I thought it would be a fun to create an A-Z list of our vacation. Some letters have more than others for obvious reasons. The items are in no specific order, just the order that they came to my head. :)
A: Asians; airplanes; anemones; ABC Stores; aquarium; Advil; animation; arches
B: beaches; bald eagles; blue oceans; Borders; Big Island; blogging; Band Slam; brainless birds; baseball; bowling; billiards
C: coral; cacti; chickens; cliffs; cookies; crabs; constellations; centipede; convertibles; clams
D: dragon teeth rocks; driving; dancing
E: endangered; entertainment; excitement; eel; expensive; Ender’s Game
F: fish; ferns; Ford Focus; Ford Mustang; fish tacos; Forks; farmers’ market; flip-flops; ferry
G: grey oceans; goofy signs; gun ranges; graveyards; grocery stores
H: hiking; Honolulu; hula; Hard Rock Café; Hawaii; How to Train Your Dragon; Ha Breath of Life; Hilo; Haagen Dazs
I: islands; ice cream; illegal maneuvers; iPod; itinerary
J: Jack-in-the-Box; Janae; jellyfish; Jeep
K: Kailua-Kona, Keauhou, Kimo’s, Kobe Steakhouse; Kamehameha; Killers; Kona Brewing Co.; king beds
L: lava rock; lava tube; Lahaina; laptop; luau; laundry; Lanai; Laie; lizards; lobster
M: Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder; moss; maps; Mariners; Maui; movies; miniature golf; Mauna Kea; Miyazaki; mosquitos
N: nachos; night sky; neon colors; new experiences; Nintendo DS
O: Oahu; octopus; observatories
P: pizza; palm trees; Prince of Persia; postcards; Pizza Hut buffet; Pearl Harbor; pools; Polynesian Cultural Center
Q: queen beds; QEIBAS; Qdoba
R: rain; Robin Hood; rainforests; risk; rainbow
S: sea stars; snorkeling; steam vents; sunsets; Seattle; sunburns; swimming; sea slugs, sea cucumbers; stars; The Shack; stingray; Sandy Beach; sand
T: turtles; teriyaki; Taking Pelham 123; Thai food; trees; trumpet fish; t-shirts; temple; treaty line; tsunami evacuation routes
U: u-turns; unicorn fish
V: valet; virgin lime daiquiris; volcanoes; Vampire Diaries
W: waves; Waikiki; Washington; walking; wet; waterfalls
X: x-ray machines
Y: yellow bumble bee pants; yearning for my cats
Z: ziplining; zzzzz's
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Day 19: Back to the Mainland
We woke up early and packed for the last time. Yay! By this point I was so tired of packing. We drove to Pearl Harbor and spent about…10 minutes there. Haha. We wanted to spend more time, but we had to catch a plane.
We headed to the airport and waited patiently for our plane. We boarded and we were off for the mainland. Nephi and I rented a digital player that had a bunch of movies loaded on it. We watched It’s Complicated, which was fine—not great, not bad. Then we watched half of Percy Jackson. I had seen it in the theaters, but Nephi hadn’t. He wasn’t impressed (nor was I when I first saw it). After 6 hours we made it back to Seattle.
As we waited for our bags, suddenly the carousel stopped functioning. It was apparently broken. We ended up waiting about another 30 minutes before it got fixed. Finally we got our bags and called the hotel to send the shuttle. An hour later…the shuttle arrived. That was pretty annoying, but oh well. We made it to our very ghetto hotel at about 11 pm. The neighborhood was very scary so we decided to order pizza for dinner.
We headed to the airport and waited patiently for our plane. We boarded and we were off for the mainland. Nephi and I rented a digital player that had a bunch of movies loaded on it. We watched It’s Complicated, which was fine—not great, not bad. Then we watched half of Percy Jackson. I had seen it in the theaters, but Nephi hadn’t. He wasn’t impressed (nor was I when I first saw it). After 6 hours we made it back to Seattle.
As we waited for our bags, suddenly the carousel stopped functioning. It was apparently broken. We ended up waiting about another 30 minutes before it got fixed. Finally we got our bags and called the hotel to send the shuttle. An hour later…the shuttle arrived. That was pretty annoying, but oh well. We made it to our very ghetto hotel at about 11 pm. The neighborhood was very scary so we decided to order pizza for dinner.
