Monday Part 1

We woke up and could hardly wait to start the day. We ate a big breakfast and headed off to meet our Ocean Safari guide. Our guide set up our group of six in two tandem kayaks and two singles. After coating ourselves thoroughly with sunscreen, we pushed out. We left out of Keahou Bay just after 8:30. On our way out, we saw Larry and Rita from the balcony of the Sheraton waving and yelling at us. Too fun! I bet we looked all sporty! The waves were incredible that day. We bobbed up and down, up and down. It was such a beautiful site to see the cliffs being bombarded with these giant majestic waves! We paddled out for about forty minutes when the guide stopped us. There was a school of about thirty to forty spinner dolphins about thirty feet from us! We all just bobbed and watched them. Every so often one would jump out of the water and do a cool flip for us! I’ve personally never been to Sea World, but I can only imagine that I now have one upped them! Our guide said on a good day the dolphins will come right next to your boat and let you rub their bellies. So incredible.

After a while, they finally headed out to sea and our little group headed over to the sea cliffs to cliff jump! This was also the site of the sea cave that you can tour on calm days…we were very far from a calm day so settled for getting to enjoy the view from about twenty feet away. Our guide gave those wanting to cliff jump very specific instructions about how to approach the shore so you don’t get tossed and turned and all sorts of jacked up from the waves and the rocky shore. After his little disclaimer, three of us decided to stay in our kayaks. The guide tied our boats together then dropped a mini anchor, and flipped off his boat into the water. He swam to the shoreline making it look ever so simple to get out then motioned for those in the group. So out Ryan went. He said the current was incredible and he had to swim incredibly hard to get to the shore safely. Once to the top, Ryan and the other guy in our group made Christine (the Australian we met) jump off first! She was a champ :o) She hardly even hesitated. It was twenty five foot up. Ryan and the other dude on the other hand, took a bit more coaxing. Ryan said his brain would be saying jump, but his legs wouldn’t move! But there’s no way you are going to climb down after a chick has just done it so off he went. The guide came last and he disappeared under water for quite a while afterward. When he popped back up, he was next to his boat. He dove down and picked up the anchor (yes, I said picked it up), came back up, untied us, and off we went!

This time we headed back along the shoreline, him showing us blowholes you could only see from the water and little sea caves and cool arches that had formed. When we got back into the bay, he let us all snorkel. Lots of yellow tang in this little area. Because it was so deep it was harder to see many fish. It was more fun just getting out and having the chance to swim around. Our arms were extremely tired at this point as well from all the paddling…very hard work and huge waves!

Snorkeling

After about an hour, we got back into the boats. Then our guide pulled out a cooler with snacks (cookies, chips, string cheese), drinks (Fresca, water, and other sodas), a box of chocolates, and what else but a pineapple. THEN he pulled out a knife and a cutting board! Right there in the ocean…waves strong, cut up the pineapple and passed it around. It was wonderful! With such an incredible view :o) After our snack we paddled back to the beach. Returned just about 12:30, rinsed off, thanked him and headed to the car. Krystal and Howard were getting in at 2 and we told Larry and Rita we would meet them at the airport instead of trying to make it to lunch. We ran back to the room, rinsed off and jumped in the car. I had bought some coffee for my work that morning so we stopped by the UPS store and got it shipped. Right across from it was Hilo Hattie’s. It is the ultimate island souvenir/gift/island shop. We were still doing okay on time so we ran in and found Ryan a shirt and me a dress. We changed into our “Aloha” clothes in the car then headed for the airport.
More to come tomorrow….

