Hawaii 2000

Richard and I went for a quick, weekend getaway to Hawaii. He had a conference and we had never left the children before so we decided to go for it. Unfortunately is was a long way to go, 13 hours each way, for only a 5 day trip but we enjoyed it anyway.

Two professional adults, Renee and Jake (Spikey's daycare teacher and boyfriend) stayed at our house. So we were confident that the kids would be fine. I decided to call home on our layover in California, figuring, dinner time would be a nice time to talk to the kids. Unfortunately, Spikey vomited on Renee during the call. The flight at the gate next to ours was heading back to Boston, and Richard had to convince me not to jump on it. Luckily I listened to him and we continued our trip.

We stayed on the Big Island of Hawaii , which is the biggest and youngest of the Hawaiian islands. Like the other islands it was created through volcanic activity and still had an active volcano where we hiked.

This trail actual goes on top of an active volcano. A top layer of lava has hardened, but below it is still firey molten red. There is one section (where we are ot allowed to hike) where the lava is currently coming out increasing the size of the island.

Walking on the crater was eerie, it felt like we were walking on the moon

The steam and gasses escaping from the hot lava below

Even in the sparse black rock, life finds a way to continue.

The center of the island is very mountainous and serves to divide the island into a very rainy eastern part and a arid western side. We stayed in Kona on the dry west side. Most of the resorts and beaches are on the west side. We went to a coffee plantation and saw how the famous Kona coffee is processed. Of course Richard tried some out. We also saw how macadamia nuts are taken out of their shells and processed.

The beaches were strange and unique because the sand was black due to the volcanic rock. So people would write words on the sand with white rock found on the beach. Even though the rocks were beautiful we didn't bring any home because Hawaiians believe that rocks are part of the life-giving force of the island and carry their own special power. Legend has it that a rock removed from the island will bring bad luck to the person who takes it. Each year, hundreds of boxes of rocks are sent back to Hawaii by people who have experienced the power of the stones first hand.

The surf was beautiful. Our hotel was right on the water so we were able to take many walks along the beach.

We rented a car and drove around the island on Richard's day off. So we had a chance to experience the wet side of the island and the capital, Hilo. Hilo is the wettest city in the US getting 133 inches of rain annually. The wet climate is perfect for growing orchids and macadamia nuts. We were able to visit some of the rainforests and saw the spectacular sites below.