In spite of my best instincts, I'm throwing up a short post...about sand. Sand, again.
You just thought I was done talking about Hawai'i. But no. I actually have a couple other posts floating around in my head, and I realize I am probably committing a cardinal sin of blogging by really writing more for my own benefit (being able to go back and read through my memories) rather than entertaining, educating, or enlightening the readers of this blog.
Although, you might find it amusing that I am choosing to inform the world about my feet today.
You see, ever since we returned from Hawai'i, I have noticed while showering or slathering on lotion that my feet are softer than they've ever been! It's a huge benefit of running around barefoot in sand every day for two weeks.
Let's face it. This is a cheaper way to have soft feet than paying for pedicures all the time. And it's a lot more fun and less time-consuming than resorting to the use of a foot scrub or a ped egg. I've discovered another great reason to move to Hawai'i!
Let's go! (I'm absolutely certain the effects of the sand will be wearing off any day now.)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Howdy, Folks!
First off, I'm on the computer writing this post with some hesitation because I'm only about 30% sure I will finish typing it up, edit it, and get it posted to the blog in one piece without this computer eating it...or blowing up.
I got some dire warning yesterday when I booted the computer up that some update we installed was wreaking certain havoc on our entire database and it needed to be uninstalled. Or something. I went to the virus protection to check and see if this warning was for real, it was indeed, and so I just clicked "OK" for it to fix the problem. (I am so sophisticated when it comes to the computer knowledge.)
Today, when I booted up I got another warning that now my computer is not fully protected from viruses and whatnot...probably because yesterday it told me I needed to uninstall some update. Today it said I needed to install an update.
To make a long story even longer, I attempted three times to get the stupid update for the virus software to install all while my computer began moving at the speed of molasses in wintertime. It finally installed, but then I could not get any windows or the internet to work properly and I just shut the thing down. I'm not back on, but I keep getting the "circle of death" (used to be the "hourglass of death" back in the day) and it is taking entirely too long for this computer to do anything.
Whew.
As if the computer isn't problems enough (for my day off, nonetheless), I have had a couple unexpected animal encounters within the past hour.
I went out to turn the smoker on to smoke some chicken breasts, and lo, I found this:
Even poking and prodding (with a stick) would not make this toad leave the smoker. I couldn't just turn the thing on because I actually want toads in my garden, alive, eating bugs...I just don't want to have to touch them. Finally, I donned some garden gloves and picked him up to let him jump over to the garden.
When I came back inside I discovered a wasp flying madly around our living room. Of course by the time I got the fly swatter he was nowhere to be seen, but I know that wasp is somewhere in this house.
I don't think nature likes me today.
On the bright side, if you're looking to avoid nature, Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes again. (What could be more unnatural that adding artificial flavoring and whipped cream to a coffee beverage? Just kidding. I think.) Yea! You can pretend it's not 90 degrees and humid outside, sit inside (away from nature) in your air-conditioning, and sip on a beverage that just tastes like autumn, cool weather, and Thanksgiving.
The only downside of the pumpkin spice latte is that it reminds me of the year I started drinking them. (As if I drink them regularly...I may have two or three a year.) That year was the fall of 2007. My nephew was living in the NICU in Austin, and on my way from my sister's house in New Braunfels to Austin I would pick up a pumpkin spice latte sometimes. Venti, so I could share with my sister. Those were not the happiest of times.
However, my sweet nephew is now three years old: happy, precocious, cute, smart, and so fun! He's actually coming with his mom and dad to visit us in a couple weeks because...
It's State Fair of Texas time! The fair started today! I can't wait to take D to pet the animals, see the little kids' circus show, play on a mini-farm, look at a giant sculpture make entirely of butter, and eat some corny dogs. Oh, and hear a 52-foot cowboy greet us all with a friendly, "Howdy,folks!" Unfortunately D will not be partaking in this year's most creative fried food since he's underage: fried beer. Come to think of it, I probably won't either. Although, I do hear there's some kind of fried margarita thing. That might be more my style.
But let's face it. Spending $15 for fried alcohol is definitely NOT my style. And come to think of it, if you fry alcohol, wouldn't all the alcohol cook out anyway? What's the point?
In case you're wondering, there's also a "tastiest fried food" award for the year: Texas fried Fritos Pie. Mmm-mmm. Think I'll stick with a corny dog.
Here's hoping this will post!
