Easter Sunday

Easter sunrise is beautiful as usually here in Hawaii!  We all climb into the trucks and drive the hour to Waikoloa Village north of Kailua-Kona.  Why would we drive there?  Pastor Lester Seto pastors a church there. Pastor Seto was one of the pastors at Bethany Lutheran Church in Vacaville, CA where Mark, Denise, and I grew up.  It has been many, many years since we had seen him and his wife Bernadette.  

 Pastor Lestor Seto, Denise and Ted

 Linda and Ben

 The family with Pastor Seto.

After church, Pastor Seto invited the entire family out to lunch.  Also invited was Mark, a local, Linda, who was willing to interpret for Denise and Ted, and her two children Holly and Jack. We went to Macaroni Grill.  Then we all went to 69 beach.  The beach is named for the mile marker on the Queen’s Hwy, Queen Kaahumanu. 

 Jacob, Joshua, and Bubba

 Lestor and his wife, Bernadette

 Bernadette and my dad, Tom

We spent the remaining afternoon there on the beach.  Some in the water and others on the beach.  It was the perfect temperature and day.  

For dinner, we stopped at Poncho and Lefty's for dinner.  The restaurant was open aired and there was a large tree outside the window.  The tree was home to many, many birds.  They were chatting up a storm.  The sound was competing with  the ocean’s waves.  After the sun set, the birds were quiet.  Peace had descended. 

Saturday

Dad wanted to go to Goodwill to shop.  So we all head off for shopping.  First stop, Goodwill near Costco.  Everyone seemed to have purchased something at Goodwill.  I bought a lava lava, also called a sarong.  The sarong will be useful on the bike trip as a cover up.  At the luau, there was a fashion show showing the different ways to wear the sarong.   I would like to wear the sarong as a bikini one day.  It may be a dream, but who knows.  

The next shop we stop at was Hilo Hatties.  Jacob opened up an oyster and found two black pearls.  The pearls will go to Heather in some earrings for mother’s day.  Heather purchased other items for friends and family as gifts.  

Next, we head over to Dennys for lunch.  Yes, Dennys in Hawaii.  Then we go to the big ABC store.  This store is the tourist shop.  T-shirts are purchased for the boys.  Denise, Ted, Ben and Dad head off for the house.   Dad and Ben need their naps.  Heather, Joshua, Jacob, Bubba, and I head to the Farmer’s Market shops.  

Heather found a tie for Mark, another noose.  Joshua found a whale.  He says that his animal collection is complete.  He has a turtle, panda, and a whale.  Prior to the trip, he made a stuffed dodo bird.  Aunt Denise gave him the coconut monkey for his birthday.

Hawaii Day ???? Why keep track.

The activity for the day was an outrigger outing in Kailua Bay.  Actually, the day started like the other days, getting up and eating breakfast and watching the waves crash on the shore.  

The outrigger was rented from the Kona Boys.  It came with a tour guide and was suppose to be a one and ½ hour tour around the bay.  Mark, Heather, Joshua, Jacob and I went out in the boat.  The tour guide told us about the rich man’s property that he visits for two days a year.  He told us about the water’s depth and the Hawaiian’s version of a subdivision.  Then Heather spotted what she wanted – DOLPHINS.  It was a pod of five dolphins.  Two of the dolphins were juveniles, sticking close to their mothers.  The tour guide told us that the dolphins were taking naps.  They would take a few breathes and then dive.  The dolphins would shut off three quarters of their brains.  The dolphins are actually night feeders.

Well for the rest of our time on the outrigger, we chase the dolphins around the bay.  Then a cruise boat takes over the chase.  We can’t keep up with a motorized boat.  Bummer.  So we head back to the beach.  There are no pictures of the outrigger as we didn't take the camera on the boat. 

 

The rest of the day was spent at the snorkeling bay called Kahaluu Beach Park.  Denise, Ted and Ben joined us.  Two sea turtles decided to feed.  I went out snorkeling again.  I did much better.  No panic attacks.  It was still difficult to get use to breathing in through the mouth and out through the nose.  The mask I was wearing needed to have the water drained.  

There was many different fish to view.  I saw puffer fish and other colorful fish.  I still wasn’t comfortable going out in the deeper areas yet.  

We all came back to the house and Mark had to pack up to leave for the mainland.  He had to preach Easter service.  Heather, my dad, and I drive back to the house. We stop off at the grocery store for some necessities and Easter egg stuff for the boys.

Below are some miscellaneous photos for the day.

 

 Paddleboarder having a workout.

 Snorkelers chasing dolphins in the water outside of the house.

 Sunset at the house.

 Joshua's birthday present from Aunt Denise and Uncle Ted. Go Monkeys!

 The Easter bunny's delivery.

Volcanoes and Manta Rays

Today, the entire family piles into the two rented jeeps and heads off to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.   We are going to see the Kilauea caldera, currently the most active volcano.  The drive is about 2 ½ hours long on a winding, two lane road.  We go from sea level to over 4,500 feet.  It is 65 degrees at the caldera.  The volcano is quiet and boring.  We wanted to see lava.  There are a lot of steam vents along the way.  We stop at the Jaggar Museum to check out some of the history of the volcano and the seismographs.  There we eat sandwiches made at the house.

Then we head east to walk through the Thurston Lava Tube. The forest ferns are so reminiscence of Jurassic Park.  They are very talk and large.  The tube is not that long of a walk.  My brother made a cute video with commentary.  Unfortunately, half the sound is missing, but the pictures are not! 

