Aloha Sunrise Inn Kilauea

... we had grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch! My sister Judy had one too, in Yuma. It makes me wonder how many of you have indulged your selves and gone ahead and had one. I know there some of you teetering and are about to give in and have one. Go ahead they are wonderful!

Now it is computer time and then we go to our room and read for awhile and then puff the day is gone. Tomorrow we pass some beautiful cliffs and ...

... little tired looking - however the view from the balcony is unbeatable. We had a ocean view and it was absolutely breathtaking, so I guess this makes up for the not so steller rooms.

We spent our first day on the island at Waimea Canyon, which is the "Grand Canyon of Hawaii". We mainly just looked at the big hole in the ground, but I'm sure there is excellent ATVing and hiking in this area. We spent the ...

... near the boat, but underwater. I took pictures of Mike, Jon and Sarah and some of the other divers who were holding hands. I enjoyed the amazing sensation of swimming through the bubbles the divers produce and I got some, hopefully, amazing shots of said bubbles. Right before Jon's group was about to come up, there was a turtle nearby, so I hung out by him and took some pictures. Later, Jon and I agreed that the turtles are probably our favorite part about all of this ...

... sooner than ticketed, so we have only 25 minutes to clear security. We board our flight and hop to Honolulu. The views are great for the 20 minute flight of islands, surf , and we can see the Pearl Harbor Memorial landing in Oahu. We wait in the airport while trying to standby on 2 flights to Lihue. 3 hours....we watch the World Baseball Classic and a pathetic US team lose to ...

... br>makes time go faster, while flying makes it go waaaaay slower.

We arrived in Honolulu round 2:30pm local time. I stopped to
get something at a little airport Chinese buffet place. He asked me
like 3 times what kind of starch I wanted before I realized he was
asking what type of rice I wanted. It's weird how you its so easy to
mis-hear a word ...

... and valium and it was good.

I went to the DVM on Kauai a few days later, still on my cloud, and came out with a driver's liscence that claimed I was a male. I didn't notice.

There were also a lot of chickens on the beach and I'm pretty sure I went on a helicopter ride, but that is all I remember about beautiful Kauai.

... use up the last three hours of remaining daylight in this glorious day. It does, unfortunately, get dark in Hawaii at 18:10. Being in this glorious summer-like paradise, we tend to forget that it is the middle of the winter. Surprisingly, in the summer, the sun sets as early as 19:30. Up to now we were having a "swell time" on the North Coast. Our next and last stop along the coast was the village of Haleiwa (population 300).. Coming Soon: First Some Shave Ice, then the Dole Plantation

... a car and camped at Salt Pond for a few days and then headed up to Camp Slogett in Koke'e State Park where I had the entire bunkhouse to myself for a couple of nights. It was beautiful up there but a bit cold for me so I headed to the north coast and found a great little ...

... by ferry, bus, train & taxi to get there-no kidding! Even the manufacturer was stunned to see me. I told them never underestimate the power of an American woman shopper......or a grandma in pursuit of the latest stylish boots for her 3 granddaughters. These boots, lined with luxuriously soft New Zealand Merino sheepskin wool, are in high demand around the world. I expected to find a huge factory with 500 busy little seamstresses. What I found was a 2 story building ...

... at the Ranger's Station, located at the Kokee Museum. QUICK FACTS Name: Waimea Canyon What is it: Scenic canyon nicknamed "The Grand Canyon of the Pacific" What to do: See incredible panoramic views, hiking, take unique photos What to bring: Camera, shoes, light jacket for mountainous ...