Rainstorms & Happiness: 02.14

2/28/14

Hawaii Days 7 & 8

Day 7 Wednesday, February 26

This morning we woke up early, determined to get a spot at Mauna Kea beach so we could do some snorkeling. We got there with plenty of time to get a spot (there weren't very many people on the beach) and started snorkeling. One thing about me is that I am actually pretty terrified of snorkeling. I always need to have Ryan right by my side and holding my hand. Basically, I'm scared of the fish. I'm not even scared of sharks coming and getting me. I'm just scared of the fish coming and touching me. I don't like it when the fish touch me! It's totally ridiculous and unfounded, but there, I said it. Anyway, Ryan is a good sport about it and stays by my side so I don't freak out, even though I know he hates it because it makes it hard for him to see what he really wants to see. What a good husband he is to his crazy wife!

Anyway, we snorkeled and saw some good fish and coral. Then we went to the other side of the bay and snorkeled there. There wasn't as many fish there, but there were still some that we saw. I decided it is so worth it to get up early and get to the beach before everyone else does. The water is so calm and the atmosphere is so peaceful. I totally love it.

Ryan snorkeling at Mauna Kea Beach

After snorkeling we laid out on the beach again, under the awesome umbrellas and relaxed. We saw some whales really close off shore (like Ryan almost hopped in the water to go swim with them...). We think it was a mom and baby. This really did become our favorite beach.

After the beach, we headed back to the hotel for a lei making class. They taught us how to make leis and we each got to make our own real flower lei. Basically, it's really easy to make leis--thread some yarn through the middle of each flower using a lei needle (or any long needle).

Me wearing both my and Ryan's finished leis.

After making our lei's we headed to the King's Market where they were having a farmer's market. We had a delicious plate lunch--really good kalua pork-- and some delicious, fresh papaya. Seriously, I could eat papaya all day long and not get sick of it. It's so good! After lunch we headed to our hotel's beach and tried to see if we could snorkel but it was too rough and there was really nothing to see. Ryan didn't like sitting on our beach because there were no umbrellas so we headed back up to the pool. We hung out there and read some more until it was time to go get cleaned up and ready for the luau that night.

This is me on the balcony trying to get a shot of my pregnant belly.

We headed down to the luau where we had excellent food and a really good program. Actually, the guy who did the fire knife dancing was the best I've ever seen and Ryan said it was the best he had seen too. There was also an open bar at the luau and so Ryan and I had some really delicious virgin drinks. I think I had like 4 or 5 drinks. Man, they were good!!
After the luau we went back to the hotel, intending on watching some Olympics or something but we both totally crashed early. I guess all that relaxing takes a lot out of you.

Pulling the pig out of the ground

Gorgeous view of the ocean

Day 8 Thursday February 27

This was our last day in Hawaii so we made it really count!! We started by sleeping in a little more than normal and then heading up to Waimea to have breakfast at the Hawaiian Style Cafe. This place is famous for their HUGE servings and let me tell you, it's true. Their pancakes alone are HUGE! I made Ryan share with me since it was our last day and we couldn't really save any leftovers. We were both stuffed by the end and it was super cheap! I would love to go back to that place again!

Ryan and the ginormous pancake (Also, it was funny because when Ryan gets around people who speak pigeon, he tends to talk like them and use their language. So the lady who sat us was like, you've been here before, huh? and treated us like locals. It was funny.)

Me and the ginormous pancakes (also, they were really good pancakes, not just huge!)

After breakfast, we headed down to Kona to catch our boat to Captian Cook's Cove. This is supposedly the "best snorkeling in all of Hawaii." We originally weren't going to go there because the only way you can get there is by boat (on a tour) or hike 3 miles in. I was in no condition to hike in, so we had to decide if it was worth it to spend the money to do it. I am so glad we did! This really was the best snorkeling I've ever done. The clarity of the water is amazing, you can see forever! And there are tons of fish and tons of variety. Apparently, dolphins occasionally come into the cove too, but not for us, unfortunately. We snorkeled the bay for quite a while and then on the ride back to shore, we did some whale watching. We didn't really see much, but we did see a mom and baby. The baby breached a couple of times right in front of us. It's so funny because the babies look so small compared to their mammas, but really, they are still pretty big! Anyway, I'm glad we added this snorkel trip last minute because it was the perfect end to our trip!