Day 18: Wicked Waves
Nephi woke up feeling worse than the day before, so we nixed our plans to go to Pearl Harbor. Instead we decided to just head to the beach (not that he was really feeling up to that either). After some brief internet research, I found a beach with waves called Sandy Beach. We headed that way (stopped at a Jack-in-the-Box where EVERY customer was a senior citizen of Asian descent), and were pretty excited for the beach. The waves were awesome and the beach itself was not very busy. We lied out, enjoying the sun and breeze. Finally I decided to venture into the water. The waves were super intense. Even though the water was only up to my mid-shin, it totally pulled me on my butt. It was cool…I had no one to impress.
It took me about 3 minutes to get over the crazy break (that was SO close to shore) and go for it. After I made it out past the break it was really nice just hanging in the waves. I did some pretty basic body surfing and had some fun. I headed back and after I dried off I decided to put Nephi out of his misery and take him back to the hotel. We chilled in the hotel for a few hours.
We headed to dinner at Dave and Busters. Nephi got Mac and Cheese (and said it was better than Hard Rock Café’s) and I got chicken fingers. After dinner we played some arcade games. We snuck in some Haagen Dazs (since Utah doesn’t have any stores) and went to bed.
It took me about 3 minutes to get over the crazy break (that was SO close to shore) and go for it. After I made it out past the break it was really nice just hanging in the waves. I did some pretty basic body surfing and had some fun. I headed back and after I dried off I decided to put Nephi out of his misery and take him back to the hotel. We chilled in the hotel for a few hours.
We headed to dinner at Dave and Busters. Nephi got Mac and Cheese (and said it was better than Hard Rock Café’s) and I got chicken fingers. After dinner we played some arcade games. We snuck in some Haagen Dazs (since Utah doesn’t have any stores) and went to bed.
Day 17: Foundering in Honolulu
We started our 17th day by sleeping in a bit. We got ready for the day and made our way back toward Koko Head because we needed to return our SD card (as it apparently wasn’t going to work with our camera). The day before we had seen that there was a Kona Brewing Company right by Radioshack, so we figured we might as well. It was yummy, as always. After we ate and exchanged our SD card for one that would work, we headed to the Waikiki Aquarium.
We decided to take the scenic route which took us around Diamond Head. It was nice…though nothing TOO special. We made it to the aquarium and found a parking space (Hallelujah!). The aquarium was pretty small, but cool. My favorite things that we saw were a really cool octopus, a GIANT clam, and a spotted (and very friendly) stingray.
Unfortunately Nephi started not feeling very well this day and was really tired by this point. We headed to the hotel and took a much needed nap (well he did). Afterwards, we headed to dinner. I had my hopes on getting Thai in Honolulu and I had looked up the highest rated restaurant. We headed that was and got hopelessly lost. That is a lie. You could never get hopelessly lost with me in the car. No truthfully it was confusing, but we didn’t even take a wrong turn…technically.
We arrived at our destination called Siam Garden Café. I ordered the Pad Thai with chicken, extra hot and Nephi ordered the Pad Kea Mow (or something like that…Drunken Noodles is another name for them), medium. Mine wasn’t very hot nor was it very good. Not horrible, but nowhere in the same universe as Wild Ginger. Our service was atrocious, but I wasn’t in any hurry so it wasn’t a big deal. The entertainment was fun though. They had Thai music videos on the television. They were hilarious. Mostly they involved girls crying…because of lame boys (I think). We really enjoyed that portion of the experience.
On our way home, Nephi ran a red light. To his credit he was turning right and in honesty it was BARELY red, but a policeman saw him and pulled him over. Thankfully he had pity on us in our orange Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder and didn’t give him a ticket. There is an expense we don’t have to worry about.
We dropped off our car and decided to get Haagen Dazs (my current favorite ice cream). It was SOOOO yummy. We walked back to the hotel and tucked in for the evening.
We decided to take the scenic route which took us around Diamond Head. It was nice…though nothing TOO special. We made it to the aquarium and found a parking space (Hallelujah!). The aquarium was pretty small, but cool. My favorite things that we saw were a really cool octopus, a GIANT clam, and a spotted (and very friendly) stingray.
