Hawaii 2009

Aloha from The Big Island

2009

Well, we are just ending our first day on the Kohala Coast and what a day we had! I don't think we could have packed more into 24 hours. After finally getting to bed at midnight, local time, Dan entered my room at 5 am hoping to rouse me, ready to start the day in true O'Brien fashion. It was all I could do to wave him back to bed. We 'finally' started the day at 7 with swimming in the pool and by 7:45 his hands were like prunes. Once he dried out, it was onto the beach!

It is just as beautiful as I remember it from our trip 2 years ago! The snorkeling gear we bought in Dallas actually worked (thanks, Mike) and we got within 2 feet of our first Hawaiian honu (sea turtle) of the trip, an event Danny was still discussing as I put him to bed tonight. After lunch, we headed up to the Hamakua Macadamia Nut Company where Danny discovered how much he loved macadamia nuts. This place not only grows and harvest these delicious nuts, (about which we received a very thorough 10 - minute tour) they have also perfected the art of covering macadamia nuts in anything remotely scrumptious and Danny helped himself to the sample bar one too many times.

After we left, goodies in hand, we made a wrong turn coming home and ended up at the Puukohola Heiau National Historic Site. Not wanting to pass up an educational opportunity, we decided to check it out and met Gerry, a ranger at the site who took a liking to Danny. I guess he was just glad to meet someone who showed at least a feigning interest in the historic site of King Kamehameha's temple, built in the 1800s to help him unite the Hawaiian Islands. Gerry even offered Danny an official Jr Ranger badge if we returned to the site with a completed worksheet recalling what he learned. If you have any doubts that Danny will be returning to the mainland as a Jr Ranger, you don't know my son!