Hawaii RE-VISITED

Ryan and I were fortunate enough to head to Hawaii again. The kids stayed home with Auntie Gaby and Uncle Kent...(THANK YOU!!!). Ryan had a dental course he attended in the mornings while I headed to the gym and the pool at the resort we stayed in.

Our second day there we took the long drive along the coast to the Volcano. Three hours later! we were enjoyed hiking and driving around the huge national park. Unfortunately, the lava flow stopped two weeks ago.

Ryan's favorite part of the trip was driving back on the 200 or Old Saddle Road through the middle of the island. That road is nuts!

Ryan checks out a rift in the earth.

The mouth of a lava tube that we went through. Yes, I have my usual demon eyes.
Ryan enjoying the warmth of the steam vents.
The volcano is still active and filling again with lava. Half of the park... the half that the noxious gases from the volcano was blowing over... was closed.

This was one of my favorite days. We drove to the end of the road up the north part of the island over looking Pololu Valley. The cliffs were impressive, the valley enchanting and the black sand beach magical.
It's hard to remember a time when we could just sit on the beach and READ!!! Loved that.

This is the view from our bedroom balcony widow at the resort we stayed at.

Ryan sipping a pina colada at Prince Hapuna Resort. One of our favorite beaches. Just off the point we saw whales playing in the water. One huge hunchback breached out of the water, splashed down and flipped his tail out. Just for us!!! I wished we had brought our good camera so we could have taken a few shots of the whales.
Our ride...

I must admit I am not a fan. After driving our Honda driving this was like playing with a toy from Dollarama rather than a toy from Toys 'r Us. JUNK in my opinion.

The west side of the island is absolutely barren! It felt more like we were in Arizona after a huge earthquake dropped California into the ocean.

They have built resorts all along the shore line by pulverizing the lava, adding nutrients of some kind and then created these lovely oasis's amidst the desert. The best part is it's always hot and sunny.

All along the highway are these signs to watch for donkeys!?! I didn't see a single donkey. Maybe because too may people didn't obey the sign? :) There are tons of wild turkeys, cats and goats running around though.

This is the first time I've been away from all my kids. EVER! And the first time I've been away from Joe and Edwin for more than a night or two. I missed them every second. But it was good for me and them. We were so lucky the kids could stay with family where they are loved and have so much fun.

The big island has quite the history with Tsunami's. Hence, most of the cities and roads are built a ways away from the ocean. Anytime you ventured toward the ocean you saw this sign. Note the little man running toward the tsunami.
Upon returning to higher ground you were greeted with this sign. The little man is quickly retreated from the dangerous wave. :)

We stopped by the beautiful Kona Temple.
Then spent some time in the city with the locals.... and eating at Bubba Gump's.

Our last morning there we took a tour into the jungle on ATV's. It was a blast.
They took us up to two different waterfalls


and we returned throughly dirty!!

All in all it was a fantastic trip. The course Ryan attended may be meeting up again in summer 2011 in GREECE. Mark it on your calendar our fellow dentists and wives.