Unfortunately Nephi started not feeling very well this day and was really tired by this point. We headed to the hotel and took a much needed nap (well he did). Afterwards, we headed to dinner. I had my hopes on getting Thai in Honolulu and I had looked up the highest rated restaurant. We headed that was and got hopelessly lost. That is a lie. You could never get hopelessly lost with me in the car. No truthfully it was confusing, but we didn’t even take a wrong turn…technically.
We arrived at our destination called Siam Garden Café. I ordered the Pad Thai with chicken, extra hot and Nephi ordered the Pad Kea Mow (or something like that…Drunken Noodles is another name for them), medium. Mine wasn’t very hot nor was it very good. Not horrible, but nowhere in the same universe as Wild Ginger. Our service was atrocious, but I wasn’t in any hurry so it wasn’t a big deal. The entertainment was fun though. They had Thai music videos on the television. They were hilarious. Mostly they involved girls crying…because of lame boys (I think). We really enjoyed that portion of the experience.
On our way home, Nephi ran a red light. To his credit he was turning right and in honesty it was BARELY red, but a policeman saw him and pulled him over. Thankfully he had pity on us in our orange Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder and didn’t give him a ticket. There is an expense we don’t have to worry about.
We dropped off our car and decided to get Haagen Dazs (my current favorite ice cream). It was SOOOO yummy. We walked back to the hotel and tucked in for the evening.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Day 16: Hula of a Time
Alarm clocks can be annoying when you want to sleep in. Hawaiian signers are in every which way worse when wanting to sleep in. They are loud, obnoxious, and you can’t turn them off with a mere button. We don’t own a gun…so it continues to sing. You may think, well that’s what you get for sleeping in till 12 noon when such singing usually commences. No, this ‘crazy A’ hotel has their singer start at 7:30 in the morning. …of course this means the people who crafted this bright idea must have excellent parking spots wherever they must go cause they be mentally, a no show.
Well we switched rooms that morning. No balcony, no view of the pool, or ocean…which means way less noise, and silly singers. Thank the fluffy things that are blue.
After resituating we left for some lunch. We tracked down ‘The Shack’ for some awesome cheese sticks and seasoned fries. The actual meal was just all right, but the ‘rest of the raunts’ interior and location was pretty epic. You see Brianne and I (yeah, Nephi is writing, could you not tell?) are ‘The Shack’ experts. They only have locations in Hawaii, San Diego, and Littleton, we’ve visited each of them. Perhaps the first of mankind to do such. Eat it Neil Armstrong. …we did.
It was actually somewhat difficult to find the restaurant because the streets here do not display addresses. That’s always a joy. Like Hawaiian singers. Exactly.
After lunch we stopped by the shopping mall from hell. The parking was all compact and everyone had SUVs. We went to Radio Shack to get a new memory card since are current one is full. We also ended up visiting Starbucks, Blockbuster, and Foodland. Guess which actually had a bathroom. Didn’t even have a shower. I know right!
After all this we drove for about an hour to get to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was the opposite of the Hawaiian singer, impressive in simpler words. Nice atmosphere, nice people, very energetic, detailed dances. We saw a canoe pageant, went to a dinner Luao where we met people from ‘Shee-cago’, and honeymooners from Japan. They were nice, the dinner experience was nice. I am nice. Oh yeah, we also went on a tour that showed BYU of Hawaii and the Temple. That was nice too. Like my wife. SAVED!
From there we went to an evening dance show called ‘Breath of Life’. It was surprisingly long, but they did an amazing show. In other words, it was like the muppet show…with less puppets. Yeah, mind blowing.
I also bought a shirt featuring the character from the animation segments presented throughout the show. The animation was done by one of my animation professors, so that was cool. Like ice ‘ya all!
We then left for home…or at least tried. For some reason the latch on the convertible top had gotten stuck. It took us a good 10 or 15 minutes to finally figure out how to fix it. The struggle is best described as playing Tetris, holding the old-school cabbage green screened GameBoy upside down. Bri apparently is really good at playing Tetris in an upside down fashion. Who knew.
We made it home, we went to bed. Yeah, the end.
