Hawaii - Part Two

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"!

Hawaii Vacation Spring Break 2011

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.

Doing what we do best (aka goofing off). These rocks are so big, look how strong we are!

Erica found a heart rock.

We all had to have pictures with the heart rock. Behind us is the main lava vent that erupted 17 times in 1959.

More goofing off.

Steam escaping from a vent. Rain water percolates down to hot rock below the surface and then vaporizes. At least that is what the trail guide says.

Crossing the crater floor.

We made it! 1.5 miles across. Now we just have to hike back up.

At the top of the crater is the Thurston Lava Tube. Here is Megan and I at the entrance.

Josh and Erica

Josh and Erica crawled to touch the VERY end of the tube.

A rare lava tube cave monster caught on film.

 Family picture opportunity.

Another great view of the crater we just hiked across

. The steam cloud between Megan and Tracy is from the distant Halema'uma'u Crater. Home of Madame Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess.

This is a picture of the elusive "Hawaiian chicken bird"!

(We actually have know idea what it's official name is)

We made it. Here we are with our COOL Jeep, Mo'o(Lizard) Kahuna(aka MoJo).

That's it for day one!

Brazil cruise Part 4-Rio to Sao Paulo

December 6th, 2010- Rio de Janeiro
Oh Beautiful Rio!
It was overcast all day, but still wonderful.

Here is our first view of Sugarloaf and the city in the background as we enter the harbor.
Our first destination was to Cocovado and "Christ the Redeemer". He stand high above the city and you have to ride in a little train up the side of the mountain. Along the way you can smell the jungle and see lots of interesting plants.

This is one of the more interesting fruit trees. The big pods hanging off the tree trunks are more like giant watermelon. The Internet describes them as giant potatoes. Sister Parrela said it was her most favorite fruit. I think they called it jaca. Unfortunately I did not get a chance to taste it.  

Here is the sign describing the history of the monument.
The hill was covered in clouds when we arrived, but they would tease us and lift momentarily so you could get a quick glimpse of the statue.

Here is my first view of the back side of the monument as I hiked up the final stairs.

It took several minutes to get this picture. I had to stand ready to snap the shutter and then in a second he would be lost in the clouds again.

I just copied my video to the computer. Here is a quick picture of Christ the Redeemer ascending back into the clouds.
We also stood as a group and sang "The Spirit of God" (in Portuguese). It was a magnificent statue and I was blessed to be there. I kept thinking how crazy it was that I was actually in Rio and seeing this for myself. I have often seen pictures and thought it would be amazing to visit, but never really thought I would actually do it. I think of it as a"bucket list " item.

After riding away on the bus I looked back to see the clouds clear away and got this picture of Cocovado.
No time for lamenting our luck though, cause next stop was lunch and Copacabana Beach!

Lunch was at a Brazilian barbecue restaurant. Buffet style side dishes, with all you can eat chunks of meat sliced off a saber at your table. Quite fun and lots of different Brazilian specialities to try. I liked the little  hard boiled quail eggs. 

Anything was wonderful after eating the bland ship food for nearly 3 weeks. It was great to get some flavorful food.

Here's Piggy with our 5 reais soda's. The meal was not expensive, but they took the American tourist for a ride by charging an arm and  leg for the drinks. Funny that they do not print the price of the drinks. Adalton and Delgia were outraged by this price gouging:)  But I say "C'est la vie"! Nothing was going to ruin my day.

Next stop was Copacabana Beach. I was told I would not have time for swimming, but I would not be thwarted from playing in the surf.

How can anyone expect me to go to a beach and not get wet? It was fun playing chase with the waves, but the waves mostly won. I should have just put on my swim suit anyway so I would have had something dry to change back into. I coaxed several people to join me in the fun and we all had a good time, even if it only lasted 30 minutes.

This picture makes me laugh. Proof that McDonald's is everywhere. Even in a cabana at the beach. I bet this place is hopping on a sunny day.
Our next stop was Sugerloaf Mountain.

Note of trivia, this is where "James Bond" had a fight with "Jaws" in the open air cable cars. We were lucky to enjoy the ride in the new enclosed glass cable cars. What a great view! To bad there were so many clouds. Here we are leaving the ground level to the lower mountain top.

Here is the best view I have of Sugarloaf. It was engulfed with cloud cover at the top. Interesting being in the middle of a cloud, but we couldd not see farther that 50 feet.

Mom and I in the clouds at Sugerloaf. I think she keeps shrinking, because I don't think I have gotten taller.
She was a trooper though and did not complain about her hip at all. I know it was a lot more painful than she let on. Glad to report she now has one brand new hip, and she can't wait to get the second one replaced.

The backyard wildlife in Brazil includes monkeys. These little guys were hanging around the cable car station looking for tourists to give them treats. I'm sure these cute little creatures are a lot more of a nuisance than squirrels.

The view coming back down the mountain. Doesn't that beach look inviting?

Well that was the end of our day on Rio. We got back to the ship at 6pm. Mom was exhausted. She decided to stay in the cabin the rest for the evening and pack for our departure in the morning. Here is a view of our little cabin. It was very comfortable and roomy.
I decided to take a quick refreshing swim with Alf. I didn't feel like eating, but he talked me into at least going to dinner for the company. I spent the rest of the evening packing, then stayed up till midnight writing in my journal. I was looking forward to being at home with my family, but not excited about the long trip ahead to get back to Gig Harbor.

Tuesday December 7th, 2010
Sao Paulo
I got up at 6am to enjoy the quiet morning one last time. I loved to go up on deck and see the coast of Brazil with the sunrise and feel the peace of the sea. It was overcast and wet, but still somehow wonderful. I sat and read the scriptures and contemplated the wonderful blessings I had received over the last few weeks. I did not want to dwell on the departure of the cruise, or leaving my new friends, but remember the joy it had given me. I missed my family very much and could not wait to hold them all in my arms. I wrote this in my journal. " This world is AMAZING and a gift from God for us to experience and enjoy. I hope I can remember this blessing and the peace I have felt when times are a little more challenging and my heart is heavy."

I was shocked back to reality with this view of the shanty town on the edge of the river as we pulled into port to disembark. I truly have no reason to complain about any part of my life. We had a little confusion finding all or baggage and getting to the buses, but I was patient, made the most of the situation and enjoyed visiting with friends.
We had a good bus ride to Sao Paulo and visited with Brother and Sister Parrella and the Wallace's. Finally got to the hotel in the afternoon and quickly changes clothes to go to the temple. Here is a little video of the temple.

So by the time we got back to the hotel it was getting dark. The main road from the hotel was a very large shopping district. I joined a dozen other friends to walk the streets to see the Christmas lights. It was strange to see all the normal Christmas decorations, and hear Christmas music while walking down the street in shorts and a t-shirt. An experience that would take some getting use to. It made me realize we were getting very close to Christmas and I had not even started shopping, baking, hanging lights, or any of the normal traditions yet.

I took mom the next day to see some of the decorations.

We saw the Nativity scene at the mall,

and listened to some carolers.

We had fun for awhile, but soon we were just ready to start our journey home.

We were tired of walking and ready to see our families. We finally got to the airport at 5pm. By the time we started boarding the plane the sun was setting.

My final picture of Brazil as we boarded the plane, with a beautiful sunset in the distance to wish us farewell.
And that is my trip of a lifetime. Thanks for sharing it with me.