Go Saints!Saturday morning Kelly and I went
to the 'presentation' at 8.30am. It wasn't as torturous as we had
anticipated, but still we're not ready to purchase a timeshare yet.
Maybe in a few more years, but since most of our vacations are weekend
driving trips to a concert or hockey game, purchasing a timeshare with
weeklong trips isn't really feasible. After the presentation I drove
Matt and Tymbre down to Lahaina to do a little shopping while Kelly
went snorkeling with my mom, dad, and uncle Charles. Tymbre found a
book at Borders, and I found the Dirt Shirt store where Kelly was going
to pick up a shirt for Jay, a friend at work, later, then we had Thai
food for lunch, which was good. We got back to the condo and Kelly and
I drove up the highway where I had biked the previous day on the windy
highway to some lookout points and actually took a photo to show that
we had actually been in Hawaii. This is our standard 'Chris holds the
camera out and snaps a shot of both of us because his arms are longer'
photo, but turned out nicely with the ocean in the background before
sunset:
After the drive up and walking around a bit, we went back down a bit to a hiking trail that went from the road to the crater. We didn't hike all the way down into the bottom of the crater, but hiked about 2 miles. My parents hiked a side trail that went down 2 more miles to a campground below, where we drove to and met them. It was nice to get out and hike some. Nice weather as well, although on the drive down there were a few more clouds that we went through making the drive a bit slower. After getting back down the mountain we headed to Kihei to meet Mike, Marie, and Ella at their room to quickly shower and change, then met Matt, Tymbre, and Charles at a Thai restaurant for dinner. It was really good food, and I think I want to make some panang curry soon at home. After dinner we headed back to the condo where on New Year's Eve, Kelly and I were packing our bags and getting one ready for our early flight the next morning to the Big Island. We went to bed about 11.30pm and I fell asleep pretty quickly. We were awakened at midnight by many people in the complex yelling off their balconies and making all sorts of noise, although it didn't phase me that much and I promptly fell back asleep. It took a bit longer for Kelly to get back to sleep.
Monday morning we got up early and left the condo a little after 6am. There wasn't much traffic on the road, so we made it to the airport with plenty of time to drop off the rental car. At the counter the ticket agent offered to change us to a direct flight from Kahului to Hilo instead of the original flight from Kahului to Honolulu, then Honolulu to Hilo, which is a big backtracking trip. We arrived in Hilo and had plenty of time before our afternoon helicopter tours, so we picked up our rental car (where the woman at the counter noted our Hawaiian named street and town and informed us that a pueo is an owl- how fitting) and drove around town a bit then up to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Visitor Center. We went inside to see where best to view the lava and had a sandwich for lunch. Unfortunately, there aren't any surface flows that we could walk up to, but there was a viewing point a few miles from the end of the road where we could watch it flow into the ocean at a distance. That was our plan the next day to spend our time hiking in the park on the various trails and ending the day with a hike out to one of the viewing points and take some photos with the 35mm and tripod after the sun had set. After eating we went back down to the airport to check in for our helicopter tours. We made reservations the previous day at our condo, but we weren't able to ride on the same tour due to weight/passenger restrictions, so I ended up on the 2pm tour and Kelly the 4pm. I checked in and Kelly went to go sit in the car to listen to some of the Rose Bowl on the radio until her flight. I watched the safety video, buckled on my inflatable life vest, then got in line in the assigned order for our flight. There were a total of six passengers (two in front with the pilot, and 4 in the back). As we took off from the airport I couldn't help but keep thinking that instead of the Hawaiian music playing in our headphones that we should be listening to 'Ride of the Valkyries' like in the movie 'Apocalypse Now'. Too bad. The guide had an obviously scripted speech (which Kelly pointed out when comparing each of our tours with different pilots), but he was a good pilot and everyone was able to get a reasonable view of the volcano lava (duh, that's what we were there for) the volcanic wasteland, steam from where the lava was flowing into the ocean, and some waterfalls nearer to Hilo, but away from main roadways. I had originally feared that I might get airsick from the helicopter ride and almost decided not to do it, but did at the last minute, and I'm glad I did. I took a whole meclizine (instead of the usual half tablet) in the morning and my stomach sat pretty well throughout the flight. I was in the back middle and didn't have the greatest view, but it was an impressive 50 minute flight. After I got back and Kelly was checking in, I drove down to our hotel to check in, then up to Borders for coffee, then back to the airport where I listened to some of the Rose Bowl on the radio while waiting for Kelly to get back. She had a better seat, right up front next to the window, so she should have some better photos taken with the 35mm camera. We both took both the 35mm and the digital cameras on the flight with hopes that one of us would get some good photos with each. Here are a couple of the digital camera photos. The lava shot isn't great, but not bad for where I was sitting and Kelly probably has some better ones taken with the 35mm, so ask us in a couple of weeks after we get our film developed how those turn out.
