Reflecting on Hawaii - Dolphin Quest & Happy Hour - Day 3

Our daily recap from exactly a week ago... a selfish way to relive the vakay! Tuesday, 5.14.13

There is nothing like be woken up on vacation by a rustling in the bushes just outside your window... a loud rustling... what kind of animal is it... will they get through the screen door. Wait. The noise is coming from outside the window behind the bed... you quietly peek out the window to discover what critter is making all the racket. Ferret? Dog? Goat? or how about a turkey family! It was a momma turkey and 4 chicks making all the ruckus.

Another chill morning at the Puako house until we headed to the Queen's Marketplace at Waikoloa for lunch. Last time I was in Hawaii there were only the King Shops... now there are the Queen's Marketplace and tons of new housing/apartment developments. It never ceases to amaze me how they can develop entire resorts in lava fields.

We then headed to the Hilton Waikoloa for our afternoon plan of swimming with dolphins at Dolphin Quest. This was a trip down memory lane for me as I moved to the Big Island 15 years ago to work at Dolphin Quest as a trainer. It was great to see how much the facility has changed over the years. There is a new education building that I would have loved to have taught at back in the day. As we were getting ready for our program one of the trainers, Ashley,  came up and introduced herself. She told me that she interviewed me for a school project when I was a trainer and decided then that someday she would be a dolphin trainer. And here she was after a lot of work and perseverance living her dream. She then told me that we were going to be getting in the water with Kai who was one of my favorite dolphins when I was there. The combination of the 2 reduced me to tears.... super emotional.

I then got to share this special part of my life with my friends as we all got to play with Hali'a and Kai. Carla, one of my close friends, was our trainer and we had a great time. It was super fun and I love that fact that I will never take this part of my life for granted and love the animals just as much to day as I did then. Dolphin Quest does a great job educating and inspiring people through their programs.

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We figured what better way to end the day than sunset in Kona over tiki drinks. Paul had been talking about a trip to Don's Mai Tai Bar at the Royal Kona Resort since we bought our tickets. Happy hour started with a round of mai tais and pupus. There may have been a flight of mai tais, lava flows and some other tiki libations. An evening rain storm tried to scare us off the lanai to no avail.

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Another perfect end to a great day in paradise.

Reflecting on Hawaii - Mauna Kea - Day 2

The AdventurUs recently went on vacation... no really just a good old fashion vacation. No epic climbs planned, no training or certification required... just sunscreen, bathing suits and friends. We will be posting a daily recap from exactly a week ago... a selfish way to relive the vakay! Monday, 5.13.13

Another day in paradise. As tempting as it was to stay at the Puako house we motivated to go hang out at another beach.  We decided upon the big beach at the Mauna Kea Resort just up the road. Ian and Natalia headed first to Honokaa to Tex Drive In for their famous Malasadas and met us at the beach.

The beach was beautiful, the water perfect and the weather stunning. We snorkeled, swam, napped, chatted, swam the bay and burned our feet running across the sand to the hotel's beach bar.

It was a rough day... followed by a rough evening of mai tais and dinner at the Seafood Bar & Grill  in Kawaihae. My Island Salad with the Calamari Steak was quite good, but my drink - the Polynesian Punch - was much too sweet. The Mai Tai's that the others ordered were MUCH better. Kawaihae has an active harbor and serves as the turn off point to get to North Kohala. Aside from the harbor, there are a few food options, a farmers market, gas station and supposedly some of the best music on the island at the Blue Dragon. Unfortunately the Blue Dragon is closed Mon-Wed so we will just have to come back to check out what all the fuss is.

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Reflecting on Hawaii - Puako & Ohana - Day 1

The AdventurUs recently went on vacation... no really just a good old fashion vacation. No epic climbs planned, no training or certification required... just sunscreen, bathing suits and friends. We will be posting a daily recap from exactly a week ago... a selfish way to relive the vakay! Sunday, 5.12.13

Ohana at Puako. Our first day at the Puako house we woke up to an amazing view of the ocean right off our lanai. We wandered to the beach where we say our first sea turtle napping in the sun.

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The plan was to hangout at the house and for local friends to come over in the afternoon. We headed up to Waimea for a quick trip to the grocery store for some poke and misc food for the house.

Most of the day was spent just enjoying the house... until my Hawaii ohana (family) started coming  over. It had been 7 years since my last visit and I had only met 2 of my friends' keikis (kids). It was amazing to have friends old and new all hanging out and watching all the kids running around playing. In some ways it seemed like no time had passed.

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It was the perfect start to a great week... daily recaps to follow.

Coming home to Hawaii

The thick heavy air is like a welcome blanket being wrapped around you. You know as soon as you step off the plane you are in Hawaii. I'm always worried when I come back that everything will be different... that I won't recognize anything. Things have definitely changed, but from a quick glance much remains the same. I was so excited at LAX that I was asked twice if this was my first time going to Hawaii. My impulse is to say no I'm excited to be going home, but then I realize that seems silly. It has been 13 years since I moved back to the mainland and I only lived on the Big Island for 2 years and yet there is something about those years that I hold dear to my heart. Those years were ones that shaped my life and who I am. The happy home... The best roommates... Brothers and sisters really... Dr. Happy... Memories that make this feel like home.

We are staying at an awesome house in Puako, but arrived at night so I'm excited to see it all in the morning. As I write the geckos are laughing at me, the"giant Hawaiian flies", aka cockroaches, are sneaking around not so sneakily and the ocean outside our room is making me sleepy.

Good night!