I got some dire warning yesterday when I booted the computer up that some update we installed was wreaking certain havoc on our entire database and it needed to be uninstalled. Or something. I went to the virus protection to check and see if this warning was for real, it was indeed, and so I just clicked "OK" for it to fix the problem. (I am so sophisticated when it comes to the computer knowledge.)
Today, when I booted up I got another warning that now my computer is not fully protected from viruses and whatnot...probably because yesterday it told me I needed to uninstall some update. Today it said I needed to install an update.
To make a long story even longer, I attempted three times to get the stupid update for the virus software to install all while my computer began moving at the speed of molasses in wintertime. It finally installed, but then I could not get any windows or the internet to work properly and I just shut the thing down. I'm not back on, but I keep getting the "circle of death" (used to be the "hourglass of death" back in the day) and it is taking entirely too long for this computer to do anything.
Whew.
As if the computer isn't problems enough (for my day off, nonetheless), I have had a couple unexpected animal encounters within the past hour.
I went out to turn the smoker on to smoke some chicken breasts, and lo, I found this:
Even poking and prodding (with a stick) would not make this toad leave the smoker. I couldn't just turn the thing on because I actually want toads in my garden, alive, eating bugs...I just don't want to have to touch them. Finally, I donned some garden gloves and picked him up to let him jump over to the garden.
When I came back inside I discovered a wasp flying madly around our living room. Of course by the time I got the fly swatter he was nowhere to be seen, but I know that wasp is somewhere in this house.
I don't think nature likes me today.
On the bright side, if you're looking to avoid nature, Starbucks has pumpkin spice lattes again. (What could be more unnatural that adding artificial flavoring and whipped cream to a coffee beverage? Just kidding. I think.) Yea! You can pretend it's not 90 degrees and humid outside, sit inside (away from nature) in your air-conditioning, and sip on a beverage that just tastes like autumn, cool weather, and Thanksgiving.
The only downside of the pumpkin spice latte is that it reminds me of the year I started drinking them. (As if I drink them regularly...I may have two or three a year.) That year was the fall of 2007. My nephew was living in the NICU in Austin, and on my way from my sister's house in New Braunfels to Austin I would pick up a pumpkin spice latte sometimes. Venti, so I could share with my sister. Those were not the happiest of times.
However, my sweet nephew is now three years old: happy, precocious, cute, smart, and so fun! He's actually coming with his mom and dad to visit us in a couple weeks because...
It's State Fair of Texas time! The fair started today! I can't wait to take D to pet the animals, see the little kids' circus show, play on a mini-farm, look at a giant sculpture make entirely of butter, and eat some corny dogs. Oh, and hear a 52-foot cowboy greet us all with a friendly, "Howdy,folks!" Unfortunately D will not be partaking in this year's most creative fried food since he's underage: fried beer. Come to think of it, I probably won't either. Although, I do hear there's some kind of fried margarita thing. That might be more my style.
But let's face it. Spending $15 for fried alcohol is definitely NOT my style. And come to think of it, if you fry alcohol, wouldn't all the alcohol cook out anyway? What's the point?
In case you're wondering, there's also a "tastiest fried food" award for the year: Texas fried Fritos Pie. Mmm-mmm. Think I'll stick with a corny dog.
Here's hoping this will post!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Mr. Green
I am not a social butterfly. Sometimes I secretly wish no one sitting next to me on the train, bus or airplane will fancy striking up a conversation. Maybe it's just that I'm not that great at small talk.
No. I think it's really just a weird fear that I still sometimes struggle with. Because, honestly, I have had hour-long conversations with total strangers on airplanes before. I am capable of making small talk when necessary.
So, the evening we attended a luau on the Big Island, I was a bit nervous about who we'd be sitting with. Everyone sits at long, banquet tables, and, although most of the evening is filled with hula and fire-dancing entertainment, there's plenty of unfilled time to chat with the other dinner guests. My saving grace is being with a husband who can pretty much talk to anyone, anytime, about anything. We are polar opposites in this regard.
Turns out, one of my fondest memories of that luau is talking with the 80-year-old man who sat across from us that night. While it was a little sad that he was vacationing alone, we left with no doubt that Mr. Green is a happy, hopeful man.
And we have some things in common with Mr. Green. He and his wife loved to travel...and so do we. In fact, he has Hilton diamond elite super-special status, just like John. (Although, he was spending his own money to stay at the Kona Village Resort, where the luau was, because he loves it so much. It's an all-inclusive resort with fabulous grounds.) He also collects American Airline miles for his flights, just like John.
