October 2001

10/01/01: Heli Ride

We all awoke with excitement and trepidation at our upcoming helicopter ride.  As we drove to Safari helicopter rides in Lihue; we experienced our first traffic jam on the island.  We arrived at Safari, and got weighed in.  It is important to know how much you weigh (with cameras) so that they could even out the helicopter.  Then we got loaded in as Lourdes is biting her hand in nervousness.  Laura and Glenn were worried about getting airsick, and I was worried about crashing.  Brian was just having a blast.  Laura sat by the window in the back, which she didn't want to sit next to, Brian was in the middle in back, and Glenn was by the other window.  Lourdes was freaking out (we got her on tape screaming and biting her hand) because she was going to sit in front, and I was in the front window seat.  The trip was worth every penny.  The pilot had a fun soundtrack on to accompany the tour, (to Glenn's dismay no "Ride of the Valkyries" by Wagner)  some songs were from Indiana Jones and Enya and of course the Brother IZ song, Somewhere Over the Rainbow/It's a Wonderful World.  He is a local rock star.  We think the song is a big joke.  The only part we like is the opening ukulele music.  The song was our vacation theme song.  It was played everywhere, so Laura and Lourdes had to buy the CD.  We also bought the video tape of our helicopter trip.  The quality was okay, but the memories it brought back were priceless.  Laura was getting motion sick, and Glenn was in bad shape.  DJ, the pilot was great at helping Lourdes feel comfortable, and helping out with Glenn and Laura.  We saw the NaPali Coast, and lots of waterfalls.  It was wonderful.  We finally landed, and headed on towards the Coconut Mall to do some shopping.  Many shopping bags later, we headed on home.  Tonight's dinner was spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread.  It didn't settle right with Brian during the night.  I swear it wasn't our cooking!!!!!!!

Here are pix from the heli ride!!!!

10/02/01

    Laura didn't feel like diving, Glenn was still recovering from airsickness, and Lourdes wasn't feeling right either.  So the dive was cancelled.  We went snorkeling in the morning, then went to go see Spouting Horn.  It is a hole in the rocks where when the wave hits it, it shoots spray up into the air.  We went to shop for some Red Dirt Shirts, and headed on over to the Luau.  We toured the shops at the Gaylord Plantation, then waited in line for ever to get in.  Finally in, we didn't have enough time to do some of the activities b/c they were starting the Pig Roast Ceremony (Emu ceremony).  We only had enough time to make a flower bracelet.  We saw them pulling the pig out of the pit and all the ceremony involved.  Then we went to our assigned seats.  This is where the disappointment set in.  We sat in a building squeezed so tight at long tables and sitting on plastic chairs.  The entertainment was alright, the band pretty decent, and the food was quite good for a buffet style.  All in all, the atmosphere wasn't right.  We felt gypped.  The luau was suppose to be the best on the island...Gaylord's Luau... and it felt and looked so fake.  This is by far the worst thing we did on the island.  Even the fire dancer was so exhausted he kept dropping his fire stick on the floor.  The dancers looked like they came from a high school class.  We were paying quite a bit of money for professional looking dancers and we got someone's fat aunt.  Oh well.  The girls we saw at the shopping mall were much better than this.  We went home and fiddled around a bit before we went to sleep.

10/03/01

We originally thought we had the ATV (all terrain vehicle) planned for today so we snorkeled a little in the morning and headed to the Kauai ATV.  We were wrong, it was on Thursday.  So what do we do?  We were suppose to go to the north part of the island tomorrow.  Well, I guess we go today.  The drive north was not bad.  It was a different residential style.  

We finally found Tunnel's Beach, which we heard had good snorkeling, and if we are lucky we could see dolphins and turtles.  Trying to find the beach entrance was an adventure in itself.  Finally, we made it to the area, and jumped in the water.  The water was shallow, with lots of reef and rocks.  It was almost too shallow.  But you could scrape your way further in where it gets deep.  The current were very strong and the waves high.  The north side of the island gets hit with big waves during the winter months.  As a result, there were rip tides.  This was scary for Glenn and I because this area also had very deep drop offs.  We kept getting pulled out to sea, and we got very tired fighting the currents.  If we got too tired, we knew we could attempt to make it to a more shallow area and stand up while we catch our breath.  We finally made it back to the beach and just played in the surf with the others.  Shortly afterwards we left and went to the State Park in search of a shower.  No luck, but there were plenty of campers.  We found a surf and turf restaurant in Princeville and had some good grub.  One of our only dinners eaten out.  On the way home we stopped to re-supply our food stash, and then went home.  Oh, and we found out that the same things we bought at the other stores were much cheaper at Walmart.  However, we felt good knowing that at least our money will stay locally instead of being sent to Walmart Headquarters out of Hawaii.  So we went home, made some Guacamole and watched the new Star Trek. 

