Big Island Recap

Here’s the second and final installment of our pictures from the trip to Hawaii we took with Betty’s sister Margie.

The first slide show is our trip to the Big Island.  We knew we had reservations on Mokulele Airlines, but we had no idea is was such a small commuter plane. Our pilot, Chris, did all the other jobs, including giving safety instructions from his pilot’s seat.  The safety instructions basically amounted to, “Don’t sweat it.  The chances of anything going wrong are pretty small.”  The last picture in the slide show is a lava tube that was on the side of the road.  The Big Island is the youngest of the islands and the volcanoes are still very active.

The second slide show is the pictures we took around our hotel, the Hapuna Beach Resort.  It had a beautiful pool and just beyond it a grassy strip under the trees where you could sit and watch the beach.  The beach was just a short walk from the pool and it’s a great beach.  There is no drop off in the sandy bottom as you walk into the water and the water is crystal clear.  It’s pretty calm in the morning and there are some decent waves in the afternoon as the trade winds pick up.  There are several feral cats who live on the property, including the one little gray kitten who joined us each day when we sat under the trees.  He was pretty wild, but, by the end of the week, he would sit on the chair beside us – but he never let us pet him.

The only driving trip we took was to Hilo on the Eastern side of the island.  On the way we stopped at the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens.  This is a garden that was developed privately and it is beautiful.

On our way to Hilo we stopped to show Margie the Waipio Valley.  There are several taro farms and it has been settled by the Hawaiians since the earliest days.  Hilo is an older town – originally a whaling town.  One of our favorite Hawaiian restaurants is the Café Pesto in Hilo.  We also stopped at the Mauna Loa macadamia factory gift shop to stock up on nuts – especially ones covered in dark chocolate and toffee.  On our way back to our hotel we had to stop for a Hawaii shave ice with ice cream in the bottom.

Kona is a small town on the Western side of the Big Island.  We ate a late lunch at Hugo’s On The Rocks.  While we were there a pod of Spinner Dolphins swam in and gave us a show by leaping out of the water and spinning around – hence the name. After eating lunch we bought some 100% Kona coffee from a sweet lady in a small trailer. We also saw some of the feral chickens and roosters that inhabit the islands.

Finally, to close out our Hawaii pictures, here’s a slide show of some of our favorite sunsets.

Ke Akua Ho'omaika'I Oe!  (God bless you!)

Maui Recap

Here’s the first of two recaps of our Hawaii trip – one for our week on Maui and one for our week on Hawaii, the Big Island.  As you know we shared our trip with Margie, Betty’s sister and it was a great time.

The recap will be a series of slide shows of our pictures.  The first is a general recap of Maui showing our flight into Maui, lunch at Mama’s Fish House, shots of Lahaina and a few shots of snorkelers at Honolua Bay, one of our favorite snorkeling spots.

The second slide show is the photos of our condo at Kapalua Villas and the surrounding area.  You’ll also see photos of some of the birds that joined us for breakfast and a para-surfer.

The third slide show is a craft fair that’s held every Sunday in Lahaina.  There are some nice crafts, but this time there was also a hula exhibition put on by young girls of all ages from North Maui.

The fourth slide show is our dinner and show at the Old Lahaina Luau.  It’s set right next to the ocean.  As you arrive and walk around the grounds you can watch the sun set.  There is some pre-dinner entertainment and the show starts right after dinner.  The show is the history of the hula from the settling of the islands until the present.  You’ll see a photo of me and a neat server named Kyle.  He was our server the last time we were there a year and a half ago.  This time he was serving the tables right next to us.  We reconnected and he did remember us, especially Betty with whom he has a special connection.

The fifth slide show is our drive on the Road to Hana.  Hana is a small village on the East coast of Maui.  The drive along the coast is only 50 miles long, but there are over 600 hair pin curves and 100 one-lane bridges.  So, you can’t drive it very fast.  There are beautiful overlooks, water falls and pools and tropical plants to see.  It’s a lot of fun.

The final slide show is a group of surfers we watched on our trip home from Hana.  We watched para-surfers and traditional surfers.  It was fun to watch them and wish I were younger and lived in Hawaii.

I’ll have the Big Island recap up on Monday.  Regards, Dan & Betty

Heading Home

We’re leaving tonight, Tuesday.  We leave the Big Island at 8:30 PM for an hour flight to Oahu.  Then, at 10:50 PM we’ll catch our overnight flight to Phoenix, AZ.  If everything goes well, we should be home about noon or so on Wednesday.

So, we leave Hawaii after two wonderful weeks.

I’ll do a couple of recap posts of our trip after we get home.  God’s blessings to all.

Sunday Reflection–The Seas

And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10)

A Chance Encounter

We were in the water yesterday, about 4 feet deep.  It was morning so the waves were pretty calm.  All of a sudden we noticed a young couple with their little daughter moving toward us.

They told us, “A sea turtle is coming your way.”  Sure enough a large sea turtle swam right below Betty just missing her.  We watched it for several yards before it swam into a rocky area.

It looked very similar to the one in the picture only we were on a sandy bottom instead of the rocky bottom in the picture.

One of those little neat gifts from God.

Slow Down Friday

If you need to slow down at the end of your week, here’s a short video from Hawaii to help you relax.

Enjoy.

Having Friends In For Breakfast

Before leaving our condo in Maui yesterday, Tuesday, we had a few friends join us for breakfast.  They weren’t much for conversation, but they liked my chocolate muffin.

Big Island

We left Maui yesterday, Tuesday, and flew to the Big Island, Hawaii, on Mokulele Airlines.  The flight lasted about 45 minutes and the weather was great.

Mokulele Airlines is a fairly small commuter airline and our pilot, Chris, was pilot, maintenance man and flight attendant.  You’ll see in the picture below that he just leaned in from the cockpit to give us our safety instructions.  The other nice thing is you don’t have to go through security for inter-island flights and you can take your Starbucks iced mocha on the plane with you.  Ah, the good old days.

We’re staying at the Hopuna Beach Prince Hotel.  Here’s a view of the swimming pool and beach beyond it.

Finally, our first Big Island sunset.  There was a ‘green flash,’ but I didn’t capture it with the camera – hopefully this evening.

Hawaii Update

It’s Thursday night in Maui, Hawaii.  Betty and I and Betty’s sister Margie all got in OK on Tuesday evening.  Yesterday we had lunch at a great restaurant, Mama’s Fish House, on the North shore of Maui. 

Today we made the drive down the Road to Hana on the East coast of Maui.  One way, it’s about 50 miles but there are over 600 curves in that 50 miles.  And lots of one-way bridges.  It’s a beautiful drive and lots of fun.  This is the third trip for Betty and me, but a first for Margie.

On the way back to our condo at Kapalua we stopped and watched some surfers and I got this decent shot.

I’ll try to give an update every couple of days. When we get home and I can work with all my pictures and movies I’ll do a more complete recap of our trip.

Be safe and well.

Dan