After the trip, we headed back to the hotel, got cleaned up and packed up all our stuff. Then it was off to the airport for an overnight flight back to LA. That experience was really not fun at all! I will never do a red eye flight while pregnant again. I couldn't sleep and so the tired, hungry, pregnant woman came out and it was not a fun flight home. I managed to hold it together while on the plane but then after getting to LAX, we were walking to get our luggage and all the movement and exertion (yes walking was exertion!) made me really sick and I totally puked right in the airport (thankfully, I had brought the barf bag from the airplane with me!). Anyway, we got home (Friday morning) right as Emry was waking up so I wanted to be with her but I also wanted nothing more than to sleep for the next 12 hours!! I slept here and there that day but I still didn't feel good the rest of the day (puked a few more times). After a night of good sleep, I finally recovered.

Me on a total post-Hawaii low!!

SO happy to have my baby back, but also SO sick!!

All in all, I'm so glad we took this opportunity to go on this trip as a couple. I don't know when we will be able to do something like this again. With little boy on his way, it might be a while! I'm so grateful to my parents who watched Emry while we were gone (and totally spoiled her rotten!) so we could go have an awesome trip! Thanks mom and dad!

2/27/14

Hawaii Days 5 & 6

Day 5 Monday, February 24

In case you were keeping track, this is the FIFTH day we are in Hawaii and I still haven't been swimming! We really weren't thinking correctly when we planned our trip because even though everything we have done up until now has been AWESOME, I just couldn't believe it took us that long to get to the ocean and swim!! So this day we made up for it. We rented some snorkel equipment from some place at the mall and then headed to Mauna Kea beach because we heard they had great snorkeling there but because the only access and parking is through the Mauna Kea hotel, you have to get there very early to get into the beach. We didn't get there early enough, so we went to a beach down the road called Hapuna State Beach. This was a really nice beach. The state beach didn't have any chairs or anything but if you walk up the beach a little bit you hit another hotel that had chairs set out so we hung out there all morning. We were going to try to snorkel here but as I tried to get out past the waves (it was kind of a rough morning) I realized I was too tired to have to do that. So Ryan went out and I sat on the beach and relaxed. Ryan said he saw a few fish here and there but there wasn't anything amazing.

After the morning here, we decided to try our luck again at Mauna Kea beach (to see if anyone had left) but they hadn't so we decided to go in anyway and get lunch/check out the beach. We had a good lunch on the beach and then hung out at their beach. This really did end up being our favorite beach. Plenty of chairs, umbrellas (which =shade for Ryan), and nice sand. Ryan napped on the beach while I laid out, relaxed, and walked up and down the beach. I thought I was working on my tan, but turns out I was just working on my sunburn! Whoops...

BEACH!! FINALLY!!!

Ryan doing his best avoiding the sun! This is at Hapuna State Beach where we didn't have an umbrella

Pretty sure this is the State Beach again.

After our beach time, we decided to take a drive north to the Pololu Valley lookout. This is the valley that is really close to Waipio Valley but these valleys make it so you can't really drive along the coast all the way around... It was gorgeous, lush, and green again!

On the way back, we stopped at the side of the road for some local ice cream. Then we went and saw the original Kamehameha Statue.

We drove back to the hotel through "Cowboy Country" on mountain roads. Here you see yet another completely unexpected sight on Hawaii. Apparently, there are a bunch of cowboys up here in "cowboy country." It was like driving through the mountains or through the woods. It was such a gorgeous drive. The rolling green hills with the horses and then the ocean in the background. Amazing.

We also got a great view of Mauna Kea on our way home. You can see the observatory at the top if you look really hard (those tiny white buildings up there). Also, as we were coming down the mountains and looking out into the ocean, we could see tons of whales out there. I love how you can just look out on the water and see whales all over.

