Hawaii - Day 7 - The end of the ride

Now we arrive at Friday - our last day on the island. We took the time to sleep in and relax.  They had a strict check-out time of noon so about 11am we packed up the car and headed out.

Good bye lava field with palm trees in the middle.

Good bye condo in paradise.

Do we have to go? As Vern pleads for just one more day!

After checking out we head out for some swimming and beach time for a few hours.  Here we have our little (well not so little anymore who am I kidding) stair-step kids. Funny how unconsciously they always line up this way.

Here we just have a shot of Vern swimming.

These cute little crabs were right at the tide line in the debris. They would hide in holes and if you stood quiet and watched they would dart out of the hole and find some tidbit and then woosh quick as can be back in the hole and be once again invisible. They were all sizes and fun to watch but very skittish. I would not have seen them at all but Superman pointed them out to me.

Here we have a lava field shot after swimming. We drove down to Kona for a while just to see a bit more of the town.  The airport was actually out in the middle of all this. You had to drive 15 miles or so to Kona south or the a bit farther north to where we stayed which wasn't actually a town but just multiple resorts.

Then we started the 20 hour flight home at 9pm Kona time.  We thought we could sleep on the flight... There was NO sleeping, maybe just some napping. It was very uncomfortable.  We evenually did arrive home safely but extremely tired.  We loved the trip and it really was a once in a lifetime journey!



Hawaii - Day 6

Thursday - We are winding down our week.  Speaking of winding...

We A-G-A-I-N traveled long winding SLOW roads. You sure wouldn't want to get anywhere fast on this island as it would be impossible.  We ended up circling the entire island this day.  We started out from our condo heading south. At the southern tip of the island we hit the Black Sand Beach Park.  The kids are so good about taking photos of the signs where we stopped. I never thought to do this but makes a LOT of sense when sorting through thousands of photos to help remember where you were when. KUDOS to the kids!

This is the only close-up shot I had of the black sand. It is blurry but Vern's hand holding the sand. It was illegal to take any of the sand as it errodes quickly and eventually there will be no black sand beach.

Here we have a unique self portrait of Vern kissing 'you'.

Finally, here is a shot of the beach. As you can see (look at trees), the wind is blowing like crazy.

Next we were off to Volcanos National Park. This is where the active volcano is on the Big Island.  There were just steam plumes as evidenced by the photo below.  The plumes contained sulfuric acid and boy it was hard on my lungs.  Part of the road around the crater has been closed for years as the plumes blow that direction a lot. If you inhale to much of this stuff it will kill you. There are warnings all over the place.  In the visitors center there were also a lot of seismographs to show all the earthquake activity. Luckily I didn't feel any or I would have freaked out!

Here is a photo of the family at the Thurson Lava tubes. This is a cave that once was a lava tube flowing a LOT of molten rock. It was HUGE inside.

Next we have Vern being silly. He wasn't listening (hmmmm not unusual...) so we started to take off without him.  He thought he would run and jump on the hood and ride that way. He wasn't going to be left there. What a goof!

This next shot is looking down upon one of the lava flows from the past. I can't remember why I included this shot in the blog but it is still a nice shot.

This next shot makes me laugh every time I see it.  If you know me at all you will appreciate this photo. It is me waiting to get into the bathroom!  Come on after all that wine tasting I had to go!!!!  Yes, we did purchase a bottle of wine and brought it home with us.

Here is Vern and myself relaxing on our balcony. It was so nice to be in a climate were I wasn't boiling hot or freezing cold no matter where we went. I hope heaven is just like this and I make it there. :-)

And to finish off Day 6, a flower photo. You were always surrounded by such beauty that it was hard not to take pictures of everything and anything.

Hawaii - Day 5

Vern has given me so much to write about lately that I need to get back to our Hawai trip and continue.  

We have now reached Wednesday.
Today we drove to Hilo. Picture a rough circle or oblong. We can not drive across the circumference of the circle. We must drive all the way around the outside to get to this city. There is one road that cuts across this island but if you drive your rental car on it and anything should happen - NOT COVERED. Basically it would be drive at your own risk because of the dangers so we just let that road be.  The landscape is completely different on this side of the island from where we stayed.  This first photo is a good example of why things are slow going in and around the mountains on the one road on the island!

But then you get around the curve, and see the view in this next shot and you don't care you are only going 30 mph. You can stare all day at the scenery.

