Kona, Hawaii 2019

WOWeeeeee..  Celebrating our 55th Anniversary in Kona for a month plus !!! We started by going to the Red Lion on 82nd St off Airport Drive for the night before our flight.  Shouldn't really say "for the night" as we had to get up about 3:15am to catch the shuttle for our flight at 6:00am on Halloween, October 31st.  We worried when we didn't have to about getting to the airport on time as there were barely any lines!!  It all went very smoothly.

We were lucky and flew first class with our air miles. It has it's perks!!

Had no idea that we would fly over Crater Lake, thought we would go straight south, however, maybe from this high up you really do see forever !! These are amazing to me ! 

More pics from the plane, the farm land, all the way south was amazing to see from the sky!!  Was really beautiful to see so much out there!!

 and, of course, the mountains were spectacular too !!

Clouds from the top!!

We didn't know until a couple days before our flight that we had a two hour layover in Sacramento. Even said that we didn't have to get off the plane....  wrong, even had to take all our carry on stuff off the plane and wait.  A little disappointing but we got to Kona safe and sound and that is what matters!!

Our condo at Kona Isle is amazing and has exactly the views as advertised..  Beautiful ocean and sunsets. Would recommend renting directly from this owner to anyone wanting to stay in Kona.

What more can you ask for???  oh yeah, it's not Hawaii without the resident geckos...  LOL  LOL  You find them everywhere !!

ok, time for a drink!!

We installed the app called Gypsy Guide for the Big Island of Hawaii on my cell phone. The best $10 purchase in a long time.  It is a step by step verbal guide using your GPS.  It knows where you are and as long as you stay on main roads it will narrate your way.  Even knows if parking will be a problem.  Very cool.  We started out the driveway of the condo heading south.  The first place it tells us to stop is The Little Blue Church.  It also tells us that the snorkeling is really great on the right side of the church.  

We were heading to breakfast at a place that Ron & Kathy Acker from Fantasy RV Tours told us about in the Captain Cook area.  

 The views were much better than the food for us !!  With breakfast and one slice of coconut pie to go our bill was almost $50.  Probably won't go back...  The view is looking down at the underwater State Park at the Captain Cook monument ....

We then proceeded further south to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park, also known as The Place of Refuge, a very sacred place for Hawaiians.  These goats were just loose, look like domestic goats but no homes around soooooo...... They were just across the street from the Visitor's Center park of the park.  We understand that the island has thousands of wild goats as well as pigs and some chickens.  Fun to see.

The yellow tang were so big and there were so many, amazing !!  Since this is in the Refuge, no snorkeling is allowed. 

This wall has no motar, perfectly placed rocks !!  Amazing ! !  It is huge.

A snorkel boat pulled in just as we were about to leave.  Can't wait to go back when Gary and Seth are here and maybe again with Byron and Marcia.  This is the famous Honaunau beach or maybe better known as Two Step. 

Then we had to get the family tradition, Scandinavian Shave Ice.  Thanks to Karen and Casey for introducing us to it...

Ken and I went to Kona Brewing Company for the pizza.  Heard it was the best on the island!!  Was very good ! !

Then the sunsets again.  So hard to keep watching !!  LOL  LOL  LOL

Random kayaks going by...

DeWilde sent us a picture to show us that Mandy was doing fine with her while Gary was in Kona with us.

Gary and Seth came in on November 5th but on different flights.  Seth actually missed his flight from Honolulu and was a few hours late and so happy to finally be in Kona !!  So excited to share the island with these guys !!

Saw dolphins from the lanai..  hard to see as they were not really jumping but fun to see them.

 At the edge of our lawn area!!  Just from pieces of coral.  Very cool ! !

Then took Gary and Seth back because it is such a unique place with a lot of Hawaiian history.  The loved it!!

On the 8th we went to the Octopus Research Center.  They have only been open three years and have a lot to learn still.  Each female lays up to approximately 400,000 larvae one time in her life. Males only live about 1.5 years and females only 2-3 years  The Research Center is focusing on figuring out how to keep the larvae alive as right now they loose approximately 90%. They are working on growing plankton that will sustain them.  Very interesting. 

 Crazy boys !!

 They only came out when they were fed. Lunch was frozen crab ! !

On November 10th we went over to the Hilo area to Botanical World Adventures to ride Segways. We drove over on the Saddle Road and did the hour tour. We wished we had done the longer one but, oh well, it was great.  Took a few minutes to get used to the Segway but we became very comfortable. Of course Gary and Seth adapted very quickly and Ken was the first to fall off !!  LOL

The guide was great. He took us through an orchard and picked every type of Hawaiian fruit for tasting !!  Was really fun after we got used to the ride !!  LOL

 Our guide stopped at every edible tree or bush and gave us samples to try, starfruit, papaya, tangerines and several others.  Even gave us some avocados to take home.

This is called rainbow eucalyptus. Never have seen it before..

Not sure if this video will work in the blog but am trying !!

After the Segway ride we drove back into Hilo, about 16 miles, and had lunch at a place our guide said was his favorite place, Hawaiian Style Cafe. Good food and filled with locals too.  

Then we drove the coastal route back to Kona.  We stopped at Waipi'o Valley overlook on the way back..  We were listening to the Gypsy Guide all the way and they suggested to NOT go down in the valley as the one lane road is up to 25% grade going down and then back up the only access road.  WOW !!  Looked at it and it looked really steep.  The view is amazing again !!  I think that Gypsy Guide said it was 2,000 foot drop.

