Lyon Arboretum, Diamond Head, and Plantation Village

Yesterday we worked early in the morning and then left. Tom wasn't feeling well, so Tonya and I went to the Lyon Arboretum. An arboretum has a lot of different kinds of trees and plants. We walked around the different paths where we were able to see all kinds of different trees. We walked up to a waterfall. It was such a peaceful afternoon.

Then we came back and went and got Mexican food at Surfin' Tacos. It actually was really yummy.

This morning we got up and went to Diamond Head. Diamond Head is a crater that is just off Waikiki beach. So when you hike up to the top, you can look down across all of the beach and the city of Honolulu.

Here we are going up.

You can start to see the sweat on my shirt. I came back pretty wet. It isn't a very long hike. The trail is well worn. You go up a little bit and then there are some stairs. And then you're at the top where you can look over the whole city.

Look at that sweat. Everywhere I go here, I sweat! It looks like I must be tired too... Haha! You can see the ocean and the beach and then the city of Honolulu in the background.

Coming back, there was a Farmer's market in the parking lot. We got some freshly made ginger, basil, and lime water. It was so refreshing and good! It really hit the spot!

After we finished, we went on up the coast and we went to the Hawaii Plantation Village. This was a sugar cane plantation. They took us through the different houses of different cultural groups who came in to work on the plantation. There were Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos, Puerto Ricans, Japanese, and I can't remember who else. But we went through the houses and they talked about how these groups had come in and what a difficult life it was for them, but how they couldn't leave because they were slaves. Then they talked about how the different groups became part of the culture of Hawaii as they stayed here. I really liked this!

These are taro plants that they use to make poi and I can't remember what they do with the leaves and stalks.

These are the fish ponds. The fish were little tiny things. You can see the houses in the background that belonged to the different groups.

Here we are at the end!
We came back to BYU-H and all of the parking lots are filled with many people here. Right now we are watching the Cultural Celebration going with the temple dedication. Tomorrow will be the rededication of the La'ie temple. I'm excited we will get to be here. It is interesting because the Hawaii temple was one of the first few that were built in the Church. I am excited to be able to go!