So, last Wednesday we left for Hawaii for a week long vacation with just us
and our daughter. What a trip! lol 5 hours of flying, a 4 hour layover, then
another hour of flight. We finally hit Hilo, Hawaii at a little before 6 pm
(9pm our time).

Hilo is exquisitely beautiful. Huge lavish trees and plants and flowers...it
looks like you would imagine the Amazon rain forests looking. It was sunny
and rainy at the same time, with several rainbows to see along the way. Just
driving away from the airport towards Kono, we saw several waterfalls, and
some of the most beautiful scenery I've ever been privileged to witness. Can
you tell I loved it?

Our hotel was on the Kono side, about 30 miles north of Kailua-Kona. We
stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa (*love* those Hilton Hhonors points!) Village,
which is practically a town unto itself. From the enormous main lobby, you
take either a boat along the canal or a monorail to get to your room. I've
heard people say they didn't leave the hotel grounds for most of their stay!

We did. Leave the hotel that is! Exploring the Kono side, we ventured into
Kona and Kailua, and points south. For the first part of the drive, there
are the remains of past lava flows on either side of the highway. If you've
never seen it, it's quite an impressive sight. Standing amongst the
blackened lava, looking out to the ocean....what contrast.

I wasn't all that impressed with Kailua-Kona and the surrounding area to be
honest. It's very tourist-y and many of the people seem to have a resentful
attitude towards visitors (though it doesn't stop them from wanting their
money!). I did like exploring the coffee belt, however! Being the coffee
lover that I am, it was a heavenly way to spend the day. My favorite? Kona
Joe's Trellis Reserve. From what we learned, it is grown much like wine. The
result is a very smooth, rich, and slightly sweet coffee. Not sweet like
sugared coffee, but rather a natural sweetness, like you'd find is a sweet
clove tea. Delicious! Expensive too, unfortunately.

If you ever find yourself in Kona looking for an afternoon snack, take
yourself on over to Lava Java. They have a Lava Java shake, made with
homemade espresso ice cream, 2 shots of espresso, and a bit of milk....wow,
what a pick me up! They're also well known for their cinnamon rolls, which
are said to be enormous, but since they only make one dozen a day (don't ask
me, I can't fathom it!!), we never had the opportunity to try them.

I posted about other food things separately, so I won't repeat them here. I
do have to say though, that it was awesome to be able to go for a walk and
be surrounded by some of my favorite fruits. There were guavas and papayas
everywhere!

The best thing about the Kona side, it's the only side that has sand
beaches. There aren't many, either, but one that we enjoyed immensely was
Hapuna State Beach Park. It's quite possibly the best beach I've ever been
to. There's a large lava jetty that keeps one end pretty mild and easy for
the kids to play in, yet the other end has plenty of waves for body
surfing...what a blast!

At the top of the trails leading to the sand, there is 3 Frogs snack stand
where you can get a hot dog or soda, or if you're really hot...the largest
snowcone I've ever laid eyes on. Along the trails there are several picnic
areas, with tables and benches and pavilions for shade. Sit still a few
minutes and you're likely to spot a mongoose sneaking about. My favorite
part, though, was standing in water up to my neck and being able to see my
feet on the sea floor. The water was beautiful, turquoise and clear and
warm. We saw several fish, including yellow tang, and 2 sea turtles riding
the waves!

Our last day on the Island, we headed back over to the Hilo side. We had
planned to take a helicopter flight over the volcanoes, but the weather had
turned against us and the pilot had to cancel, so we decided to drive to
Volcanoes National Park. It was only 25 miles or so to the park itself, and
despite the rain we had a great time! We hiked a 2 mile trail over Kilauea
Iki crater to the Thurston Lava tube. It was still raining, but the dense
cover from the trees and plants kept us from getting too soaked. The Lava
Tube was kind of creepy, like a cave...dark and damp.

After, we drove on around Crater Rim Drive, through the Kilauea Caldera. If
you've never been, I can tell you it is like what I'd imagine it would be
like to drive on Mars. It's very easy to imagine you're driving on another
planet, going through the crater with the desolate lava filled landscape and
steam vents all around. Breathtaking.

From there, we drove down the Chain Of Craters road, at least until the road
ends where the lava swallowed it on it's way to the ocean. By then, it was
dark and easy to see the glowing orange and red rivers of lava flowing down
the side the volcano. I can't even describe how thrilling it was to see
Mother Nature at work like this!

Our last night, we stayed at the Naniloa in Hilo. With the sliding glass
door open, we were easily lulled to sleep by the sounds of the ocean
outside. All in all, I enjoyed Hawaii's Big Island. Next on my list: Maui!

kimberly