Sunday

Sunday morning Ryan woke me up at 4:45 (of course that’s really 9:45 CST) and was ready for me to be awake and sit on the porch with him. So we got up, cleaned up and watched the turtles off our balcony until 6:10 (breakfast came with our hotel reservation, but they didn’t start serving until 6:30).One thing about Hawaii’s sunrise’s and sunset’s that Ryan pointed out…as soon as the sun goes down, it’s dark, as soon as the sun comes up, it’s bright. It’s like someone turns on a light switch up in the heavens! We went downstairs and found Rita and Larry were up too! All of us were really ready to eat. What a huge breakfast it was. Eggs, rice, pancakes, hashbrowns, bacon, all sorts of pastries, toast, cereals, oatmeal, yogurt, milk, guava juice, orange juice, all sorts of fruit, hot teas and of course Kona coffee. My favorite item on the breakfast bar…the coconut syrup. Oh my. It was wonderful! Tasted like candy! Afterward Larry and Rita headed off to find their heliport. They took a helicopter ride around the island. Ryan and I decided we would head up to the North Western tip of the island to look around. We put on our bathing suits, grabbed our guide book and took off. We moseyed up the highway. Lava fields line the highway along the west coast of the Island. People take coral and spell things out on it.Kinda like when you are little and you make words and designs with macaroni on a piece of construction paper…but on a much larger scale.All sorts of happy birthdays, I love XYZ or ABC + 123 = love forever. Some of them were dated…the jones’ 2008. Basically environmentally safe graffiti. We stopped first at a scenic outlook. Vast expanses of nothing but black fields of lava. Some of the flows were darker than others, which helped you to tell the difference in the year of the flow, the different kind of lava it was etc. Some had grasses popping up here and there and others were completely barren.

Then, when the field would hit the ocean, spots of green popped up…palm trees and various tropical plants. Then the beautiful water…started out turquoise fading to a deep, dark beautiful blue. While at the scenic point, we decided it was time for a bathroom break. Closest place we could see according to our guidebook was about half a mile back to a place called Kiholo Bay.

It was down an unmarked one lane lava gravel road, with little cut outs in case you needed to pass someone. Took about ten minutes to get down to the beach from the main highway, and our impala held up rather nicely. We arrived and walked out on our first truly black sand beach. It was gorgeous. The rocks were rather large, but once you got close to the water, the large rocks turned to a nice black sand. It’s odd to look at a black sand beach for the first time. The water is crystal clear, but all the sand underneath it is black…plays tricks on the mind. We played in the water a bit then headed to find the bathrooms our map said were there. That’s the funny thing about maps in books…these particular bathrooms were closed for renovation, and looked to have been closed for quite a while. There were two port-o-potties…Ryan and I in unison opened the doors, then immediately decided we could wait. On our way back to the highway we saw a car coming toward us on the gravel road. Ryan pulled off in a turnoff and waited. As the rather large Hawaiian dude passed, he gave Ryan the Mahalo. Ryan flipped out he was so excited. His first genuine Mahalo! Only 8:30 and already shaping up to be a very fun day. We drove past the heliport Larry and Rita had taken off from and we are pretty sure they flew right over the top of us on their way out. Guess we’ll see when we look at the DVD of their flight. Our next stop was going to be Mauna Kea Beach, but their 40 parking spots were already full. We headed further up along the highway instead of turning back. Next stop Mahukuna Beach. Not so much of a beach at all, but an old sugar harbor.

Apparently has fantastic snorkeling when the waters are calm, but because of the south swell, we opted to just take a few pictures. Even the locals weren’t getting in. We kept heading north, pulling off here and there to look around and see what road ended where. About mile 19, the landscape started to change from desert, to more and more green. By mile marker 22, we were in full on rainforest. It was incredible! Such a quick change of climate. The highway itself ended at the Pololu Lookout and Beach.

The parking lot is pretty high up on a cliff and you had to hike down to the beach below. We put our water shoes and headed down. Took about half an hour under spider webs, spiders, and brush.

Well groomed trail, but you are in the jungle, so what do you expect. The trail ends at the bottom of a beautiful valley. Brackish ponds are about, a tire swing, a large wood plank swing, a rope swing, lots of rocks, lots of trees. Then you walk out to the water. It was worth the hike down. You are surrounded by towering cliffs and deep blue ocean.

It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. Beautiful black sand to boot. And we had the entire beach to ourselves…well, almost…three college kids camping in the woods we saw once, but then they went off scampering about and we didn’t see them again. We played in the water a bit, took lots of pictures and tried to savor the moment before heading back up. We had told Larry and Rita we would meet them for lunch after their helicopter ride…which means we needed to start heading back toward their heliport. Goodbye beautiful beach…proud to have gotten to see you in person…

Only took us about fifteen minutes to get back up the trail. We saw about thirty people headed down all asking “how much further?”. We were glad we went when we did. Both of us were pouring with sweat and quite winded by the time we got to the top. Some may ask “why didn’t you stop and take a break”…uh…you didn’t see all the spider webs overhead or you would’ve been reluctant to stop too!

