Tracy Yost Family

Monday April 25, 2011

Hilo and Kapoho

We decided to drive to Hilo to find a waterfall to swim in. The day did not turn out quite like I had hoped, but it was still an adventure!

This is also where we got our first look at a Banyan tree.

These trees were amazing. They had vines growing down out of them that looks like roots. They are gigantic!

Next we stopped at Rainbow Falls like every good tourist does. You are not allowed to swim in this pristine tourist attractions though, so we were onto our next adventure-to find a place to swim.

The guide book said "Wai'ale Falls itself is a pretty and fairly high volume waterfall. Above the falls lie several beautiful pools and some small falls that can be delightful to play in (if the flow is not to high)." Sounds great right! The great part was scrambling along an unmarked trail in search of the "beautiful pools".

The trail went through a little bamboo forest and was very exciting to explore the unknown (although a few people in our group were a little skeptical about where I might be taking him). Josh , Erica and I lead the charge, while Tracy and Megan, shall we say, brought up the rear. After a short jungle scramble over a very obvious trail we found the "beautiful pools".

It was not quite what we had hoped for, but the kids had fun all the same. The river rocks were very mossy and slippery, but this was our only chance to swim in the river"IN HAWAII"!

That was our mantra all week.

Erica ..." Can you believe we are swimming IN HAWAII?"

Heather... " I can't believe I am actually at the beach IN HAWAII!"

ect...

After swimming we had a quick picnic lunch and started back to Kapoho to go snorkeling.

But first we stopped for some ice cream and visited the "Naha Stone." The Naha Stone weighs about 7,000 pounds. It is said to be the sacred stone that King Kamehameha overturned at the age of 14 and fulfilled the legend that whoever could overturn the stone would be the first king of all the islands.

After our quick trip to Hilo we picked up our snorkeling gear and headed for Champagne Pond. It is a geothermal heated saltwater pool, but to get there you have to drive a mile over a treacherous lava field. This is where MoJo came into action.

Now tell me, have you ever seen Tracy with a bigger grin? All boys like to 4-wheel drive:)

The coastline was incredibly raw and rough. This lava field is was created in 1960. This lava was very sharp and treacherous, but the road was very fun to drive over.

Champagne Pond was not that big, but the water was nice and warm, and it is where we saw our first sea turtle. He just sat on the bottom and stared back at us, then would swim up briefly for a breath of air before settling back on the bottom (about 6 feet deep). It was so cool to see a turtle so up-close.

another view of Champagne Pond looking inland.

On the way back, Tracy let Megan drive the jeep, and Josh even got to ride "shotgun". I don't know out of the two who had more fun.

As soon as we got back to the house we headed for the tide pool. It was only one block from our rental to the water.

After all this swimming we were just tired and hungry. We got back to the house as the frozen lasagna was done. We had a great meal, then jumped into the jeep to drive to the black sand beach before sunset. Tracy decided to not point out the fact that you can not see the sunset from the beach on the east side of the island, and just let me figure it out on my own half-way there. We had fun driving on the rolling little road through the jungle anyway. We picked up a hitch-hiker named Conner and took him to the end of the road at Kalapana. By the time we arrived it was pitch black and we could not even see the beach. Tracy enjoyed his "Jeep power" on the way home though and all-in-all it was a very fun filled day.

Tuesday April 26, 2011
drive to Kona

We got a good early morning start at about 8:30am. We drove back to Kalapana to see the black sand beach that we could not see the night before.

It is strange to think this land is only 3 years older than Megan. The lava flow destroyed most of the town in 1990, including a world famous black sand beach. The new beach that is now forming is also beautiful. There are lots of small coconut palms growing along the trail and the sand was very soft and fine.

Erica and Josh jumped the waves, while the rest of us sat in quiet solitude just breathing in the beautiful site of a black sand beach "IN HAWAII!!!"