Well we switched rooms that morning. No balcony, no view of the pool, or ocean…which means way less noise, and silly singers. Thank the fluffy things that are blue.
After resituating we left for some lunch. We tracked down ‘The Shack’ for some awesome cheese sticks and seasoned fries. The actual meal was just all right, but the ‘rest of the raunts’ interior and location was pretty epic. You see Brianne and I (yeah, Nephi is writing, could you not tell?) are ‘The Shack’ experts. They only have locations in Hawaii, San Diego, and Littleton, we’ve visited each of them. Perhaps the first of mankind to do such. Eat it Neil Armstrong. …we did.
It was actually somewhat difficult to find the restaurant because the streets here do not display addresses. That’s always a joy. Like Hawaiian singers. Exactly.
After lunch we stopped by the shopping mall from hell. The parking was all compact and everyone had SUVs. We went to Radio Shack to get a new memory card since are current one is full. We also ended up visiting Starbucks, Blockbuster, and Foodland. Guess which actually had a bathroom. Didn’t even have a shower. I know right!
After all this we drove for about an hour to get to the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was the opposite of the Hawaiian singer, impressive in simpler words. Nice atmosphere, nice people, very energetic, detailed dances. We saw a canoe pageant, went to a dinner Luao where we met people from ‘Shee-cago’, and honeymooners from Japan. They were nice, the dinner experience was nice. I am nice. Oh yeah, we also went on a tour that showed BYU of Hawaii and the Temple. That was nice too. Like my wife. SAVED!
From there we went to an evening dance show called ‘Breath of Life’. It was surprisingly long, but they did an amazing show. In other words, it was like the muppet show…with less puppets. Yeah, mind blowing.
I also bought a shirt featuring the character from the animation segments presented throughout the show. The animation was done by one of my animation professors, so that was cool. Like ice ‘ya all!
We then left for home…or at least tried. For some reason the latch on the convertible top had gotten stuck. It took us a good 10 or 15 minutes to finally figure out how to fix it. The struggle is best described as playing Tetris, holding the old-school cabbage green screened GameBoy upside down. Bri apparently is really good at playing Tetris in an upside down fashion. Who knew.
We made it home, we went to bed. Yeah, the end.
Day 15: Close Calls
We had heard that the breakfast at our hotel was super good. We got up and headed down. It was only okay. The potatoes were old tasting…and other than that, what is good about breakfast? The pancakes were pretty good I guess. Our hotel was right on the water and we really wanted to check out the tide pools so we ventured out. We saw a turtle, but he was being lazy and not really moving much.
When we got back to our room we only had 30 minutes to pack. We packed as quickly as possible. It is getting more and more difficult to do so because we keep buying clothes and gifts and such.
We were running behind on our way to the airport. We finally made it to Enterprise, dropped off our car, and hopped on the shuttle to the airport. At the first stop a man left his sweatshirt. I felt bad for him, so I chased him down. He was very grateful. At our stop, I left my backpack. The shuttle man caught up with me and said, “I don’t chase people, but since you did a good deed, I do a good deed for you.” I thought that was nice.
We had another short flight to Honolulu. Again, we upgraded our car to a orange Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder. It is a fun little convertible. We drove on our first real highway in Hawaii and made it to our hotel, which is right on Waikiki Beach. When we drove up, we realized it was a valet parking deal. I was stressing because when I booked this hotel it said parking was free. The valet guy was super rude and refused to speak in full sentences. I was already cranky so it was pissing me off that he kept saying things like: “No items in car!” “$30 a day!” “Car damaged!” I don’t know what the heck you are saying dude…and you are making me angry. I decided to just get away from him and figure it out later. We checked in and learned that the travel agency we booked through pays for the parking, so that made me feel better.
We settled and then headed out to some Anime/Manga/Comic stores that Nephi really wanted to go to. They were pretty intense. I felt like a complete nerd (and we were the only non-Asian people in the stores). Anyway, it was slightly fun. Then we headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately for us…there was a parade on the street our hotel is on. It was nearly impossible to get there, but eventually we decided to go the wrong way on a one way street. It all worked out.
