Mhmm.

Beautiful day for a short hike and picnic before lunch.  

Everything

Loving this song.

Today I realized that I think I am only capable of doing things if I have others to do them with. But that's not true. I'm very capable of doing many things on my own. I just lack the confidence to do them by myself...and I don't like being alone. I like being love and being validated...I think we all do as humans.  I went climbing with a friend and the second we walked into the gym I immediately didn't want to be there because I felt threatened. Which is so dumb because those people could care less how I'm climbing because they're focusing on their climbing! And I have made a lot of progress...so really that's all that matters.  I've realized that I let fear get in the way of my life all to often...still! I care so much about what people think of me and I find myself trying to figure out what I want to portray to people...like a certain stereotype or something. Yet I thought I was getting over that but, I guess I'm not.  I was reminiscing today at work as I listened to some sweet mixes on my iPod while cleaning.  It took me back to places and with people who gave me confidence in myself and made me feel I could the do the things I wanted and that I was a beautiful person.  And I really loved that person that I was becoming right before I moved back to school. I'm grateful for those people in my life. But I also realized that although I needed them then and possibly even right now to help me...I need more then ever to find that confidence on my own and from within myself. I don't understand why it's so difficult and why it seems to always be a cycle in my life. And I find it difficult to do with people around me. That's when I start seeking for ways to seclude myself and run away from what I have in order to search my soul and find the me I want to be.  But I don't think that's right either because these people help shape me but I just need to learn how to define me on my own among many influences. I just wish that "me" could be more constant and stable instead of wanting change so frequently.

I just wish I could stop being so scared of doing what I want. Truly what I want and of being at peace with who I am.

I started drawing a little bit again today. Oh man...how scary. I feel like I don't know what I'm doing anymore. It's gonna take time and a whole lot of effort but I also realized it'll be one of the quickest ways to overcome my fear because creativity forces you to leave all fear behind or else you can't be creative at all. 

We'll see how it goes. I know I have a ways to go. Learning to love yourself in a humble way is very difficult. But I'm going to start now. I'm going to stop being my worst enemy.

