Hawaii (Beaches, Sun, and a little Lava)

Jim, Rob, and I took off to the Islands of Hawaii for a fun week in the sun. We spent the first few days in Oahu, body surfing, driving the island, and then having the oppontunity to experience the War Memorial for the USS Arizona. What a amazing day in our History, and to recover and grow as a country is what we are all about. Pride in our country and those who protect our freedoms. We also had the opportunity to tour the Missouri which was one of the last battleships built and where World War II ended. What an impressive site, the sure massiveness and the time period it was built boggles the mind. What a special experience.

From Oahu, we had the opportunity to rent a 182 plane and fly onto Maui. I really enjoyed Maui. It had beautiful flowers, and beaches. We happened to be fortunate to be there during the high season for whales. The whales travel to the shallow waters of where they were born to have their babies and teach them to swim. We had reserved a trip to go snorkeling at a crater off the shore about 3 miles. It was a slow process as whales were swimming everywhere!!

The next stop was the Big Island. We took off from Maui and climbed to the highest point of the crater on Maui. The top of this extint crater looked like a moon scape. We kept this altitude and across the way you could see snow on the highest peak of the big island!! As we flew across , we saw a beautiful sunset past the snow and mountains. It was time for us to land on the big island, as Jim was getting below the clouds in the darkest we actually saw lava. Usually the lava flows beneath the ground , but we happen to catch a rare opportunity when a lava vent opened up. What a neat sight. As we flew over , you could smell the sulfur. We landed and the tower crew who cleared us , actually came and picked us up to take us to the rental car desk. What service, and just very nice people. As a matter of fact, the tower control guy had went snow boarder up at the top of the mountain that day. The next day we visited the Volcanoe national park with lava flows from years past all over the island. The Big Island is the youngest land we have as it grows every year due to the active lava flow. When it was time to fly out, we took a path which allowed us to see a smoking crater. You will have to check out the pictures below.

From here we headed back to Oahu, so in all we saw all the islands except Kauai. I hear it is gorgeous but I guess next time.

We spent the next day and half at the beach before our departure having a great time, until Rob had an unfortunate accident at Sandy Beach. While body surfing the wave could reach over 8' tall, and unfortunately one of them hit Rob , flipped him over dislocating his shoulder and taking a chip out of the bone. We got him to the hospital where he was in extreme pain. The RN's said they hadn't given someone so much morphine and it didn't help. It was a great staff, Doctor Chi even offered up his shower since we were all covered in sand and were suppose to be on a flight that night. They set Rob's shoulder and off to the airport where unfortunately our flight was cancelled. In the end , it was probably for the best as it gave Rob time to rest.

All in all it was an incredible trip, I just wish we could have avoided the last day. Rob had surgery back home and is recovering.

I highly recommend Hawaii for a vacation.