From the top of Diamond Head

Susan with Diamond Head in the background

If It's March in Portland, You Have to Vacation in Hawaii- March 2011

One of the first things I noticed after moving to Portland is that the school winter vacation falls in March and half of the city goes to Hawaii (or Mexico or some other place that has sun!) You see, by March, we haven't seen the sun in 5 months, and we're starting to get just a little cranky (especially since the prospects of future sun aren't very "bright"- maybe in July!) Now as a counterpoint to you cocky east-coasters, we are mowing our lawns, have daffodils, crocuses and iris in bloom, and the fruit trees and flowering bushes are about the explode- you are still hoping the snow will be gone in June : > )

Now that our friends Jay and Toni are living in on Waikiki Beach in Honolulu...

(Toni took a job at the VA there and loves the sun!), we finally became real Portlanders and vacationed there last week (we avoided the tsunami by 3 days although after seeing the devastation in Japan, I don't even want to joke about that- our prayers are with everyone there).

Although it wasn't as sunny as Hawaii usually is, it was MUCH sunnier than Portland in March and we had a fun, relaxing time. We enjoyed...

hiking Diamond Head...

visiting the botanical gardens...

seeing the giant sea turtles...

touring the Dole Pineapple Plantation...

"bumping into" Courteney Cox filming an episode of Cougar Town...

touring the north coast of Oahu away from the maddening crowds of Waikiki...

and the east coast of Oahu...

meeting Flipper...

catching rainbows...

and sunsets...

and finally seeing the infamous "light at the end of the tunnel!"

Hawaii has it all... but it's not Portland, the city we love.