Life and Death

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday. The ride over Hell's Backbone into Posey is a lot longer than if you go past the Elementary from Escalante. I recommend taking Hell's into Posey and the other road past Turnabout Ranch on the way out so you can get both experiences. Anywho...
On my way home I dropped into Nephi to meet up with my parents for Memorial Day.  Some things I believe:
I believe in God. I believe there was life before this where I was prepared for the life I live today. I believe in an afterlife. I believe that I will see the people I have lost in this life again and I believe that they are here with me still in spirit.
As I talked with my family about those who have gone on before us I felt so much peace and was overwhelmed.  My life has changed a lot over the past 3 years. I have made a lot of changes that haven't made sense to a lot of people. I truly believe that if you have faith your life will be guided by a Higher Power if you listen to it. Call me crazy but, I have learned by doing this and by listening and taking action to what I feel that my life has always turned out better than I could have ever planned. I won't lie though....
Sometimes I feel lost. Often I do. Sometimes I feel alone. Sometimes I feel like I will never figure life out. Sometimes I feel like I'll never get over the fear I have to take a leap of faith and try for something so beautiful I can't even fathom it because I'm too afraid of the fall.
But as I sat there with my family I realized that I am not alone. Not at all. Those people that have gone on before  me and those who are waiting to come to Earth are very aware of me. They, like my family here, are rooting me on and they can see the big picture a little better than me and can help guide me. Some have left great legacies behind that I can learn from and look to for help. Some haven't come yet. Some are waiting for me to make big decisions in my life so they can come. It's them that the decisions I make now are affecting so drastically. Much has been given me. I truly am very blessed. I have a legacy such as my grandmother who passed away from brain cancer 17 years ago today to live up to. She was strong woman. A wise woman. A woman who said that good news was that when it was time for her to go she would go quietly, not that the cancer was cured.  A woman who taught others to enjoy the time they had with the people in their lives because time goes oh so very quickly.  She's a woman who every person I have met who knows her was impacted for good by her. She made a difference and worked hard to do so. She did a lot of good for many women and I grateful to her for raising an amazing woman like my mother who is another wonderful example I can look to.
I'm grateful for my brother who passed away 25 years and two days ago. He lived for a month but he was a fighter. He fought to live even if it was just one month.  He taught many people a lot about life because his life was so short. He taught people about the importance of life and how it should be spent with those who mattered and on things that truly mattered. I believe we cannot truly live if we do not die. But loss changes people.
My roommate lost her brother 3 years ago today to suicide. That kind of loss is different. All loss is hard. but that is something that has forever changed her. That is something that I will never fully understand about her.  We will never truly be whole until we are once again united with those we have lost. Then our joy will be full. Her life has been forever changed by his death. She is stronger because of it and has had to fight a lot of darkness and overcome a lot of fear due to it. Tonight she talked with me about how blessed she has felt in her life.  She was empathizing for those who had been through harder things in their lives then she had and was grateful for her own trials.  I was blown away by her strength. Loss makes us vulnerable, it can harden us, and it can strengthen us.
Everyone reacts differently to loss and trial. We all believe different things when it comes to death. Often time culture and religion push us in a certain direction when dealing with those things. I think often we think that religion, that life, or our cultures are trying to push us all in the same direction and into being the same person but, it's not. We aren't supposed to be an identical mass of robots. Religion, faith, trial is to make me a better me. It's to make you a better you. It's trying to make us realize what's important and I think that loss, and death makes us learn that the hard way but we are not meant to be the same. Not anyone of us. We are all meant to be who we are and I believe that religion and trial only helps to shape that.
We should never be afraid of loss. We should never be afraid of what it teaches us and how it will change us. We should never be afraid of being who we were meant to be. We should never be afraid of overcoming darkness, sometimes nearly on our own. That is where God is needed because we can never fully overcome it on our own.  We should never be afraid of searching for truth and of seeking for our purpose here on Earth. No matter how long it takes. We must never give up. We should not fear risk and success. We should not fear falling and getting back up. We should not fear death. We should not fear life. We are each unique and beautiful. We each have much to offer. It's ok to ask questions. It's ok to explore. But it's also ok to not understand everything and it's ok to realize that we may never understand. We only should conintue moving forward into the future with faith and not fear. Days are hard. People leave our lives unexpectedly in death and other circumstances. It's ok to mourn. It'd be wrong if we didn't I think. It helps us appreciate life. It makes us realize how precious it is. It makes us grateful. It should not make us a bitter. It's ok if it changes us because life is mean to change us. It is meant to make us better.

Orange Death...and I don't mean Mac & Cheese

ooh...I forgot. One of my favorite things about Memorial Day is my Aunt's salad she makes every year. It's glorious. I don't know the measurements but this is what it consists of:

A Buttload of shredded carrots (grate them or put them in a food processor)
Mayo
Chicken (just steamed and cut into bite size pieces)
Green Onions
A bit of garlic powder
Those chinese crunchy noodles...I forget what they're called

Oh it's so good! The carrots are the base so it looks weird at first since it's basically all carrots. She said to prepare each thing the night before and then put it all together the next day so it doesn't get super runny and watery if that makes sense because you want the water to be able to drain out of the carrots I guess? Either way. It's delicious and definitely a personal favorite.

Ring around the rosy a pocketful of posies. Posey Lake.

