Wednesday January 9
So here we are, over the ocean about three hours out from Honolulu. We lucked out on the weather. There was heavy snowfall in Orem and Provo and the roads were terrible. Salt Lake was supposed to be getting snow, too, and we worried about our flight. With all the storms that have gone through, the flight has often departed late and arrived even later in Honolulu because of bad headwinds. That would be a problem because our little bargain flight to Kona is quite a hike from the main terminal and we were worried we might miss it. But the roads were great by the time we got to Lehi, our flight was on time and we will arrive on time as well. Now if they just don’t lose our luggage, we will be fine. We brought our jammies and our snorkel gear for tomorrow in our carry-ons just in case.
Thursday January 10
This was a great day. We got to our hotel last night and then went to Fujimama’s for dinner before we went to bed. Then this morning we went on our traditional Fair Winds snorkel excursion to Kealakekua Bay. Great weather, pretty fish, good food.
We always eat at Huggo’s when we are in Kona so we headed over there after our showers. We got a great table right out by the water where we could watch the waves wash in below us. The waves were great. There were about four series of really strong waves that came thundering onto the shoreline while we were eating. Just awesome. Great food, as always.Friday January 11
Today we got up extra early to go whale watching. We came across a group of about 6 (maybe 8) whales; one female and the rest were males hoping to impress her. They came pretty close to the boat. It was great. We also saw some dolphins on our way out of and into the harbor.
After the whale watch we went to the seahorse farm to see how they raise seahorses. At the end of the tour, we put our hands into a tank and let seahorses curl their tails around our fingers.
We made a little side trip on our way out of Kona to see the temple there. It is such a pretty temple, and so little and out of the way. Afterwards, we headed up and around to Hilo, stopping in Waimea to eat at Thiebaut’s, another favorite of ours.
Saturday January 12
This was a really laid-back day. Slept in a little, drove up to Waipio Valley-stopped for a malasada at Tex’s Drive-in on the way- and walked just a little way down the road into the valley and back up again.
There is a little shop just up the road where we always stop to browse. They have beautiful wood crafts by local craftsmen using native woods. There are also lots of other beautifully crafted things; glass, pottery, etc. but mostly wood. There were beautiful bowls and a narrow table that would have looked good in my house, but I couldn’t see myself spending $1300 on something that would probably split in our dry desert air. It sure was nice, though. We also got our traditional ice cream treat there. The ice cream is so good that even Dad has some. We headed back down to Hilo, making little side trips along the way. Stopped at the Vanilla place, which turned out to be closed on Saturdays but someone who was there keeping an eye on things let us in and sold us three vanilla beans anyway. We also stopped at Akaka Falls.
The trail through the park is being renovated so only the mauka (away from the sea) portion of the trail to the falls was open. The rest of the trail, makai (towards the sea) of the falls and down to Kahuna Falls, was closed. We took the scenic route on the way back to Hilo and had dinner at another favorite spot, Pestos. The coconut crusted calamari appetizer is so good. We may have to eat there again before we head back to Kona to catch our plane.
Sunday January 13
We had a mini sleep-in and then went to church. We wanted to go to the Kilauea Ward, our usual ward, but had to just go with whichever ward was meeting at 9:00 a.m. so that we could have the rest of the day to see some things. It turned out to be the Kaumana Ward. It was high council Sunday and the speaker turned out to be the father of Keoki, the missionary we wanted to see in the Kilauea Ward. It turned out Keoki was no longer in the Kilauea ward and was also working that day and wouldn’t have been there anyway. We gave his dad our cell number and Keoki called us later. We went and visited him at his grandma’s house where the whole family (aunties, cousins, uncles and siblings) were having their traditional 2nd Sunday potluck. We only stayed a little while, but it was a nice visit and it was also interesting to see the wide variety of people in the family.
In between church and potluck we went to see Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots, Lava Trees, Macadamia nut store, and lots of driving around looking at lava destruction sites.
Monday January 14
Today was volcano day. Dad and I started the day with a walk around Banyan Drive. Actually, I started the day doing crunches in the dark and then reading by the light of a teeny, tiny flashlight because I woke up before Dad and Liz and wanted them to have a sleep-in.
Then we went walking, woke up Liz, walked out to Coconut Island (this is a view of Hilo Bay from the bridge that goes over to the island) and then around part of Liliuokalani Park before we loaded up our stuff, grabbed breakfast and headed to Volcano National Park. We looked at all the usual volcano stuff. (This is a picture of Liz at the edge of the Kilauea caldera, where you can see down into the Halemaumau crater.) 
There is no lava flow that can be seen right now, so there was no point to making the long hike out to the coastline. But we did stop and take a little hike through the Thurston Lava Tube.
Then we headed out for Kona. As we were driving along, we thought we were finally seeing Nenes in the wild, but it turned out to be three wild turkeys! I kid you not. I don’t know how three wild turkeys got to the southern end of the Big Island, but there they were, running across the highway. (Now that I have had time to investigate, it seems there are lots of wild turkeys on the island. So I guess we should be wondering why it took us so long to see them.) South of Kona we stopped to take a quick tour of the Place of Refuge heritage site. We finally got to see green sea turtles because two of them were basking on a tiny beach there. 
The stop wasn’t really in our plans and we finally pulled into Kona with 5 minutes to spare before our reservation at Huggo’s. Once again, great food. If you are on the Big Island, make sure you eat at Huggo’s. Get a 5:30 reservation and ask for a table by the water. You’re pretty sure to get one if you have an early reservation. The sunset and the incoming waves on the shoreline are great. If you get there a little too early, you can sip virgin Lava Flows in the open-air bar while you wait for your table.Our accommodations tonight are in a condo on the south end of Kona. Simple, but nice. We stayed in hotels the other days. It’s nice to have a little space. Our goal is to come to Hawaii sometime and stay in the same condo the whole time, just chillin’. Cook in most day and eat out a few.
Tuesday January 15
We flew to O’ahu this morning and drove out to the Dole Pineapple “plantation” for some Dolewhip. Actually, a lot of Dolewhip. Then it was on to the PCC. We tried something new for accommodations. We stayed at the Laie Inn. It is a modest little, run-down motel in need of some serious TLC. But it is (relatively) cheap and right next to the PCC. It’s actually the only motel in the area. It’s definitely not fancy, but we could just walk out of the PCC and across the parking lot to the motel. Totally worth the stained carpet and burned out light bulb. Plus, there is great beach access right across the road.
Wednesday January 16
Woe is we! Our last day. We went for a long walk on the beach across from the
motel (the waves kept trying to swipe Liz's flip-flops) and basically enjoyed a lazy morning until checkout time. We spent a couple of hours driving around, seeing the sights like the Pali lookout (here's a picture of the great view from the lookout) 
and the blowhole. Then we went to Pearl Harbor to see the Arizona Memorial before heading to Honolulu for dinner at Roy’s. Great service and oh so ono food. Our flight was boarding when we got to the gate so we didn’t even have to wait around in the airport.Now we are back here in cold, cold Utah. So sad!
