Spencer Beach

Okay, so this is my third post of the same day.

After the Japanese cemetery we went to more beaches and stumbled upon the nut house. I must have gained five pounds in there tasting all the samples. Yes, we dropped money in there too. Outside, they had all the nut shells and were bulldozing them up into a truck to be hauled off somewhere. We then returned to the NPS heiau site because right next door is a little beach with a haole name, Spencer Beach. THIS is where we swam in the ocean, my great joy! K's family doesn't swim, just me and K, but they all donned suits and enjoyed the beach and a little wading. My MIL was the cutest in her blue suit and blue sun hat. We were all laughing and K couldn't get over how JOYFUL I was to be in the water. He kept saying things like, "Would you calm down?" He mentioned to his mom, "In case you can't tell, Jody's really happy right now." Oh how I love, Love, LOVE swimming in the Hawaiian Pacific. So warm, the water!

Well, all good things must come to an end, so we got out and I headed for the outdoor beach shower to rinse off. Stepped away from the shower and decided to step back in because I hadn't really gotten the sand off my feet. Like a cartoon, my feet began to slide and I slipped in place for a solid five seconds struggling to find a hold until I fell forward on my belly. The whole family was there and they were quite alarmed. Not my best moment. I remained still and assessed myself. Hadn't noticed any snaps, crackles, or pops, so I refused any offers of help and got up. Everything still worked but I have a dandy of a bruise on my left arm. I am so grateful it wasn't worse. I could have knocked teeth out, broken a bone, or landed backward on my head. I could have needed a ride to the ER and I could have really ruined the trip. That will teach them to invite me next time, won't it?

We ate plate lunch for dinner, but the name of the grindz place escapes me. We also had to take our SUV back to the rental car company because there was a very large screw in the tire. We went from a Ford Explorer to an Infinity.

Japanese Cemetery

I mean no disrespect. Most people wouldn't stop at a cemetery while vacationing on the Big Island, but Aunt Judy was with us and she is like the queen of genealogy so she was interested in every single cemetery we drove by...and we drove by this one twice, so yes, we stopped. She remarked as we parked, "I wonder what kind of cemetery this is." I quietly replied, "Pretty sure it's Japanese." How did I know? Because it looks like the graveyards in Japan. I haven't researched it, but I'm thinking the Big Island is a "Japanese" island. Lana'i was a "Pilipino" island and Oahu is a Heinz 57...Niihau is surely Hawaiian...but something tells me Big Island is Japanese. Anyway, what do I know?

The great thing about the Japanese people is their utmost reverence for their ancestors. I mean, they have butsudans in their living rooms (ancestor shrines complete with fruit, rice, and sake, not to mention photos). And you can see that although this cemetery is old and crumbling, it is still well cared for and regarded with highest respect. We had the chance to eat at Teshima's and they sort of had a butsudan in there for Aunty Fumi who died of breast cancer.

Puukohala Heiau National Historic Site

We saw whales! They were really putting on a show just off shore of this NPS site. It was K's first time seeing them and he got a kick out of the whole thing. It's been so long since I've seen whales.

Anyway, there are extra photos posted here beyond the Heiau site, but after stopping at a gas station for "breakfast" (I bought spam musubi and K couldn't believe they sold stuff like that at convenience store), we headed to Puukohala Heiau NHS. The site is reserved for native Hawaiians so we couldn't actually enter the sacred structure, but it was impressive and we enjoyed the trail around the place. We hiked part of the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail down to the water enjoying all sorts of little things. We saw noni trees and another one that has nuts used to make yellow dye (moli?). We drove on to some other beaches (so many beaches) and the surf was really up! The waves were impressive and we saw sea foam green colors as well as azure blues. I could just sit at a beach forever, mesmerized by the wind and the waves and the sun.

We drove up in the high country to the north shore and past cattle ranches. We stopped at little fruit stands for fruit and...ah hem...ice cream.

Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park

What a wonderful day we spent in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park! Oh, you should really go there! We left the hotel at 7:00 a.m. which left us a tad short on shut-eye. First of all...Kilauea. There was no spatter and no lava glow after sunset, but you know what? Just peering into the caldera of an active volcano makes one think. It was impressive and I'm so glad I got to see things and learn things and think things I haven't seen, learned, and thought about prior to this trip.

