Monday – July 27: Today we made it a day and went to see the Kilauea lava fields at the “Waikupanaha Ocean Entry” point. We saw the other 2 entry points on the helicopter trip at the “Kupapa’u” location. You cannot see these 2 points from this entry point. The lava activity is on private property, in the Royal Gardens area I think, not in the national park.

The trip is pretty much on the opposite side of the island, so we went over Saddle Road and returned via highway 19 on the coast. I would not recommend the Saddle Road at night. To Hilo, I’m guessing its is about 15 minutes shorter through Saddle Road, but it is pretty desolate and winding, it is very scenic however.

We spent a little time in Hilo, shopping around. It is like Kona with a new section and old section. Coming in from the Saddle Road, you fall into the old section and the new stuff is just a couple of miles south on highway 11.

South out of Hilo, on highway 11, you come to highway 130 and just follow it to it’s end. The National Park Service has this link to current activity and the County of Hawaii has this one. The USGS has this daily site update as well. All have good information to check before you go. Travel 21 miles from the intersection of highways 130 and 11 to the end of the road.

The gate at the end of the road has concession stands with people selling photos, water and flashlights. The end of the road is where the Hawaiian Civi Defense agency has a FOOT GATE that is locked. The gate is open between 5:00 – 8:00 p.m. for foot traffic only. When we went, the trail to the obseravation point is about 3/4 mile, if that. It is well marked.

We arrived at about 4:30 p.m., prepared ourselves and walked in at the opening of the gate, again the traIl is well marked. We stayed watching the fireworks until about 7:45 p.m., it is truly spectacular!

TIP for the future: there is plenty of parking, go have dinner, arrive at 6:00 or so and watch the sunset and the glowing lava emerge. No sense in being there right at the gate opening. Bring flashlights (we did), BINOCULARS, and water and maybe even a picnic. There were people who did and it was, for a Monday night, quite crowded at the observation area. But, there are plenty of places to see the show, so don’t worry.

You can also see the path of the lava tubes on the forest, it is smoldering and when night falls, you can see the glow of the tree and vegetation burning higher up in the foothills.

Truly spectacular! The drive back through the northern route was long and tiring. I think we left Hilo, after dinner, about 9:30 and arrived home about 11:15 p.m.

Sunday – July 26: We went to Mass at Annunciation in Waimea and breakfast at the Paniolo Country Inn. The kids were awake by the time we returned. This afternoon we headed down to Kona for the Aiii Drive open festival. They are held at the end of the month and a small section of it is blocked for foot traffic only. Lots of little street shops and booths to browse through.

We dropped off and picked up the 4 rolls of underwater film that we took for the manta ray dive on Thursday and the snorkel trip on Friday. Out of the 4 rolls, we harvested 25 photos that were OK.

Dinner was down in Kona at Pancho and Lefty’s. It wasn’t as bad as the underground book makes it out to be!

Saturday – July 25: The kids were going to the local reggee concert (sponsored by a local radio station) at the Hilton Waikoloa and Aunty Anna checked out of the Paniolo Greens and into the Fairmont Orchid for the one night. She leaves tomorrow. I think that she was happy to move into the Fairmont.

The afternoon was spent just chillin’.

The kids went to the concert after dropping us off at the Fairmont for one last dinner. Anna took us to the Tommy Bahama restaurant in the Mauna Lani center. It was great food with a nice atmosphere. They had a price fixed 3 course meal for about 32-35 dollars which I paired up with a 20.00 dollar wine pairing. It was quite good!

We gave the kids the separate set of car and house keys, but left my set in the car when they dropped us off. Anna had to drive us to the concert to pick up a set of keys.

It was a long day!.

Friday – July 24: Back to back trips, we had a 9:00 snorkel trip aboard the Sea Smoke, Ocean Sports located in A Bay. I wasn’t sure if we could top last nights manta ray dive …. but the coral and the fish were incredible.

The Sea Smoke motored south from A Bay to latitude: 19º 53′ 12″ N, longitude: 155º 54′ 31″ W, the black sand beach. The place is fantastic and we will try to hike in to find the spot via beach access. It is south of the blue-roofed dump on the Queen’s highway. Later on I found the beach is called Keawaiki Beach, easily accessible from the Queen’s Highway.

Everyone was exhausted and we had a nice quiet afternoon and evening at home. We ordered the movie the “Watchmen”, very strange …

I feel the time is flying by ….

Thursday – July 23: Mom work day, she finished about 11:00 a.m. and we spent the time cleaning up around the condo.

Anna and Katie did the Blue Hawaiian Circle of Fire tour and picked up the DVD.

We went to the Kona Attorney General office and applied for our Hawaii ID cards, 4 new Hawaiians today, way cool!

The evening activity was the night Manta Ray dive from the Kamanu out of Honokohau harbor. We left at 6:00 p.m., motored up the coast to the airport dive site. The manta ray site is just offshore of the runway, there are bluffs on the ocean side. There were 13 people on the boat, including the 7 of us. Rosie had some trepidation.

Everyone is given a flashlight and there are about 7 boats in the area with snorkelers and divers to witness the event. The divers are on the bottom shining their lights up and the snorkelers are shining their lights down. The lights attract plankton, which attracts the manta rays. SURE ENOUGH, the rays showed up, about 5 or 6 total. It was AMAZING to see these animals close up with us. Wing spans of 16 feet across. Of course, we bought the DVD that a self eneterprising lady creates each night. What an experience! Definitely recommended for ALL!