On our way to meet L&R, we drove back through the Kohala Mountains instead of staying along the coastline.

Kohala Mountains used to be an active volcano 60,000 years ago and according to the guidebook (like all other volcanoes) it may come back to life for one final eruption before it is completely dead. To me, they just don’t know what it is going to do, so they just say that. Anyways, the Kohala Mountains looked nothing like the desert or the rain forest. More like a combination of Ireland and East Texas. Large Cook’s Pine trees (which looked like a palm/fir tree mix to me), huge open green fields, lots of cows grazing…later we would realize we were driving through parts of the Parker Ranch. The summit of the road was at about 4,000 feet…which is incredible to have gone from sea level up to 4000 feet in a matter of twenty minutes, then back down to sea level again. We met up with L&R on the side of the road, where there just so happened to be a little outdoor fruit/plant stand.

Tons of orchids and fresh fruits. Ryan bought a fresh pineapple and avocado, and off we went to find a place for lunch. Stopped along the road at a place I can’t remember the name of (shame on me, I know). Three burgers and an order of fish and chips later, we all felt much better. Actually one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Which says a lot because I didn’t get my pickles on it like I normally do. Below is a picture of a cool flame tree outside the restaurant...

We all decided to stop at Hapuna Beach on our way back to the hotel. Hapuna has been named the best beach in the nation by the travel channel, ranked by Conde Nast, and we wanted to see if it lived up to it’s hype. By the looks of the parking lot, it definitely was the most crowded beach we’d been to. We hiked down under giant mimosa, banyan, and palm trees to a nice shaded covered picnic table.

Larry and Rita watched our stuff and Ryan and I walked the rest of the way down to the beach. It was unreal. Lots of people, but didn’t seem crowded. Wonderful white sand, no rocks, nice smooth waves to play in, and water that was crystal clear. As it got deeper, you could see the whole range of colors of blue…from turquoise to navy. So you ask, did Hapuna live up to the hype…a resounding YES! We played in the water a bit and tested out our snorkeling goggles for about thirty minutes, then headed back to the cars.

About a forty five minute drive back to the hotel, it was nice to sit and rest. We made a pit stop at Walmart to pick up a few odds and ins. Toothpaste, sand buckets, floats, laundry soap, etc. Rita was wearing a necklace she got on their trip to Hawaii back in 1982. A local followed her in the parking lot and wanted to know where she got it. Apparently they don’t make those kind of necklaces anymore! The family was fitting right in with the locals…granted, me carrying around my camera snapping pictures of everything probably made me stand out like a sore thumb. Back at the Outrigger Keahou, we unloaded the cars, watched the sea turtles out our room window and cleaned up. We all met back downstairs, had a light dinner at the hotel’s restaurant and visited while watching the sun go down. Ryan and I each tried a “Lava Flow” which was a pina colada with strawberry daiquiri stripes down the side. Pretty tasty. Tasted more like a smoothie than a drink. All of us were exhausted after such an eventful day so we headed to bed pretty early. Plus, Krystal, Howard and the kids were arriving the next day and we wanted to be rested. Again, I wrote a couple of postcards and updated my journal. This journal entry wasn’t as lengthy as the previous night’s. So much to fit in, and I was tired. Both of us fell asleep as soon as our heads hit our pillows.

