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Hawaii 2019

Sandy and I usually take a tropical trip somewhere every winter. This year we planned to go to Providenciales (say that three times really fast) in the Turks and Caicos Islands in mid-January. But around New Years Sandy strained her back pretty badly and could barely move for several days. As a result, besides me getting to play nursemaid for a week or two, we also decided to cancel our trip. She didn't think she could handle a long plane ride, much less moving through airports and hauling luggage. We still wanted to do a tropical trip though so when she felt better Sandy started shopping for another one. She found a good deal on a trip to Hawaii through our old standby, Costco Travel. It was on the Big Island, a place that Sandy has visited several times over the past few years with her daughter Shannon and/or friend Mary Beth. Her and I hadn't gone there together for probably fifteen years though. In the past we had done scuba trips there but now that Sandy has retired from diving it would be a more typical tourist trip. It would still be a lot of fun and it would be a good way to celebrate our twenty fifth wedding anniversary in March.

The hotel we would be staying at was the Fairmont Orchid in Waimea, on the west coast about twenty miles north of Kona. Talking to one of her colleagues at U of I, Sandy found out that he and his wife had just been there in February. They gave it high marks so we figured that we had made a good choice.

Our trip started with an early flight through Portland, which is unusual since flights to Hawaii usually leave later in the day. Instead of arriving in the evening we were at our hotel and settled in by late afternoon. Our first order of business was to head to the beach bar where we had a drink and then got some bar snacks for an early, light dinner. We were able to enjoy a nice view of the sun setting over the ocean. It was actually quite windy and eventually I ended up running back to our room to fetch our jackets. They were only light jackets but still it didn't exactly seem tropical. We were wondering if it would be like this for our whole trip. The next morning was still windy but in the afternoon the sun came out and the wind finally dropped. By the following day the weather was back to more what we expected and we were enjoying the sunshine in shorts and tshirts.

The hotel grounds were very pretty, with gardens, waterfalls and a large swimming pool. The resort was set right on the coast, which was rugged and rocky except for a small bay where there was a nice beach. I'm not sure if it was natural or artificial but it was still pretty. After the first night we found that the best spot to watch the sunset was the bar on the second floor in the main building. It was set back from the water, overlooking the hotel grounds with the ocean as a background. Happy hour was the perfect time to sit every night and watch the colors of the sunset on the clouds as the sun sank below the horizon.

Although it was very nice, during the day we didn't spend much time at the resort. We preferred to get out and see more of the island. One day we did a hike on the Ala Kahakai National Historic Trail. It provides almost 175 miles of right of way along corridors that connect the sites of many ancient Hawaiian settlements, following the traditional routes that were used by the people of the island for centuries. Most of it is along the coast and provides spectacular scenery.

Our starting point was the parking area at Hapuna Beach State Park, which features one of the largest white sand beaches on the island. It was certainly a beautiful spot and while there were some people there, it certainly wasn't overcrowded. We walked along the beach to the far end where there was a large Westin resort just outside of the state park. There we picked up the official trail which we followed north along the coast. It was always within a hundred feet or so of the water, overlooking a very rugged shoreline of black volcanic rocks. On the other side, about a hundred feet from the trail, was a steady line of multimillion dollar houses. I thought it was amazing (and pretty cool to be honest) that with all the high-priced real estate along the ocean, the actual coast was still a public right of way for hikers.

The walk along the ocean was beautiful. There were only a few people on the trail. We left almost everyone behind once we were beyond the beach. We could see for miles up and down the coast in both directions. Just below us, sharp black basalt rocks lined the edge of the crystal clear blue green water. Twenty five miles away to the northwest we could see Mt. Haleakala on the island of Maui rising ten thousand feet above the Pacific. Behind us were the twin volcanos of the Big Island, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea.

It didn't take us long to reach Kauna'Oa Beach, another wide, white sand beach that curved around a large bay. We walked to the far end of the beach to the Mauna Kea Resort before turning around and heading back. It wasn't very far but Sandy had a bone spur that was really bothering her heel so we couldn't do our usual long walks. It may have been short but it was still an awesome hike.

Because Sandy was being careful of her heel we only did one other hike on this trip. It started right from our hotel. We began by crossing the golf course that we looked out on from our hotel room. On the other side of the fairway we had to find a spot where we could get through a fence, which wasn't easy. When we managed that we were in Holoholokai Beach Park. It was pretty but not as large as the beaches we had seen on our previous hike. Still, I hadn't remembered that the Big Island had so many beaches. I usually think of it as having only rocky coastline.

After crossing the parking area for the beach we entered Puako Petroglyph Archeological Park, where a short trail led away from the water and through the woods. It ended at a large open area filled with unusual flat, volcanic rocks that were covered with ancient petroglyphs. Several thousand of them have been identified. The area was sacred to the ancient Hawaiians and they traveled a long way to carve the figures. It was very cool, and interesting to compare to some of the petroglyphs that we have seen on some of our hikes in the American Southwest.

