Im home!!!!

So I'm home... I had a great time!!! Hawaii was amazing... but I'm certainly glad to be back home with Ben and the girls. ANDDD glad to get laid... I mean... seriously... that many days without sex will kill a person!

Here's my trip report... hope you enjoy!

Day One:

We got up at 3:30 am to head up north to Seattle. Its a 2 hour drive normally but I was afraid we'd hit rush hour so I padded that time. We ended up getting there really early. Ben hung out with me till it was time to head back through security.

When we said bye.. it was really hard... we both were trying very hard not to cry. We haven't spent a night apart in 2 years... so yeah.. it was hard.

We made it quick so we wouldn't break down. As I was standing in line.. I texted him that I already missed him... and my eyes welled up again.

I started reading when I got to the gate. I read Flowers for Algernon (very sad but good book). The flight to Honolulu was 6 hours long. It's the longest flight I've ever been on and boy did I feel it.

About half way through I looked at the time... and was horrified that we weren't close to landing. I managed to finish that book and started reading Twilight (also a good book).

I landed in Honolulu at 12:30 (their time.. we were 3 hours behind home). It was muggy... and very warm. I had a 6 hour layover there. I checked my bag into the interisland flight and went to find something to eat. I read and listened to music till it was time to fly out again.

I made it into Kona at 8:30. Toler and Greg picked me up and we headed to the condo. I showered when I got there then we hung out on the balcony and watched some tv till I fell asleep around midnight (24 hours after I woke up that morning).

Day two:

I woke up at 7 am... and of course.. I was not happy about that. I don't sleep well in weird places.. and especially if that weird place has a hard bed. I made the best of it though... and went quietly out to check out the view in the daylight.

It was beautiful to say the least.. but hazy. The whole trip was pretty much like that. There was sulfuric stuff pouring out into the air from the volcano apparently. There were certainly breaks in this but as a rule... not often. It was warm though!! Which is good enough for me!

There were all sorts of animals and birds outside. There was a family of mongooses (right?) that played every morning... doves... and black and yellow type birds.


They woke up shortly after I did. We all got dressed and decided to go find some waterfalls. We headed north around the perimeter of the island (there is only one main highway around).

Just north of Kona is lava flow area. There was all sorts of formations and such.. it was awesome looking. I guess on the island something that people do is find white rocks and spell out their names or whatever.... it was neat!

From there we stopped in the cowboy country (yes apparently there are cowboys in Hawaii.. I cant remember what they call them though). We stopped in a town called Waimea. We ate breakfast at this hole in the wall place. I had Hawaiian sweet bread french toast.. yummy.

From there we headed onward to the east side. The road on that side was all windy (like Hwy 101 in Oregon). We stopped at a few overlooks... simply gorgeous.

Finally we made it to Akaka falls. It was raining.. so we waited in the car till it cleared a bit. When it let up a bit we headed up to the falls. Words don't describe its beauty... not even the pics embody the depth of how gorgeous it was.

From there we drove down through Hilo.. then back across the island. Going through the mountains was interesting... it was thick and fog like.

When we got through there we stopped in the southern most US town (Naalahu) ... at the southern most US bakery. We sampled their sweet bread (yummy) and I had some choc macadamia nut ice cream.

We made it back to the west side... and ended up stopping at a black sand beach which isnt really sand... more like really small rocks.... still really neat though!

That night we went to a movie and had dinner at a local place. Most of the restaurants there are open air.. which was cool.

Again I fell asleep on the couch around 11:30.

Day three:

Up at 7:15 this morning... UGH. I never got more than 7 hours of sleep any of the nights I was there. Again I was the first one up so I hung out on the balcony.

When every one was up we headed up to Kona coffee land. We took a tour of a coffee place and saw how they processed all the coffee.. it was pretty cool. There was geese there that followed us around in the parking area.

Onward we stopped in at Safeway... cause I just have to do that.. Im a dork like that. Their prices are... crazy to say the least. Lenders bagels for $9.49... can you say ouch?

Down to the boardwalk we walked through a farmer's market. We ended up buying a pineapple.... YUM! It was soo sweet and tasty.

That night we went to a luau.... freaking awesome to say the least. Right on the beach... it was wonderful. We were center table.. I was right next to the stage.

They showed us how to open a coconut and while they did so someone came around drawing "tattoos". I got a turtle... it was cute.

We got to see the "king and queen" enter AND them take the pig out of the ground, which was cool.

They did dances from different Polynesian islands. It was super cool. They even had a flame thrower... so yeah... awesome.

The food was... interesting. LOL But I'm kinda picky.

It ended up raining a bit.. but nothing too bad.

After that we walked around the boardwalk at all the shops.

Day four:

Up at 8 this morning... since I stayed up till 1... lol. We all were up at the same time.. got dressed. We decided to head north and go swimming since the sun finally came out.

It was fun to just relax and swim. I snorkeled a bit here... which was fun. It was super windy that day though... and so we only stayed about two hours.

While we were there.. some guy hit on me.. it was pretty weird lol.

The rest of the day we just hung out and relaxed.

We went to another movie that night... then out to dinner at a place called Bubba Gump's Shrimp Co. themed after Forrest Gump. There were signs on the table to get the waiters attention (Stop Forrest, Stop and Run Forrest, Run). There drink menu was on a ping pong paddle and they asked you trivia from the movie.

The atmosphere was awesome.. right there on the ocean... it couldn't have been any cooler.

Day five:

Up at 8:15 today :o Wedding day. We got dressed and headed to this snorkel beach just down from the condo. This was super fun... I saw all sorts of fish.. and even got to swim with two sea turtles... words don't describe how cool THAT was.

I got a blister on my toe.... a cut on my leg... and some sun on my backside. I got out... ended up getting hit on AGAIN.

I sat in the sun for about 45 mins.. enough for my scalp to turn red lol. The sun felt great.

From there we caught another hula show by kids.. which was fun.. then we headed back to get ready for the wedding.

I was helping carry out all the stuff to the car... and ended up forgetting my camera. I was not too thrilled with myself to say the least.

The wedding was at 5:30 at sunset. We were sure if there was going to be one since the clouds rolled in around 1. But much to our surprise... it came out just in time.

It was a beautiful ceremony- I'm so glad I was there.

We had their reception at the Kona Island Hotel (I think that's what it was called).

We all had a choice between seafood and steak.. I had steak. It was so yummy. HOWEVER.. they did not have a cake.. weird huh?

The wedding as a whole was great though.. and they looked very happy :)

Day six:

Up at 5:45 to head home. I had another almost 5 hour layover in Honolulu.. which wasn't as bad this time as coming was.

I didn't get to Seattle till 10:15 last night... and was SO happy to see Ben... I practically ran to him when I saw him. He brought me flowers! I missed him and the girls so terribly.

We got home around 1 am... was a long day.