Saturday, June 13th

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning. We were showered and ready to go when my mom got there with Larry and Rita to pick us up. We had a hard time sleeping Friday night…Ryan had stayed up until two in the morning trying to adjust himself to Hawaii time…and to make himself sleepy for the plane ride…it didn’t work though. We got to the airport in plenty of time, and grabbed a below average breakfast taco from the Uno Express in Terminal E. I took my Dramamine. For those of you who don’t know, I get pretty serious vertigo when I fly or get on a boat…not so bad when I am on the plane/boat, but afterward. Usually takes me a day or two to adjust. We loaded onto the plane to Phoenix and had the perfect seat mate. She was asleep when we got on the plane and slept the whole way to Phoenix. We deboarded at terminal A, grabbed some lunch at Quizno’s (they had to re-make my sandwich w/o olives…who puts black olives on a sandwich…yuck!), then got to our next gate in terminal B. We had just enough time to inhale our sandwiches before boarding. This time Larry and Rita were on the row right in front of us. All of us were very excited to get to Hawaii. The plane ride there wasn’t too bad at all. We were all very close to the emergency exits so we had some space to move around a bit. I watched the first couple hours of Lonesome Dove until the battery on the DVD player was exhausted, did several word finds, snacked on a granola bar, and before we knew it, we were landing in Kona! I could even see Maui out my window on the way in. We’d noticed some grayish colored clouds on our way in…later we would realize those were sulfur dioxide clouds from the volcano, not gray clouds at all! We exited our plane via staircase down to the open air airport below. It was gorgeous outside. As we walked to the baggage claim, a woman holding a sign saying “Smith” greeted the four of us with GORGEOUS purple and white orchid leis.

Larry and Rita had arranged it special. They smelled fantastic! But goodness, the whole island smells of plumeria and orchid so regardless of where you go or what you do it smells fantastic. We got our bags, then took the shuttle to the car rental place. We got our two matching white Chevy Impalas, then headed toward Kona town. Rita called and we all were hungry so we stopped at a place called Splasher’s for an early dinner on the way to the hotel (it was only 3:00 Hawaii time). We had read it was a nice place to eat near the water. And it was! It was right along the seawall. We got to see people splashed by the giant south swell waves and canoe races (it was King Kamehameha Day) all from our seats at the grill. All of us ordered the fish and chips (made with the Ono or Wahoo fish). It was very meaty…tasted like tuna, but thick like chicken. While we were eating we noticed people walking by carrying these gigantic snow cones. We immediately decided we needed one. So after eating, Larry and Rita walked across the street, I walked into a shop to get a few postcards and Ryan stood in line for our first (but definitely not last) Scandanavian Shaved Ice. We started out with a medium to split. It was as big as Ryan’s head! As Ryan was about to walk out, the young girl serving him stopped him and said ”don’t forget the straw, it’s the most important part.” All four of us ate as much as we could…and then some, but only could finish half of it. And the girl was right…the straw was important…for as the shaved ice melted, the bottom cup would fill up and begin to drip all over you. A young child’s dream, you were supposed to drink all the juice and melted ice out of the bottom of the cup with said straw. Ryan and I both tried it, decided it was completely disgusting so then just poured the juice on the grass. Finally throwing away the last bit, we headed off to check in to our hotel. It was about four and a half miles down the seawall to the resort. The most beautiful trees, flowers, waves, and water you have ever seen. Little houses and vacation properties scattered all about. I noticed several hurricane evacuation route signs which perplexed me. Uh, you are on an island…in the middle of the ocean…on a volcano…I think hurricane head for high ground route would be more appropriate. Also interesting were the Tsunami evacuation area signs…just something us mainlanders take for granted I guess. We pulled into the hotel under the tallest, most beautiful mimosa trees I have ever seen. Not to mention the huge plumerias on the property which gave the open air lobby a constant floral scent. A girl about my size…that is my size when I was in the seventh grade, unloaded our bags onto a baggage cart and whisked them upstairs while Larry and Ryan parked the cars. We all were on the third floor. L&R on one corner and rps and I on the other. The corners of each of our rooms both opened to balconies on either side. We looked down below to see we were actually staying over the water. In that water were sea turtles! The water there was shallow. About knee high at low tide and chest high at high tide, protected by a rock reef that had been built out many many years ago. The Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle is protected by many state laws and apparently right there at our resort was one of their favorite places to nest. We unpacked, got settled, then went out discovering. That’s when my vertigo started to kick in pretty serious. Ugh…Dramamine dose two. Right next to our resort, connected by an iron gate was the best snorkeling spot on the island. We walked over to scope out what we would get to go play in. It was breathtaking. Then we walked back through the gardens on the grounds and saw all sorts of cool plants. A couple of outrigger canoes were on display in the lobby. We moseyed around, just taking it all in, still feeling a bit like we were in a dream, then settled into a hammock to rest. We swayed back and forth for a bit, then decided it was way past our bedtime. We all headed upstairs, put on our pajamas, wrote a few postcards and I updated my journal then settled in for a much needed night’s rest at about 9:00. After all, it was really 2:00 CST.

