On to Kona

On Wednesday the 31st, we said goodbye to Mom at the airport in Kauai, and got on a flight to Kona, on the Big Island.  We had a short layover in Honolulu, but the trip was a short one.  

 We were at the condo by 4pm and had some time to relax and stock the fridge before dinner.  We stayed in  a 2 bedroom oceanfront condo with a loft at the Outrigger Kanaloa at Kona resort.  It was wonderful, and I would definitely go back.  Below is the view from our lanai (balcony), which is where Mario, Michael, and I worked for the week.

On Thursday Genny and I went on a snorkeling trip.  It left from a bay that was just a short walk away.  We had a great time, saw lots of fish, and even a couple of schools of dolphins!  The catamaran had two 15' slides that you could go down and drop about 25' into the water.  Genny really liked that, but we were both a bit too uneasy to jump off the platform that was about 40' from the water.  There were a bunch of other kids there, who obviously didn't understand how scary it was!!  They kept doing back flips off the platform...crazy kids!

We went to a Luau on Friday evening at a hotel that was close by.  They roasted a pig underground, and we got to watch the ceremony of them unearthing it.  Very cool.    

 After dinner was the show, and I guess the amount they must have to rehearse the hula dancing is plenty to keep their abs in great shape! I wonder if there's a hula class in Pennsylvania??

On Saturday we took a drive around the island.  It was an all day trip, covering more than 200 miles.  We started with a trip to one of the many Kona coffee factories.  Then continued south to a black sand beach.  

Our next stop was to the top of Kilauea volcano!  It was really cool to see the steam pouring out.  Apparently at night it glows red, a reflection of the magma that was too far down for us to see.  While in Volcanoes National Park we also got to walk through a lava tube.  This is where the lava flows when it's coming down the mountain.  As the outside begins to cool, the hot lave still inside continues to flow out, leaving just the shell.  It was a bit eerie walking through it!Then on to the Mauna Loa macadamia nut farm, now owned by Hershey.  They had a Do It Yourself walk around tour to see the process of claiming, cleaning, and packaging the nuts.  Apparently the shells are so hard, they used to drive over them to break them open!  This is where we found the Macadamia Kisses!  Only available in Hawaii...too bad, I'm almost out!

 On Sunday, our last day, we took a little time to do a little more boogie boarding.  This was White Sands Beach, a great little spot with the bluest water, and some great surf.   Michael, Genny, and I had a lot of fun.  Unfortunately now our Hawaii trip had come to an end.  It was really sad leaving, I think we all would have loved a few more weeks (!).  I think I may a found a spot worth moving to.