We made it just in time for our reservation at the hotel restaurant. We ate out on the patio so we could watch the sunset. The food was really really good, the view was spectacular, and the company was great! I was one happy woman!

We headed back to our room and got cleaned up and again, went to bed really early!

Day 6 Tuesday, February 25

This morning we had a reservation for "Breakfast With the Whales," which is a whale watching trip where they feed you breakfast on board. I should have known better, and ate before we went because their pastries and juice was not enough for me and I ended up not feeling too great while on the boat. It was about a 2 hour ride and half way through, I was done. We didn't have the best whale watching day. We saw quite a few whales but nothing spectacular (no breaches or really close whales). They did lower a microphone down into the water and let us listen to the whales, which was a pretty neat experience. I had never heard their "songs" as they call them before.

This was probably one of the closest whales we saw. Pretty cool.

Ryan on the boat

After the whale watching trip we decided to go shop for a wide brimmed hat for me since I was pretty sunburned. I knew Ryan really hated getting sunburned but I didn't know how much he really loathes sunburns in general, whether it is on himself or on me. He was so concerned for me the rest of the trip. What a good (and sometimes annoying) hubby! After I got a hat for the rest of the trip, we went and hung out by the pool. We ordered lunch poolside, which was delicious, swam, read, and relaxed. It was wonderful! We also had really delicious fruit smoothies poolside. I love eating poolside! It's so relaxing!

Me at the pool with my protective hat :D

Ryan and his delicious smoothie

We hung out at the pool for several hours and then in the afternoon (like 4?) a lady comes up and freaks out at us that we stole her spot because they had been reserving these seats with their towels and "towel clips." These seriously had been there since we walked past the pool on our way to our whale watching. It was a little ridiculous that she thought she could just save these perfect seats all day but not be there. Anyway, she yelled at us and then left. Ryan checked with the people at the towel desk and they confirmed she is not allowed to do that. She still didn't come back after about a half an hour, but I decided we should just leave since we needed to go get ready anyway. I don't like people who yell and want to create drama. That was our crazy event of the day...

So we went back upstairs and got cleaned up and ready. We drove down the coast and had dinner at this random place I found online called Ultimate Burger. It was a pretty delicious burger. Then we headed down to the Kona Temple to do a sealing session. The Kona Temple is so gorgeous--the palm trees, the view of the ocean, etc. I'm glad we took the time to visit the temple while we were there. I like to do a sealing session for our anniversaries because it just reminds me of the covenants I made when Ryan and I were married. I think it helps me to try a little harder to be a little better. I'm so grateful for the sealing power that allows our family to be together forever.
This was basically the only night we stayed up late so we were pretty exhausted by the time the session was over. We stopped for some ice cream at DQ on the way back to the hotel and then called it a night!

Hawaii Days 3 & 4

Day 3 Saturday, February 22

Ryan and his dad woke up early and headed out to do their favorite thing: golf! While they were gone, I lazily got ready, ate breakfast, cleaned up our stuff a bit (this was our last night staying on the military base), and then headed out with Ryan's aunts and grandma to the volcano overlook and visitor center. We saw the volcano steaming and some huge craters.

Huge crater with lava down inside of it steaming. You can't actually see the lava unless you take a helicopter ride and go above it to look down into the crater. Maybe we'll have to do that next time :)

After our lazy morning, we met up with Vivian and everyone else (minus the golfers) who had gone on a 3 mile hike that morning. We headed to the Thurston Lava Tube which was a lot like the lave tube we went to the day before but this one was a lot shorter, safer, and lit. Think of it as this one was for tourists and the other one was for locals. haha. It was still pretty amazing. Just think how much lava there was (and still is) on this island. I can't think about it too much or else I get a little scared something is going to erupt!

Ryan and Scott finally got back from golfing and so we all headed on another long drive. First we drove the Chain of Craters Road which takes you past several different craters made from eruptions over time. (Some as recent as the 70's!!) It's crazy how there is so much variety to the scenery on this island. One day you can see waterfalls and green, lush rain forest and then the next day see lava covering everything. Black rock as far as you can see.