Long Road Home

We had a fantastic weekend!
Friday night, we celebrated Ryan’s birthday with our friends. We rounded up a group of folks and met at Riscky’s BBQ down in the Stockyards. We had a great group and much fun was had by all. We especially enjoyed the fried corn nuggets…mmmmm. We also got to try a new beer they had called Shiner Commemorative. It was pretty good! Our friend Danny even got the wait staff to sing Ryan happy birthday and bring out a little cake. It was great! Afterward some of us went over to Billy Bob’s to hear our buddy Bobby Duncan play. It was Bobby’s first show headlining at Billy Bob’s so they put him on the small stage…never again! The crowd was great! And he sounded fantastic. Ryan and I started going to hear Bobby about five years ago. Our friend Walt produced his first record and had him sing a couple of songs as a guest at a show at Love and War in Texas in Grapevine. After that, we were hooked. We’ve watched him grow from one man with a guitar to a full band, and successful young musician. Really neat to be there to watch someone grow up like that. Anyways, we danced the night away in our new boots, and a few in our group even went and watched the live bull riding. After the concert, we took our friend who had never been to the Stockyards over to the White Elephant just so he could say he’d been there. Didn’t stay but maybe fifteen minutes then headed home. Had a fantastic night!
Saturday morning, we slept until about 9:30, then got up and got ready for our hair appointments. Both of us went and got our hair cut trying to get ready for family pictures we are taking next week. Afterward we went home and started packing for Hawaii. Got a few things done around the house then headed to Arlington to celebrate Ryan’s birthday with our families. We left about 3:30 and immediately hit traffic…what logical person would try to head to Arlington on the opening night of the new Cowboy Stadium…luckily it wasn’t all that bad after we got off of 183. We met my mom and Trisha’s boys at Larry and Rita’s then all headed off to Pappasito’s for dinner. We sat outside and it was wonderful. What a perfect night to be outside. Absolutely beautiful. The boys were very well behaved, ate well, then we all went back to L&R’s to play, open presents and have dessert. Ryan got a big mocajete to make guacamole in, a gigantic beach towel, a hand mixer and a Snuggie! He had a wonderful birthday :o)
Sunday morning we woke up late and missed church. Ugh. That means we’ll miss a couple weeks in a row. Boo. We cleaned up around the house then headed off to his work picnic at the Double D Ranch in Mesquite. It really was a neat place. They had a petting zoo (which consisted of four goats), pony rides, trail rides, paddle boats (which we took advantage of), karoke, a wet bounce house slide thing, a dry bounce house, relay races, and ladder golf. We avoided most everything except for the paddle boats and the ladder golf. It was really quite fun! You take to golf balls, drill a hole through their centers and attach them with a foot long piece of rope. Then you toss them (kinda like horse shoes or washers) and try to get them to land on one of three rungs on a pbc pipe ladder like contraption. We played teams with one of Ryan’s coworkers and her husband. Brian is really competitive and was not happy when he and Carrie lost…especially to two people who haven’t ever played (or at least I hadn’t). Anywho, everyone else started heading inside for dinner, but the four of us all just left…we’d made our appearance, got our picture taken, talked to several people…now we could go! Ryan and I stopped and grabbed a bite at Denny’s then went to the Kohl’s across the street. Picked up a few last minute things for Hawaii then headed back to Irving. Stopped at the grocery store and got essentials for the week, and on the way home saw the Toronto Blue Jays pulling into the Four Seasons. We really really wanted to go and watch them get off the bus, shake their hands, etc, but we were tired and had cold stuff in the car…next time.
This week is going by pretty quick. Monday night we met Jen and Erik up at Gloria’s by the Galleria for dinner. Their little one is due in about a month so we wanted to see them before they become a family of three. We had a Ranger game in the lineup this week, but I just don’t think it is going to happen…just too much to do before Saturday. This probably will be my last post until the 22nd or so unless I can track down a laptop while on the Big Island. So have a great week-two weeks everyone. Stay safe! If you are on facebook, I’ll mobile upload a few pictures from my phone while we are there.