We stopped back by Sansei so I
could pick up a t-shirt with their octopus logo, then had dinner at the
Maui
Brewing Co. brewpub. It had pretty good food, some televisions
where they were showing Sportscenter on ESPN, and their own beer, which
Kelly had a 6 beer sampler. She said it was pretty good, although a
couple of beers tasted very similar. After dinner we drove down to
Lahaina to pick up a gift for Jason and Ellen as well as a t-shirt for
Jay, and looked at the Crazy Shirts store for shirts for us. I couldn't
decide on one, but Kelly found a nice one on sale that smelled like
flowers (supposedly dyed in sunflowers). After shopping and walking
around downtown Lahaina a bit, we went back to the hotel and watched
some poker on ESPN.
Sunday we got up relatively early and drove with my parents to drop off the road bike. They gave me a free t-shirt because of the mechanical problems, explaining that they had been having problems getting and keeping a mechanic. Not too bad compensation since I was considering purchasing one of their shirts anyway. After dropping off the bike we headed up the volcano road to the summit of Mount Haleakala. I slept most of the drive up the winding road, but when we got to the top it was a pretty amazing view. It was windy, but neat looking above the clouds. I was more impressed by the guy who biked to the summit on what appeared to be the same type of bicycle that I had rented. Talk about hardcore riding. Maybe one day I'll be able to bike to the top.
Sunday we got up relatively early and drove with my parents to drop off the road bike. They gave me a free t-shirt because of the mechanical problems, explaining that they had been having problems getting and keeping a mechanic. Not too bad compensation since I was considering purchasing one of their shirts anyway. After dropping off the bike we headed up the volcano road to the summit of Mount Haleakala. I slept most of the drive up the winding road, but when we got to the top it was a pretty amazing view. It was windy, but neat looking above the clouds. I was more impressed by the guy who biked to the summit on what appeared to be the same type of bicycle that I had rented. Talk about hardcore riding. Maybe one day I'll be able to bike to the top.
After the drive up and walking around a bit, we went back down a bit to a hiking trail that went from the road to the crater. We didn't hike all the way down into the bottom of the crater, but hiked about 2 miles. My parents hiked a side trail that went down 2 more miles to a campground below, where we drove to and met them. It was nice to get out and hike some. Nice weather as well, although on the drive down there were a few more clouds that we went through making the drive a bit slower. After getting back down the mountain we headed to Kihei to meet Mike, Marie, and Ella at their room to quickly shower and change, then met Matt, Tymbre, and Charles at a Thai restaurant for dinner. It was really good food, and I think I want to make some panang curry soon at home. After dinner we headed back to the condo where on New Year's Eve, Kelly and I were packing our bags and getting one ready for our early flight the next morning to the Big Island. We went to bed about 11.30pm and I fell asleep pretty quickly. We were awakened at midnight by many people in the complex yelling off their balconies and making all sorts of noise, although it didn't phase me that much and I promptly fell back asleep. It took a bit longer for Kelly to get back to sleep.