We walked down to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. We had eaten there in Vegas and enjoyed their nachos. We got the Volcano Nachos again and some Boneless Buffalo Wings. They were really good too. I got a virgin lime daiquiri (my favorite). On the way back we stopped in at some art shops. I fell in love with this artist Heather Brown. Look her up. We also stopped at 10 ABC stores in search of Code Red. Again… no luck.
When we got back to our room we only had 30 minutes to pack. We packed as quickly as possible. It is getting more and more difficult to do so because we keep buying clothes and gifts and such.
We were running behind on our way to the airport. We finally made it to Enterprise, dropped off our car, and hopped on the shuttle to the airport. At the first stop a man left his sweatshirt. I felt bad for him, so I chased him down. He was very grateful. At our stop, I left my backpack. The shuttle man caught up with me and said, “I don’t chase people, but since you did a good deed, I do a good deed for you.” I thought that was nice.
We had another short flight to Honolulu. Again, we upgraded our car to a orange Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder. It is a fun little convertible. We drove on our first real highway in Hawaii and made it to our hotel, which is right on Waikiki Beach. When we drove up, we realized it was a valet parking deal. I was stressing because when I booked this hotel it said parking was free. The valet guy was super rude and refused to speak in full sentences. I was already cranky so it was pissing me off that he kept saying things like: “No items in car!” “$30 a day!” “Car damaged!” I don’t know what the heck you are saying dude…and you are making me angry. I decided to just get away from him and figure it out later. We checked in and learned that the travel agency we booked through pays for the parking, so that made me feel better.
We settled and then headed out to some Anime/Manga/Comic stores that Nephi really wanted to go to. They were pretty intense. I felt like a complete nerd (and we were the only non-Asian people in the stores). Anyway, it was slightly fun. Then we headed back to the hotel. Unfortunately for us…there was a parade on the street our hotel is on. It was nearly impossible to get there, but eventually we decided to go the wrong way on a one way street. It all worked out.
We walked down to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville. We had eaten there in Vegas and enjoyed their nachos. We got the Volcano Nachos again and some Boneless Buffalo Wings. They were really good too. I got a virgin lime daiquiri (my favorite). On the way back we stopped in at some art shops. I fell in love with this artist Heather Brown. Look her up. We also stopped at 10 ABC stores in search of Code Red. Again… no luck.
Day 14: Starlight, Starbright
We woke up late. We texted Janae and made plans for lunch. We went to Splasher’s Grill. It was decent. The burgers were huge. I got the Chipotle Bacon Burger and Nephi got the Sweet and Sassy Burger. There were flies everywhere and I got tired of defending my food. We stopped back at the farmer’s market for Janae. She bought some gifts for her family, then we headed back to the hotel. Nephi and I went swimming in the pool, while Janae went in the ocean. We quickly showered and then headed up to Mauna Kea.
Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world. I know you are all saying, no Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. Well…you are wrong. Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain above sea level. Mauna Kea is just under 14,000 feet above sea level. However, if you count the part of the mountain that is under the water, down to the Earth’s crust, it is 56,000 feet tall. That is pretty darn tall. Anyway, on the way we stopped at the visitor’s center. Nephi bought a pink shirt. Then we drove on a very scary, 4 wheel drive only road. Janae’s friend, Krystal was driving and thankfully had a Jeep. We watched the sunset which was pretty awesome. Then we headed back down to the visitor’s center and watched a star show. I saw Saturn’s rings through a telescope and I was proud I was able to still identify a bunch of constellations that I learned in astronomy.
We headed down the mountain and Nephi and I got a quick bite at McDonald’s. Then I totally crashed in bed.
Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world. I know you are all saying, no Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world. Well…you are wrong. Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain above sea level. Mauna Kea is just under 14,000 feet above sea level. However, if you count the part of the mountain that is under the water, down to the Earth’s crust, it is 56,000 feet tall. That is pretty darn tall. Anyway, on the way we stopped at the visitor’s center. Nephi bought a pink shirt. Then we drove on a very scary, 4 wheel drive only road. Janae’s friend, Krystal was driving and thankfully had a Jeep. We watched the sunset which was pretty awesome. Then we headed back down to the visitor’s center and watched a star show. I saw Saturn’s rings through a telescope and I was proud I was able to still identify a bunch of constellations that I learned in astronomy.
We headed down the mountain and Nephi and I got a quick bite at McDonald’s. Then I totally crashed in bed.
