Kim and I vacationed in Hawaii from Feb 15 - 25, 2006 - Kim and I and Kim's parents (Sharon and Ted) had a great time. We were celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary (26 Oct, 2005) and my retirement from the USAF (in 1st of Jan, 2005). Ted & Sharon came along to help us celebrate. It took a long time to plan and save up enough money for this big vacation, but we finally did it. After 20 years of poverty* we finally managed to spend some money on ourselves.
We were really looking forward to our long delayed and well deserved vacation. We left for the islands on the 15th of Feb, 2006, and got back on Saturday (the 25th of Feb, 2006). We had a fantastic time. We stayed at the Hale' Koa hotel on the beach in Waikiki, Oahu. We toured four of the Islands during our brief stay (O'ahu, Kaua'i, Hawai'i and Maui). The events and activities are too numerous to mention here, and my plans to fully describe every moment never materialized (you'll likely notice the comments (captions under the photos) peter out after a dozen or so photos).
While I wanted to post a photo gallery with a detailed description of every event, I find that eight years later it's about time that I finally gave up on that idea and simply publish what I've got. These photos were originally taken back in February of 2006 (with a Nikon Coolpix 7900 (7.9 megapixel/3x digital/3x optical zoom) camera), but I didn't post them (the first time) until November of 2014. I posted those photos on my "Rob's World!" website, and Facebook. Then, in November of 2018, I inadvertantly deleted a 'crap load' of photos. It's taking me a while, but I'm working to recreate/re-post those photos. I hope you enjoy these photos of Hawaii - We certainly enjoyed creating them for you.
*Poverty: What's this 'poverty' you speak of? Well - It's certainly relative to one's personal situation/life circumstances. In my case, I was blessed/fortunate enough to have been born in America. My family had many of the benefits afforded by a Capitalist society and blue-collar working class ethics. My parents earned enough for a modest American home in the suburbs, and I was raised with a typical public-school education and plenty of ambition; but I certainly didn't achieve adulthood with any sort of financial assistance (unless you count the $200.00 loan I got for books (Thank you Leo & Florence (Grand parents)) or hereditary privilege. Without the means or money to extend my education beyond two years of 'Technical' school, I ended up joining the US Air Force. The US military offers many opportunities for free education, experience, leadership and life skills. Kim and I were married in Oct of 1985, and she joined me in Italy (my first duty assignment) after less than a year of 'processing'. Back then ('84-'05) the military (Enlisted) didn't get paid that much (Now? (by 2014): Now they get way more than I did when I served). We could barely afford to pay our rent (Mostly out of pocket), now they get thousands of dollars to cover their rent (100% covered). The pay was terrible - Now they get something like 22% more, not counting the other benefits they receive (like 100% covered housing costs). Pay as an enlisted member from 1984-2004 didn't amount to much. We certainly didn't save much. Even with Kim working full-time, we barely had enough money to afford the typical conveniences of a middle-enlisted family of two. Most of the time we lived from pay-check to pay-check. We knew plenty of other military members who had to receive food stamps and rely on other supplemental ways to feed their families. I'm glad I served; I cherish the experiences and the memories. I'm grateful for the education, skills and retirement benefits.
Photos of Hawaii posted (re-posted) in January of 2019. Photos and comments copyright held by Author: Robert L. Vaessene-mail:
