I have no idea who that woman is or what she is pointing at!  Maybe demanding another cocktail.

My husband (Kevin) and I traveled to Hawaii, this past June/July,  to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We brought along my son Dana and his girlfriend, Andie for entertainment purposes and for their services as dishwashing/cooking staff.  They were entertaining, cooked every night, did dishes and helped to keep Kevin and I from slipping into tropical comas. We had a fabulous time and I thought I’d share some of my photos.

 Years ago, if your friends went to San Francisco {(pick a destination) on vacation, there would be the inevitable dinner party soon after their return.  The purpose of which, was to pull out the slide projector and share their vacation images with you (I said, years ago).  You and your spouse, would be dreading the after dinner entertainment.  You just consumed a large meal, maybe had a glass of wine and now you would be expected to stay awake during  200 images of Edna posing next to the Golden Gate Bridge, Lombard Street and China Town.    In 2013, millions of people, not limited to trapping friends with dinner invites, are now spreading their boring vacation photos all over the internet.  I thought, what a great way to bore the heck out of my friends and family.  Ergo, this blog.  Do you need a pillow with that yawn?

I found a lot of inspiration Hawaii and can’t wait to find some time to work on designs inspired by my trip.  The flora and fauna in Hawaii, was a visual feast.  Love, love, love the Hawaiian Tropical Botanical Garden.  You can take a virtual tour here.

Did a lot of house/land hunting, as Kevin and I want to move to Hawaii, permanently, in 5 years.  We will spend a lot of time there in the interim.  We trekked through jungles, over lava, drove down dirt roads with pot holes the size of elephants.  In fact, we actually got lost in the jungle, while surveying a 12 acre parcel, for two hours.  Of course, no one thought we’d get lost so, we had no water or cell phones.  What fun! I lost 10 lbs to sweat.

Puako’s location on the Big Island – Hawaii.

 We started our trip by flying into Kailua/Kona and staying in an area called Puako.  Oh my, my dream location. Think of your heaven, add a beach, white sand, palm trees, 80°F, tropical breezes and that’s Puako.  Add a cocktail, a chaise lounge and a few loved ones and it’s nirvana. Here’s a picture of Kevin, Dana and Andie getting into position for the sunset.  Behind the seawall is our private beach.  Actually, not that private, we shared it with Bob, Vinny and a few other adopted sea turtles.

 The family (sans me) getting ready for sunset at Puako.

The first time we saw Bob, he looked pretty dead.  Just laying on the beach, all dried out, eyes clamped shut.  But, as we neared, his little reptilian eye, cracked open. Nope, he’s not dead, was the general consensus.  We saw Bob every day at low tide and steered clear of his sandy bedroom.  By the next high tide he would be gone – adrift in a wild and dangerous sea.  I worried about him everyday and hoped he’d escape the sharp teeth of ships and sharks.  I was relieved, every low tide, when we’d see him sprawled, comatose,  on the beach.  I have never seen ANYTHING look that tired before. Our ocean (well, at least our rental ocean) had a lava flow breakwater.  This breakwater would come and go, at the tide’s digression.  At low tide, the lava would transform into little islets – populated by sea birds, crabs and turtles.  One of our favorite entertainments was to watch as the turtles, painfully (or so it appeared) lumbered up the steep sides of the lava islands and then would instantly pass out – content and safe,  on their own beach front lots.  Life is tough in the sea.  It makes a turtle tired.

Below: My favorite beach EVER – 69 Beach (it’s the number of the exit off the road – don’t be fresh!) Shade, all the way to the water.  Almost got knocked over, twice, by some relative of Bob’s.  Lots of young turtles ply those waters, perhaps amused by my bathing suit FILLING with sand after a failed body surfing move (there’s still sand in my suit).

Don’t know who these people are but, I wish they would leave.

Don’t know who these people are either.

My favorite palm – the fronds grow around the tree – creating fabulous spirals.  I keep seeing fold-forming here.              This vine, looks like stitching to me. It would make an interesting seam on a piece of jewelry – maybe a cuff.

  What a great enamel finish this cocoa fruit has!

  More fold-forming.

  Loved the geckos.

 

Don’t know what to say except, wow, this is a pretty nice photo of a yellow flower, that I took.

Guess I was here before?

  This is what happens when you give a 27 year old a match and a bottle of 150 proof rum.

   Another fabulous sunset.

After five days in Puako, we moved the group to the East side of Hawaii.  There, we traded sandy beaches for a 90 degree private hot pond, jungle and lots of lava for the next 6 days.  Here’s the house we stayed in – Honu’s Hideaway.

  Great hot pond.  That is not me in it!  But, I wish I was.  I could probably bring the lap top in.  Probably…

  Went for a hike to see the petroglyphs up near the town of Volcano.  I, being the brilliant and always prepared, girl scout that I am,  left the water, hat and sunscreen in the car.  The 1.5 mile hike felt like 27 miles.  Black lava absorbs heat.  Did you know that?  The lava took an 82°F day and turned it into 120°F.  Also, walking on lava, about doubles the actual walking distance. Hustling to get back to the air conditioning and water bottle in the car, I turned my ankle and sprained it.  By the time we got back to the car I was limping, burned to a crisp, dehydrated and a bit cranky.

What’s a trip to a volcanic island without a visit to the volcano? Volcanoes National Park is a pretty cool place.  Out of respect for Pélé, we left $100.00 at Uncle George’s Lounge for pupus and drinks.  Pélé was pleased. Do not mess with Pélé.  She knows where the volcano’s “ON” switch is located.

  Akaka Falls, was a welcome change from all that boiling hot lava. I wanted to dive off the top, into the churning waters below but, my stupid husband wouldn’t let me do it.  Next time, I’m bringing my parachute.

  Here are the kids, acting like idiots on our Lanai in Kapoho, HI.  Island fever, perhaps?

   Soon after the above photo, Dana was viciously attacked by a rogue plumeria.  Heartbreaking and so dangerous.  He’s doing fine now.  Thanks for asking.

I asked Dana to fetch me an umbrella and he came back with this thing.  My son is such an over-achiever.

 Meet Joe and Margaret.  They kept coming by to borrow a cup of poi.  Very annoying people.  A little frightening too.

Not a lot of pictures from the east side.  I must have been too vacationed out to even bother picking up the camera.  Well, a lot happened though.  Let’s see:  Kevin lost his Kindle, somewhere back at Puako.  He lost his wallet at the Kapoho house, I lost my credit card, some drunk jerk backed up into our rental car – ON PURPOSE – and then drove off.  Guess he forgot about those new fangled cell phones that take pictures (of license plates).  Visited the Pahoa police station and filed two police reports (hit and run and the wallet debacle). My arthritic right knee flipped out after limping for a week.  Sprain on the left, crippling pain on the right. Attacked by a swarm of 3″ + praying mantes, while in bed, in Puako.  I know that it doesn’t sound like it but, we really did have an amazing trip and (on the bright side) no one got bit by a shark, stepped on a sea urchin or succumbed to flesh eating bacteria.  All in all, a fabulous trip.

The Puako house – waiting for my return.  The End.  Anyone still awake?