Monday morning we got up early and left the condo a little after 6am. There wasn't much traffic on the road, so we made it to the airport with plenty of time to drop off the rental car. At the counter the ticket agent offered to change us to a direct flight from Kahului to Hilo instead of the original flight from Kahului to Honolulu, then Honolulu to Hilo, which is a big backtracking trip. We arrived in Hilo and had plenty of time before our afternoon helicopter tours, so we picked up our rental car (where the woman at the counter noted our Hawaiian named street and town and informed us that a pueo is an owl- how fitting) and drove around town a bit then up to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park Visitor Center. We went inside to see where best to view the lava and had a sandwich for lunch. Unfortunately, there aren't any surface flows that we could walk up to, but there was a viewing point a few miles from the end of the road where we could watch it flow into the ocean at a distance. That was our plan the next day to spend our time hiking in the park on the various trails and ending the day with a hike out to one of the viewing points and take some photos with the 35mm and tripod after the sun had set. After eating we went back down to the airport to check in for our helicopter tours. We made reservations the previous day at our condo, but we weren't able to ride on the same tour due to weight/passenger restrictions, so I ended up on the 2pm tour and Kelly the 4pm. I checked in and Kelly went to go sit in the car to listen to some of the Rose Bowl on the radio until her flight. I watched the safety video, buckled on my inflatable life vest, then got in line in the assigned order for our flight. There were a total of six passengers (two in front with the pilot, and 4 in the back). As we took off from the airport I couldn't help but keep thinking that instead of the Hawaiian music playing in our headphones that we should be listening to 'Ride of the Valkyries' like in the movie 'Apocalypse Now'. Too bad. The guide had an obviously scripted speech (which Kelly pointed out when comparing each of our tours with different pilots), but he was a good pilot and everyone was able to get a reasonable view of the volcano lava (duh, that's what we were there for) the volcanic wasteland, steam from where the lava was flowing into the ocean, and some waterfalls nearer to Hilo, but away from main roadways. I had originally feared that I might get airsick from the helicopter ride and almost decided not to do it, but did at the last minute, and I'm glad I did. I took a whole meclizine (instead of the usual half tablet) in the morning and my stomach sat pretty well throughout the flight. I was in the back middle and didn't have the greatest view, but it was an impressive 50 minute flight. After I got back and Kelly was checking in, I drove down to our hotel to check in, then up to Borders for coffee, then back to the airport where I listened to some of the Rose Bowl on the radio while waiting for Kelly to get back. She had a better seat, right up front next to the window, so she should have some better photos taken with the 35mm camera. We both took both the 35mm and the digital cameras on the flight with hopes that one of us would get some good photos with each. Here are a couple of the digital camera photos. The lava shot isn't great, but not bad for where I was sitting and Kelly probably has some better ones taken with the 35mm, so ask us in a couple of weeks after we get our film developed how those turn out.
After Kelly's tour, we went back
to the hotel and found a place to eat dinner downtown called Cafe Pesto. The smartass guys at
the hotel desk counter told me not many places were open since it was
Jan. 1 when I asked about restaurants. They suggested 7-11 was open.
Ha, ha. They had really good seafood and I had the seafood risotto,
while Kelly had the grilled catch of the day I believe. It was a good
choice. Kelly also had their Mehana
Brewing Company (local brewery) 4 beer sampler and found a beer she
really liked. After eating we went back up to Borders to browse a bit,
then Walmart to get some snacks and water for hiking the next day.
Woke up early on Tuesday and headed up to the park. We hiked in the rain through the lava tube, down into the bottom of one of the craters, across the lava to the petroglyphs, and finally at the end of the road across the lava to the viewing point where the lava flowed into the ocean. Kelly drove and I napped a couple of times on the drive down between hiking stops, but we both took a bit longer nap when we arrived at the end of the road so we wouldn't get sunburned as we hiked across the solid lava, but also so we could hike out to the viewing area just prior to sunset, then hike back with our new headlamps after taking some night photos with the 35mm. Our plan worked well. As I said before, the lava photo isn't all that impressive with the digital, but hopefully some of the 35mm shots will be better.
Kelly on the volcano crater floor Petroglyphs
Lava flowing into the ocean
Woke up early on Tuesday and headed up to the park. We hiked in the rain through the lava tube, down into the bottom of one of the craters, across the lava to the petroglyphs, and finally at the end of the road across the lava to the viewing point where the lava flowed into the ocean. Kelly drove and I napped a couple of times on the drive down between hiking stops, but we both took a bit longer nap when we arrived at the end of the road so we wouldn't get sunburned as we hiked across the solid lava, but also so we could hike out to the viewing area just prior to sunset, then hike back with our new headlamps after taking some night photos with the 35mm. Our plan worked well. As I said before, the lava photo isn't all that impressive with the digital, but hopefully some of the 35mm shots will be better.
Kelly on the volcano crater floor Petroglyphs
Lava flowing into the ocean
It
was getting pretty late when we got back to the car after hiking back
from the viewpoint, especially in the dark (upgrading to the $45
headlamps from REI was a good choice). We decided that the food was so
good the previous night at Cafe Pesto that we had picked up a carry out
menu so we could order pizza for carryout. They were supposed to close
at 9pm, so we hurried back up the volcano road to the visitor's center,
then back down to Hilo (almost 60 miles total) and placed our order on
the way down. We even had time to stop by Starbucks for coffee and
dessert on the way back. The pizza WAS as good as we had expected and
we spent the rest of the evening eating pizza and watching poker on
ESPN. We had picked up a 6-pack of the Humpback Blue beer, but didn't
have a bottle opener, so Kelly couldn't have beer with her pizza, but
that left more to take home and share with Jason and Ellen.
