Hawaii - The Big Island

Monday April 26

My son is a married man! We have to catch a flight to the Big Island today but not until 3:18. I go for a short run along Waikiki Beach. I’ve been carrying some of mom’s ashes in my purse because I knew how much she would have enjoyed going to Daniel’s wedding. But now it was time to scatter them in the ocean, so during the first mile of my run I walked to the edge of the sand, held my hand up to the wind and watched the ashes as they blew away. It wasn’t very ceremonious but it felt like a private time, just mom and me.

Lee made an appointment at a nearby restaurant, Basalt, for lunch and Dan and Kelsey joined us. It was nice, and the food was good, but we needed to watch the time. We had to get back to the hotel, get our car, and start heading to the airport by 1:30 at the latest. We were doing ok, but then Lee’s sister Cathy and her son and daughter-in-law had an emergency. They had left the bottle with formula and special nipples for Willa at their hotel and they were already at the airport. The hotel found them and had them at the valet desk. Could we stop on our way and get them? Of course!

We drove to their hotel. Nbd. But it’s not just a hotel it’s a huge shopping complex, and Google took us to an entrance no where near the front desk. I ran through the complex, using my running skills, asking everyone I saw where to go. FINALLY I find the valet desk and tell them I need the baby bottles that were left behind. The first people I tell look at me like “what??” But then another guy comes up with the bottles in their carrier. Okay!

We’re on our way to the airport. It’s getting a little tight but we’re still okay. Return the rental car, now where do we go? We need Terminal 1, but somehow we end up at the terminal where Delta is. How do we get to terminal 1? A 10 minute walk or we can take the Wiki wiki shuttle and with Joanne we think the shuttle will be faster. First it takes 5 minutes to come, and then at least 10 minutes to get us to terminal 1.

Now, a few people need to check bags. NOW we need to get through security. NOW we need to walk as fast as we can from one end to the other! Made it! But, wait, we’re not in the clear yet. Sarah and Erik and the boys are in another car. They had to wait a long time to get their rental car out of valet parking so they are actually behind us, and not yet at the airport. Fortunately they go to the right terminal on their first try. Unfortunately one of their suitcases gets inspected by security. Then except for barreling through the terminal with two little boys they were almost at the gate as well.

They started to board our flight. Where are they? There they come! NOW you can say we made it! We all board and before you know up we go.

It’s a short flight from Honolulu to Kona. The Big Island is so different from Oahu. All that volcanic rock and those huge mountains in the middle. 

Our resort is ok, not amazing. It takes awhile to check in, get everyone’s rooms. The little boys and their parents are exhausted and so is Joanne. The rest of us head out to try to find something to eat, but the places we try have hour long waits or worse. We find some place that will seat us and decide it will do.

Our food was edible, but the drinks were strong. It was such a stressful day; I don’t often say this, but I needed a drink!

Tuesday we went to Hawaii Volcano’s National Park and had a private tour. Our guide was really wonderful. He told us about the geology and the plants in the park, and made it both interesting for the adults and Leo. His wife’s family is native Hawaiian and she is a 10th generation hula dancer so he told us about that too. Fascinating!

We walked out to a point where we could see the caldera, the steam rising from the vents. It was about a 5 minute walk and along the way he pointed to interesting plants as well. He told us their Hawaiian names but? I especially liked these red blossoms, 

and these giant ferns.

 

Then we went to see a giant lava tube. He handed out headlamps to make it easier to see in the tunnel and of course the little boys were enchanted. Kirby mostly wanted to turn the buttons on and off. He is so mechanically minded! 

Then we went out into a lava field and he showed us different rocks. The boys both found some special ones and Sarah kept a few for them in a ziplock bag. One of the rocks the guide showed us looked like a very thin strand of hair. It was too delicate to try to keep.

After that we could walk up to a place where we might be able to see an eruption. There was one going on but I think you would have to have been there at night to really see it, either that or have an infrared camera. It was a little over a half mile there and back, a lot of walking for Joanne, since we had already walked around 3 miles that day. She was pretty tired but she made it. Leo walked most of it too, but Kirby fell asleep in the stroller.

Our travel agent routed us one way to the park that went along the Kona coast. On the way back we went through Hilo and stopped to eat at Ken’s House of Pancakes. It’s supposed to be good, and the boys enjoyed it, but the rest of us thought it was marginal to down right gross. I got corned beef hash and it was good, but the pancakes tasted like dishwater to me. Yuck!

We drove the rest of the way back over the mountains. We went up to over 6000 feet, through sun and clouds. It was so beautiful!

It was a long day but so worth it, the highlight of the trip (not counting the wedding, lol) so far.

Wednesday we took it easy. We needed to have a day off from activity. I had my first run that included speed intervals on the schedule. It was the first time I had tried any type of speed since I hurt my hamstring last fall, plus there was the heat to contend with. I shortened the warm up, and told myself to stick to the higher pace range for the intervals, and to cut them short if I start to feel the heat. I made it to 8 intervals (out of 12) before deciding it was time to stop, but they were mostly in range, or close. It’s fine, my hamstring felt great, and I didn’t get heat exhaustion either!

When I got back to resort everyone was hanging out at the toddler pool. Sam and Danielle were there with Lula, so that was really fun. Willa was still sick so Cathy stayed back with her at their hotel. But they are probably moving back to Duluth so we will get to see them more often.

It was a nice day. I bought a running hat as a souvenir, took Kirby with us to get gelato, hung out with Leo in our room. In the evening we went out for pizza, and beer. It was good, Black Rock Pizza. Hit the spot.