So I've realized that my posts used to be kind of deep and soul searching and now they're not so much. I really hope that I don't appear to just be throwing things out like oh! look what I did today! But the purpose of this blog was for me to get over my fear of things and to document it...have I done that...not completely but for awhile it really helped me work out a lot of different things that were going on in my life. Do I still think way more than the average person...probably most likely but maybe not near as much to the degree I used to. Do I have life figured out? Heck to the no. Do I still have fear? Most definitely yes. Am I trying to overcome it? Yes. Am I sometimes just trying to avoid it and cover it up so I don't have to face it? Yes.
I realize I shouldn't do that. I'm slipping back into my old self at times. The person who ignores things so I don't have to deal with them but at the same time I do feel like I have made progress in trying to be more proactive.  So I hope I don't appear to be trying to shove the things I do into people's faces but I am trying to share what I learn from my experiences. Hopefully it's helpful. If it's not then I apologize but, it is another way to keep my own personal history as well. Stay with me please. I'm just another person trying to figure out life just like everyone else.

I did just return from a camp out to a place called Posey Lake. I loved it. It's just before Escalante, passed Hell's Backbone and Pine Creek. I think it's a pretty new area because it wasn't on Google Maps. We had to type in it's GPS coordinates to find it.  I would recommend it to anyone! It was a bit of a drive but well worth it. The landscape there is absolutely fascinating to me! Yes it's a fire forest waiting to happen but I recommend driving Hell's Backbone by the light of a full moon. The landscape was so eerie and the way the moon lit up the cliff sides...mhmmm. It was beautiful. The campsite only cost $10 a night, there were bear lockers at every campsite and get this: the outhouses smelled like Pinesol! Sweet huh? Usually I prefer to squat on a bush because 1. I feel more accomplished because I can successfully pee in the outdoors and I like to continue to validate myself in this success 2. I used to have an irrational fear of something living inside those and either pulling me in or biting my butt 3. Sometimes the breeze on my underside that you get from sitting on those pots freaks me out and 3. the smell is usually so overwhelming it's not worth it for the thirty seconds I'll be peeing in there. But they were clean and smelled good so I used it every time i went and  that was sweet and probably too much information. They also had fish filleting station between all the sites with a nice fire pit at each site.
We drove down to Hell's Backbone in the day time, stopped at some cliffs on the way and chucked rocks off the top and pretended to imagine what it'd feel like to be a rock falling through the air like that.  That landscape is just indescribable. It's so different, almost random yet, the pine trees at the bottom of the canyon seemed to be planted there like you'd see on one of those big foam diagrams of landscapes.  We stopped at pine creek...I'm pretty sure. We hiked down by the creek and followed along the side of it.  We found a cool little waterfall next to these beautiful sandstone walls and then crawled back up this tunnel.  I will say that with as hot as I was expecting it to be it still stays pretty cool because of all the wind but do not be fooled. You will still get sunburned.
The fishing was good I thought. Rainbow, brown, and brook trout. Mostly brook trout. Those fish are absolutely beautiful!  Bright yellow power bait dropped right next to the docks worked, a little Neapolitan looking spinner also worked during the day.  The bugs are out in the morning and as the sun is setting and some little punks were slamming fish like crazy with these flies they had on their rods.  We only had about 4 flies and none of them were hitting like we would like so we got the bright idea to make our own flies.  We made one with fibers from a pine cone and wrapped a piece of my hair to look like wings for a bug and we ended up catching a fish on it that night! It was so sweet! Probably one of the best moments of my life I would say.  We also used a mosquito spinner that hit the fish pretty well.  We also found that if you can cast right into where the fish are jumping you can usually catch them quickly on the reel back in. Really quickly.
Fly fishing seemed to do well and it didn't seem to make a difference if you were on shore or on a boat. Fishing was good.
Oh! I have this super irrational...maybe not completely irrational...fear of snakes. I hate them! They're so freaky. People used to ask me why I was so scared of them so I checked out 4 different books of them from the library so I had logical reasons. It probably wasn't the best idea to check out ones on the worlds most poisonous snakes. Anyways I did see two snakes in the water and I decided...once we determined they weren't poisonous...that I was going to catch one so I could overcome my fear. I was getting pretty close and was really thinking about it but, I never had done that before. My good friend ended up catching it for me and then after I saw that he was ok he let me hold it. It was really neat. The way those snakes more is amazing and the way they feel on your skin is really neat. They still freak me out and the one we caught was tiny. I saw a bigger one later that day and even though it was the same kind of snake I was not about to try to catch that one. Baby steps right?  Fear can be overcome by learning and experience right? or it can just ingrain that fear more I guess if the experience is negative but my hope is that as I learn and experience more about life I can choose to use that knowledge in a positive way that will propel me forward.
....I learned a lot today but, I feel like this post is getting a bit longer...so I'll save it for another time. Maybe tomorrow. I promise some pictures as well. Goodnight.