10/04/01

This morning Lourdes made a strawberry breakfast drink that is popular in Mexico to have with tamales for baptisms or other occasions.  It was really good.  We took off for the beach again to get our final snorkel in.  Once again we saw eels, and lots of beautiful colorful fish.  We had some lunch and took off to the ATV ride.  We got there early and hung out for a bit talking to some of the other people going on the ride.  Most were newlyweds.  How cute.  We drove over to the old sugar plantation to get geared up.  We were provided helmets, anti-dust mask, shirts, pants, even socks and shoes.  We got onto our bikes, and away we went.  

Whooops, it looks like Lourdes needs a little help.  She is so small and light that it was hard for her to control the bike.  No worries, the tour guide helped her out.  He made sure to keep Lourdes close, just in case something went wrong, or for other reasons *wink, wink*.  It was a great experience to see the jungle and fields up close and personal.  We drove through a mile long tunnel dug through a mountain for crop transportation.  My lights didn't work.  

For some odd reason, when I bent over the handlebars to see if the light was on, I overloaded the circuits and blew a fuse (those darn "flotation devices"...that was for you Jim).  So, away I went through the tunnel in the dark.  At the other side we got a little info on the local flora and fauna.  As we were getting the ATVs started for the next leg of the trip I had a bit of difficulty.  My ATV shorted out and I couldn't go anywhere.  Since we weren't to far away from base camp, we waited for another ATV to arrive.  Finally, I got a new one, and onto the waterfall.  We had fun jumping into the fresh water, right by the waterfall and had a picnic lunch to stave off the hunger.  We were running a bit behind, so we had to skip a few things and get to the bamboo forest, another waterfall, and taste some of the local fruits.  The blueberry guava fruit was yummy!  On the way back everyone was having fun driving through the mud puddles.  

We all made it back safe and dirty, and some were just a little late for their luau dinners.  But they didn't mind.  As we were cleaning up, the tour guide mentioned that this was his part time job.  He actually is a chef, and he kept asking us what we are doing for dinner, he said this looking at Lourdes and hoping she gets his subtle hints.  Lourdes didn't, and we all lost out on a chef made dinner, so sad.   But, Laura and Brian made a kick-ass chicken pesto with left over pasta.  We all were packing up during the day, and we finished what we could that night.  We forgot to open up our wine, but maybe Laura and Brian will make good use of it.  And so ends our last night on Kauai.

10/05/01

We all got up really early in order to finish packing and cleaning the condo and making it to the airport a couple of hours before our 7 a.m. flight.  All was well until we got to the airport.  Once again Lourdes came across trouble.  The Aloha Check-in people decided to push up Lourdes' flight, even though the rest of us were still leaving at 7.  So, Laura went to see what the heck is going on and the guy just started yelling at them.  Chill out!!!  He decided then to bump Lourdes, Laura, and Brian to a 6:30 flight which they would have never made b/c of the full luggage search.  Finally, he switched them all back to the original tickets.  He was such a jerk.  We've had the same thing happen to us a couple of times with Aloha airlines.  Someone later explained to us that the airlines in Hawaii are taking full advantage of the power they have been given.  It was explained that they are a state so far removed that any little power given to them they take above and beyond to help make them feel important and more significant.  What ever the reason, it was terrible dealing with the airlines in Hawaii, at least for us.  We made it to Honolulu on the island of Oahu, and got another rental minivan.  We found out from some of the people we were with us on the ATV that we should try and go to the Arizona Memorial ASAP, otherwise the lines get ridiculously long.  