We did more exploration of Hawaiian history with a visit to Pu'ukohola National Historic Site, where I took a short walk to the base of Pu'ukohola Heiau, the Hill of the Whale. It's where King Kamehameha I built a temple when he started his campaign that resulted in the unification of all of the Hawaiian Islands. It's sacred to Hawaiians so I couldn't actually get into the site but the trail took me right to the entrance.

One of my wargaming buddies, Frederick, is working on his PhD in history. His area is Hawaiian history so at the visitor center I had to get him a hat with the name of the park on it. He was very appreciative when I gave it to him at our next wargame session and wore it during the game.

Besides doing some hiking and exploring the island's history, we did drive around just to check out the scenery. We took the highway that travels along the north side of the island all the way to its end. While most of the island is barren lava flows the north end is lush rainforest. Obviously the prevailing winds must blow from the north because it looks like that side of the island gets a lot of rainfall while the rest of it is quite dry. We stopped at Keokea Beach Park near the end of the road. Here it was wilder than the other spots we had been along the coast, the winds from the north whipping up high surf that crashed against the cliffs. It was a spectacular and beautiful place.

We continued to the end of the road...almost. As we got close the road narrowed and it was parked up on both sides. Cars were stopping while people got out to take pictures and traffic was beginning to back up. I read that there was very little parking at the Pololu Valley overlook at the end of the road so we turned around before it got so congested that we got stuck. I jumped out of the car and snapped a quick picture but the view was better at our last stop anyway.

On the way back we stopped for a late lunch in the village of Kapaau at a tiny local restaurant called the King's View Cafe. Kapaau is famous as the birthplace of King Kamehameha I and we enjoyed a good pizza sitting on their patio directly across from a park with a large statue of the great king looking out over the island. It was almost like having lunch with him, except that he didn't say much.

Last but certainly not least, we did spend quite a bit of time shopping on this trip. Sandy looked up quilt shops because Hawaii is a good place to find batiks and other tropical-themed fabrics. Surprisingly there were several, although I'm not sure how much need there is for quilts to keep you warm in the tropics. There were two shops listed in Kona so we braved the mass of tourists to go there. Kona is a cool place but between the cruise ship dock and several large tourist hotels, there are just too many people. And since the streets are very narrow, way too many cars.

We spent an hour one day driving around looking for one of the quilt shops. Our GPS eventually led us to a parking lot and told us the shop was right there, but we couldn't see it. After driving around the lot several times, we concluded that the shop had probably gone out of business and was gone. Sadly that's a common occurrence on our trips when we are hunting down quilt shops (or game stores).

We had better luck finding the other shop, Quilt Passions. It turned out to be a nice quilt shop and we spent a long time there (good thing I am such a patient husband). Sandy ended up finding a lot of nice fabric to buy. I was fascinated by the automatic fabric cutting machine that they had there. Instead of a clerk cutting the fabric by hand, they just loaded the bolt of fabric into the machine, punched in how much Sandy wanted, and it measured and cut the exact amount for them. I think Sandy's friend Laura needs to get one of those machines for the Quilt Crossing. I was tempted to buy some fabric myself just so I could watch the machine work.

Another day we drove around to the Hilo side of the island to the village of Honokaa. It's an interesting little town with a lot of art and souvenir shops that cater to tourists. Most importantly it has another quilt shop that was called Topstitch. We spent even more time there than at the other quilt shop but it was well worth it since Sandy found even more fabrics that she liked. She made quite a haul and by the time she was done she was definitely approaching the limit of what we could easily fit into our luggage to take home. Fortunately for her I showed rare restraint on this trip and didn't buy my usual large batch of tshirts. That meant that there was extra space available in our luggage for fabric. This was very unusual though and near the end of the trip when I hadn't bought a single tshirt, Sandy was asking me if I was feeling alright or if I was sick. It was a rare show of restraint on my part. I'll do my best to make up for it in April when I am buying wargames at GMT weekend.

As always an important part of the trip was eating at various local restaurants. In Kona we had lunch at Pancho and Lefty's Cantina, a funky place with a nice open-air second floor overlooking the main street. The food was reasonably priced but we had to pay a fortune for parking. Since Sandy is a real hamburger fan we tried Annie's Island Fresh Burgers. Supposedly they serve the best hamburgers in Kona but we both thought that it was overrated.

One evening we had a nostalgic dinner at the Kona Inn Restaurant, a place we had eaten dinner twenty five years earlier on one of the first trips that we took after getting married. The food was good and the view was as nice as we remembered it. Another time we ate at Kona Brewing Company. The food was just ok though and the beer wasn't that big a deal since I often get it at home at Albertson's. It was hard to find a parking spot and the restaurant was very crowded so service was slow. If I had bought a tshirt it might have been ok but as it was it was more trouble than it was worth.

Finally on our last evening on the island we celebrated our twenty fifth anniversary with dinner at Ruth Chris Steakhouse. That was awesome and since we went for the Early Bird Special (old retired people do that a lot) it wasn't even that expensive.

Before we knew it the week had gone by and it was time to go home. It had been a fun trip, not spectacular but nice and relaxing. A good way to celebrate our anniversary.