Along the drive, we stopped to do a mile hike to see the petroglyphs carved into the lava. However, there are signs everywhere saying that if you are pregnant, the fumes from the lava can be harmful to your baby, so you shouldn't go walking on the lava. So I stayed in the car with a couple of other people who didn't feel like making the hike in the heat. Below are some of the petroglyphs they saw. Ryan said it was cool but it was really hot so it was okay that I missed it. :)

The road ends now because lava flowed down and covered the road. They haven't ever fixed the road so you just stop and then turn around and go back to where you came from. They had these cool "arches" off the side of the cliff. The water kinda beats against the rock and makes these arches until eventually, it is too weak and the lava just falls into the water.

We continued our driving day and headed south down the coast. We saw this really awesome black sand beach where we saw two or three turtles swimming just off shore and this guy was just hanging out on the beach. I really wanted to get in the water and so I (finally) changed into my swimming suit, but no one else wanted to hang out at the beach so I still didn't get to get in the ocean!! (I'm pretty much dying at this point!!). If we ever come back to the Big Island, I would definitely come back to this beach. It was gorgeous! And it would have been fun to snorkel with those turtles. Oh well, next time.

The end of our long drive took us to South Point--the southernmost tip of the US.

This was a platform at the edge of the cliff. For what, you ask? Cliff jumping of course!! It was far and really scary. Some girl did it while we were there. Let's just say I'm glad it was her and not me.

Cool blow hole at South Point

At this point, we split up with Ryan's family because they were heading home that night. So they all headed to the airport and we just headed back to Hilo area. Ryan had another mission friend who lived up near the volcano he wanted to stop and see so we were planning on doing that. We drove all the way back and then she still wasn't home (she was working in Hilo) so we contemplated waiting around the volcano area for a while until she got home but decided to just go into Hilo to get dinner (I was starving). Turns out it was better that way because she was still in Hilo when we got down there so she just met up with us while we ate dinner at some plate lunch place (yes, again). Ryan said this happened all the time on his mission. People are definitely on "Hawaiian time" and they may or may not keep appointments you make with them. I don't know if I could handle that very well.

Me and my loco moco. Ryan LOVES these so much and I always said, GROSS!! This trip, I must have had my guard down because I decided they weren't too terrible. Still not my very favorite thing in the world, but the fact that I actually ordered this is kind of a huge deal.

Ryan and Sister Narvaez. She was one of my favorite people. So hilarious and kind. Again, it is so fun to talk to people who knew Ryan as Elder Gardner.

After catching up with her for a while, we headed to our Bed and Breakfast. I always wanted to stay in a B&B and since we only had one more night on the Hilo side of the island, we decided to stay in a B&B. However, it's kinda "off the beaten path" to say the least so Sister Narvaez said she would drive us most of the way up there so we didn't get lost in the dark. She was so nice and she was right because we never would have found it on our own.

Funny experience: as we came up to the B&B, it was kinda late, but not too late (9pm) and raining. We couldn't really find where we were supposed to go so we were driving by the three buildings on the property. As we were looking around, the owner came out and told us where to go. The only way I can explain him is that he probably smoked a little too much weed in his day and he was a total surfer guy. Anyway, apparently if you check in after dark, they don't wait up for you. They just leave the key in the door and your name on the door. Kinda weird, but okay... We crashed early (like every night) because I was so exhausted and were excited to explore the property in the morning!

Day 4 Sunday, February 23

The B&B we stayed at was called The Inn at Kulaniapia Falls. It was an amazing property. We had a little sitting area off of our room and then you could walk outside from there and see the gorgeous waterfall right there. So all night long we slept to the sound of the waterfall. It was so relaxing and Ryan swears it was the best night's sleep he ever got. haha. It was really soothing.
Anyway, we got up early the next morning so we could explore the property before heading off to church. We took a nice walk around their bamboo gardens and then up a trail to the base of the waterfall. It was the perfect amount of "hiking" for a pregnant lady :)

The view from off the back of our room. So lush, green, and gorgeous!

