Day 7: The Big Island and Maui, May 1, 2010

Day 7 was our travel day. We packed up, hung out at Kona airport for awhile, then hopped a 20-minute flight to Maui.

Before we left, we took some pictures of the condo.

Pineapples everywhere!

Marissa and Tay demonstrate their sleeping arrangements

(Did I mention there were 8 adults (and a very small baby) in a 2-bedroom condo. Since we couldn't have a bedroom, I think Jason and I totally scored with the pull-out sofa in the living room.)

Group photos

The couple that made it possible for all of us to go to Hawaii by letting us crash in their timeshare.

Well, she couldn't let it go to waste.

Last stop at the market for souvenirs

Open-air airport

Bye, Big Island!

Haleakala in the distance

The flight attendants practically throw juice at you as they dash down the aisle in an attempt to get everyone juice and to get everything cleaned up in between the time they're allowed to get up and they have to sit down again for the plane to land.

Note: passion fruit juice is yummy!

We landed in Maui and stopped at Wal-Mart and Costco to get some provisions for the condo. Maui is MUCH more built up than the Big Island (eg, they have a Costco). Maui was gorgeous, but I have to say, I kind of liked the more laid-back feel of the Big Island.

However, the Maui Costco did have multipacks of chocolate-covered macadamia nuts, and you really can't argue with that.

Also, there were these on Maui:

We stayed in a hotel the first night in Maui because the timeshare wasn't available until the next day.

The first thing we noticed was the groovy sink in the bathroom
I suppose it was also pretty cool that the hotel was right on the beach and had a nice pool.
Also, a putting green

(I'm pretty sure Sarah, Lorraine and I were in the pool while everyone else golfed)

Anya preferred to be chauffeured around the grounds by Steve
Who decorated her with flowers
Because it's adorable.

Nightfall in Maui

Day 6: The Big Island, April 30, 2010

(Today is the first Saturday in I can't remember how long that I haven't had anywhere I needed to be or anything really pressing to do, either for Young Womens or work or just life in general. Jason and I might head down to Cranston later to check out the REI annual sale, but that's pretty much all that's on my schedule. So I'm taking this opportunity to rest my foot and FINALLY finish my posts about Hawaii.)

Day 6 was pretty low key after our excursion the day before to Volcanoes National Park. Some of us decided to go to Place of Refuge for another snorkel, while some stayed home and rested. We didn't bring the camera for this snorkel, but just enjoyed the sights.

Later in the day, all of us drove up for another visit to Hapuna Beach. It was lovely.
Brandon and Taylor begin their masterpiece
Marissa and Lorraine jump the waves
Work continues
So apparently it was supposed to be the Taj Mahal, only when they got home and looked it up, they realized it didn't really look much like the Taj Mahal after all. Still, I think it's pretty impressive.
We stayed almost until the sun set, then headed back to the condo and cleaned up for a nice dinner out. We had dinner at Jameson's By the Sea, the same restaurant that Jason's family ate at when they visited the Big Island 15 years earlier. We ate out on the deck.
Yummy fresh seafood and a gorgeous view of waves crashing below us. A lovely way to cap off our stay on the Big Island.

Now for some gratuitous pictures of Baby Anya:

Social Media

Today I am grateful for Facebook because in about a minute and a half I was able to find out that my family in Missouri is ok so far despite the floods and storms that have been devastating the area.

My dad was born in Poplar Bluff, Missouri (I'm sure you've heard that name on the news lately) and there are various cousins and great aunts and uncles who still live in Missouri. I'm not close to any of them and didn't grow up with any of them, but I am Facebook friends with some of them. This morning I wrote on the wall of a cousin (second cousin, thrice removed or something like that. Jason insists I be specific and HATES when I call everyone my "cousin". Whatever.) to ask about them. She quickly responded that everyone is ok.

Actually, what she said is "We are quite efficient in saving our own a**es." Love it.

Babies?

No, I'm not pregnant. Just getting that out of the way.

Jason noticed the other day that I haven't posted anything on this blog since we were in St. John. I blame the 3-month depression I've been in since we got home from St. John. Seriously, it's my favorite place in the world right now.

I have been posting fairly regularly over at my other blog because I've been focusing more on wellness than, say, knitting. Maybe I shouldn't have bifurcated my blogging, but I figure if you're interested in reading about me swimming laps or weight lifting and how I abhor the carbs, rather than about knitting and vacation recaps, you can go over there.