Day 13: Landscapes
Nephi and I were severely running out of clothes, so I woke up at 5:50, so that I could be at the Laundromat when they opened. We had stopped by the evening before and it was a zoo, so I wanted to beat everyone. I got down there at 6, and started 2 loads (they only had 2 machines). Those were finished in a jiffy, and I put them in the dryer and put one more load in the washer. One of the dryers stopped after about 45 minutes. Those clothes weren’t dry so I paid for another 45 minutes. The other dryer kept going forever. A little after an hour I stopped the dryer that kept going, pulled out the clothes (which were dry), and threw in the clothes that were in the washer. Once the other dryer was finished, Nephi had finally joined me. I had him fold the clothes while I ran up to the room to get ready for the day. When I came back down the final load was done. It was 10 by this point, and we had missed breakfast.
We grabbed Wendy’s really quick and watched some really cool lizards. They were green with red spots on them and they were sooo quick. They would chase each other. It was fun to watch. After that, we stopped by Blockbuster. The employees were lame and ignored me, but I bought The Price is Right for the Nintendo DS.
Finally, we headed north. We had plans to go to Hilo to get my mom her favorite cookies. Along the drive, we saw every landscape imaginable. We saw grasslands (yellow ones), we saw green rolling hills, we saw rocky fields, we saw cacti, and finally we saw rainforest. It was a really cool drive, especially since we had upgraded to a Ford Mustang and had the top down. We got to Hilo, and went to Big Island Candies. We arrived at the same time that a whole tour bus of Asian women arrived. From the store you can see the women working in the factory. We watched some cookies get hand dipped in chocolate and then we proceeded to make our selections. The only problem, there were people everywhere (namely Asian women). Now, I hope I don’t offend anyone…I have nothing against any group of people…and I totally get that it is a cultural thing about space, but these women drove me crazy. They were pushy and loud and yapping away. I couldn’t get anywhere. They were a swarm of frantic shoppers and it was impossible to escape. Finally they started to trickle out and I got the stuff I wanted. Nephi decided to try these pineapple filled shortbread things and caramel/chocolate dipped shortbread cookies. Both were really good. I just got the normal and we bought some gifts for family back home.
After the cookie place, we looked for a fast food restaurant so that Nephi and I could go potty. There was none to be found. Anywhere. Finally we settled on a Borders. We continued our drive, this time down the east side of the island. After a while we made it to Volcanoes National Park. First stop was the steam vents. This is where steam comes out of the ground because rainwater touches the hot rocks underground and turns into steam. Then we went to the Thurston Lava Tube. It was pretty cool. It was essentially a cave that had been created by lava. It had been paved and lit for tourists, but at the end there was this portion that they hadn’t touched that you could explore. Nephi and I didn’t have flashlights, but some nice people offered to take us with them. It was pretty cool. At the end some teenage girls jumped out and tried to scare us. We had seen them so it was pretty lame (they weren’t fully committed either).
Then we drove down Chain of Crater’s Road. Nephi loved it. There are some really cool landscapes and the whole drive is you pretty much driving over dried lava. When we got to the end of the road, we walked about a mile to check out the place where a more recent eruption took out the road. We also checked out this sea arch thing that was pretty cool. The waves were HUGE.
Finally it was time to go. We made our way back to Kailua-Kona in the dark. It was a pretty scary road. When we got back we both wanted something yummy and easy so we went to Kona Brewing Company again. It was just as good a second time. We were completely exhausted so we went home and went to bed.
We grabbed Wendy’s really quick and watched some really cool lizards. They were green with red spots on them and they were sooo quick. They would chase each other. It was fun to watch. After that, we stopped by Blockbuster. The employees were lame and ignored me, but I bought The Price is Right for the Nintendo DS.