Me in the bamboo gardens. This was one of the MANY types of bamboo trees they had growing on the property.

The view from the base of the waterfall. I guess you can actually go swimming in the pool at the bottom of the falls. You just have to get permission from the owner (basically so he can tell you if the conditions are okay for you to swim). We really wanted to take an early morning dip but it was Sunday so we decided against it. Looked so refreshing though!!

Me and Kulaniapia Falls

Ryan at the base of the falls. (Can you tell the sun was right in his eyes...) The nice thing about getting up early and doing the nature walk before breakfast was that there was no one else exploring the property. It was like we had our own private waterfall.

I love those moments--when you feel like you have Hawaii all to yourself!

After our walk, we came back to our room to have breakfast. So the B&B was basically like a big house and each room had a different guest in it and its own bathroom, but then there was a main kitchen/dining area where they have breakfast. Our "cook" or "hostess" or whatever you want to call her was named Leah. She made her famous Mac Nut Waffles. I didn't have any, of course, but Ryan said they were pretty good (not really worthy of being called famous, but good nonetheless). Anyway, the whole feeling of the B&B is so different than staying in a hotel. Everyone sits around the dining table and talks about what they've been doing in Hawaii, where they are from, their lives, their experiences on the Island. It is filled with small talk and a getting to know you vibe. Leah would make her waffles and then tell guests what she suggests they do that day, giving insider tips from a local of what is open when and what she would do. We sat at a table with another couple who had done the hike into Waipio valley the previous day (it was like a 15 mile hike because they hiked all the way back to the base of the waterfall). It was just an interesting group of people. I didn't know if I would like staying at a B&B because I thought it might be this way, but turns out it was kinda fun. You get some quirky people, but a neat experience. I wouldn't want to stay there for my whole stay, but it was fun for a night.

After breakfast, we got cleaned up and ready for church and then headed to the Hilo ward where Ryan served 12 1/2 years ago. We walked in and it was such a great feeling in that ward. People were so accepting and loving. Everyone speaks "pigeon" which is "really hard to understand English" but I caught most of what people were saying. The family Ryan knew from his mission was in this ward (he is in the bishopric) and he was conducting. So at the start of the meeting, they welcomed back "Elder Gardner and his wife." That made me laugh. Also, it was fast and testimony meeting so Ryan bore his testimony and so did the man Ryan helped reactivate. It was a great meeting. Afterward, I was amazed at how many people came up to Ryan and remembered him from when he was there. Ryan was having the time of his life talking to all those people and catching up.

We stayed for Sunday School and Relief Society. Again, the feeling in those meetings are very different from what we have here in Utah. I just felt like those sisters in RS all loved each other, accepted each other for who they were, and were absolutely not judging in any way. It was a reminder to me of how we need to be better. I wish all wards had this same feeling of love.

This is Ryan outside of the apartment he used to live in, which sits on the Church property.

After church, we headed over to the other side of the Island. We decided to go through the middle of the Island rather than going all the way around (since we'd basically done both those drives before). It is crazy the elevation changes we went through. We drove Saddle Road. It ended up being really rainy and since we were so high up, it was very foggy. There were times when you can't see very far in front of you and then all the sudden, you would come down in elevation and basically come out of the clouds. We drove right by the base of Mauna Kea. It was a pretty drive, but a little scary at times...

We checked into our hotel, the Waikoloa Marriott, and then skyped with Emry. This was the first time we actually skyped with Emry. I had talked to my parents the other days but we were so busy and with the time difference, we never did get to actually see her until today! Let's be honest, she couldn't have cared less that we were there. She was having a blast with Grandma and didn't miss us at all. That made me feel good and bad. I'm glad she wasn't having a hard time with us being gone, but I was sad she wasn't missing us. Haha. Motherhood!!