Please keep you arms and legs in at all times.

Why does no one realize that it doesn't make sense to have to strap yourself in like a roller coaster when you get in your car, yet bikers and skaters hardly wear helmets and are not covered in bubble wrap.
Wah! I got a pass at the climbing gym here! and it is so sweet. I'll tell you what if you want to get over your fear of something real quick or you want to work on your trust or commitment issues...try rock climbing. First of all let's look at this rock and decide to hook ourselves onto a rope...nothing else but a rope and some clips and proceed to climb to the top of a cliff.  Then let's put our lives completely in the hands of the  person at the bottom to catch our fall...at least that's when our equipment decides to hold strong... if we fall off the side of the cliff.  And the only way to get better at climbing is to get used to falling and getting back on the rock and trying again and to commit to reaching always a little bit higher for that hold that only your pinky fits on...
OR! even better lets bag the rope! and then you just have to make sure you don't fall at all or that the person at the bottom can somewhat break your fall from shorter distance.  And if you're scared of falling...then don't fall...you just have to completely commit to that next hold and make sure you're strong enough to stay on it just long enough to get to the next one. Climbing is great isn't it?
Also...long boarding. Long boarding is great. But riding on  your butt on a long board down a parking garage is the best. That's one thing I haven't learned to trust yet...speed while standing on something I don't know how to stop safely without breaking my ankle or something else serious.

No worries

Deep breath. Yoga is the best ever. I'm fine. We're all fine. Time does a lot if we choose to do a lot in it. Sometimes I panic...example...below post. But life really is good. I am so blessed and I just need to get out of this rut that I continually find myself in...it's called being complacent. Improvement is good but it does take work. 

TV Dinners

Sometimes I think wanting is unrealistic. Why is risk so hard and why do we all claim to want to take them yet we never can bring ourselves to actually follow through? Why do we often take the easiest road when the harder road is more rewarding? Why do we allow ourselves to be complacent instead of content or constantly stressing about constantly improving in unrealistic ways when we should be content? Content with who we are but wanting to become better without becoming negative. Well...really. Why do I do all these things? Why do I allow myself to go along with what others want or what I think others want me to do...when it's not what I really truly want? and when it's not taking me towards any of my goals? Isn't that a waste of time if I'm accomplishing nothing that I want to work towards? So why stick with it? Why do we do that? Why do I do that? because it's easier? Because that's lame! To take the easy road....That's so dumb because where does the easy road get you? Usually someplace not that worthwhile. So why can't I have the courage to change and to stop settling back into what used to be....this may appear random but...it's not. Bear...bare?  with me. Don't judge...I've stopped reading and have been out of school for year back on subject.... Why is it that the only thing that seems to matter sometimes is what's for dinner and what's on TV?!! For reals...It's my mother's worst nightmare and it seems that I continue to have to keep living it. Heck let's combine the two to get TV Dinner. Joy. How easy is that. Pop something in the microwave with plastic on top to slowly give yourself cancer while you sit on the couch and watch a documentary on the ocean with sharks.  And that my friends is how you take the easy road.

