Just another day in Paradise.

Just another day in Paradise.

Friday, January 4, 2008

Big Island - Day One

Ben had requested leave in order to go to CA for Ryan's bday/deployment party but when airline prices failed to accommodate, we took a last minute trip to Hawai'i (aka - the Big Island) so as not to waste the granted days off. There is definately a certain sense of urgency now to see and do all that the chain of islands have to offer before we must say our final aloha's.

Our departing flight was at 5:10am (I'm not sure I realized that we would have to leave our house at 3:30am when I booked them but I wanted to maximize our time) and we arrived in Hilo before dawn. I had been anxious to see a Hawaiian sunrise and with Hilo being on the East side, it was a great place to do it. It wasn't as awe-insipring as I thought it would be so I will continue to sleep through them for the remainder of my days living on an island. I'm more of a sunset person these days (it hasn't always been so).

We caught the acclaimed Hilo farmers market early and scored fresh banans and tangerines and rice cooked three ways - Spam Musubi, Sweet Rice Fried on a Stick (not to be confused w/ fried rice on a stick) and Glutanous Cinnamon Rice in a rectangle. I was particularly hoping to get some tastes of honey from the bee-keepers station but he just wasn't setting up quick enough. It's amazing to me how the taste of honey can vary depending on the types of plant life the bees gather from. But that's a whole 'nother topic entirely ...

We promptly left Hilo and started making our way toward the Kona side where we would be staying for the first few nights. Amazing scenery (like what you can see in the pictures times a million) and every few miles we felt we were in another country or state. I think that first day we compared the scenery to Guatemala, Ireland (at least what we've seen in pictures), Pennsylvania, Colorado and Yucca Valley (I know, not a state nor a vacation destination).

About halfway to our first days stop we pulled over to take a brief nap, capitalizing on the fact that the children were fast asleep. We slept for over two hours.


3 comments:

Erick & Norma said...

It's going to be hard to say goodbye isn't it? Scenery IS amazing!

Tarah said...

What I want to know is how Avery can sleep like that!

jen said...

wow absolutely amazing! i'm totally a scenery person. I'd much rather do that trip than the party. =D