We stopped on the way back to the house to visit the black sand beach. There were more sea turtles to watch. The water was darker and therefore any photos didn't really show the turtles to their best advantage.

The reason we leave the volcano so soon is that the adults will be getting ready to go swimming with the manta rays this evening.  The adults, less my dad, drive off to the harbor to board a boat.  The company Denise chose was Neptune Charlies.  They have scuba diving and snorkeling.  We went snorkeling at night.  I highly recommend this company.  There is a 25 minute boat ride out to the dive site.  Other companies who carry snorkelers and divers will also be there.  The guys on the boat are funny and knowledgeable.  The captain positions the boat a little ways from the other boats.  We get our safety talk and then hop into the water.  Mark was the first one in with the Go Hero camera.  He gets the shock of his life – a manta ray comes up to feed as he looks down for the first time. 

The boat is positioned for a short private viewing of three manta rays feeding.  It is amazing!!!!!

Then everyone moves over to the main attraction with the other boat participants.  There are divers at the bottom of the ocean with lights pointing to the surface and snorkelers at the surface pointing their lights down.  The light attracts the plankton on which the manta rays feed.  The night we go, 24 manta rays show up for feeding.  All of this reminds me of squirrels trained to come when the humans put out food.  All of the 45 minutes in the water was amazing! 

We are all tired from the swim, but exhilarated.  I highly recommend taking Neptune Charles out for a night dive with the manta rays.

Hawaii - Day 2

Day two began with a leisurely look out the window.  Then I needed to write the first post.  I hope you all loved it.  The rest of the day went like this:

Spend time watching Bubba in the hot tub and then playing on his ipad.  I was playing on Mark’s ipad – Angry Birds in Space.  That is a very fun game!  Mark and Heather went on a helicopter ride over the island.  It was for their anniversary (May 23^rd).  Denise, Ted, Tom took the remaining boys on a submarine ride.  

After everyone came back, Mark, Jacob, Joshua, and I went to the white sands beach.  Jacob and Joshua went boogie boarding.  Jacob caught some great waves and Joshua was doing well.   

We returned back at the house and cleaned up for the Luau.   

The luau was held at the Royal Kona Hotel.  The show was great.  The band played many traditional music and most of the songs were in Hawaiian.  The MC for the night was hilarious.  I was able to talk with him before the show at the open bar.  The men were gorgeous in their short skirts.  It reminded me of the Scottish kilts.  The women were beautiful and could really shake their hips.  

We also watched the pig being taken out of the imu (earth oven).  The smell was incredible!!  The taste of roasted pig was good.  So was the steak.  :) 

I know you would all like descriptions of the activities, but I think pictures will be better.   

 

Once I figure out how to add more videos, There will be more fun clips to watch.

Hawaii - Day 1

Surf’s Up!  The waves are crashing against the shore and they are LOUD!   It’s easy to see the sunrise today as my body is on Louisville time. The temperature is a balmy 75 degrees with a few clouds in the sky.  

These are photos from the balcony of the house we are renting.  Below is one of the neighbors.  LOL

A rented house serves as home base for all the excursions and sightseeing the family plans to do this week.  The family includes my dad, Tom, my sister, Denise, brother-in-law, Ted, and nephew, Ben, my brother, Mark, sister-in-law, Heather, and three nephews, Mark Thomas (aka Bubba), Jacob, and Joshua, and finally me.  That is ten people in all.  My brother is the youngest and I am the oldest.

Denise, Ted, and Ben take off for a half day boat ride on the Body Glove.  Tom stays at the house for some peace and quiet.  Mark, Heather, Bubba, Jacob, Joshua, and I get ready for some kayaking.  Mark takes Heather, Bubba and Joshua to the kayaking place.  They come back and hour later.  The ocean is too rough for first time kayakers.  So we head off to a snorkeling beach.  Bubba doesn’t like the waves and so refuses to go into the water.  I stay on the beach with Bubba while everyone else is snorkeling.  I do go out a little later.

Snorkeling is different.  I need to retrain myself from breathing through the nose (as for swimming).   I do panic several times, but I can stand up in the water and correct the problem.   After 20 minutes or more, I figure out how to snorkel. Breathe through the mouth and out through the nose.  While I’m looking under water, I see fish swimming by.  I can definitely get use to swimming with the fishes.  

The snorkel bay is also a place that has sea turtles.  A few people tell us that the surf is too rough for the turtles and that we may not see one.  WRONG.  There one is at the water line eating the algae.  A local is guarding the turtle from unsuspecting humans getting into and out of the water.  I did get a couple of photos and a short video with my camera.   

Heather was able to take a very long video of the turtle with the Go camera attached to her wrist.  

After the beach, we came back to the house to sit in the hot tub for a while.   I know such a hard life.  Of course this is a vacation and anyone else would do the same thing in my place.   Mark and my dad take off for Costco to pick up some groceries, steak to grill and pizza for the kids.   

After dinner and sitting on the balcony watching the waves, everyone but my dad drives to downtown Kona to walk around the shopping area.  Heather gets items with a sea turtle on it.  The boys get something they wanted.  There is a store called Donkey Balls.  Donkey Balls are chocolate covered macadamia nuts or malt balls.  I get the donkey beans, chocolate covered coffee beans.   

The blog posts will be intermittent as the internet connection fails frequently and I am getting use to a new computer with a smaller keyboard.  Aloha my friends.