I don't recall him ever asking if we have children...until the very end of the evening. I think that's because he and his wife never had children. Not by choice, but because in the second year of their long marriage, his wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and the doctors warned her that she should not become pregnant.
Mr. Green is also a believer in Christ...a Messianic Jew to be exact. He told us how he did not come to his faith until he was in his 40's. I believe he said something like, "God used my wife's illness to send us on a faith journey. It was our search for healing that eventually brought us to the Lord." Mr. Green said he has visited almost every kind of church there is. He now attends a Messianic Jewish community (where I believe he's a leader in the church), as well as a pentecostal congregation. He is an encouraging man to talk with.
Mr. Green's wife died in 2002. He still travels...at least to Hawai'i. It's not hard to see why he loves the islands so much! That hardest part of the evening was parting ways; Mr. Green is an amazing man.
Even though your dinner companions are not guaranteed to be as interesting or encouraging as ours, we would join our guidebook in recommending the luau at the Kona Village Resort. It's an entertaining way to learn a little about Hawai'i's history and partake in some delicious food.
No. I think it's really just a weird fear that I still sometimes struggle with. Because, honestly, I have had hour-long conversations with total strangers on airplanes before. I am capable of making small talk when necessary.
So, the evening we attended a luau on the Big Island, I was a bit nervous about who we'd be sitting with. Everyone sits at long, banquet tables, and, although most of the evening is filled with hula and fire-dancing entertainment, there's plenty of unfilled time to chat with the other dinner guests. My saving grace is being with a husband who can pretty much talk to anyone, anytime, about anything. We are polar opposites in this regard.
Turns out, one of my fondest memories of that luau is talking with the 80-year-old man who sat across from us that night. While it was a little sad that he was vacationing alone, we left with no doubt that Mr. Green is a happy, hopeful man.
And we have some things in common with Mr. Green. He and his wife loved to travel...and so do we. In fact, he has Hilton diamond elite super-special status, just like John. (Although, he was spending his own money to stay at the Kona Village Resort, where the luau was, because he loves it so much. It's an all-inclusive resort with fabulous grounds.) He also collects American Airline miles for his flights, just like John.
I don't recall him ever asking if we have children...until the very end of the evening. I think that's because he and his wife never had children. Not by choice, but because in the second year of their long marriage, his wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and the doctors warned her that she should not become pregnant.
Mr. Green is also a believer in Christ...a Messianic Jew to be exact. He told us how he did not come to his faith until he was in his 40's. I believe he said something like, "God used my wife's illness to send us on a faith journey. It was our search for healing that eventually brought us to the Lord." Mr. Green said he has visited almost every kind of church there is. He now attends a Messianic Jewish community (where I believe he's a leader in the church), as well as a pentecostal congregation. He is an encouraging man to talk with.
Mr. Green's wife died in 2002. He still travels...at least to Hawai'i. It's not hard to see why he loves the islands so much! That hardest part of the evening was parting ways; Mr. Green is an amazing man.
Even though your dinner companions are not guaranteed to be as interesting or encouraging as ours, we would join our guidebook in recommending the luau at the Kona Village Resort. It's an entertaining way to learn a little about Hawai'i's history and partake in some delicious food.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Sands Of Hawai'i
Hawai'i taught me that there are so many different colors of sand.
I know. Profound.
I'm pretty sure we visited a salt-and-pepper sand beach at some point during our trip, but for some reason those tend to be course-grained sand, which I am not a fan of. Thus, I don't think we stayed long and no pictures were taken. Truthfully, a salt-and-pepper sand beach looks like white sand with dirt mixed into it. I know it's not, but it just looks dirty.
My favorite beach, Mauna Kea, has really fine, white sand. I love the way the white sand looks beneath the water. These are the most beautiful beaches, in my opinion.
My second favorite would be the golden sand beaches. Again, really fine sand that's nice to walk in. The beach we like best in Maui, Po'olenanlena Beach, has golden sand.
Apparently there is a green sand beach on the Big Island, created by the grinding down of lava rock and olivine, but a trip here requires the use of a 4wd vehicle, which we lacked.
Umm. Ours is the one on the right. And, although we did get it to this parking lot near Makalawena Beach after some pretty bumpy roads through a lava field, that is nothing compared to the road leading to the green sand beach.
