Big Island Fun!

It’s been pretty quiet in blog land for me lately. We had some Army framily come to visit, so between preparing for them to arrive and actually hanging out with them, this page got neglected. Sorry!

Anyway, I’m back! Over the weekend we took a trip to the Big Island for a little framily fun! Here are some of the highlights!

We stayed in a gorgeous house on a resort on the Kona coast. I can only hope to live in a place as nice someday. Once I have a chance to look through my photos, I might do  post on the house itself. Seriously! HUGE kitchen, gorgeous wood floors, and perfectly flowing decor.

Much of our time was spent lounging at the house or around the resort at the beach or pool. We did spend an entire day out exploring the rest of the island though and checking out waterfalls and volcanoes.

I haven’t been impressed by the waterfalls on Oahu, but the ones on the Big Island did not disappoint! Above is Akaka Falls, and below is Rainbow Falls. Both waterfalls were relatively easy to access with minimal hiking.

We stopped at the Waipio Valley lookout in hopes of spotting a waterfall there, but it wasn’t visible without a major hike, which we weren’t looking to do with the kids in tow. However, we did get a great view of a black sand beach and the coast, from the lookout.

Since the house had a fully equipped kitchen, lunch was homemade and packed for a picnic. King Kamehameha ruled over the festivities. Jen informed me two days after our lunch with King Kam that the top part of his spear went missing. Clearly, it was there when we visited and I can assure you, it didn’t make it to our suitcases.

The latter part of the day was spent touring the various attractions in Volcano National park. Thanks to my Soldier husband, we got in free and received and annual pass. In the park we saw plenty of hardened lava along with cracks in the ground that were still steaming. We walked through a lava tube (basically a cave) and along seawalls made of cooled lava.

The highlight of our trip to the national park however, was seeing the glow of lava from the volcanic crater. When we first arrived at the crater, it was dark, foggy, and rainy. We camped out in the meseum for a bit in hopes of having the fog clear and being able to catch a glimpse of the volcano. After not too long, the fog lifted and we were left with this incredible sight!

Although we didn’t get to see actual lava flowing, the glow was remarkable! I highly recommend stopping by if you happen to be on the Big Island!

Other than that, we did some swimming and stand up paddle boarding. John got some golf in, and we all enjoyed the time together. It was definitely a nice break from the hectic schedule that we’ve adopted as of late.