It looks like we made it in time, the lines weren't too long at first, but a half hour later the lines were at least a couple of hours long.  People had to wait quite a while in order to see the movie and then get shuttled by boat to the Arizona Memorial.  Glenn got a bit emotional ( and I think Laura, too) watching the movie.  I tried to video tape it but the video camera had a hard time focusing on the screen.  We then proceeded towards the Memorial.  It was a peaceful place, and especially now, everyone was filled with American pride.   Here are photos of the memorial and also of the decommissioned battleship U.S.S. Missouri.  In one of them you can still see oil bubble up from the boilers after all this time and also of the memorial wall of the more the 2200 fallen soldiers.  There's also a pic of Monika with a WWII veteran (I can't recall which ship he was on) who survived the attack at Pearl.  Earlier, he had raised his American flag which we all gave respect too as he saluted. Everyone thanked and shook hands with him; it was quite touching.

We went to check out another ship and submarine, but we didn't want to pay that much money to go onto them.  All we really have of that is a picture of the submarine USS Bowfin aka "Avenger of Pearl Harbor" that assisted/sunk some of the Japanese ships connected with the attack several months later.  So we went in search of some food and then our lodgings.  

We hit "restaurant row" in or near Waikiki beach, and ate at an interesting sushi restaurant in a mall.  Glenn and I had their Unadon, BBQed eel, and it was great.  Cheap too!  In Chicago it'll cost around $11-12 for Unadon, but b/c Honolulu is like little Tokyo, we got it cheaper $6.00.  Not bad.  We tried to find our lodgings, and found hotels with similar names, and got blocked in by Polynesian Tour Buses, but eventually, with one driver and 4 lookers we found it.  We had a suite that slept 6 with a kitchenette.  Glenn went to sleep, Brian was resting, and us girls did... what else... SHOPPING!  We walked around and went into the Wyland Gallery.  

Here we had fun looking at the beautiful seascape paintings, drawings, and sculptures.  Lourdes bought a beautiful sculpture of 2-3 bronze turtles encased in Lucite.  I bought an "inking" of a ray for Glenn for our 1- year anniversary, and Laura was tempted to pick up a very pricey but beautiful sculpture of manta rays.  Then we got some Ghiradelli chocolate ice cream and headed home to pick up the boys.  We went to Waikiki beach, but we had no time to snorkel.  We walked around and took some sunset shots. 

We walked around and shopped some more.  In one of the multi-story open air malls, there was a two-story tall salt water aquarium that contained numerous aquatic life found in Hawaiian waters.  There were black-tipped reef sharks and two spotted-eagle rays along with other fish.  This was where music from outside could be heard.  To our pleasure, we found out that there is a huge "block party" going on just down the street.  We joined everyone for a short time listening to good Hawaiian music and just enjoying the atmosphere.  The weather was fantastic and will definitely will be missed when we return for the winter months to the Midwest (Glenn disagrees; he wants to go skiing pretty bad).

 This was the last night here in Hawaii, we wanted to have a special dinner.  We went to a steak and seafood restaurant.  We not only ate a good meal, but we also celebrated Lourdes' birthday.  We tried to secretly buy her a gift, and Lourdes did not make it easy.  But I think we did surprise her.  Happy Birthday Lourdes!!!!!!!

10/06/01

Today is the day!!!!!!  Lourdes had problems with her flight back.  American Airlines cancelled her flight and put her on a much earlier one.  She wanted to get onto the same flight as Brian and Laura, but they wouldn't let her b/c it is a different type of flight.  She originally paid for a flight that made a stop in L.A., and Brian and Laura's went straight to Chicago.  

Well, we woke up in time for our continental breakfast and headed on out to drop Lourdes off at the airport.  Brian, Laura, Glenn and I had a couple of hours to do something, but the only thing close enough to the airport was the botanical gardens.   Brian stayed behind, and the rest of us went on a walk around the gardens.  It was very pretty.  We had a lot of fun looking at different palm trees, ferns, poisonous plants, and orchids.  The orchids were gorgeous.  Linda, eat your heart out!!!  We wanted to buy a Hawaiian orchid for you, but it would die before we brought it back.  