Strawberry Lake

I went camping and fishing at Strawberry Lake/Reservoir last night. And may I say...of the three expert fisherman that I was with...I was the only one that caught a fish! That's what's up but, in their defense as well it was only a 2 inch minnow that I caught in the shallow.  So what did I learn from this campout...
Well, just because it's blazing in Provo that doesn't mean it's blazing in the Uinta National Forest. In fact...it's probably still winter. I wore my swimsuit so I could dive in and cool off...ya this is not Hawaii water people...this is straight snow melt from the mountains. FREEZING!!! But surprisingly I got in  more than once...to catch my minnow and the biggest crawdad I've ever seen in my life, and then finally on the last time I went all the way up to my shoulders to unsnag my line because the setup I was using wasn't mine. So I will say the hardest part is getting in past your waist but, once you're in to your shoulders you're about good to go because you're body starts shutting down. Joy. Word to the wise...don't get out of the water. It hurts so bad!
Also....pack warm socks and a warm sleeping bag. You don't want to have to pull any survivor skills out that you don't need to and you'll sleep much better.
We forgot to grab the cream of mushroom for the tinfoil dinners  so we went back down the road a ways to the General Store...they only had chicken noodle soup but, we went to the grill next door and got some alfredo sauce. Make sure you have exact change for $7.30 or else they'll bump it up to $9 and some change so they can make change.  Alfredo sauce is good but cream of mushroom still works the best! 20 mins on each side.
We camped out by 3 beaver dams and had the most beautiful fire! The stars were gorgeous and we left the rain fly off the tent so you could see the stars all night long. Mhmmm. That's a dream.
We decided that Strawberry is beautiful but isn't the best shore fishing. So that means I have to bring my canoe down! Wahoo! So...now the fun thing will be getting in down here on the frontrunner....
Haha not really but there's no way my car would be able to make it down with my aluminum canoe on top.

Ogden

Although I have moved once again these are some things that I came to appreciate and love about the place of my hometown
-The whistling man at the post office that smelled of smoke
-Wheeler Canyon
-Green Pond
-Fishing hole @ Pineview Dam
-Eden Coffee and Cocoa
-Lewis Peak
-Coldwater Canyon
-Ben Lomond
-9th Street Climbing
-Lucky Slice Pizza
-22nd Street Hikes
-Big Rock
-Jessie Springs
-Skinny dipping hole
-Couches on front porches in downtown Ogden
-The Front Climbing Gym
-Skyline Cyclery
- The Church on the 23rd Street
- Rope Swing that got cut down
- Riding bikes around the Dam
- Nativity at the Library during Christmas
- 4th of July 5K
- Lime Rickies & Chicken Tenders and Kirt's Drive in
- Foothills of Ben Lomond
- Back roads at the base of Ben Lomond
- Free Apples on Elberta
- River by Green Acres
- Oaklawn Park
- Trout Farm
- Free Yoga @ Weber State for students...which I never did
- $4 bouldering pads at Weber State
- Climbing Festival
- Smith & Edwards
- Fruit Stands
- Creamies at my Granny's
- Super Bowl @ my Uncle's and playing pinball
- Cats @ my Grandparents Trailer...yes they are the crazy cat people
- Ice cream @ the Valley Marker
- Man who sales bikes on 25th
- Great Harvest
- Straw Market...best cinnamon rolls and grilled cheese sandwiches
- Sushi @ Lee's Marketplace
- Baskin & Robbins Parking Lot
- Winco Parking lot & shopping carts
- Frontrunner Station
- Ogden Bike Collective
- Old brick houses
- Greenery
- Ogden Canyon
- North Ogden Pass
- Family
- Friends
- Tree turning onto Mountain Road
- The Heart house
- Drive up Mountain Road passed the Mansion house and fields of horses
- Tropical Twists @ Kirt's
- Man that calls me "Dimples"
- 88.1
- Nature Center Trail
- Canal Road
- My house
- My mother's garden
- Duck Pond
- Stump water

This place will forever and always be my HOME

Lovers' Carvings

Love this song...