Finally, we headed north. We had plans to go to Hilo to get my mom her favorite cookies. Along the drive, we saw every landscape imaginable. We saw grasslands (yellow ones), we saw green rolling hills, we saw rocky fields, we saw cacti, and finally we saw rainforest. It was a really cool drive, especially since we had upgraded to a Ford Mustang and had the top down. We got to Hilo, and went to Big Island Candies. We arrived at the same time that a whole tour bus of Asian women arrived. From the store you can see the women working in the factory. We watched some cookies get hand dipped in chocolate and then we proceeded to make our selections. The only problem, there were people everywhere (namely Asian women). Now, I hope I don’t offend anyone…I have nothing against any group of people…and I totally get that it is a cultural thing about space, but these women drove me crazy. They were pushy and loud and yapping away. I couldn’t get anywhere. They were a swarm of frantic shoppers and it was impossible to escape. Finally they started to trickle out and I got the stuff I wanted. Nephi decided to try these pineapple filled shortbread things and caramel/chocolate dipped shortbread cookies. Both were really good. I just got the normal and we bought some gifts for family back home.
After the cookie place, we looked for a fast food restaurant so that Nephi and I could go potty. There was none to be found. Anywhere. Finally we settled on a Borders. We continued our drive, this time down the east side of the island. After a while we made it to Volcanoes National Park. First stop was the steam vents. This is where steam comes out of the ground because rainwater touches the hot rocks underground and turns into steam. Then we went to the Thurston Lava Tube. It was pretty cool. It was essentially a cave that had been created by lava. It had been paved and lit for tourists, but at the end there was this portion that they hadn’t touched that you could explore. Nephi and I didn’t have flashlights, but some nice people offered to take us with them. It was pretty cool. At the end some teenage girls jumped out and tried to scare us. We had seen them so it was pretty lame (they weren’t fully committed either).
Then we drove down Chain of Crater’s Road. Nephi loved it. There are some really cool landscapes and the whole drive is you pretty much driving over dried lava. When we got to the end of the road, we walked about a mile to check out the place where a more recent eruption took out the road. We also checked out this sea arch thing that was pretty cool. The waves were HUGE.
Finally it was time to go. We made our way back to Kailua-Kona in the dark. It was a pretty scary road. When we got back we both wanted something yummy and easy so we went to Kona Brewing Company again. It was just as good a second time. We were completely exhausted so we went home and went to bed.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Day 12: Aloha Kona
We woke up early so that we could pack. It took awhile to get everything all together. We checked our email and such then headed out. We stopped at Carl's Jr. on the way to the airport. Nephi loves their breakfast and we rarely eat breakfast together so it is a treat. After breakfast we went to Borders so that I could buy the 3rd and 4th books of the Vampire Diaries (I am almost done with the 2nd one), then we dropped off the movies at Blockbuster.
At the airport the lines were long. It is so hot and humid here I get grumpy quickly. I was annoyed by people's stupidity, but I tried to chill. While waiting to board the plane I called Erin (my sister). Erin has been my savior a number of times on this trip. I have called her and she has done internet research to get me places and look up restaurants, etc. I decided I should call her with no favor to ask. It was nice just chatting with her.
Our flight was SOOOO short. We took off, got up to 10,000 feet, then started our descent into Kona. It was nice. Kona is a cool airport completely outside). The Big Island has a very different feel from Maui, but Nephi and I both really like it. It is strangely desolate...but lush. The lava rock is so cool. Plus it is a huge hill so no matter where you are you have a view of the ocean (even walking out of Safeway). Also, because there are no little islands on this side of Hawaii, you can really take in the vastness of the Pacific.
We rented our car from Enterprise (we ditched Dollar), and upgraded to a Mustang. Sweet. I love convertibles. Nephi is excited just to have keyless entry again. We headed to our hotel (Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort), and it is pretty nice. We are on the top floor (7th) and we have a view of the ocean. BEAUTIFUL! I am excited to go check out the tide pools.
I texted Janae to let her know we were in and she asked if we wanted to go to a farmer's market with her. We went to go pick her up and got lost (because half the streets here don't have names...it makes it difficult). Eventually we found here and headed to the waterfront. The farmer's market was cool, and we bought some homemade banana bread.
Janae had to go to some festival, so Nephi and I headed to dinner. I had read about this micro-brewery that had really good pizza, called Kona Brewery. We ordered Pele wings (hot teriyaki wings) and a pizza that had pepperoni, green peppers, and tomatoes. It was ah-mazing! It was so so so so good. I can't remember ever having pizza that good. The sauce was good, the cheese was good, the pepperoni was the best I have ever had. I definitely recommend it if you ever come here.