(Makalawena was a white sand beach, by the way, but not quite as fine as Mauna Kea. Also, hiking 30 minutes on a lava path in the heat of the day to get there kind of takes a little away from the experience. Our travel guide says this long, hot hike dissuades visitors and we could have the beach practically to ourselves. So, we were a little disappointed to be met with quite a few others already on the beach when we got there.)
(Here's a picture of it. As you can see, it's also very pretty. Just a bugger to get to. And also, something's wrong with the saturation. I'm sure the camera was on some weird setting. The beach didn't look this yellow.)
(I don't know why I'm typing all this in parentheses. Apparently the whole story about the rental car and lava fields and the beach at the end of a long, hot hike is not a quick aside so much as a full-fledged rabbit trail I have just spent the last five minutes typing about.)
So, the final type of beach we experienced was the black sand beach. It looks like dirt from afar and then surprisingly feels like fine sand...only black. Hmm. Guess that's where they come up with the name "black sand".
Pololu Beach is the first black sand beach we walked on...after hiking down to it on a trail that started like this:
If you can't read it, those are all manner of signs warning of impending death and destruction should we take the hike or go to the beach.
OK. Not really. But almost.
Here's what the trail looks like:
I guess they aren't kidding about the "watch for falling rocks" warning.
So, we hiked down in flip-flops. Naturally.
We visited a second black sand beach, Punalu'u. The vistas surrounding it weren't nearly as breathtaking, but we did see some beached turtles.
And a lot of Asian tourists that pulled up in a tour bus. (Punalu'u was a bit more accessible than Pololu.)
That does it for my summary of "The Sands of Hawai'i". (I made that up just now and even though it's cheesy I'm leaving it because it's late, and I'm tired.)
P.S. Did you know there are only 14 letters in the Hawaiian language? I'll bet after all the names of these beaches you might be able to guess what the 14 letters are. I think that's why so many of the Hawaiian words have to be so long - they're only using 14 letters.
I know. Profound.
I'm pretty sure we visited a salt-and-pepper sand beach at some point during our trip, but for some reason those tend to be course-grained sand, which I am not a fan of. Thus, I don't think we stayed long and no pictures were taken. Truthfully, a salt-and-pepper sand beach looks like white sand with dirt mixed into it. I know it's not, but it just looks dirty.
My favorite beach, Mauna Kea, has really fine, white sand. I love the way the white sand looks beneath the water. These are the most beautiful beaches, in my opinion.
My second favorite would be the golden sand beaches. Again, really fine sand that's nice to walk in. The beach we like best in Maui, Po'olenanlena Beach, has golden sand.
Apparently there is a green sand beach on the Big Island, created by the grinding down of lava rock and olivine, but a trip here requires the use of a 4wd vehicle, which we lacked.
Umm. Ours is the one on the right. And, although we did get it to this parking lot near Makalawena Beach after some pretty bumpy roads through a lava field, that is nothing compared to the road leading to the green sand beach.
(Makalawena was a white sand beach, by the way, but not quite as fine as Mauna Kea. Also, hiking 30 minutes on a lava path in the heat of the day to get there kind of takes a little away from the experience. Our travel guide says this long, hot hike dissuades visitors and we could have the beach practically to ourselves. So, we were a little disappointed to be met with quite a few others already on the beach when we got there.)
(Here's a picture of it. As you can see, it's also very pretty. Just a bugger to get to. And also, something's wrong with the saturation. I'm sure the camera was on some weird setting. The beach didn't look this yellow.)
(I don't know why I'm typing all this in parentheses. Apparently the whole story about the rental car and lava fields and the beach at the end of a long, hot hike is not a quick aside so much as a full-fledged rabbit trail I have just spent the last five minutes typing about.)
So, the final type of beach we experienced was the black sand beach. It looks like dirt from afar and then surprisingly feels like fine sand...only black. Hmm. Guess that's where they come up with the name "black sand".
Pololu Beach is the first black sand beach we walked on...after hiking down to it on a trail that started like this:
If you can't read it, those are all manner of signs warning of impending death and destruction should we take the hike or go to the beach.
OK. Not really. But almost.
Here's what the trail looks like:
I guess they aren't kidding about the "watch for falling rocks" warning.
So, we hiked down in flip-flops. Naturally.
We visited a second black sand beach, Punalu'u. The vistas surrounding it weren't nearly as breathtaking, but we did see some beached turtles.
