Hawaii update

Well, ,we got so busy that I didn't have a chance to update on everything we did so I will do so now. We got home on the 2nd and we are now adjusting to real life :).

Sunday 27th:

In the morning we drove north from the resort to look at the surrounding area. We drove along the North Kohala coast and then through the Kohala mountains to the town of Waimea - which is in the center of the cattle ranching area. It was a beautiful drive and we saw lots of butterflies in the mountains. That afternoon we came back to the resort and went to the spa. Michael and I both had massages. They were some of the best ones we have had. The spa facilities were very nice as well. Each locker room had a lava rock hot tub, aromatherapy steam shower, showers with shower heads down the wall, etc. That evening we at dinner at a place called Roys. It is a chain, but it was wonderful - one of our favorite meals. I had a macadamia nut crusted Mahi Mahi with augratin potatoes and a white truffle sauce. Absolutely delicious.

Monday 28th:

In the morning we listened to the sales speech for the timeshare. They were giving us a $200 dinner cruise so we decided to just listen to it. Then after that we went to Hapuna Beach and it was beautiful. We went boogie boarding - this was my first time doing that and it was sooo much fun. Michael had been boogie boarding before in Long Beach, CA. Later in the morning the waves started getting bigger so we were riding the waves in and jumping up so that the wave would carry us up. I love swimming in the ocean. As we were getting ready to leave we noticed a huge splash at the mouth of the bay. We soon realized that it was a humpback whale. It was huge. We were standing in the water near the beach and we could see it clearly. It was very cool. Everyone said that these were probably the last 2 humpbacks left in Hawaii. Usually they have all left for Alaska by now. Humpback season is from Dec to March. The only downside to our time at the beach is that I got a good sunburn. We had been in Hawaii for several days and we had done a great job of not getting burned. We had our sunscreen on, but we lost track of time and didn't reapply soon enough. I was in pain for a few days but I wouldn't have given up the experience of the beach.

That night we went to a Luau. It was a traditional luau and it was nice. The performers did a great job. We met some people from Seattle and another couple from CA. The luau was the Royal Kona Luau. We had a oceanfront view and the weather was good.

Tuesday 29th:

We drove to the Volcanos National Park on this day. We got there by driving through Waimea, then south to Hilo and then over to the park. We stopped at the Jagger Museum and saw the huge steam vent in the crater. They said that at night it hole glows because of the heat from below. We then went to a different area where there were smaller vents and we ran into the couple (Colin and Laura) from CA that we met at the Luau. We had known that we both were going to the volcanos but we didn't figure we would run into each other. It was funny. So we decided to follow each other to the additional spots to visit. Our next stop was the Thurston Lava Tube and Lava Lake. We decided to do the mile hike down to the Lava Lake first. This is a lava bed that used to be a lava lake in a crater but now of course the lava is all hardened. Luckily it was a little cloudy as well as voggy so that made the hike not too hot. When we got down there, another couple (Melissa and Laz) who had Laura take there picture at the steam vents, had followed us down. They thought it was the way to the lava tube and they asked where it was. We told them it was all the way back up the hill at the top. We all laughed because they thought it was down here. Anyways we all hung out and had some pictures together then we hiked back up to the lava tube. It was pretty cool to go into the lava tube and think about how lava used to run through this huge tube. After this Melissa and Laz decided to head back to Kona and Colin, Laura, Michael and myself went on to drive to the viewing of the lava entering the ocean. The volcano has been quite active in the recent months. We got to the viewing parking lot and then you hike about 1 mile over lava rock to the viewing area. They keep you pretty far back so you most just see the hot steam from the lava hitting the ocean, but every now and then you could see some lava. It was a neat site to see

Wednesday 30th:

Today was going to be a busy day. We had to get up early to drive down to Kona to catch our snorkeling cruise. We went to Kealakekua Bay which is where Captain Cooks monument is. He was actually killed there. Anyways - it was a great bay to go snorkeling. The coral reef was alive and we saw tons of fish. It was beautiful. I love to snorkel. I hope it is something we can continue to do and teach Arianna and Ethan someday. The cruise provided us with breakfast as well as lunch. The boat had a slide that ended about 4 feet above the water as well as a high dive. Michael did the slide once, but I did it tons of times. It was so much fun. I also did the high dive once. It was high enough that it is hard to keep the water from going up your nose. On our way back to port we saw flying fish. We were not able to get pictures of them but they were amazing. We both had heard of flying fish but we just thought it was that they could jump a long distance over the water, but no they actually fly. They flap their fins and can fly very far. We were totally amazed. It was very cool.

After we got off the boat we were hurrying to get back to the resort because we were to have a dinner cruise. On our way back we got a call and they had to cancel because the winds were too strong for the sailboat. We were very disappointed but soon made new plans. We found a new dinner cruise to go on on Thursday evening and then for Wed night we decided to drive back down to Kona to the Sheraton Hotel. There they turn a light on in the evening to attrack plankton. Then the Manta Rays come!!! It was soo cook to see them. They are huge and they actually come up to the surface so you can see them pretty well. Michael took pictures but it was hard to get them super clear because the water was very choppy that night. But it was still a once in a lifetime kind of thing. They actually have a scuba dive cruise where you go and scuba dive to see them while they are feeding.

Thursday 1st:

Our last day :( :( We both did not want the vacation to end. But it was going to be an exciting day. Today was the day I got to swim with dolphins. A lifelong dream of mine. The swim with dolphins was actually at our resort. The first part of the program was snorkeling in the lagoon at teh resort. We saw 3 green sea turtles, moray eels, and lots of reef fish. Then they took us over to the dolphins. There was just 3 of us in our group. Michael, myself, and a young boy who only spoke Japanese. It was a wonderful experience. We got to spend a lot of time touch the dolphin and interacting with them. We were able to get a DVD of our experience so we can share it with anyone who wants. I will remember this experience for a long time.

That evening we had our dinner cruise. They picked us up at our hotel and drove us to the catamaran. to get on the boat we had to wade through water which was funny because there were some older couples who must not have read that part and were a little frustrated that they had to take off their shoes. It was a very nice cruise and Michael was able to get some beautiful pictures of the sunset. It was a beautiful way to end our trip.

Friday 2nd: We flew home to Seattle

We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back. We would likely bring Arianna and likely Ethan back with us the next time. Arianna would have a great time learning to snorkel and playing in the ocean. There are also so many things that we didn't get to do on the big island and we hope to explore the other islands in the future as well.

It was great to have the opportunity to eat such fresh fish like the Mahi Mahi and Ono. We had wonderful pineapple and coconut almost every day. We had lots of pina colada smoothies and Chi Chi's which are cocktails that have cream of coconut, pineapple juice and vodka. They are similar to pina coladas. Michael got to drink from a green coconut which he used to do when he was little. We had some good papaya and saw papaya trees, mango trees, coconut palms, banana trees, beautiful wild flowers, etc.

If we could live in Hawaii, I think we would.

We are creating a website for our pictures so I will post that as soon as it is done.