The ironic thing about Justin and I winning a trip to Hawaii at Seminar was that we already had a trip to Hawaii planned! We've been married 16 years and have taken no major trips and now, all of a sudden, we were planning two Hawaii getaways in one year! You'll hear no complaining from me.
Anyway, back in March or April some friends from our ward reached out to us and said they were getting a group of couples together for a trip to Hawaii and asked if Justin and I would like to go. We pretty much said yes right away because it sounded amazing and, since there were four couples going, the cost of a house was not very much for a whole week. We watched for the airline rates to go down and when they did, we bought our tickets and made it official. We waited several months for October 16th to arrive and finally it did. Our bishop and his wife (one of the couples) go to Hawaii twice a year and are pros so we basically let them do all the planning and it was wonderful to have them do that for us. From the moment of this trips conception, it was called "Big Island 2019" hence the title of this post.
The Allen's (our bishop and his wife) always fly on United because they are the only airline that can get you there in the early afternoon-instead of flying all day and getting there at night, having wasted a whole day traveling. That meant that our flight was early-6:00 am. We wanted to get there by 4:00 so we planned on leaving Heber at 3:00. It was an early morning! I am not an experienced flyer so I was really nervous about check-in and security and all that that entails but it couldn't have gone smoother. We flew to LA first, had about a 2 hour layover and then got on our flight to Kona. It was 5 hour flight. We landed at 11:30 Hawaii time and were delighted that we still had nearly the entire day ahead of us. The Kona airport was small-we walked out of the plane onto the tarmac and the airport was all outside! We had dressed warm-ish for the flight (workout pants) and were instantly too hot. Several of us had to dig into our suitcases and change into shorts in the bathroom.
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| flying into Kona-from the north to the south on the east coast of the island |
The first thing we did after we landed and got our rental cars (we shared with the Webb's) was head over to the Hilton because they have dolphins. We watched several of them swimming around, including a baby and its mother, and then walked out along the coast line for a while. We'd dreamed of being in Hawaii for several months and we had to pinch ourselves that we were finally there! We walked to an area with some tide pools and were able to see sea turtles. We went to eat lunch at Lava Lava Beach Club-the tables sit right on the beach and it felt completely surreal that we were actually there. Their fish tacos were downright amazing with that mango salsa-so fresh and yummy.
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| Justin, me, Brooke and Malcolm Rose-oh, and the beach! 😍 |
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| fish tacos, fresh mango salsa, coconut shrimp |
We were sharing a house on the "dry" side of the island-it was equipped with a nice kitchen and 4 bedrooms. After the hotel we checked into our house and then wasted no time finding a beach to snorkel in. Justin went out and learned the ropes but I stayed on shore that night, although I did go in for some swimming before we left. I couldn't be that close to the ocean and not get in! The water in Hawaii is so warm-about 80 degrees-and feels so nice. I loved that about this trip because the ocean is usually too cold on the west coast of the US for me to get in.
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| Brad and Justin |
We went back to the house after that. Everyone’s Hawaii high was ending and we were feeling exhausted-if we took into account the 4-hour time difference, we had been up for 24 hours!
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| the view from our deck...you can see the ocean peeking through just past those palm trees |
The next day (Thursday) was a beach day (there were lots of those). We went to a place called Puako where the snorkeling is known to be amazing. It was. I was a little nervous to try snorkeling because I had done it in Hawaii before (in high school with my fam) and I never got the hang of it. But I knew we'd be doing a lot of it so I wanted to try it. It was actually super easy and I caught right on. It was so neat to go out and see turtles and tropical fish and coral all around you. I loved how the combination of the flippers and the salt water buoyed me up and I could swim around for a long time. We also took a paddleboard out (the Webb's brought their two) and it was so peaceful out there. I always made sure to snorkel or swim at all the beaches but the boys always lasted longer than the girls so there was plenty of time to relax on the beach as well.
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| Brad, Malcolm, Brooke, me, Jenny and John Webb, Justin |
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| Brad, me, Justin-getting ready to go out |
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| some of the boys out snorkeling...maybe Justin and John? |
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| Malcolm, Brad, Justin |
That night we drove into Kona, the big city on the island. We stayed further north where it wasn’t very busy and it was nice. It was about an hour drive to Kona and the city was busy. This was our first of three times in Kona. We were heading down to do a manta snorkel. We found a pretty lookout on our drive down and I busted out my selfie stick (that I got for free and threw it in on a whim). For the manta snorkel, they suit you up in a wet suit, load you on a catamaran, and drive you out just past the cove where they shine spotlights into the water which supposedly attracts manta rays. The lights help them to see the plankton that they eat and they will swim right under you while they feed. Brad has done it several times and always seen mantas but the water was so rough that night that, unfortunately, the mantas didn’t show up for us. Justin and I are lucky that we don’t get sea sick because several people on the boat were suffering and about half of our group because the waves were rocking us so bad. After about an hour, they drove us back to shore and guaranteed that we could come back and try again for no cost. So that was a bit of a bummer. That was the last thing we did that night-we just drove home, had some dinner, and went to bed.