And a lot of Asian tourists that pulled up in a tour bus. (Punalu'u was a bit more accessible than Pololu.)
That does it for my summary of "The Sands of Hawai'i". (I made that up just now and even though it's cheesy I'm leaving it because it's late, and I'm tired.)
P.S. Did you know there are only 14 letters in the Hawaiian language? I'll bet after all the names of these beaches you might be able to guess what the 14 letters are. I think that's why so many of the Hawaiian words have to be so long - they're only using 14 letters.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Post Op. Report
I will not attempt to construct a post today further chronicling our adventures in Hawaii. I had some surgery yesterday and am still feeling the effects of anesthesia. My head is a little bit foggy, and my memory still doesn't seem quite up to par.
Yesterday was, hopefully, the last surgical procedure we'll have to do in this infertility, post-miscarriage saga. OK. At least the last one for a good, long while, I hope. It was a quick scope of my uterus and some clipping of scar tissue there that might have increased my chance of miscarriage in future. (Although miscarriage is such a mystery that there are still lots of unknowns.) Anyway, I feel we've now done all the testing and procedures that need to be done after my miscarriage in May.
Whew.
And not that you care to know, but the worst part of this whole surgery was vomiting in the O.R. when the anesthesiologist put antibiotics in my IV before he gave me the anti-nausea medicine. In hindsight those two should have been reversed, but who knew?
Also, strangely, the hydrocodone given me right before I left the surgery center did nothing to relieve my cramping pain. Good thing my doctor suggested I just take some ibuprofen - it worked wonders.
I will stop rambling because I'm really afraid I am not making any sense just now.
I might need a nap.
Back to Hawaii and more adventuresome subjects in the near future!
Yesterday was, hopefully, the last surgical procedure we'll have to do in this infertility, post-miscarriage saga. OK. At least the last one for a good, long while, I hope. It was a quick scope of my uterus and some clipping of scar tissue there that might have increased my chance of miscarriage in future. (Although miscarriage is such a mystery that there are still lots of unknowns.) Anyway, I feel we've now done all the testing and procedures that need to be done after my miscarriage in May.
Whew.
And not that you care to know, but the worst part of this whole surgery was vomiting in the O.R. when the anesthesiologist put antibiotics in my IV before he gave me the anti-nausea medicine. In hindsight those two should have been reversed, but who knew?
Also, strangely, the hydrocodone given me right before I left the surgery center did nothing to relieve my cramping pain. Good thing my doctor suggested I just take some ibuprofen - it worked wonders.
I will stop rambling because I'm really afraid I am not making any sense just now.
I might need a nap.
Back to Hawaii and more adventuresome subjects in the near future!
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The bible of Hawaii tourism
So, what did we do in Hawaii? How did we plan all our daily activities and get everything done while spending at least a few minutes relaxing?
The same way every other tourist in Hawaii got to all the "super secret" beaches, ate at the tastiest restaurants, and stopped at all the most beautiful spots:
Seriously, every place we went (restaurants, beaches, hikes, pull-outs along the road) there was at least one other couple or family toting around this bright blue book.
For good reason, too. If you're going to visit Hawaii, get this book. There's one for every island.
John even ordered some biscuits and gravy at a cafe one morning despite a warning in the book that says it's way too salty. "Surely this guy can't be right about EVERYTHING," John thought.
Yep. They were salty.
If it's in the book, it's gospel truth.
Having detailed directions written out in a book is also handy when attempting to locate places. We discovered our GPS lady is none so wise when it comes to the streets of Hawaii. There were roads turning when in reality they clearly went only straight. There were streets where there actually were no streets. There were no streets when indeed there were entire neighborhoods. There was much "recalculating" only to quite silently correct the map screen to show us, in fact, going in the right direction.
The least the GPS lady could do was say, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. You are in fact heading the right way. No recalculating necessary."
But NO. She just silently adjusted herself to our turns (or lack of turns) all the while pretending that she had gotten us there quite perfectly.
Get the book. Leave the GPS at home. Or at least, take the GPS lady's directions with a grain of salt.
You can pick up that grain of salt at a cafe in Kihei that serves salty biscuits and gravy.
Listen to the book.
The same way every other tourist in Hawaii got to all the "super secret" beaches, ate at the tastiest restaurants, and stopped at all the most beautiful spots:
Seriously, every place we went (restaurants, beaches, hikes, pull-outs along the road) there was at least one other couple or family toting around this bright blue book.