After talking with Emry, we decided to explore the property and beach at the resort. It is such a beautiful resort with gorgeous views and a nice beach. We sat on the beach for a while watching the sun fall and then walked down the beach to see the sunset. It was gorgeous! We sat by an "on the beach" restaurant that had a hula dancer and Hawaiian music playing so it was a nice ambiance. As we were sitting there, we also saw two whales breach. They were far away but you could see this thing come up and then a HUGE splash. I've said it before and I'll say it again: we could watch whales forever!! They are such amazing animals!

Ryan doesn't like sunglasses... Also, I'm so happy to finally be sitting on a beach!

Bare feet, sand, and water. That's a Hawaiian vacation to me!

Oh ya, I was happy!

Beautiful sunsets!

We walked around the nearby mall and stopped for dinner at Island Fish and Chips, headed back to the hotel to watch some Olympics, and fall asleep by 9! (Ya, we went to bed early a lot on this trip!)

Hawaii Day 1 & 2

Ryan and I had been wanting to do something fun for our 5 year anniversary and so we planned on going to Hawaii to celebrate. I was really looking forward to it and really excited to leave Emry with my parents and take a "just us" trip. But then we got pregnant and I was very skeptical if traveling while 26 weeks pregnant was going to be enjoyable at all. We decided to just go for it and have a fun time (knowing I wouldn't be able to do everything like if I wasn't pregnant). I am so glad we decided to go because we had such a fun vacation. Happy 5 Years to us. I think we need to start making this a yearly trip :)

Day 1 Thursday, February 20

We arrived in Hawaii after a very long day of traveling (Salt Lake to LA late the night before, then LA to Honolulu early in the morning, then 3 hour layover in the Honolulu aiport, then Honolulu to the island of Hawaii). It was tiring and the hot planes plus the sudden humidity made me swollen and not feeling great for most of the traveling. But we made it and I was happy to be in the warm, beautiful Hawaii!!

Us on the plane (it's early + no makeup + pregnancy = don't judge)

After arriving in Hawaii, we got our car and then headed to Walmart for some essentials. We called Ryan's parents (who had been in Hawaii for about a week already and who we were going to hang out with for a couple of days) to see if they needed anything and where were they? In Walmart. Funny coincidence of the day. We chatted with them for awhile and then headed to see some of Ryan's friends he met on his mission 12 years ago (gasp).
It took us a while to find their house again (Ryan didn't have their phone number or anything. He just thought he would remember. Boys...) but we finally did and it was fun talking to this family about Ryan's mission, albeit a little more fun for Ryan than for me :) They could have talked all night but I was exhausted and really hungry so we cut it down to an hour and half or so...

Some background: This is a family Ryan taught on his mission. At the time, the husband was inactive and the wife was not a member. Ryan and his companions worked with this family to get the husband active who then baptized his wife. Now they are very strong in the gospel, sealed in the temple, and he is serving in the bishopric. It was special to see the love this family had for "Elder Gardner" and to see what affect he had on their lives.

After we left their house, we went to a local plate lunch place and got Ryan's favorite: Hawaiian Plate Lunch. We had this a lot over the next week and while I'm not really a huge fan of plate lunches, I learned to like them a little better on our trip.

After dinner, we headed up near the volcano to where we were staying. Ryan's family got a place on the military housing for cheap so we decided to stay with them the first two nights. Everyone was going out exploring when we got there (to try to see the volcano at night) but I was so exhausted, I crashed as soon as I got in bed. I don't do well with no sleep when I'm pregnant so I was much happier in the morning.

Day 2 Friday, February 21

We woke up early and headed to Waipio Valley for a tour where they take you down into the valley. On the way to the valley, we saw gorgeous scenery. It's amazing to me how every island of Hawaii is so different. We saw some good views of Mauna Kea and some beautiful valleys along the way.

Gorgeous views early in the morning. These are the steam vents that are all over near where we were staying (close to the volcano).

Not the best photo but this was a cool waterfall that went right into the ocean.

