Hawaii

After talking Mom out of her dream trip to Kenya and Tanzania, we settled on Hawaii for our mother-daughters vacation this year.  

Just two weeks before we left, Mom was in the ER with a displaced hip.  About eight hours later, she basically walked out.  The docs physically got the hip back in place.  Her energy level was amazing for the whole trip!

Julie and Greg picked us up at the Hilo airport after a zillion hours on planes -- greeting us with the most fragrant leis!  Our luggage didn't arrive with us, so Julie got us some clothes and here we are on her beautiful deck.  (Luggage actually was delivered in about two hours -- pretty amazing.)  I still can't quite say where her house is -- there were a number of names, but I think it's Hawaiian Paradise Park.  She and Greg have an acre of land that they have had to hack and clear -- it looks beautiful.  

This photo gives you a look at the house and the land.  They collect water from their roof and in back there's a big tank and filtration system.  Her two cats, Pippen and Max, love their big yard.  I saw one gekko, but didn't get a pic.

Julie and Greg have been having fun planting and experimenting with what will grow in their new paradise.  Here's their banana tree!  They have an avocado explosion and we made a big bowl of guacamole the day we arrived.

On our first full day there, Greg took Mom on a helicopter ride over the island and the volcanos.  She saw hot lava going into the ocean!  Julie and I went to her big farmer's market -- what an explosion of colors and variety.  Here is dragon fruit -- we got a couple to try -- yummy.

Here are some other fruits -- can't remember the names, but we bought some to try.  They're kind of dry and not all that sweet -- interesting and good.

After the market Julie took me for a ride around her part of the big island.  This is MacKenzie State Park, I think.  Very beautiful lava cliffs down to a pounding ocean.  Julie told me all the different names for different kinds of lava.

Below, you might or might not find a little video of the area.

Here's Mom up at the caldera at Volcanos National Park.  The landscape looks like the moon -- desolate with steaming vents as far as you can see.

Julie collected these leaves at her house for us to write messages to Pele -- the goddess of the volcano.  She's a nasty goddess, and it's best to stroke her.  Mom left this message, and we hid it in a lava crack.

Julie and I left messages too.  This was on a pretty road that Julie loves -- you wind through terrain of every possible variety...jungle, dry, total lava....to a nice point that has a great ocean overlook.  However, we had a rainy day and didn't get the view....no problem, there were lots to come!

On our last day we had a great opportunity to swim with sea turtles in Julie's secret tidal pool.  I didn't bring my camera...we were able to get Mom in as well, and there were two smaller turtles in with us.  I tell you what, if I lived there, I'd get myself a little float and just be out there all day.  Later that day Julie took us for another island tour, and we stumbled onto this beach -- how beautiful is this.  Let me say, I didn't spend a lot of time setting this shot up -- they're everywhere!  

Next we headed to Kauai and the Hyatt resort there.  Good job finding a beautiful place, Julie.  Here is a view from our rooms' balcony.  

We rented a car and zipped up to one of the island's highest (and one of the world's wettest) spots for this great view out to the Pacific.  I think we were lucky to have such a clear day.

On our way back to the hotel we stopped by a coffee plantation -- coffee goes all the way to the ocean. We did a lot of tasting and came back with beans to share.

Certainly the highlight of the hotel, for us, was this pool.  Here are Julie and Mom.  It winds around and has a little current to push you -- around every bend you find little waterfalls and grottos and beautiful plantings -- Mom loved it because it took pressure off her hip -- she had a smile the whole time.

Can't leave the hotel without showing you the remote control toilet!  Yep -- warm water and air.  At first I thought, Oh good grief, what now....but by the end...I have to tell you, it makes the whole thing a very relaxing experience!

Mom and I had a little time in Honolulu before our flight home, so we grabbed a cab and visited Pearl Harbor.  Here is Mom looking to the Arizona Memorial (to the right of her head), and the ship to the left of her head (not the big one), is the USS Missouri where the Japanese surrendered in Tokyo Harbor.

It was a great trip -- and we're pretty jealous of Julie.