Sunday, Day 10, Last Day in Hawaii (sigh...)

• Sunday was the only day that we actually set an alarm and woke up early. We went to a 9 am sacrament meeting in the Honolulu Tabernacle building. It is by far the most beautiful church building we had ever seen and was rather large. We ended up only staying through the first talk and then had to head back to our hotel to quickly pack before we needed to check out.
  
• After packing and checking out, we went to Burgers on the Edge for lunch. This was a fast food burger place that we had passed several times a day and always interested us. It was unique because we could fill out our specific order on laminated sheets that we handed to the cashier. Mark loved it because he likes unique things on his hamburger, not the usuals. We were also able to get sweet potato fries with our meal. Yummy.
  
• After lunch we drove up to the North Shore and went back to Waimea Bay. We ended up having to pay for parking across the street because it was so crowded. When we got down to the beach, the waves were absolutely huge. The lifeguards were warning everyone not to get into the water, but many people were regardless. After sitting on the beach and reading, Mark decided that he wanted to go in and swim around. I was a little nervous, but knew he was a good swimmer. I went down closer to the edge of the waves while he went in, just to keep an eye on him. I started taking pictures with our disposable camera (thus the weird quality), when a wave came up higher than usual and knocked me down, which knocked Mark's sunglasses that I had just tucked into my swimsuit to fall off and get quickly taken away. Before I could even think, the glasses were already gone and the next wave was coming in. I kept looking out for them, but we never found them again. I believe a porpoise is out there sporting sunglasses somewhere. Either way, I felt awful about it, but at least it was the end of our trip. See how huge the waves were below...
  

• We had to finish off our Hawaii vacation with one more trip to Giovanni's Shrimp Shack and then to Matsumoto's for shaved ice and ten packs of Hichew's (these yummy fruit candies that Mark used to get in Taiwan).
  

• We had to fill up our car in Hale'iwa and there was a light sprinkling of rain. During our stop at the gas station, we were wowed to see two full gorgeous rainbows that filled the sky. Absolutely breathtaking. They were big enough that I couldn't get the full rainbows in one picture, just in halves.
  
• We then ended our Hawaii adventure by sitting on Hale'iwa Beach as the sun went down. The scenery was beautiful and the sound of the waves so soothing. We talked about our adventures and were able to reminisce. What a spectacular way to wrap up Hawaii for us.
  

• After the sun went down, we changed out of our swim clothes in the public bathrooms and then had to rearrange our packing in the dark parking lot. We left Hale'iwa around 7 pm and drove straight to the airport. Below is our last picture we took in Hawaii, where we camped out in the airport courtyard amid the lush vegetation and enjoyed the solitude of Hawaii. We just weren't quite ready to be in the airport among the hustle and bustle of normal life yet. One thing I have learned is that Mark and I absolutely love vacationing together. He is my best friend and makes every situation more fun.
  

• Well, after that we got on the airplane around 10 pm and flew home through the night. Turns out that may not have been the best idea ever though, as much as I don't regret anything to do with Hawaii. I just couldn't for the life of me get to sleep. I would go back and forth between trying to watch the new "Karate Kid" movie and then trying desperately to sleep. Basically I had a mental/emotional breakdown at some point and was in tears because I couldn't fall asleep. Mark made me switch to the window seat in the hopes that I would be able to get more comfortable, despite my continued crying and protestations. I was a serious grump.
  
• We arrived in San Francisco around 6:15 am, with very very little sleep and trying not to be too grumpy (Mark much better at this than me). We had to walk around the airport for a long time trying to find our shuttle. Once we were finally picked up, we started the long, grueling journey back. We literally didn't get home until 9 am, partly because we were traveling during traffic times, but mostly because our shuttle driver was absolutely terrible. I was getting the biggest headache ever and was getting more and more grumpy. He was the type of driver who would go super fast and then slam on his brakes. Seriously terrible.
• After we got home, we jumped in bed and slept for about three hours. We then had a nice relaxing day at home, trying to get ready for real life.