For good reason, too. If you're going to visit Hawaii, get this book. There's one for every island.
John even ordered some biscuits and gravy at a cafe one morning despite a warning in the book that says it's way too salty. "Surely this guy can't be right about EVERYTHING," John thought.
Yep. They were salty.
If it's in the book, it's gospel truth.
Having detailed directions written out in a book is also handy when attempting to locate places. We discovered our GPS lady is none so wise when it comes to the streets of Hawaii. There were roads turning when in reality they clearly went only straight. There were streets where there actually were no streets. There were no streets when indeed there were entire neighborhoods. There was much "recalculating" only to quite silently correct the map screen to show us, in fact, going in the right direction.
The least the GPS lady could do was say, "I'm sorry. I was wrong. You are in fact heading the right way. No recalculating necessary."
But NO. She just silently adjusted herself to our turns (or lack of turns) all the while pretending that she had gotten us there quite perfectly.
Get the book. Leave the GPS at home. Or at least, take the GPS lady's directions with a grain of salt.
You can pick up that grain of salt at a cafe in Kihei that serves salty biscuits and gravy.
Listen to the book.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
All I want is a room somewhere...
I think part of the reason I absolutely LOVED our vacation to Hawaii was that we got to stay in the fanciest resorts I've ever set foot in...
for FREE.
FREE.
FREE.
FREE.
This was all a combination of kissing my husband goodbye early Monday morning and welcoming him home again on Friday night for approximately 6 months, and my husband learning how to play the hotel points game.
For instance, the Grand Wailea on Maui would cost about 100,000 points a night to stay there. Whoa.
So, my industrious husband used all the free nights he earned during one particular 3-month promotion, so we didn't have to use points; we used five free nights.
The Waikoloa Village on the Big Island was our "points" stay.
Free stay aside, I still think these are fabulous resorts and I highly recommend them to everyone.
At least, I recommend them to everyone who's rich...or spends half to 2/3 of their life living in a Hilton hotel.
In my humble opinion, taking into consideration I've never stayed anywhere close to this nice, the Grand Wailea (which is a Waldorf Astoria property) is a little snooty. I never felt dressed appropriately and I wonder how many of their other guests were stockpiling the fancy toiletry accoutrements like nobody's business.
However, the bathroom was awesome.
I could be tainted by the fact that our master bathroom at home is actually 15 square feet (if that), obviously housing only a shower stall...no tub. I suppose having a bathroom that only one of us can enter into at a time demonstrates our love of experiences (i.e. travel) over the creature comforts.
Anywho, the Grand Wailea also has an excellent water speed slide and a great restaurant, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (that's Hawaii's state fish), with excellent views:
The Waikoloa Village is like Disney World: more families, a tram and a boat system to shuttle you around, a fun lagoon, and a dolphin experience. It also boasts some mighty fine views.
The only down sides were the standard hotel bathroom (which was just fine until we moved on to Maui and learned what fantastical bathrooms exist), and the amount of time it took to travel/ride/float/hike to our car in the parking lot. We figured out we needed to leave 15 minutes early just to get to the car every day.
We did stay for a couple nights in between at a bed and breakfast in Hilo on the Big Island. The owner joked that we would have to get accustomed to regular old lodgings after being at Waikoloa Village.
He was kind of right. But Hale Kai Hawaii was more the type of place we would stay if we had to pay for it ourselves, and it was actually really great. Great view, yummy breakfasts every morning on the deck overlooking the ocean, fun guests, and extremely kind owners. What more could you ask for?
(OK. I did whine a little that there was no air conditioning, but I like to sleep in arctic temperatures and it was pretty warm this time of year in Hawaii...at least pretty warm for not having air conditioning.)
Hawaii is spectacular, and if I could do it all over again I'd stay at the same accommodations. Two thumbs up!
for FREE.
FREE.
FREE.
FREE.
This was all a combination of kissing my husband goodbye early Monday morning and welcoming him home again on Friday night for approximately 6 months, and my husband learning how to play the hotel points game.
For instance, the Grand Wailea on Maui would cost about 100,000 points a night to stay there. Whoa.
So, my industrious husband used all the free nights he earned during one particular 3-month promotion, so we didn't have to use points; we used five free nights.
The Waikoloa Village on the Big Island was our "points" stay.
