Tuesday, April 19, 2011

WHAT BEAUTY! And I'm Ready to Go Back!!

Aloha! Just looking at the photo above makes me want to hop the next plane back to Hawaii's Big Island! We had the most wonderful time in a most beautiful place last week! The sunset above was on our first night there. Come join me in reliving our way-too-short vacation!

The view from our deck. We stayed at King's Land, a Hilton resort about 25 miles north of Kona on the west side of the island.

Our first day there we drove into Kona and had lunch at Bubba Gump Fish Co. What a fun place, and the food was great. I loved this sign hanging inside.

We drove over to the east side of the island one day, visiting a tropical rain forest where we saw several of these unique trees. That's my daughter Katie.

This beautiful waterfall was along the same trail.

As we were leaving the rain forest, I had to get a picture of this pretty lone tree. It made us think of The Lion King!

From there we drove on to Hilo. There we rummaged through an outdoor combination flea/farmer's market. I couldn't believe how cheap all the produce was here! This was also a great place to pick up t-shirts, Hawaiian shirts and lots of other souvenirs! The only thing I really found to be overly expensive on our trip was the gas! It averaged $4.50 a gallon!

From there we drove on to Volcano National Park. Unfortunately, the lava wasn't flowing, but it's was still a most interesting place!We drove to a point where the road has been permanently closed because of the lava flow. This beautiful "bench" has been formed by the lava flow.

This is the caldera. We could only see steam during the day. Had we stayed until after sunset we could have seen the glow from the lava inside.

On another day we drove up to the northwest corner of the island. What a beautiful drive that day!

My oldest son was happy to see how "green" Hawaii is! Along with this wind turbine farm we saw lots of homes and businesses with solar panels. He is our energy conservationist and this made him very happy!

Don't these trees look like they are walking across the lawn! I just loved them!

This was the farthest point northwest near Hawi. The road ends here at Pololu Valley Lookout. There are actually a couple of old small houses that overlook this view. Can you imagine waking up to this every day!!!

On our last day there we drove back to Kona. We HAD to have some shave ice! We fell in love with shave ice when we lived in Utah! YUM...WILD CHERRY!!

I had seen this tree on the main strip on our first day at Kona and fell in love with it! Was finally able to get a picture of it. Across the street the waves were constantly splashing up over the wall onto the street and the cars going by.
We were finally able to watch the surfers. Waves had not been good the first day we were there. They were pretty good on our last day and there were at least 20 surfers out there. I think my daughter could definitely become a surfer chick! LOL!

And our last night in Hawaii I was able to get another beautiful sunset!

Oh, how I want to go back already! I loved the openness of everything. I noticed this immediately when we walked off the plane directly onto the tarmack and into the outside terminal. The walkways were covered, as were the various shops you find at airport terminals, but everything was outside, surrounded by palm trees and tropical plants! This was also the case upon our arrival to the resort. Check in area and seating was all covered, but open to the outside. And each night when we ate out, we always chose to eat outside among the tiki torches and beautiful plants! I also loved the beautiful flowers, many on plants as high as the trees. And the sweet smell of the island!! People seemed to be so happy over there and eager to please. This was our first trip to Hawaii. I could never live over there as it is too confining for this driving maniac! But I can't wait to visit again!

Hope you enjoyed reminiscing with me! So glad you dropped by today! Mahalo! ~~Annie

11 comments:

  1. Wow what a trip!!!So breathtaking, thanks so much for sharing , brought a lil sunshine into my gray damp ohio morning!lol I LOVE LOVE all the tree pics how very cool , but all of them are gorgeous great pics! Enjoy your day and keep dreaming until the next trip ! hugs
    lil raggedy angie

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  2. How gorgeous!! My son is stationed at schofield barracks on the island of Oahu, we will be going in September or early october after my grandbaby is born, I just can't wait! sounds like you had an awesome time there:)

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  3. WOW! Beautiful! Looks like an awesome trip.

    Brenda

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  4. What a beautiful place!! Sounds like you had a wonderful vacation.
    Oh to be on a sunny beach today.... snow is still falling here. :( Thanks for sharing Annie.
    Colleen

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  5. How beautiful, Annie! I loved all your pictures, especially the sunset on the first night..You got some great shots! Thanks for the tour, it was awesome!

    Bear Hugs & Blessings~Karen

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  6. Annie some great pix. What a wondeful vacation you had.

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  7. great photos..bet you all are soooo tan..too tan for washington..my little sister used to work for one of those little sugar ice shacks as a teenager..we would always stop and get one..and they would put every flavor on and it looked like mud..;)

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  8. What a great trip and the only bad thing I can think of about going on vacation to Hawaii is having to leave. Seems like the days just fly by so fast when you are there. I went in 84 and 85 and enjoyed it very much. I went to Maui and you are right..the shopping was great.
    Did you get to go to Hilo Haties. They have the best Pineapple wine and I could never find it state side.
    Hope you get to go again Annie :)
    Your pictures are awesome...thanks for sharing :)

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  9. what beautiful photos you took! A scrapbook with the photos would be a wonderful momento of your trip...but I imagine you already have that planned...if not completed! lol! I became a grandma on April 15th!! I am at our daughter's and having so much fun with grandbaby! Take Care and God Bless! Donna

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  10. Great trip! so pretty....my brother and family live on Oahu and love it..they live close to Diamond Head..would love to go some day myself....

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  11. Oh thank you so much for the trip down memory lane. I lived in Kona for 10 years until my husband was killed. We had 3 daughters and he was a surfer and I paddled out rigger canoes right out of King Kam hotel. I think that may have been torn down now but I loved it there so much. You showed many sites that I recall and some that I wasn't too clear about. But never the less, I am so glad that you enjoyed your vacation there. It is a beautiful place. My husbands ashes were dropped in the sea as that was his first love. I was his second. Gotta love em.

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