Wednesday morning we flew back to Kahalui where we were meeting just my parents, Matt, and Tymbre for lunch at Mama's Fish House. This is Kelly's favorite restaurant anywhere, even though we've only been there twice now. They consistantly have the freshest and best tasting seafood (the menu even tells you the name of the fisherman who caught what you're eating). It was nice to have just the 6 of us at lunch. Kelly and I had arrived early and sat on the lawn overlooking the beach and the surf coming in while we waited. We had a nice time with everyone. After lunch Kelly and I went up the road a bit to watch some of the surfers on the North Shore hangout before heading back towards the same condo we stayed at the previous week. On the way we stopped at Samsonite and picked up a smaller rolling duffle to hold the extra items we had purchased and would have surely put us over the luggage weight limit going home. The bag we found is nice because it will replace the bag I currently use for my biking gear which is torn. We also stopped by Borders and picked up some magazines for the flight home. After getting back to the condo we watched LSU dismantle Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl while I repacked some of our luggage, then we all played poker before my parents went to a different hotel down the road where Kelly and I were originally were going to stay, but my parents wanted to compare to their timeshare to see if they were getting the most of their investment. After they left the rest of us finished playing poker and I ended up winning again (3 for 3), although it got a bit out of hand with betting and type of play since the 'rebuy' of this freeroll was a matter of grabbing stacks of chips from the bag, which wasn't really what would happen in normal play, although I didn't get taken out and only got a small donation of extra chips when I whined and Kelly gave me some of the freebies she pulled out of the bag.
Thursday morning I finished packing our bags while Kelly and Matt went down to the pool to get some more sun. Tymbre was doing some work on the computer and I read for a bit on the balcony because it was in the shade. My parents arrived and went down to the pool with all the others, but it wasn't too long before they all came back up because it was getting cloudy and windy. We ate leftovers for lunch in the room, then Kelly and I headed towards the airport with one last stop for Macadamia Nuts and Kona Coffee gifts at the local ABC Store.
It was a great vacation, and I'm really not looking forward to going back to work. It's good to be home though and the girls are quite happy to see us. Oh, and since I'm finishing this late Sat. night/early Sun. morning, we spent the rest of Saturday grocery shopping, watching football playoffs, and playing poker, where I ended up coming in second place.
Wednesday morning we flew back to Kahalui where we were meeting just my parents, Matt, and Tymbre for lunch at Mama's Fish House. This is Kelly's favorite restaurant anywhere, even though we've only been there twice now. They consistantly have the freshest and best tasting seafood (the menu even tells you the name of the fisherman who caught what you're eating). It was nice to have just the 6 of us at lunch. Kelly and I had arrived early and sat on the lawn overlooking the beach and the surf coming in while we waited. We had a nice time with everyone. After lunch Kelly and I went up the road a bit to watch some of the surfers on the North Shore hangout before heading back towards the same condo we stayed at the previous week. On the way we stopped at Samsonite and picked up a smaller rolling duffle to hold the extra items we had purchased and would have surely put us over the luggage weight limit going home. The bag we found is nice because it will replace the bag I currently use for my biking gear which is torn. We also stopped by Borders and picked up some magazines for the flight home. After getting back to the condo we watched LSU dismantle Notre Dame in the Sugar Bowl while I repacked some of our luggage, then we all played poker before my parents went to a different hotel down the road where Kelly and I were originally were going to stay, but my parents wanted to compare to their timeshare to see if they were getting the most of their investment. After they left the rest of us finished playing poker and I ended up winning again (3 for 3), although it got a bit out of hand with betting and type of play since the 'rebuy' of this freeroll was a matter of grabbing stacks of chips from the bag, which wasn't really what would happen in normal play, although I didn't get taken out and only got a small donation of extra chips when I whined and Kelly gave me some of the freebies she pulled out of the bag.
Thursday morning I finished packing our bags while Kelly and Matt went down to the pool to get some more sun. Tymbre was doing some work on the computer and I read for a bit on the balcony because it was in the shade. My parents arrived and went down to the pool with all the others, but it wasn't too long before they all came back up because it was getting cloudy and windy. We ate leftovers for lunch in the room, then Kelly and I headed towards the airport with one last stop for Macadamia Nuts and Kona Coffee gifts at the local ABC Store.
It was a great vacation, and I'm really not looking forward to going back to work. It's good to be home though and the girls are quite happy to see us. Oh, and since I'm finishing this late Sat. night/early Sun. morning, we spent the rest of Saturday grocery shopping, watching football playoffs, and playing poker, where I ended up coming in second place.