After a while the kids got bored. They began to take pictures to entertain themselves.  Here are some fun shots. I call this one "Contemplation".

This one "The Eyes Have It".

"Speak no Evil" - ya right!!!!

We finally got to the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountainnnnnnnnnnnnnn to see what we could see.  I know don't quit my day job.  As you can see in this next photo things were not always fun and happy. We had our share of bickering and getting along.  I love his shot because even though Vern is SOOOO MAD, he is still adorable.

 We took a hike into the rain forests. This hike was amazing with beautiful breath-taking views. Here is Akaka Falls, which drops 442 ft. into a pool of water below. We also visited Kahuna and Rainbow Falls that day. Straight out of the movies.

In the town of Hilo itself we found a great farmers market. I purchased fresh papya, apple-bananas, and tomatos. There were alot of other things we didn't buy but looked delectable. We took our lunch across the street and feasted on these fresh items ocean side. This photo is where we ate in a nice public gazebo.

The afternoon became quite warm and humid. We found a macadamia nut factory and toured. They were not in production when we visited but still purchased some yummy items.

After all that we headed on the long drive home and ended the day with more swimming.

Hawaii - Day 4

Tuesday -
This day started out V-E-R-Y leisurely. We all needed to sleep in and we did! After breakfast we headed to the beach.  The kids were not impressed with the beaches. (weirdos) They thought the beaches should be sand. We tried to explain how the island was formed from a volcano so sand beaches would not be usual but black lava rock would be. Especially on the dry side we were on. Did not work. They complained. Sigh... So while they were pouting Superman and I took a walk along the beach.  I happened upon a real coconut on the ground so I gathered it up, knowing full well Vern would love to see it.  Well I brought it back and was correct. Here he is trying to break into it. Every day for the rest of the vacation he would spend time pounding his way towards the center of the coconut but never quite reaching it. 

We tried to appease the kids by taking them to a second beach. I was loving it. (yes this is prob the only time you will EVER see me in a swim suit) They did not! They kept begging to go and I kept pretending not to hear them with the wave noise and all. :-)  We were watching fish and turtles in the shot below.

Later that day we took a drive north to Kawi. This is a  small  town on the north shores of the Big Island.  By small, I mean no stop lights, a 2 block main street, and a few homes.  This was the largest town on the north side of the island!  We got there around 7pm and guess what??? The ice cream parlor was closed! WTF?!?!?!?!?!?  All the other stores were also closed except for one hippie fudge store. I didn't buy any fudge as I figured there would be some "medicianal" herbs added to the fudge and my kids didn't need that.

So we got the heck out of that town and drove back on Mountain road. Yes, that was name. We were blessed with seeing a beautiful sunset. Again, a simple photograph does not describe the beauty of the place. It was worth the drive to see this.

You can see in this next shot, how chilly it was on Moutain road. Right around 65 degrees. Look behind the kids and you can see the ocean. In that short space, down by the ocean, it was 80+ degrees.

We also saw some amazing cactus on the drive but those pictures did not turn out as it was too dark by the time we thought to stop and photograph them.  These cactus looked more like bushes or trees they were so big.  So now we come the end of this day. Relaxing AND enjoyable, even with all the complaining!

Hawaii - Day 3

Monday -
Well it was another very EARLY day. We were off to Pearl Harbor.  A tour-guide person we spoke with earlier in the week told us we had to be there before 7am as that is when the tour buses arrived and we possibly would be waiting 3 hours or more.  We were there right at 7am and got tickets for only 1 hour and 15 minutes after. We spent the time touring the museums in the same complex.  It worked out pretty good.
The first photo here is a shot of the USS MISSOURI.  This battleship is permanently retired here. We ran out of time on this island and were unable to tour this ship.  She was very impressive from afar.

Next we have the actual memorial. It was tough getting a shot with no people as we are all packed on like sardines!

This oil escaping the ship was amazing. The water was clear one minute and then as if on cue, it began bubbling to the surface as if by crew members still on board. Kind of creepy.
Factoid:  USS Arizona contains an estimated 500,000 gallons (2,300 tons) of Bunker C fuel oil, which has been slowly escaping since its loss. 

This is back on the island, and a shot of the Arizona anchor.

Vern LOVED this turret gun.