We walked through the lava tube which reminded me of one of my mission presidents and his son taking me there when I visited while teaching on Lana'i. I tried to contact him and his wife before we left the mainland, but heard nothing back from them, so I'm sad I didn't get to see them this trip, however, it would have been difficult with K's family's agenda. And the fiddleheads! Those are the curled up ferns. Those remind me of the "cinnamon rolls" that I see while snowshoeing. We hiked, I don't know, something like 2.4 miles across pahoehoe lava to see petroglyphs. K was impressed that I started noticing them on my own long before we arrived at the actual site with the boardwalk and waysides featuring them. The Lehua flower is never picked or used in hair or to make leis. It's taboo (kapu). And this was my first time seeing the endangered Hawaiian state bird, the Nene (goose). We had a nice dinner at Volcano House--I ordered the vegetables and they were delicious! We drove the 2.5 hours back to the resort in the dark and rain.

K's mom mentioned a few times on the trip that she wanted to do most of the driving so that we could all be free to look out the window. She wasn't very happy with me when I dozed in the car. First of all, I often doze as a passenger. Second of all, I can't see much with a tall headrest and person sitting in front of me (I'm used to sitting in the front). Additionally, I was exhausted. Jet lag, all the extra work I had to do to prepare for the trip, being kept up until 2:00 a.m. in "my time zone"...I wanted to see everything, but I just. couldn't. keep. my. eyes. open. It wasn't that I wasn't interested. I was...incapable. Sleep deprivation is a serious form of torture. Good sleep, sufficient sleep on the other hand, is true medicine.

Punalu'u Bakery

If you ever go to the Big Island, be sure to stop at the Punalu'u Bakery, our country's southernmost bakery. We actually stopped here on two different adventures. They had fresh malasadas for days. I'm proud to say they were not my temptation. I drew the line after one bite offered to me by my husband. The thing that reeled me in were their SANDWICHES! Oh my goodness, their sandwiches were made on the softest, most delicious, freshest sweet Hawaiian bread evah! Fresh sprouts, little slice of purple onion...seafood salad...perfection. So ono, yeah? I wanted to try their manapua, but never got around to it. Our ranger buddy, Karissa, recommended this place, but K's mom had been there several times and informed us we were stopping whether we wanted to or not--didn't even need to put in a request for that one.

Take note! They are always busy! All day long. Tour bus drivers stop there regularly. They have good restrooms. Prepare to stand in line but know that it's worth it.

Waikoloa Beach Resort (Marriott), Big Island, Hawai'i

We were invited to Hawai'i by K's parents and so we accepted. It's really tough to turn down free airfare (she has frequent flier miles) and a free hotel room at the Marriott (she has hotel points) and a shared rental car (she has rental car points). Never mind that my paycheck is docked for personal leave each and every day I missed, five days, to pay for my substitute and never mind that I spent days (and all day the Saturday prior and until 9:00 p.m. the Monday prior) preparing lesson plans, I'm not one to turn down a trip to the islands. It was actually quite punishing preparing for a long absence from teaching and now I'm being punished with the extra work waiting for me now that I've returned (took me five weeks to catch up from missing a week for Grandpa's funeral, so I'm assuming this will take me about five weeks to recover as well), but in the end, it was worth it! I know this probably makes me sound ungrateful, but let me tell you, my husband did NOTHING for his job in order to go to Hawai'i except say, "I won't be here these five days." No prep in order to be excused and no punishment upon his return. He did not get paid for the days he missed, but his paycheck wasn't docked to pay someone to fill in for him. Stress free, he just walked off and got on a plane. Stress free, he just went back to work and resumed his duties. What would that be like?!?

The resort was very nice and it's a shame we only swam once. They have three pools and a private beach, but we only made it to one pool the night before we left. The bed was comfortable and all that, but we were never really at the resort much because we were out driving around on the island doing lots of fun activities. Some guests never leave the resort. They spend their whole vacation there. I think there must be some happy medium. We used valet parking every single day and boy, that was nice! I think this resort is about twenty miles north of the Kona airport. It's easy to find and all that. I'd be happy to stay there again. No idea what it would really cost if we didn't have my MIL's lovely points.

Our flight from SLC to San Francisco was great. Our flight from San Francisco to Kona was great. We arrived at 8:35 p.m. so it was dark. The runway is a bit short so the pilot put the brakes on immediately. I believe it was the first time I was lifted out of my seat on touchdown...like my body moved forward and my butt rose up out of the seat even though I had my seat belt securely fastened low across my hips. And I love the feeling of stepping off the plane in Hawai'i--warm and humid. You just know right away you're in a wonderful tropical place with adventures to be had! We are so blessed!