After dinner we headed to the grocery store in search of (what else?) Mountain Dew Code Red. No luck, but Nephi got some other drinks.
We attempted to go to the laundromat in the hotel, but it was busy so we decided to go in the morning. Now we are vegging.
At the airport the lines were long. It is so hot and humid here I get grumpy quickly. I was annoyed by people's stupidity, but I tried to chill. While waiting to board the plane I called Erin (my sister). Erin has been my savior a number of times on this trip. I have called her and she has done internet research to get me places and look up restaurants, etc. I decided I should call her with no favor to ask. It was nice just chatting with her.
Our flight was SOOOO short. We took off, got up to 10,000 feet, then started our descent into Kona. It was nice. Kona is a cool airport completely outside). The Big Island has a very different feel from Maui, but Nephi and I both really like it. It is strangely desolate...but lush. The lava rock is so cool. Plus it is a huge hill so no matter where you are you have a view of the ocean (even walking out of Safeway). Also, because there are no little islands on this side of Hawaii, you can really take in the vastness of the Pacific.
We rented our car from Enterprise (we ditched Dollar), and upgraded to a Mustang. Sweet. I love convertibles. Nephi is excited just to have keyless entry again. We headed to our hotel (Outrigger Keauhou Beach Resort), and it is pretty nice. We are on the top floor (7th) and we have a view of the ocean. BEAUTIFUL! I am excited to go check out the tide pools.
I texted Janae to let her know we were in and she asked if we wanted to go to a farmer's market with her. We went to go pick her up and got lost (because half the streets here don't have names...it makes it difficult). Eventually we found here and headed to the waterfront. The farmer's market was cool, and we bought some homemade banana bread.
Janae had to go to some festival, so Nephi and I headed to dinner. I had read about this micro-brewery that had really good pizza, called Kona Brewery. We ordered Pele wings (hot teriyaki wings) and a pizza that had pepperoni, green peppers, and tomatoes. It was ah-mazing! It was so so so so good. I can't remember ever having pizza that good. The sauce was good, the cheese was good, the pepperoni was the best I have ever had. I definitely recommend it if you ever come here.
After dinner we headed to the grocery store in search of (what else?) Mountain Dew Code Red. No luck, but Nephi got some other drinks.
We attempted to go to the laundromat in the hotel, but it was busy so we decided to go in the morning. Now we are vegging.
Day 11: Movie Mania
We decided to sleep in a bit. We woke up around 9:00. I had fallen asleep early the night before and missed a television show that I wanted to watch, so we went down to the pool and I watched it online.
We played on the internet for a bit and then we headed to Kahului to go to Jack-in-the-Box (Nephi had spied one). After lunch we went to the theaters and watched Robin Hood. It was alright. A bit slow for my liking, but fine.
We stopped by the local Blockbuster and rented a couple of DVDs (Bandslam and Taking of Pelham 123). We decided to go to a Japanese steak house (one where they cook in front of you and throw stuff at you and such). It was decent, but it was fun because Nephi and I have never been to one together.
On the walk back to the hotel we stopped in this little Vintage Hawaiian shop. It was hip...and expensive. They had some fun stuff to look at though.
When we got back to the hotel we watched our movies. Bandslam was okay. Better than I was expecting (way more depth). Pelham was pretty good...again, better than I was expecting. I really like Denzel Washington and Tony Scott (the director).
Overall it was a pretty chill day.
We played on the internet for a bit and then we headed to Kahului to go to Jack-in-the-Box (Nephi had spied one). After lunch we went to the theaters and watched Robin Hood. It was alright. A bit slow for my liking, but fine.
We stopped by the local Blockbuster and rented a couple of DVDs (Bandslam and Taking of Pelham 123). We decided to go to a Japanese steak house (one where they cook in front of you and throw stuff at you and such). It was decent, but it was fun because Nephi and I have never been to one together.
On the walk back to the hotel we stopped in this little Vintage Hawaiian shop. It was hip...and expensive. They had some fun stuff to look at though.
When we got back to the hotel we watched our movies. Bandslam was okay. Better than I was expecting (way more depth). Pelham was pretty good...again, better than I was expecting. I really like Denzel Washington and Tony Scott (the director).
Overall it was a pretty chill day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
