Hukilau

Liz Walker coordinated our Hawaii trip. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

We stayed at a house along the north shore of Oahu, in Hawaii. It’s a large house, right on the beach that her family and some other families own. It’s called the “Hukilau Estates” because it’s right next to the Hukilau Beach. I had heard the Hawaiian Hukilau song before, so it was interesting to hear the history of the area, or at least as conveyed by the sign placed on the beach by an eagle scout.

We had a total of 14 people in our group. 10 girls from the DC area (Liz Walker, Tiffanie Williams, Melissa Hill, Carrie Johanson, Melissa Roach, Jen Heywood, Sharyn Hunt, Maren Weight, Katie Boxer, Courtney Bixler), Liz’s 2 brothers (David and Peter Walker), one more friend from Utah (Kim Bryant), and Ben Bennett, the lone guy from the DC area. I knew Melissa, Tiffanie, and Liz in advance, but it was so fun to get to know everyone better as we shared meals, cars, sunscreen, etc., etc., etc!

We had the house the whole week, and it served as a home base for exploring both Oahu and Kauai. A few of us brought laptops, and so we had an “Internet Café” of sorts set up. It was a great place. Since the Olympics were on, they were a common part of our unwinding in the evening. I was surprised at how many girls claimed Michael Phelps as their boyfriend! I have been caught off guard a few times as I heard the name Todd Rogers, but I remember that they are talking about the USA volleyball player, and I am ok again.