Free stay aside, I still think these are fabulous resorts and I highly recommend them to everyone.
At least, I recommend them to everyone who's rich...or spends half to 2/3 of their life living in a Hilton hotel.
In my humble opinion, taking into consideration I've never stayed anywhere close to this nice, the Grand Wailea (which is a Waldorf Astoria property) is a little snooty. I never felt dressed appropriately and I wonder how many of their other guests were stockpiling the fancy toiletry accoutrements like nobody's business.
However, the bathroom was awesome.
I could be tainted by the fact that our master bathroom at home is actually 15 square feet (if that), obviously housing only a shower stall...no tub. I suppose having a bathroom that only one of us can enter into at a time demonstrates our love of experiences (i.e. travel) over the creature comforts.
Anywho, the Grand Wailea also has an excellent water speed slide and a great restaurant, Humuhumunukunukuapua'a (that's Hawaii's state fish), with excellent views:
The Waikoloa Village is like Disney World: more families, a tram and a boat system to shuttle you around, a fun lagoon, and a dolphin experience. It also boasts some mighty fine views.
The only down sides were the standard hotel bathroom (which was just fine until we moved on to Maui and learned what fantastical bathrooms exist), and the amount of time it took to travel/ride/float/hike to our car in the parking lot. We figured out we needed to leave 15 minutes early just to get to the car every day.
We did stay for a couple nights in between at a bed and breakfast in Hilo on the Big Island. The owner joked that we would have to get accustomed to regular old lodgings after being at Waikoloa Village.
He was kind of right. But Hale Kai Hawaii was more the type of place we would stay if we had to pay for it ourselves, and it was actually really great. Great view, yummy breakfasts every morning on the deck overlooking the ocean, fun guests, and extremely kind owners. What more could you ask for?
(OK. I did whine a little that there was no air conditioning, but I like to sleep in arctic temperatures and it was pretty warm this time of year in Hawaii...at least pretty warm for not having air conditioning.)
Hawaii is spectacular, and if I could do it all over again I'd stay at the same accommodations. Two thumbs up!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Survival of the Fittest
I must tell you about a few moments from our trip to Hawaii. This is not in any way a summary or recap of our entire trip. I might get to that later.
Like maybe tonight or tomorrow night when I still can't get to bed at a decent hour.
Thank you, jet lag.
Our second full day in Hawaii we overheard a woman going on our boat snorkeling trip say something that would put our entire trip in perspective. No matter how bad things might get on our vacation (which they never did...not even close), we could be thankful we were not members of her party.
"Well, if they don't get out of jail tonight, we'd better cancel two spots on the parasailing trip."
Not sure what landed those two people in jail...something about drinking and a bar and raucous. I didn't feel it appropriate to ask.
Those two people sure missed some awesome snorkeling at Captain Cook Monument in Kealakekua Bay.
Our trip was off to an AMAZING start! Snorkeling in the best location in the state, maybe the country, followed the next day by some perfect timing.
On our way to what turned out to be a delicious seafood dinner sitting right next to the ocean, we passed by the lagoon at our resort. The lagoon was closed for guests at that time, but there were a few people standing on the sandy shore so we went right over to see...
A monk seal! They're endangered. And it was right there on the shore. Barking at us.
There were two employees from the dolphin experience area there telling people to keep a safe distance back and obviously wondering what in the heck they should be doing. The guy finally asks the girl, "Did somebody call security?" To which the girl responds, "Yeah. He's right over there."
Standing there with the rest of us. Staring at the seal. I'm pretty sure he had no earthly idea what to do with a monk seal in the lagoon.
Turns out the monk seal was dining on puffer fish that evening. Apparently this spiny, toxic fish is not the recommended diet for monk seals.
I say, "survival of the fittest."
And finally, I hesitate to share this with the world for fear of offending someone, but we got a real kick out of it and are still bringing it up in conversation.
Every time John says he "loves" something I think of this plaque. (My husband is nothing if not a bit dramatic, so he "loves" and "hates" a lot of things.)
(He has not, however, admitted his "love" for bamboo. Not that I recall, anyway.)
I sincerely hope this 95 year-old woman loved other things in her long life. If I live to be 95 I want to be remembered for loving a lot of things (or more appropriately people...and my God), but not for my love of a tall, hollow, Asian plant that pandas also love.
Nice, but I don't love it.
I could love this:
Mauna Kea Beach. Perfect.