Lovers' names, carved in walls
Overlap, start to merge
Some of them underneath
Maybe they appear
In graveyards
Maybe they fade away

Weathered and overgrown
Time has told
Meaningful hidden words
Suddenly appear, from the murk
Maybe they're telling us
That the end
Never was
Never will
The words have gone
But the meaning will never disappear 
From the wall

sweat, tears, sea

So my trip to Hawaii of course was a dream.  I will say though it kinda started out with me stressing about stupid things...such as the boys' hadn't moved out of their apartment or even started to clean it the morning we were to leave for Vegas and with the fact that we still didn't have rental cars set up, or the fact that I was positive we had packed over 40 pounds in our suitcase.
Stress can be a good thing but man can it turn negative very quickly if you let it! We went to work and got the boys moved out and the apartment all clean and smelling good before we left. And really was it as big of deal as I made it? No. Was the toilet disgusting. Oh my gosh yes but, was it a big deal that I had to actually touch it to clean it? No. That's what soap is for afterwards, to clean your hands. Most likely there will always be a solution to any problem. So don't worry.
So I was still stressed about the rental cars and tried to find some on the way down to Vegas...then gave up and realized we'd just figure it out when we got there. After all. The adventure really starts when nothing is planned and anything opportunity can come up or when everything falls through.
And did it end up being fine? Ya! We got our rental car...we just had to make 3 people spoon in the trunk and we had to sleep in a park the first night like bums because we got to our campground so late and it was no longer safe because of some locals partying in front of the gate. We wouldn't have seen the sea lion that first morning either had we been at our campsite that first night.
I mean yes, we need to plan our lives with purpose but, it's ok if our plans don't always work out perfectly! Honestly I don't think I'd learn as much if all my plans worked out...and my life really wouldn't be as great I don't think!
I also was slightly afraid of the ocean...ok maybe terrified before I went but, I realized it's just because it's something I didn't understand and really was just unknown to me.  So I jumped right in when I got there and I loved it! What a beautiful and powerful thing the ocean is.  I learned to respect it because you can't fight it. I rolled with the waves and realized sometimes you just have to do that with life to.  Sometimes you get rocked by a wave and slammed into the sand but, the last thing you want to do is panic. You either have to ride it out, roll with it, or get back up just in time to be rocked by another one. You just laugh it off and enjoy the ride or just move to a different spot.  But I had no reason to fear the ocean and I still don't. I figure I'll live for my appointed life span either way (as long as I'm not being a complete idiot when it comes to life) and if it ends in the ocean by shark or giant squid then at least that's a sweet story instead of me dying at home on my couch watching movies about the ocean.
I had said before I thought the ocean would heal me or help me overcome fear and it actually did but, it really had nothing to do with the ocean itself.  It had to do with me changing my thought process and working out a lot of things along the way of getting there.

Hawaii!