We weren't too hungry, but we decided to grab a light lunch.  There is a famous Market Plaza that we went to.  Glenn and I got some quick Japanese food from a Ramen Noodle Place.  I had a bowl of ramen and pork, and Glenn had some Teriyaki Beef Don.  Laura grabbed some different looking sushi roll and Brian had BBQ.  We dropped Laura and Brian off at the airport, and now what to do?!?  Go see a movie!!  We went back to the mall that we ate the Unadon at the first day we were here.  We saw Zoolander, and it was entertaining.  What to do now? We went back to the Market Plaza and shopped for stuff for ourselves.  Then off to the airport for our return flight.  

This is where our luck ran out.  It seemed that all United flights for the next 3 or so days were overbooked.  We got bumped to the next flight, the got bumped to the next day.  Now it is almost 11:00pm and we don't know what to do.  Do we stay at the airport overnight, sitting in a chair, hoping that Sunday will have a better outcome?  The United people didn't think that we had to good of a chance getting on a flight on Sunday either.  Glenn and I believed that something was trying to tell us something.  We decided it wasn't time for us to leave Hawaii yet, so we will stay the night and take an inner island flight to The Big Island... Hawaii.  We wanted to see the active volcano, so we did.  

One of the attendants told us that we could stay at a Microtel in the airport.  It is only a sleep and shower place, very small (6'x8' and a small bathroom.)  It cost us $58, but at least we didn't have to pay for a taxi, or deal with trying to get through airport security again.  We didn't sleep well, the bed was only big enough for one person, but we squeezed in.  

10/07/01

We woke up, got tickets to Hawaii, the Big Island, and took off on another adventure.  Our bad luck didn't end there.   There were no rental cars available.  There were only two cars left in all of Hilo.  One was a Lincoln Towncar, and the other was a Green Mustang Convertible.  Guess which one we chose?  We were lucky, b/c a person behind us ended up getting nothing at all.  We were informed that the reason why they are all sold out was b/c the IRON MAN just happened yesterday.  So this island, and other islands are now flooded with participants and observers.  Man, what timing.  Still, we were not deterred.  

I got information on hotels and B&Bs and proceeded to call around for pricing.  We wanted it close to the Volcano National Park.  After a few calls we settled on My Island Bed & Breakfast.  Little did we know that this was the perfect choice.  We stopped at Prince Kuhio Mall for some grub, and proceeded to the B&B.  It was easy enough to find the Volcano Village, and just as easy to find the B&B.  The driveway was lined with beautifully organized flowers and plants.  The owners have a hobby of gardening, and they even have a map drawn of the grounds.  We got there around 11:00 a.m., and met the hosts, The Morses.  We were shown our room, which happened to be the "Family" room on the third floor.  It was the cheapest accommodations we found, but our room was huge, obviously meant for a couple with children.  The hosts were everything you'd want.  They were jovial, informative, and led interesting lives.  They showed us some off the beaten path things to see..."You have to see the real Hawaii, and I'll tell you where to go and what you could skip over,"  mentioned Gordon Morse.  Gordon, born and raised in Hawaii, led an adventurous life from reporter/photographer to writing travel guides.  Who better to show us the "real" Hawaii.  He gave us his tour pamphlets of Puna and of oceanfront Kilauea, " The prettiest drive on this island."  

So we took off to tour some of the coastline, reading some of the amusing stories in Gordon's book.  We saw orchid plantations, fruit plantations, lava flow damage, beautiful lookouts onto the ocean, swam in a natural heated spring, saw surfers, and much much more.  

In the evening, we stopped at the end of road 137.  We thought this is where we are suppose to see the lava flow day and night.  We started walking the desolate lava covered ground.  A stray cat adopted us, and wouldn't go home.  We called her TIKI, and took her along for the walk of her life.  

We walked over sharp uneven ground.  Ouch!  Do not touch the lava, it is very sharp.  We made it to the coast and played on the black sand beaches.  Then we saw a couple walking along the beach toward where we thought the lava might be, so we followed.  We spent a lot of time playing on the different lava formations, taking lots of pix, and keeping an eye on TIKI.  

