My daughter and I took a trip back home in Hawaii for Spring break.

Entrance to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, the final resting place of thousands of US service personnel. Set in an extinct volcanic crater, this place is commonly called "The Punchbowl".

View of Ford Island, situated in the middle of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The ship on the left is the USS Missouri, the battleship on which the Japanese surrender during World War II was signed.

The tower to the right of "Big Mo" is the control tower at Ford Island Naval Air Station.

The white structure on the right side of the image, the one with the boat headed towards it, is the USS Arizona Memorial. On the morning of December 7th, 1941, the Japanese military launched a surprise attack on Hawaii, focusing most of it on Pearl Harbor. USS Arizona took a direct bomb hit that caused massive fire and explosion that destroyed the ship and killed 1,177 of the 1400 crew. Some 900 of those sailors are entombed in the her sunken hull. A memorial spans the bridge of USS Arizona, a solemn reminder to all who visit: Americans, Japanese and people from every other nation, of the tragedies of war and the sacrifices that are made by all who serve their country.

Many years ago, back in my high school years, this was the house I lived in. The window to my room is at the top right, just above the American flag.

This photo was taken at a beach on the northern shore of Oahu, Hawaii. That is my daughter, her mouth full of goldfish crackers. It was very cloudy that day, but even so the views and the ocean were incredibly beautiful.

My daughter took this photo on our first morning in Hawaii. This was at the far eastern end of Oahu at about 8am.

The blue Pacific Ocean meets the volcanic coast of Hawaii.

There is a lot of evidence of Hawaii's volcanic origins, right beneath you feet.

This is a nice picture of Hanauma Bay. Look closer and you will see hundreds of tourists in the water and on the beach. When I was a kid, you could go down there and swim, snorkel or SCUBA dive whenever you liked, free of charge. Now, visitors have to stand in line for upwards of two hours and attend a "reef preservation" presentation before walking down to a beach that is overcrowded, noisy and frankly nowhere near as nice as it once was. Oh, and they charge admission too.

Another phoot of Hanauma Bay. The dark areas are rocky and the light areas are sand. To the left is a reef and beyond that, the water drops off until it is about 200 feet deep near the entrance to the bay. The bay itself is a volcanic crater that collapsed several thousand years ago, allowing the sea to enter and create what you see here.

Oh, and if you want guaranteed rainbow viewing, Hawaii is the place to be.

This is called "The Blowhole". As the waves surge toward shore, water fills up a cave and spurts out of an opening in the cave ceiling.

The state flag of Hawaii includes elements from the Union Jack (UK) and eight stripes, representing each of the "major" Hawaiian Islands. The other flags in this photo are those of the US and of the Kaneohe Bay Yacht Club.

Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. This is a view from the KBYC pier.

I am fairly certain that this is a shrine to a Shinto Kami, which is a deity of the Shinto faith.

Kailua Beach Park, one of the less touristy beaches on Oahu.