In case everyone was wondering what happened to us last week, we were vacationing in Hawaii with the Eichermueller’s. We had an awesome time and did lots of activities throughout the week. We were so busy I didn’t even have time to post anything along the way…. or maybe I just wanted a week without technology 🙂 he he.
Monday- Our trip began with a visit to Waimea and the urgent care facility there. I hadn’t been feeling well for a few days and was afraid I had an appendicitis but it wasn’t (woohoo!) and they gave me some medicine so I felt better in no time! We were able to find a few geocaches on the way back to the resort in Waikoloa too.
Tuesday- The next day we went on a snorkeling trip and saw the pretty pretty fish swimming around in a protected area. There was also a monument nearby which is officially British soil. It was in honor of some Captain Cook who died there a really long time ago. The boat that took us to the cove had a couple slides and a HUGE drop down into the water. It was a lot faster than it looked too.
Wednesday- A day to relax and lounge by the pool before heading off to an authentic Hawaiian luau with dancing, mai tai’s and fire twirling!
Thursday- Then we went to the Volcanoes National Park on the other side of the island. We walked around a bit and got to climb on real lava that had hardened over the road. You could see the old street signs sticking out of the lava. There was a geocache there as well, under the lava! We also saw the caldera steaming and smelling up the air. The park ranger there was very informative and even told us the locals sometimes collect a bunch of snow from the mountains, drive down to the beach and build a snowman to scare the tourists!
Friday- Next was the ATV tour. This was probably the most fun activity of the trip. One of the stops was in a pond near a waterfall to cool off and eat some snacks. On the way back down we got to see the waterfall which is in the movie Jurassic Park. A few other movies have been filmed in the area we were at as well. The history of the valley below was really fascinating. The people down below don’t have running water or electricity. One man uses a waterfall near his house to get power. They harvest taro which is used to make the famous Hawaiian food of poi. Apparently poi is much better fresh and not when you have it at luaus because the resorts water it down to make more of it. The production of poi is a tradition in Hawaii and the valley people are trying to keep it alive.
Saturday- Next, zip lining through the rainforest canopy’s. Very fun. I did not mind flying through the air, dangling from a wire but when we had to cross the suspension bridge I was FREAKING OUT! It might have been because 2 family members were behind me making the bridge bounce up and down….
In between all these activities we hung out with my wonderful in-laws (there were 13 of us total!), swam and ate. It was a fantastic trip I will always remember. I can’t wait to look at all the pictures we took!!