These dolphin pics are just random morning swimming by. We were told that they eat and swim all night and this dolphin "train" that we see is when they are asleep and heading back to the bay.  Sure don't seem asleep to me!!

Ken caught us on the first Dolphin trip, as we passed the condo.  His new camera lens was worth this shot !!

The boys are off on the Dolphin Tour again since we didn't see dolphins the first time, we could go a second time for free.  They also have tattoo appointments this afternoon to get matching tattoos of flowers and turtles.  Can't wait to see them.  Also, never enough sunset pictures ! !

Here are the matching tattoo's.  The red is blood that will disappear as they heal. Can't wait to see them when we get home, plumeria, hibiscus and a turtle!!  Pretty much says Hawaii ! ! 

Gary and Seth left in the morning and Byron and Marcia came in about 8:30 that same night !!   Again, never too many sunset pictures !!

We went to our very first Luau on the 14th. Was at the Marriott Hotel, they did an amazing job!!  Really like this picture of us!!  Marcia and I bought dresses just for the occasion !!

This is the emu when the pig is roasted all day

The king and his court arrive by boat

The dancing was really good and represented all of Polynesia, all the islands including New Zealand, Figi, Hawaii.  The dancers changed costumes quite a few times. Was very educational and fun to watch.

Took Byron and Marcia out to the Place of Refuge

Cruise ship cruising by, they usually are pulling out of the Kona Harbor about 5:00pm, before dark and several times a week. Not sure this one was even docked here.

November 16th, and it would have been my dad's 105th birthday. He was really in my thoughts all day..   We went to dinner at Pancho and Lefty's

Storms at night lately. Just the way I like it, great during the day, rain at night !!

 You really can't see them very well but there were lots of dolphins swimming by this day.  They were really jumping but my phone camera just doesn't catch them very well but Ken's got amazing pics!!

 Can't skip the beautiful sunset !!

We spent a ten hour day driving around the island, this is the black sand beach near South Point. We stopped at both places.  Lot of green sea turtles at Black Sand Beach, not only up on the sand but you could see them riding the waves.

We then went to Volcano's National Park.  The caldera is just steaming now, no active lava for about the last year and a half.

 This is a different area, can't remember the name.  LOL

Today, November 20th we took our first glass bottom boat tour.  We boarded at the Kona Harbor and went just outside the mouth over a reef.  Could have snorkeled this far but it was still pretty cool...  Was better than my phone camera caught for sure.  You can see some of the dying coral which the guide said is due to the ocean temperature rising.   Ooops, didn't get a picture of us with my phone...  LOL

Took a day trip up the north Kohola Coast to Hawi and Waimea.  Another fun day.. however, the windiest area we have visited yet..

 We did see lots of goats all in one place and a couple of little pigs but went by them too fast to get any pictures.  We understand that they are prevalent in the hills..

Stopped for a rest and we had a small visitor !! 

Finally found "turtle beach"..  It's at a National Historical site, none were out sunning but lots in the protected bay

Lunch in Waimea at Merriman's.  Highly rated restaurant on the island.  Good food and really high prices ..   LOL  LOL

Then on to Anna Ranch.  What a disappointment, finally got there on a day and time they were open but now we find that they only do two tours a day and they charge $$ for a pretty small house.  We decide that instead of waiting over an hour we would check out the Parker Ranch...  They more than made up for the disappointment of the "other" place...   First, they are totally free and it is huge, incredible place.  The pictures do not do it justice.  

My sister, Jennifer, and I grew up sleeping, together, in a bed very similar to this, just not has high a head board.  Story is that is came from our Gramma Dorothy Wilcox. We understood that she was related, somehow, to the Kamehameha family and knew that Hawaii was always a very special place to her.  We understood that this bed came from the "family".  Not sure how that worked and I have been sorry, for a long time, that I did not take the bed when it was offered to me.  I guess it was the bad memories...  but still sorry.  

 You do see a lot of "wild" chickens in Hawaii.  This was funny as they came running after a car and when they couldn't catch up with it, they just rested under the table for a while.

 This is the entrance to the Paniolo, which means Cowboy, Museum.  Very interesting with both the male and female "stars" honored.  It was fun to see all the awards won at Cheyenne Frontier Days, a place we went this past summer. Amazing to see that the cowboys would travel so far to compete and see how important Cheyenne is in this history. 

So sorry that Byron and Marcia had to go back home on November 27th.  The country had huge snow storms the day before and so their 11:00am flight got delayed and delayed.  Finally left around 7pm but they got in so late in Portland that the Groome Shuttle wasn't running so they had to wait until 4:30am.  Oh my gosh...  What a long day for them.  The delays were all about half an hour or an hour so we couldn't go pick them up...  We sure hope that we are luckier next Monday as we have the same flight time.  

We have just kicked back for a few days, went back to Turtle Beach but only saw one turtle.  Hung around for a while and then came back to the condo and swam in the pool again.

Our last full day we are scheduled with Fair Winds Cruises for and 4.5 hour day that will include breakfast, snorkeling again at Captain Cook Bay, BBQ lunch. This time the snorkeling will be about two hours so I am excited.  They also provide floating devices and say that they have the boards with the magnifying glass so hopefully Ken will feel safe.  Need to use up Gary's underwater cameras too.  We hope to get some great shots for him.  

The islands have beautiful flowers everywhere, wish we had gotten some of them along the highways...  these are just in the condo complex.  enjoy!!

 Hibiscus and plumeria are everywhere!!

Home sweet home on December 2nd, got a pedicure and grocery shopped, loaded the RV and headed south on December 4th.  First stop Las Vegas for Fantasy RV Tours Advanced Training. ! ! !