So Jason and I have been discussing starting a family (which we've been discussing for awhile) and the pros and cons. Both of us have always wanted kids, and we're to that point where my fertility shelf life may be running out. However, on Saturday night we had dinner with some new friends and they mentioned they went to St. John a few weeks ago. We looked at their pictures and both came home missing it (at least I did. I assume Jason did too.) So one of the pros of not having kids is, we could go to St. John every year.

Every. Year.

Hmm, spit up and poop vs. St. John every year.

Am starting to understand why people don't have kids.

(Don't worry, female relatives who read this and want me to have a baby ASAP. The next day a friend of ours had me hold his baby while he ran around church and she is such a doll that the baby hunger reared its head again. Then Jason said, "Let me hold her" and I swooned at the sight of him with a baby kicking back on his lap.)

Day 5: The Big Island, April 29, 2010

Since Jason and I are currently vacationing in St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands, I thought, what better time to try to get caught up with my other vacation recaps? Once the sun goes down here, there's not much to do except drink lots of fruity rum drinks. Being Mormon puts a damper on that, so instead we're back in our little house, on our mutual computers. Actually, it's fantastic, if you must know.

I've been dragging my feet on the Hawaii recaps because Day 5 was kind of an eventful day with many pictures to cull. Day 5 was our big excursion to Volcanoes National Park on the other side of The Big Island.

We started out in the morning and our first stop was the Punalu'u Black Sand Beach.

Okay, actually, our FIRST stop was the Punalu'u Bake Shop. Hawaiian sweet bread, anyone? There are no pictures because I think we were all too busy stuffing our faces full of samples.

Then we got to the black sand beach. The black sand beach is the result of lava hitting the cold water and basically exploding. Awesome, right?


Then it was on to the volcanoes. Kilauea is an active volcano. A portion of the national park loop road was blocked off because of recent volcanic activity. In fact, the flowing lava is still wrecking havoc, as you can see from this article from today.

We hiked the Kilauea Iki trail, circling around one side of the crater in tropical jungle, then down into and across the moonscape of the crater, then up through the jungle. Kilauea Iki is the crater resulting from a 1959 eruption of Kilauea. The floor of the crater is now solid, but is still warm.

The sign at the start of the trail
Jungle path

Baby Anya had a nice ride (having just seen her recently at 10 months old, I can't believe how tiny she was!)
Baby ferns
View from the trail of the crater below.
The crater
Crossing the crater
Back in the jungle
Taking a break for baby to have a snack.

After the trail, we explored the nearby lava tubes.

We finished in the park with a drive down Chain of Craters Road.
The road has been redone a few times, since the lava flow keeps covering it up.


These signs were all over. Comforting.
Don't worry. Anya stayed in the car for this part.

Some of us walked about a half mile off the road to look at the petroglyphs.

As you can see, the lava flowed right into the sea, leaving a wasteland in its wake

At the end of the road was an arch created by the ocean in the lava rock

At this point, we split into two groups. Jason's parents, Sarah and the baby headed up to look at the red glow from the caldera, then back to the condo. Jason, Taylor, Marissa, Brandon and I drove (like speed demons because we had heard it might close soon) to see the flowing lava.




We got back to the condo pretty late, but seeing the lava was worth it. Very neat.

Snow Day!

Fairy-tale house all covered in snow

View down the street from the front door
My car
Tiny likes snow days too because it means there is always a lap to sit on.

I think my space heater may also be a big draw.

Happy New Year!

Jason and I had planned to go to the Providence Bright Night celebration last night. But when we looked at the line-up of performers, we decided we didn't really want to spend $15 on it. So we stayed home and I cooked us a yummy dinner and some pumpkin spice custards and we watched the first season of Community and rang in the new year together in our sweet little house.

Most of the time I like having a big party or at least something more festive going on, but last night was nice and peaceful and a great way to bring in 2011.

Knitting Projects

Here's what I've been up to with the knitting.

First, I made my new winter hat:
This was pretty time-intensive with an intricate (for me) pattern and a small gauge, but I'm thrilled with the results.

The yarn has a bit of merino wool and because I knit it tight, it's already proven to be up to the task of blocking the Providence winds.

Seriously, this is the windiest place I've ever lived.

Second, I knit a scarf and several hats for homeless veterans in Rhode Island. A lady in the Rhode Island group on Ravelry gathered donations and I was happy to participate.


Third, some Christmas gifts, which I'll post pictures of after they've been given.