Diamond Head and The Honolulu Museum of Art

To say I woke up sore would be an understatement. It was just two hours of surfing yesterday, but it beat me up pretty bad and I've got the cuts and rash to prove it. I woke up and could barely move. Thankfully, I slept through the night becuase once I got down from the top bunk, I wasn't going back up. My arms were the sorest, from all the paddling. My legs and feet were already in pretty bad shape and my core had been worked like it's never been worked before. I was laughing I hurt so much everywhere, and even laughing hurt. I did manage to get down from bed, and we were able to start our morning albeit a slow start. 

We had two things planned for the day. The first was to hike Diamond Head, which a co-worker had told me I had to do, and the second was to go to the art museum. We started with breakfast at Starbucks becuase it was convenitly located near the bus we were going to take, and becuase they serve hot tea. I found that in Hawaii, tea is served iced and very few establishments serve it hot. I enjoyed my. Abel with cream cheese and banana while I looked up the bus route. Unfortunetly, becuase it was Sunday, the bus were running later and we would have to wait until close to two hours for the first bus. The start of the hiking trail was close to two miles so we thought we would just walk it, getting us to Diamond Head much quicker. Today also marked a triathlon. The triathlon's route was the same route we were taking towards Diamond Head. It didn't cause us any problems until we got to a point where the sidewalk was closed for just a small section so we had to walk around I. The path of the runners. Even though we didn't get I the way of the runners and we had no choice a police office scolded us and told us there was a rave going on so we needed to stay on the sidewalk. We probably would have gotten yelled at had we walked on the closed sidewalk. To add insult to injury, we had gotten a little further, walking I the sidewalk, when the runners started to come on the sidewalk even though they had their own space on the road. As soon as there was a path on the opposite side of the street we crossed over, and were left I peace the rest of the way up to the crater. 

It had been a long walk in, and we stopped to enjoy some shaved ice and rest before starting our ascent. I hadn't brought any water with me so I went to the vending machine. It it ate my money! I was pissed. What represented itself as the visitor center didn't sell any either and I forgot about the shaved ice truck until I had already started up the crater. 

I had been thinking the day before that I wasn't going to be able to do the hike becuase my feet hurt so much but with propping my feet up and taking asprin, I started the morning out with a reasonable walk and. It the hobbling I had been doing. I was beginning to feel like an old lady in need of a cane. By the time we had walked up to the crater, my feet were not happy, and I still had the main hike ahead of me. I steeled myself against the pain and, very slowly, started to hike up to the summit. There were a lot of people and the road was rough. I had to take several breaks to catch my breath and share I Dad's water which quickly ran out. I was doing okay. I wasn't I great shape but I was making do. Pushing myself further, then came the steps. They were steep, and there were a lot of the with no resting place so you has to keep going becuase there where people behind you. 

After the stairs there was a sloping tunnel which was poorly light. I hadn't been able to catch my breath for the stairs and starting coughing in the tunnel because I couldn't breathe. The people behind me had finally had enough and passed me, which meant I could take the moment I needed to stop and breathe. Thankfully, at the end of the tunnel was a resting area where I had to sit until my breathing slowed enough to tackle the next 99 steps straight up. There was an easier flight of stairs, but they were the stairs you were meant to go down instead of up, and I had to push myself. 

The first half of the giant staircase was fine and I was thinking I can do this, no problem. Then I started going slower and slower, until again the people behind me went around. I got some encouragement from passerby, but those last few stairs kicked my ass. My the time I got to the top I was weazing, sweating profusely, and needed water. I felt like I was going to throw up or pass out, or quite honestly, both. I did not was to end up in the hospital so I sat down right where I was I order to let the wind, which was blowing strong from my vantage point, cool me down and to catch my breathless, but I knew I needed water. Dad gave me the last dribble of water he had, and then I just had to wait until I had calmed down enough to continue. I hadn't come all this way to quit now. 

At the end of this tunnel was a two story spiral staircase which was much easier to traverse than the 99 steps. This brought me into a small room and I had one more obstacle to overcome. There were two stairs that led up to the viewpoint, but the roof leveled out making it hard to maneuver into the correct position without hitting my head. I had also chosen to do the hike in a short dress, so I'm sure I was flashing some people. 

I was a bit shaky but I had made it to the top and was gifted with some water from the Hawaiian Gods, making the downward climb much more doable. We didn't go all the way to the top. It was just more stairs, with more people, and with the same view. I was tired and didn't mind heading back to the ground. 

The way back down was much easier and seemed to go a lot faster. Someone had mentioned that they should put in a zipline for the way down which would have been awesome. There were some scary spots. We people going up and down at the same time only one person can hold onto the railing, but the crater itself did me well. We got more water went we finally reached the bottom and headed out to the road to catch the bus. The best thing I overheard on the way up was from a group of three sisters. The first one asked another one if she wanted water and she said no, so the first sister was like "ok but if you pass out on me I'll pour the water over you" to which the other sister replied "don't do that, that would be a waste of water. Slap me instead." The first sister had no problem with that idea "you said it!"

The art museum was on my list of things to do in Hawaii despite the fact that I hate museums. The reason behind this desire was that the Honolulu Musuem of Art houses a Van Gogh painting and it is my life goal to visit all the known and public Van Gogh paintings. The rest of the art was nice to look and we spent a good two hours there. I spent at least half an hour just looking at the Van Gogh painting since that was my reason to go. We caught the bus back to the hostel, ditching our original plans of going to karoke. I sat in the lounge downstairs and read a book from the hostel library and Dad went to the beach. We had some dinner, again at Wolfgang Puck's Express and then headed back to the room to rest up for our finally day in Hawaii.