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| Brad and Becky Allen, Malcolm and Brooke, me and Justin, John and Jenny |
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| watching the sunset on the way out to sea |
The next morning (Friday) was another beach and snorkel day. I wish I could remember the names of all these beaches but I didn’t pay close enough attention. I snorkeled and innocently followed John and Justin to a cave which didn’t really end up being a cave and ended up being a long way from shore. I made it back but my legs were so tired! I didn’t end up going back out to snorkel that day but I did go swimming when it got too hot on shore. Justin would come in for mere minutes before he was back out. He loved the time spent in the water and it was so fun for me to watch him relax after a couple of stressful months.
After lunch at the house, it was to yet another beach. This one was really unique because it had trees right down next to the water. It was so pretty. We only stayed here for a short amount of time before going back to the house to get ready for our evening activity. I only did a little bit of swimming but Justin said the snorkeling was not as good there-the sand on the bottom was easily kicked up so it was too murky to see much.
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| the four boys |
That night was our second night driving into Kona. There is a small temple in Kona-it only has 3 sessions each day and no clothing rental. Everyone had packed their clothes and Friday night was the best night for us to go do a session. I have never been to this small of a temple-there is no chapel (I learned this after I was dressed and tried to go sit by Justin to wait for the session to begin and was told that it was the actual endowment room and I was on the wrong side-oops), two endowment rooms (you move halfway through the session), and the celestial room. There is a baptistry and a small dressing room. It was beautiful inside and I know that the saints in Kona sure must appreciate having that temple so close. I am so glad we traveled with like-minded people who would want to do temple work while on vacation.
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| Justin, Brad, John, Malcolm-John started this silly picture and the other boys followed. We still giggle when we see it. Maybe not the most reverent thing to be doing at the temple! |
On Saturday we decided to take a break from beaches and snorkeling so we drove over to Hilo, the “wet” side of the island. It is like you enter a whole different world! I loved being able to see both sides! Hilo is very much a tropical rain forest...just green and damp everywhere. That morning we rented Segway’s and did a tour through a botanical garden. We had two tour guides (who were so funny) and they pointed out all the native plants and fruits. We were able to pick the ripe fruit right off the trees and taste them. We all got the giggles as, before the tour started and one by one, they had us try the Segway's out so we were comfortable with them. There was even one spot where they stopped and allowed Justin and John to do a little cliff jumping. And then told us not to tell anyone because they have never let any other customers do that. (Justin and John are good friends because they’ve worked with Young Men together-think Scout Camp-and they both turned into little boys on this trip.)
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it didn't feel like the week before Halloween at all and there were no decorations around the island-except this one
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| branch from a cinnamon tree-tasted just like Big Red gum! |
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They took us to an open area and had us practice before taking us on the trails
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| Brad, Becky, Jenny, John, me, Justin, Brooke, Malcolm |
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| this tree trunk looked like it was painted-so much cooler to see it in person |
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| reaching for the bunch of green bananas |
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| Justin and Malcolm |
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| John in the water, Justin jumping |
Justin and Malcolm had been craving fish and chips since we first got there so we asked our guides for a recommendation. It was in downtown Hilo so we went there for lunch-the boys were happy because the food was delicious.
After lunch, Brad and Becky went to show us one of the waterfalls on that side of the island...I think it was called Rainbow Falls. Right down from the waterfall was this amazing tree. The pictures don’t even come close to capturing how cool it was. I texted home to the kids and told them that we had found the Whomping Willow! It had branches that would come off it, across the sky and then just grow down into the ground and grow roots where it had landed. Or it would connect into another tree and it was impossible to tell where one tree started or where the other ended. It was really so neat. The boys climbed inside-yes, inside-and up the trunk. On the way back to the house we stopped for some malasadas, or Hawaiian donuts. They were filled with bavarian cream and so delicious!
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| Goodrich's and Rose's |
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| Goodrich's and Allen's |
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| John, Justin, Malcolm |
That night we went back into Kona to try our luck swimming with the mantas again. It was a much calmer night this time and we started seeing mantas as soon as they put us in the water. I was able to watch several mantas swim up from the bottom of the ocean and do a flip inches away from my stomach-never close enough that they would touch me, but definitely close enough that I could reach out and touch them (which I didn't, because it's illegal). It was an incredible thing to see! When they first told us that we would be out on the water for 45 minutes I thought that there would be no way I could last that long. When they announced that there was 5 minutes left, I was shocked that the time had gone so quickly. I almost didn't go back (Jenny and Becky stayed at the house) but I am so glad that I did...not sure that I'll ever get to do that again!
End of Part 1, stay tuned for Part 2.
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