Like maybe tonight or tomorrow night when I still can't get to bed at a decent hour.
Thank you, jet lag.
Our second full day in Hawaii we overheard a woman going on our boat snorkeling trip say something that would put our entire trip in perspective. No matter how bad things might get on our vacation (which they never did...not even close), we could be thankful we were not members of her party.
"Well, if they don't get out of jail tonight, we'd better cancel two spots on the parasailing trip."
Not sure what landed those two people in jail...something about drinking and a bar and raucous. I didn't feel it appropriate to ask.
Those two people sure missed some awesome snorkeling at Captain Cook Monument in Kealakekua Bay.
Our trip was off to an AMAZING start! Snorkeling in the best location in the state, maybe the country, followed the next day by some perfect timing.
On our way to what turned out to be a delicious seafood dinner sitting right next to the ocean, we passed by the lagoon at our resort. The lagoon was closed for guests at that time, but there were a few people standing on the sandy shore so we went right over to see...
A monk seal! They're endangered. And it was right there on the shore. Barking at us.
There were two employees from the dolphin experience area there telling people to keep a safe distance back and obviously wondering what in the heck they should be doing. The guy finally asks the girl, "Did somebody call security?" To which the girl responds, "Yeah. He's right over there."
Standing there with the rest of us. Staring at the seal. I'm pretty sure he had no earthly idea what to do with a monk seal in the lagoon.
Turns out the monk seal was dining on puffer fish that evening. Apparently this spiny, toxic fish is not the recommended diet for monk seals.
I say, "survival of the fittest."
And finally, I hesitate to share this with the world for fear of offending someone, but we got a real kick out of it and are still bringing it up in conversation.
Every time John says he "loves" something I think of this plaque. (My husband is nothing if not a bit dramatic, so he "loves" and "hates" a lot of things.)
(He has not, however, admitted his "love" for bamboo. Not that I recall, anyway.)
I sincerely hope this 95 year-old woman loved other things in her long life. If I live to be 95 I want to be remembered for loving a lot of things (or more appropriately people...and my God), but not for my love of a tall, hollow, Asian plant that pandas also love.
Nice, but I don't love it.
I could love this:
Mauna Kea Beach. Perfect.
Saturday, September 04, 2010
Having Too Much Fun
OK. Well, I haven't been posting like I had planned to. We're just too busy having too much fun!!!
We're on the Hilo side of the Big Island now after spending the rest of last week on the Kona side. We snorkled, snorkled, snorkled, laid on the beach, saw a monk seal up close at the lagoon by our hotel, ate some great food, hiked through a lava field to get to a secluded beach (secluded until it was written up in our guide book and we found quite a few others already there), and attended a great luau.
Yesterday we went to the southern most point in the United States, met a couple from Germany, saw a bunch of sea turtles on a black sand beach, and swam in a lava-heated pool.
Today was Volcanoes National Park, and it was awesome! But I really have to go now because we're taking a boat trip out to see lava flowing into the ocean. If you read this soon (which, most of you probably won't because you're sleeping right now), pray for me. We're going on kind of a small boat with Lava Roy in some rough seas (4-6-foot waves). I'm taking some Dramamine before we head out...just in case. Too bad that won't help at all with the bumpy ride rattling my bones!
But...flowing lava!!! How cool will that be?!? Lava Roy said last night it was even a bit explosive. We can't wait!
We're on the Hilo side of the Big Island now after spending the rest of last week on the Kona side. We snorkled, snorkled, snorkled, laid on the beach, saw a monk seal up close at the lagoon by our hotel, ate some great food, hiked through a lava field to get to a secluded beach (secluded until it was written up in our guide book and we found quite a few others already there), and attended a great luau.
Yesterday we went to the southern most point in the United States, met a couple from Germany, saw a bunch of sea turtles on a black sand beach, and swam in a lava-heated pool.
Today was Volcanoes National Park, and it was awesome! But I really have to go now because we're taking a boat trip out to see lava flowing into the ocean. If you read this soon (which, most of you probably won't because you're sleeping right now), pray for me. We're going on kind of a small boat with Lava Roy in some rough seas (4-6-foot waves). I'm taking some Dramamine before we head out...just in case. Too bad that won't help at all with the bumpy ride rattling my bones!
But...flowing lava!!! How cool will that be?!? Lava Roy said last night it was even a bit explosive. We can't wait!
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