It started getting dark, and we walked what felt like a couple of miles.  We were freaking ourselves out thinking that we'll walk right onto the lava and fall through a crusty layer and DIE!   We made it to this weird grassy place and continued walking while TIKI kept meowing for us to carry him.  We were walking about 2-3 hours and decided to turn around.  We saw the steam from the lava hitting the ocean, but it seemed that the lava was too far away.  We did see some lava up on the mountains.  Later we learned that it was 7 miles away from us, and that if we would have kept walking another mile that we would have eventually made it to a public viewing area of the lava flow into the water.  But we were tired and didn't know that we were in the wrong place.  Instead of going to the end of 130, we were at the end of 137.  We thought it was the same thing, but obviously not.  We went back, in the dark, with our flashlights dying on us.  TIKI stopped crying and was concentrating on making it back.  We walked along the seashore, hoping to find the area we come in in the dark.  After slipping a couple of times from exhaustion, we started heading towards and area with lights, hoping that this was it.  And it was.  TIKI was scared off by a truck, and we are hoping that he went home, that is if he had a home.  Glenn was ready to take him back with us.  We were a bit hungry, so we headed off to Charlie's Bar and Grill in Keaau for some really good food.  The chef came out to see how we enjoyed his meal, and we enjoyed it plenty.  We finally headed on to the B&B.  What a difference in climate.  The B&B was up in the mountains at about a 4000 elevation.  It always was cold and rainy there.  But towards the ocean it was HOT and DRY.  We climbed the stairs, and hopped into bed.  It was cold at night and we slept well.

10/08/01

Ahhh, Monday.  We woke up to the scent of breakfast being made.  We got ready and hurried down to eat.  A couple of people were already down there.  We got the "breakfast orientation" by Gordon.  First, go to the corner and grab a mug of the mug wall.  Then grab either coffee, or a selection of tea.  Then grab the papaya slices, squeeze some lime juice on it, then put some pineapple on, and top off with crushed macadamia nuts.  This was the precursor to the top it yourself omelets and hash browns.  It was damn good.  We found out that we weren't in the right place to see the lava.  So we decided to stay another night and this time check it out up close and personal.  First we went to the Volcano National Park.  We had a fantastic time seeing all the scenes, the overlooks, 

............the petroglyphs.........

........................and hiking through a lava tube and fern forest...........

......vertigo from watching the waves hitting a sea arch............

                           ................rainbows......................................

        .................and of course..................more lava.  

Then we grabbed some lunch at the lava cafe, not very good.  I do not recommend eating there at all.  Service is lousy, and the food only tolerable.  It is amazing how the weather is different as the elevations change.  We were cold and wet, but it got nice and warm by the time we got to the State run lava viewing area.  We paid $5 to park, and hiked 1 mile in to see the lava.  The hike was not so bad.  It was volcanic rock gravel for the first half, and then the lava bed the rest of the way.  I don't know how to describe what we saw.  It's a once in a lifetime scene.  Lava flowing into the ocean.  Seeing the steam, and smoke rising from the 2000 degree molten lava pouring into the ocean as the waves engulf and try to cool it.  We watched it as the sun set, and then when it was pitch black.  There were all types of people there, sitting on blankets ( b/c lava rock hurts) and some having a picnic.  The sky was clear, the stars shone brightly, and we were watching the orange glow and sparks.  It was definitely worth our time to come back and see the real thing up close.  We were far enough away not to get injured in case the shelf made by the lava (called a bench) collapsed, but close enough to still get the full effect and get hit by flying rocks.  This was a dream come true for Glenn.  We stayed for hours talking and helping others with their cameras.  Thanks to Gordon lending us his tripod, we got excellent film footage and night shots.  We went home still bedazzled by the sight we just experienced.  Another day full of adventure.

10/09/01

We were awakened by the smell of breakfast again.  The Morses have a cat named Maka, and we found her secret hiding space.  We ran downstairs with our stomachs growling and our eyes still bright from last night's experience.  We started with our coffee and papaya again.  Then we had Portuguese Sweet Bread French toast along with bacon and homemade passion fruit syrup and jams.  Can't say enough about how good it was.  We had very enjoyable conversation with all the guests.  Gordon wanted us to put on the videotape of last night so others could see.  It was very enjoyable.  I highly recommend staying with the Morses when coming to The Big Island, Hawaii.  Next our goal was to hit the South Kona area b/c it was close to the Kona airport where we were going to fly from.  The trip to South Kona was only about a 2-3 hour drive, but we made some stops along the way.  We went to the farthest southern point in the US.  There are green beaches there due to the Olivine.  

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