On the way back we realized the coconut palms grow right out of the whole coconut. This little tree had come up-rooted, so we just dug it a new hole in the sand and covered it back up. Notice the little root coming out of the bottom.
When we made it back to the parking lot there were craftsman and vendors setting up shop for the tourists. One guy made these leather masks and let the kids try one on.

I wasted way too much time just looking around, but I had fun talking to the vendors and looking at their stuff. But we had to get going for the long drive ahead to Kona with lots of site-seeing along the way.

As we drove back through Hilo I made Tracy stop for a quick picture with King Kamehameha the Great!

Then on to the Hawai'i Tropical Botanical Garden. Here are some of the amazing plants we saw.

this is called a cannonball tree

this is everyone getting hot and tired as we hike out of the canyon saying "We love Hawaii."

Our next quick side trip was to Akaka Falls.

By this time it was early afternoon and we still had Waipi'o Valley to explore. So we so we bought a few cokes and cans of POG and drove to the end of highway 240. From there it was only a mile down the 25% grade road to Waipi'o Valley!!!!

Here is a view of the valley from the overlook before plunging down the road.

these pictures just don't do it justice.

looking out over the valley on the way down

playing at the beach in the bottom of Waipi'o Valley

Josh covered in black sand

the wild horses

Hi'ilawe Falls back in the valley. Not much water coming over it right now.
By this time it was nearly 4 pm and we still had 2 hours of driving to get to Kona. So we loaded back into MoJo and 4-wheeled our way back up the valley road and made our way to the west side of the island. We arrived in Kona about 6pm. Quickly checked into the condo, then went to Costco for groceries and hot dogs for dinner.
Whew, what a day "IN HAWAII"!

Of all the places I have visited on vacation (and wished I could live there someday) this is where I truely belong. I think God was having a good joke when he thought I should be raised in Wyoming. Don't get me wrong, I really loved my little farm in Wheatland, but my heart belongs in Hawaii!

Now I know why some people go to Hawaii every year for vacation. Where else can you go tropical, everyone speak English, and you don't feel scared that the drug lords will kidnap you, but you still feel you can experience a new culture?

I'm sure Hawaii has her faults (don't we all?), but if you don't like something about it, just drive an hour to somewhere else on the island and everything changes. 11 climates in one island!!! Amazing!!!

So now you know our vacation must have been wonderful. Here are a few details.

Saturday April 23, 2011

We got up at 5am to start out journey. Nothing event full there, nearly froze to death on the airplane(stupid airconditioning). But it was here I had my first kiss of POG(sigh.....) Passion- Orange- Guava juice, the true nectar of the gods. Over the next week we would drink 2 gallon jugs and 12 -6 packs of some combination of this juice. We were all in love.

I was so excited when we finally got off the plane in Hilo I took off, not one, but two jackets and my gloves!!!!

Yahoo for warm weather!

We picked up our soft-top Jeep (aka MoJo), stopped at the grocery store for food and POG, and drove 45 minutes to our rental house at Kapoho Tide pools. It was like a little jungle retreat. The geckos on the walls freaked us out at first, but we soon got use to them. (The big beetle freaked me out though). That night we were serenaded to sleep (or so we thought we would sleep) by all kinds of sounds from I don't know what kinds of creatures. It was amazing, but we did toss and turn alot and it was a long night.

Here is a little video tour of the house with the sound of the nightlife.

our rental house

a cool palm in the front yard of your rental house.

Cruising in the jeep with the windows down, jamming to Hawaiian radio tunes, and drinking POG.

Tracy wants a new Jeep!

Sunday April 24, 2011

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

We went snorkeling in the morning at the tide pools(I will write more about that later), then went to hike the Kilauea Iki Crater trail.

The trail was really fun and diverse. The first mile is through the forest along the crater rim.

Then you hike down about 400 feet to the crater floor.

Josh would not let us stop to snack till we made it to the crater floor. Here is Erica and Josh waiting for us to catch up, mmm... warm, soft, Swedish fish. This was also the last bit of shade before embarking across the barren crater floor.