These Boots Are Made for Walkin…

I am pretty sure Ryan had a good birthday. He arrived into work to find everything on or near his desk wrapped in saran wrap. He said it took him a while to even get into his computer!

Then they had a “lunch” blocked off from 12-2:30. They went bowling! They bowled two games, then went somewhere close for burgers. After work, we met at Rockfish at Mockingbird Station for dinner. After a relaxing dinner, we headed up to Cavendar’s Boot City off of 635. We shopped there for about an hour, then decided to drive over to Shepler’s in Arlington. It was worth the trip! Ryan found his birthday boots, and what do you know, I found a pair too! I absolutely love the smell of those stores. Smells clean and rustic all at the same time. I’d forgotten how much I like walking around the western wear store. Anyways, I found a pair of Ariats…solid dark brown leather with light blue and khaki stitching...and flower prints on the bottom of the boot. Ryan’s are ostrich. Brown foot and a red leg part (don’t know what you call that part). Anywho, we are all set for our trip to Billy Bob’s.

I wore my boots today to work. Break them in a little bit. I walked over to the CVS down the street to get a card and gift card for a group gift for one of our coworkers daughters’ graduation. As I walked I was singing…”these boots are made for walkin’. And that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you.” Now that song is implanted in my head…ugh!

Fort Worth ever cross your mind?

Ryan and I had such a wonderful weekend. Friday night we went to a friend’s fifth year cancer survival anniversary party upstairs at the White Elephant. There were about 50-100 people there, open bar, and catered by Lonesome Dove. I’ve never eaten at the Lonesome Dove, but have heard great things about it. My favorite was an appetizer…shaved beef tenderloin on a cracker with a dollop of Boursin…wow! And the entertainment…Walt Wilkins and the Mystiqueros, Tina Mitchell Wilkins, Marion Brackney, Brad Hines, Bobby Duncan and Chris Lugo as well as several other very talented folks. By the time we left, it was pretty late, and they had reserved a bunch of rooms at the Hyatt Place down in the Stockyards, so Ryan and I decided to just stay there. We sat up and visited with everyone until the wee hours of the morning. We woke up the next morning, loaded up the car, said our goodbyes then headed back to Irving. We hit traffic on the way so decided to stop and eat. Exited Rufe Snow and low and behold, a DON PABLO’S!!!! We had thought they had all closed. Apparently not my friends! YEAH!!! Brandy butter is still available somewhere in the world!!! But we didn’t eat there…not then. Wanted something faster so we could get home. So we ate Grandy’s…which I don’t think I have had in 10 years or more! It wasn’t as good as I remember, but the rolls still were a tasty treat! We got home, I got a bunch of laundry done, the house cleaned up, then back to Fort Worth we went for our friend Melissa’s 30th birthday! Her family threw it for her at the Rahr Brewery (it is just south of downtown Fort Worth, not far from JPS). What a neat place. There was a little gazebo in a big warehouse where they served four of their beers. My favorite was the Blind Salamander. I think Ryan liked their Summer Wheat. They have special dinners there where they pair their beers with foods. I think we might try to wrestle up a group of people to go. We visited for a couple hours then headed off.
Sunday afternoon we headed to the Ranger game. Adam joined us. We didn’t sit in our normal seats in the shade, but on the 2nd level in left field…full on sun. And for those of you who haven’t seen me in a while…I am quite pale. I wore a tank top and shorts, and layers and layers of sunscreen…after all, I do need to build up a bit of tan for Hawaii you know. Got home and looks like I did a pretty decent job. I wasn’t red at all yesterday or today! Yahoo! Ryan on the other hand wasn’t as thorough in his application of sunscreen…his legs are red and white polka dotted now :o)
We also went up to our friends Clark and Marti’s in Highland Village this weekend. They had all of the Mystiqueros, Bill Worrell, the Meachems, and some others over for a private concert with Johnny and Bill, swimming, food, etc. It was wonderful. So amazing that we get to peek into the world of such talented people.
All in all put about 250 miles on the Nissan this weekend. I have such an appreciation for traveling musicians now. I very much enjoy my sit still at home and rest time…