tried to reserve my tickets online a few days before our planned trip and there were none available. After a little more reading though I found out that there are also next day tickets available starting at 7AM the day prior to your visit. I promptly set my alarm for 7AM and I was able to reserve tickets for the family...crisis averted!! Tickets book up quickly, so I suggest getting them early...up to 2 months in advance.

To reserve tickets go online at: www.recreation.gov or call 1-877-444-6777. (There is also 1,300 walk-in tickets available at the Pearl Harbor Visitor's center, but I'm sure those are gone pretty quickly...so I wouldn't recommend taking that gamble unless you have no other alternative. The visitor center opens at 7AM)

We took our rental car there and easily found parking, although it was a good walk to get to the entrance. Once there we headed to the ticket counter and picked up our USS Arizona Memorial tickets and I also purchased USS Bowfin & USS Missouri tickets as well. There is also the Pacific Aviation Museum, but we chose not to partake.

The USS Bowfin

Our first stop was the USS Bowfin. The USS Bowfin is a WWII submarine. We were given audio headphones to use while touring the submarine. Each of the areas had a different number we could punch in and we would hear an audio presentation that pertained to that particular area. The tour was pretty cool I think. You get to walk around the sub at your own pace and see how small and cramped everyone must have been while working on it. It's pretty crazy to imagine!

On the deck of the USS Bowfin

Looking back to the shore from the deck of the USS Bowfin

After the USS Bowfin, we slowly made our way to the USS Arizona Memorial theatre. Each ticket group has a designated time slot for the tour. The start of the tour is actually a 23 minute documentary film inside the theatre. The documentary shows everything that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and then the attack itself. It really set the tone for what we were about to see next.

After the documentary we all gathered onto a passenger shuttle boat to the USS Arizona Memorial.

The view of the USS Missouri from our shuttle boat 

heading towards the USS Arizona Memorial

The documentary was great and the memorial is nice, but I wished you could see a little more of the actual ship. The USS Arizona Memorial is placed directly above where the USS Arizona sank. You can see bits and pieces of the ship, but not much. I've seen photos taken from the air and it's pretty amazing seeing the entire ship under water. Unfortunately there is not much to see from the memorial itself. There is a list of names of the crew members that died, that ended up being a little too much for my wife who couldn't stay in that portion too long. It just hit her a little too hard after watching the documentary and knowing that all those sailors died in the ship and are still down there.

 

 The Shrine Room containing the list of names of the 

USS Arizona crew that perished

Inside the USS Arizona Memorial

Looking up at the US Flag flying above the USS Arizona Memorial

After a set period of time (plenty of time to take it all in), the shuttle boat takes everyone back to the Pearl Harbor visitors center. We got off and had a little lunch next where the USS Bowfin is located. They sell hotdogs and there are vending machines selling all kinds of drinks. Not the healthiest lunch, but it did the job.

Finally we headed to the USS Missouri Memorial. To get there we had to board a shuttle bus that drove us over to Ford Island. This is the only way to get there as a civilian. The shuttle buses are constantly making a round trip with stops at the Pacific Aviation Museum as well. We got off and headed to the "Mighty Mo".

Walking toward the Battleship Missouri

The USS Missouri was actually located at the naval shipyard in Bremerton where I'm from. I remember as a kid going on the decks and playing around on it. There was a lot of controversy and uproar in the local community as it was "stolen" from us and moved to Pearl Harbor. Even though it sucks that we no longer have it in the Pacific Northwest, I think having it in Pearl Harbor makes it available to a much larger audience. There are a lot more people that see it now than there ever was at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton.

Once on the USS Missouri you can choose to either walk around and explore on your own, use an audio device similar to the ones we used on the USS Bowfin earlier, or go on a guided tour. We chose to use the audio devices and just explore on our own. The kiddos took off and I didn't see them again until we where finished. We slowly made our way on deck of the battleship and then went through the inside where you can see where and how all the sailors lived and worked on the ship. It was all pretty cool, although not as many areas to access the audio tour as the USS Bowfin had. It was all interesting...I think if we didn't have the kiddos with us, we probably would have went on one of the guided tours just to hear some additional information.

The big guns on the deck of the USS Missouri

 

Bunk beds and lockers the sailors had to use...still cramped,

but not as bad as the USS Bowfin!

 

A room for the higher ranking obviously

 

Looking out over the big guns to the USS Arizona Memorial

 

A closer view of the USS Arizona Memorial from the deck of the USS Missouri

All in all the trip to Pearl Harbor was a great trip. I recommend this trip to anyone who is visiting Hawaii. Great to see the history up close and personal.

Hawaii: Diamond Head Hike

The amazing view at the top of Diamond Head

While in Hawaii and especially while walking around Waikiki you can't help but notice Diamond Head. It's one of Hawaii's most recognized landmark. My wife and I wanted to make sure we scheduled a time to hike Diamond Head and see what we were sure were going to be some incredible views. After doing a little research we found out that it's not an extremely difficult hike, but be sure to go as early as possible just to avoid the heat. Not to say the hike is easy...I would say it's more of a moderate hike. We saw everyone from old people down to young kids on the hike. We even saw people in their sandals and flip flops (which I wouldn't recommend). There were a lot of people, but not too many to make it too crowded. I'm sure if we left earlier than we did, we would have missed the larger crowds.

Diamond Head is actually part of a large volcanic crater. To get to the hike, you have to drive inside the crater to the trail head and parking area. Hours are 6AM to 6PM (with the last entrance to hike the trails at 4:30PM. Parking costs $5.00 per car. The trail head also has a gift shop. The trail and bunkers were originally built by the military, but are now accessible to the public.

The view from the parking area to the top of the Diamond Head hike

The start of the hiking path is cement, but quickly turns into a 
dirt/gravel path like this with hand rails.

Looking up you can see the switchbacks heading up to the top

A little better view of the switchbacks and the folks hiking up

The start of a lit tunnel during the hike

Inside the lit tunnel portion of the hike




The end of the tunnel...we're getting closer




Now a lot of stairs to climb!




On the final leg of the hike to the top...this is where
it starts to get a little more congested, but during
our hike everyone moved along and polite

 Now for some of the views....



This was taken during one of the break points where we stopped
and grabbed a quick drink and took a few pics




Looking straight out at the Pacific Ocean




Zoomed in a bit for a shot of Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head




Looking out straight ahead from the top of Diamond Head




A "no zoomed" view of Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head
This view will never get old!




A view of one of the bunkers with Honolulu in the background
from the top of Diamond Head




 Inside the military's "Fire Control Station" at the top of Diamond Head





Looking out of the military's "Fire Control Station" at the top of Diamond Head




The view from the top of Diamond Head looking down into
the crater where we started




On the way back down...a look at the final set of ascending stairs




 On the way back down...looking at the beautiful ocean
along with a lighthouse that you can barely see in this picture




My wife's arm...along with a view of the switchbacks
on the way down




Looking down at the trail on our way back


 

On the top of each of those peaks are more bunkers

The hike was awesome and the views were amazing. I recommend this hike to anyone that is visiting Oahu!