Just got back from a trip to the beautiful island of Oahu.  Mhmmm. It was a dream! Here are some things I learned:
It's ok when not everything is planned because that is when the adventure really starts!
Sometimes planning can save money though...
A Ford Fusion comfortably can fit 10 people...2 girls and 1 boy spooning in the trunk is quite nice.
Thrifty.com is a great place to rent cars from especially when they upgrade you to Lincoln town cars so you can fit six people in each car. Just don't get the keys wet because the car won't start.
Traveling through Allegiant Air is cheaper...we got round trip tickets for $330 from Las Vegas...there's just not a ton of leg room.  Traveling in the spring time saves money and especially when you plan the trip around the cheapest flights, not the flights around the trip.
You don't have to reserve a seat on the plane. Unless you really, really want to sit by someone you know.
Check and pay for your bags before you get to the airport...it saves a lot of money.
If you can...pack with someone else because it saves money and you can still take a personal item like a backpack on the plane.
Almonds and jolly ranchers make excellent checker board pieces.
Don't play slap jack on the plane. People don't like it.
You can park at hotels for free and then taxi over to the airport in Las Vegas. Don't park at the airport. You'll pay a buttload.
It's cheaper to travel in groups because you can split the cost more ways.
Shopping at Costco saves a lot of money because prices are lower. Cost of living in Hawaii is SO high!
Hawaii is not Utah...your stuff will get stolen if you leave it on the beach.
It pays to have friends in cool places.It saves you money and you get to know about great things to do only the locals know about. It pays to be kind to people and make friends in cool places as well because they'll be more willing to share valuable information with you and show you around personally to sweet spots.
It's $4.50 to rent clothes at the Laie Temple...so don't forget your money if you're not bringing your own clothes...or your temple rec.
It's cheap to camp on the beach but go to a designated site or else it's dangerous and the crabs will clip your toes at night.
Watch out for people drinking Kava especially since they don't really like tourists.
Sometimes sleeping at a park can be safer than your camp ground.
Rain blows over quickly just don't go hiking in it because of flash floods.
The Sacred Pools are beautiful! The trail is easy to follow...just look for the Turn back and $2500 fine signs along the way. Visit the Hula Lady's shaved ice across the street afterwards. She is the nicest lady ever! Her house is blue and has been in their family for like 5 generations. Her husband also drives a sweet motorcycle.
McDonald's doesn't have a dollar menu. I prefer their oatmeal and parfaits to anything else I ate there.
Don't put your milk in the sun, it drains it of it's Riboflavin and other essential nutrients.
The Stairway to Heaven is closed because it's too dangerous but if you get there at 3 am or 4 before the guard arrives you can hike it. Plus you get to see the sunrise! The law enforcement is pretty lax there.
Time moves slowly there but before you know it...it's over. So play and enjoy every minute!
I am not afraid of the ocean. In fact, I love it and I love the power it has and what it contains.
Also no wonder people are so pretty there. You're tan, everything is relaxed so its all natural beauty because no one wears makeup. Best day ever! The humidity keeps your skin soft and when you get rocked by a wave the salt cleans out so much of your insides that there's no way you can get sick with your sinuses getting flushed out. and all the sand in your swimsuit is a nice exfoliator of course. Also the salt is nice in healing large open cuts...just make sure it doesn't dry on them. Keep them constantly lubed once you're out of the ocean.
My Speedo racing suit was probably my favorite one to wear because unlike my cute ones...it didn't get ripped off by the waves while body surfing.
The "Lost" beach is past the Dillingham Airport, passed a camp, passed the YMCA, passed "Moke" (that's what the locals call it) beach, and at the point where the mountain and ocean meet...possibly over K...something....point. But we never actually found it...
You can cliff jump @ the point in Laie.
China hat is a short but sweet hike...but we didn't do it.
I was told Duke's has good pies, Papa Ole's has good breakfast, shrimp buses are delicious, and you have to get ice cream in your shaved ice.
I didn't do a lot of things I was told to do by other people because I've realized that everyone vacations different. Vacation how you'll most enjoy it! I enjoyed just playing at the beach everyday, playing tackle football, ultimate frisbee, hiking, swimming, climbing trees, snorkeling, swinging on vines, and catching crabs...and none of that costs money.
Hawaiian Suns are better than Aloha Sun Maid and cheaper as well. The Guava and Passionfruit are the best flavors. And there's not high fructose corn syrup! It's made with cane sugar.
Also...and this is only general I realize it's not completely true BUT my theory about Eagle Scouts seems to be holding true.  Those who are non Eagle Scouts tend to be more...what's the word....well for lack of a better one. More trustworthy in the outdoors.
This is awkward but I also found that showering buck naked in a public bathroom really isn't all that bad. Eyes up! and if you close your eyes you can't see anyone...so I think that means they can't see you.
No pants are still the best pants...living in a swimsuit was the bomb!
A rubberband is a lot more effective as a wallet then anything else.
If you're fishing...there aren't too many regulations....just don't kill a state fish, sea turtle, or whale and make sure that an octopus' head is about 1 lb.
The Flea market at Aloha stadium was great.
Pearl Harbor is super cool as well!
Driving in Honolulu stinks. Don't do it.
The North Shore is beautiful and you don't really miss out by not going to Hanama Bay or Waikiki.
Mhmmm. Best trip I've ever been on! But that's mostly just because I was with amazing people!