After about an hour drive, we made it to Waipio Valley and caught our van for the tour. The tour was by a local guy who used to live in the valley (but since moved to the top of the valley due to his wife wanting to feel safer. haha). The valley is only accessible by a road that is VERY steep and VERY narrow and I imagine VERY scary if you aren't with someone who drives it all the time (like our tour guide). He took us down and a ways into the valley. It was so gorgeous there. There is a TON of fruit grown down there, it was like a Garden of Eden, but mostly people who live in the valley make their living by growing taro. The valley is home to the tallest waterfall, Hilawe Falls which falls 1,300 feet! It was an incredible sight! The tour ended up being one of my favorite things we did while we were in Hawaii. It was gorgeous!!

It's faint but this is us in front of Hilawe Falls while down in the valley

The whole group in front of the falls

(Laura, Fay, Vivian, Scott, Ryan, Andrea, Amber, Leanne, & John)

A sign along the road that goes through the valley. Hilarious because the flying rocks are from a man who lives in this house. If tourists drive too fast through the neighborhoods, he throws rocks at their cars to remind them to slow down and beware of the kids. Hence the flying rocks to those who don't slow down!

So gorgeous. This is a shot up the valley. It looks like it goes on forever.

The taro plant. It needs constant damp soil (almost in a pond) so this valley makes it perfect for growing. But basically the tour guide says almost anything will grow in this valley. Drop a seed, and the next year you'll have a tree.

Our group in the van crossing the river

Me doing some much needed cooling off in the river (this is the first time I've touched Hawaiian water and we'd already been there for a whole day!!) It felt wonderful.

The guide brought us fruit he grew in his yard to get a taste of what grows in the valley. The papaya was my favorite and basically for the rest of the trip that is all I wanted--Papaya, papaya, and more papaya! So delicious!

Here is a good view of the valley floor from the top.

The view of the beach at the ocean end of the valley. Beautiful black sand beach. Mostly locals go down there, but the tour guide said they have a few tourists who go there. However, it's a pretty long hike down there so you have to be committed.

Ryan and I (and baby boy) looking down at the valley.

On the way back to town we stopped and saw a few key sites. I'll let the pictures and captions explain each one.

Laupahoehoe Beach Park is a gorgeous view of the ocean with some awesome black rock formations. The waves would come hit the rocks and make huge splashes. The water was crystal clear blue and it was just a beautiful view.

Cool picture of Scott and the water

As we were about to leave, we spotted some whales not too far off the shore. There was at least a baby and mom, but we also saw another whale with them. Perhaps an escort? We could really watch whales for hours, days, all week!! It's just amazing to see them so close!

We stopped and saw Akaka Falls, a 422 foot waterfall. It was pretty impressive. I love all the waterfalls on the Big Island. It seems like they are everywhere!

Ryan and me in front of the falls

Ryan and Akaka Falls

Ryan took us all to a place he went to on a P-Day on his mission--kaumana caves. Basically it's a lava tube and it's pretty dangerous. Of course that didn't stop us from hiking in a bit and experiencing complete darkness. (We did the hike in with our cell phone flashlights and then turned them all off when we got far enough in. Totally creepy but cool at the same time.)

Ya, see that big dark hole behind them? That's the big lava tube.

Last stop as a group on our way back was at Rainbow Falls. It was very pretty, but I guess to see the rainbows, you have to go pretty early in the morning. Oh well, it was pretty anyway.

So, after a lot of stops, we finally made it back to town. We drove around a park that had tons of banyan trees planted by famous people. We walked around a bit, drove around a bit, and then decided to all split up. Ryan and I and Ryan's parents drove around his mission a little more and saw another area he served in. It seems like Ryan doesn't talk about his mission very much until you really get him talking about his mission. He could talk to you for HOURS about his mission and tell you every detail of every person he ever met on his mission. Then we went to dinner at Ken's House of Pancakes. It's a famous diner in town that has TONS of food. We got breakfast for dinner and it was pretty tasty!!

WOW! That was a long day of driving and seeing a bunch of sites. In case you are keeping track, we have now been in Hawaii for a whole 24 hours and I have not put a bathing suit on, or visited the ocean. Such a difference Hawaii experience for me. It was a beautiful day, though, and we had a blast!!