A hellacious travel experience has led way to utter beauty.

We hiked to the top of Diamond Head. And despite the fact that it is trailed the entire way and, therefore, sounds like an easy climb… heh, it’s a real hike. I loved it on the way back down, seeing the people at the top looking like they wished they had never started up the hill, while the people just starting out at the bottom looked so happy and full of hope. Suckers.

The Hyatt Regency in Waikiki put nearly $500 worth of holds on our check card, regardless of the fact that we put down a cash deposit to avoid just this kind of occurrence. Fail.

But, we had a lovely view there. And this hotel in Kauai is freakin’ unreal.

Last night, we had a gecko in our room. He tried to sell us insurance.