After our visit to Pearl Harbor we had to run and exchange John's camera. On Day 2 of the trip his camera got washed so we got him another one. Well that BRAND - NEW - camera quit while we were on the Memorial. Then we had trouble with the receipt that they didn't want to exchange it. EXCHANGE - not return. So we had to go hunting through suitcases for the original box and book for the simple exchange. GRRRR. Eventually we made it to the airport and took the short flight to Hawaii - the big island.  Here is a shot of folks exiting the plane.

Here is a shot of the airport. COOLEST ever. Those little huts are gates where you wait to board the plane.

Here we have Vern and Ann kicking back in their condo bedroom. (Notice the scowl on Ann's face?)

After arriving we drove up to Wimena to get some groceries for a few days. The drive took 40 minutes one way. A bit further than anticipated on winding roads up a mountain. When we got there, it was rainy and 20 degree temp difference. So we went from 87 to 67. Quite a shock in 20 miles or so.
Here I am slaving in my shoddy kitchen. :-) Yes, I did have a beer to help with the cooking activities.

Finally we have the view out our window to the swimming pool. After dinner the family went out for an evening swim. Remember it is only around 7:30-8pm now and the pool is open until at least 9 or 10.  We are swimming around having a good time playing swimming tag or some silly game when all of a sudden out stomps someone from their condo yelling at us to SHUT UP! We were too loud at 8pm?!?!?!?!?!?  People go to bed and get up way to early in Hawaii.  My favorite saying for these people - YOU ARE ALL CHICKENS!!!!! (Farm saying.)

Hawaii - Day 2

Day 2 was another jam packed day.  We were up fairly early as we had to drive though continuously horrible traffic.  There is one interstate/road to everywhere so of course everyone drives it and no matter the time of day, 35mph tops.

So we head off to KO 'Olina Adventures. I very highly recommend this company.  The captain and his mate took excellent care of every single person on the boat. The testimonials are their website are not an exaggeration. It is everything the folks write. 

http://koolinaoceanadventures.com/index.html

Ok, we got there a bit early so we hung out along the waterfront. It was beautiful and not a bad wait at all as you can see in this first photo.



Finally we made it on the boat. Here is a family photo with John, Vern, ME, Superman, and Ann.  We all got wet suits as no one wanted to be chilled.

We had only gone about 10 minutes when we spotted the dolphins. These are spinner dolphins as they spin  when jumping out of the water.  They were so fun to watch and they are as interested in us as we are in them.

As you can see in this next photo, it looks like a dolphin carrying a wal-mart sack. Well it was.  They find stuff and actually play with it. Here one is dragging it around and others will chase him and if he drops it they will go after it and continue the game.

Here are some really weird dolphins OH WAIT those are my kids snorkeling!  The water was so amazing you can barely describe it with words. It was clearer than a swimming pool. You could see so far down. I was not scared to jump in like some of the midwestern murky lakes that spook anyone!

This next photo is hard to see, but amongst the people there is a turtle trying to surface.  Behind the turtle with the legs sticking back is ME!  The turtle came within 3 inches of my face. I was trying to get out of the way but the turtle didn't care. It was so spectacular to get that close and look into its eyes.

Next we have one of the finds of the day, an octopus. As you can see the kids touched it and were very in awe. Fabulous experience for all.

Next we have a photo of me and the kids snorkeling. I just can't say enough what a good time we had.

On the way back we got to cruise by the Black Pearl.  This is the real deal and not a replica. The kids loved seeing this huge ship.  The captain told us he had visited with the captain of the Black Pearl and the entire ship is ran with a small remote controlled box.

After our snorkeling excursion we were off to the Luau.  Here is a nice family photo.

 It was quite the event. When we first got there, there were stations to try various activities. We made weaved palm leaf headbands and flower bracelets that smelled out of this world. We got to toss a javilin, and watch the hot studs climb trees and...well I don't remember what they all did but zowie were they nice to look at!  (Oopps - bad mom!)  Next there was a complete show on raising the roasted hog out of the pit. There was signing and dancing by the hula girls.  Still don't know how those gals moved their hips like that!

We attended the Paradise Cove Luau.  The food was served buffet style. I was not overly impressed with the food but the drinks were good. :-)  Here is Vern chowing on some chicken.

There was more entertainment after dinner. A lot of dancing and even a guy that did a fire twirling act.

They showed various dances depending on the islands of the Pacific.  Fun to watch and educational.

Next - day 3. Pearl Harbor and traveling to the Big Island.