Wednesday – July 22: Another relaxing day in Paradise. In the morning, we took a while to get organized but managed to squeeze in some more snorekeling at 69 beach. We tried looking at all the public access beaches at Puako, but the surf was too high and the entry points were a little rough. 69 beach is consistently good for water sports.

Anna and Katie did the Waipo Valley horseback tour. They got lost, (a long story), but the trip was fantastic and the views were spectacular.

Surf and Turf for all, delicious! We shared the Trefethan Cabernet that Gabriel so delicately carried out with him!

Tuesday, July 21: Today was Mom’s service at sea and the arrival of Gabriel Zarate. Gabriel arrived at noon, we did some errands (flowers and champagne) in prep for the service and the service was at 5:00 p.m. on the Kamanu out of Holokohau harbor. We also got the flat fixed on the Subaru, I found a nail and was afraid to take it out, so we took it to Len Brody’s down on Kaiwa street, close to the Killer Taco’s where we had lunch.

Strange hours at the Attorney General’s office. We just missed the cutoff time for our Hawaiian ID cards, the office closed at 2:45 and we showed up at 2:44! Too bad for us!!

Part of persuading Douglas to stay an extra week was our promise of getting him a dive knife for his adventures in Santa Cruz. We checked out a dive shop adjacent to Killer Tacos and picked that up as well. I think he, and we, feel better about his being prepared in the ocean when he free dives.

Mom’s service was very nice, we ended up booking the Manta Ray dive on Thursday evening with this outfit, they gave us a great deal of 59.00 dollars per person.

We went to the Kona Brewing Company for dinner afterwards, Katie likes pizza, so it all worked out and everyone was exhausted and Rosie and Gabriel drove the 2 cars home. Gabriel had a VERY LONG day!

Monday, July 20: Anna and Katie arrived safe and sound and on time Sunday night. This morning, we attended the Paniolo Greens orientation briefing and sales pitch to get the week setup. They have horseback riding on Wednesday, Helicopter touring on Thursday and Snorkel Cruise on Friday!. Saturday is still free but they leave on Sunday!

The afternoon was spent down at Pauako, specifically at beach 69. It was beautiful and the coral and fish were fantastic. Down and around the large rock outcropping is some beautiful scenery. We all agreed that Katie out-snorkeled everyone, she would live in the water if she could!

Dinner was steak and mashed potatoes with salad. Anna and Katie were exhausted and they didn’t join us.

Sunday – July 19: Half way through our summer here, bummer. It is flying by!

We went to Mass at Annunciation, up in Waimea and out to breakfast at the Paniolo Inn, good basic fare, again. It seems to the be regular place after church!

Travelled the Highway 19 back to Waikoloa and ended up at the Kauna’oa Beach at the Mauna Kea Resort. Interesting thing is that they have to let you in to access the public beach, but since the parking lot is on private property, the hotel has the right to limit access. They have a pass given to you at the gate and then collected down at the beach parkling. This way they count and limit cars to only the spots that they have available.

Anna and Katie are arriving this evening at 7:00 p.m., and surprise, surprise … Gabriel is coming in out Tuesday for 10 days, leaving on the 31st of July. Interesting turn of events, we’ll see how it all plays out!

Did another of the glass panels by the front door entrance way. That is alot of work, I think it is easier to just replace the glass. The buildup is due to the water spray from the golf course, the water is laden with minerals from the lava and the acquifer system here on the island. LOTS OF WORK to scrape off the residue with the polishing compound …

Saturday – July 18: Another lazy day, decided to see a movie and go to the beach.

Went to see the movie “The Hangover”. It was a Douglas type film, a little crude but funny.

Decided to check out the beaches near the airport but we ended up at A Bay in the late afternoon. Douglas and Mom went in and Sandy soon found a turtle swimming by and Douglas saw a baby stingray, the barb being longer than the actual stingray’s body!

For dinner, we BBQ’d some Ahi tuna, with Costco mango relish, excellent.

Played some more gin rummy and I seem to be on a losing streak!

Friday, July 17: Helicopter tour with Paradise helicopters from the Hilo airport at 9:30 a.m. Took the coast route for our reservation. We left at 7:25 assuming 1.5 hours as most folks told us. The GPS told us 9:14, which I didn’t believe. Well, there are very few passing zones and people don’t move over to let other cars pass, just going with the flow. Rainy and foggy on the way and in Hilo as well. I was wondering if the flight was going to go.We arrrived at 9:15, we were supposed to be there between 8:45 and 9:00 a.m., oops!

The flight was fantastic and spectacular as mother nature usually is. Great photos!

We hoped to hang out in Hilo and were ready to go the beach but it was still rainy and foggy. Breakfast was at Ken’s Pancake House. Fair, written up in the “Hawaii, The Big Island Revealed” book, but recommended by the staff at Paradise Helicopter. Fair was the review from us, the pancakes were lacking taste.

We took the Saddle Road back over to Waikoloa because of the weather in Hilo. It felt like a shorter drive, but people tell us, the 2 roads are within 15 minutes of each other, depending on traffic. The views on Saddle Road are spectacular, especially at the crest of the road, between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. The road on the west side IS rough, at the crest is a NEW freeway and is undulating, up and down on the Hilo, wet side. I think I prefer it to Highway 19, through the north shore.

Did the pool pupus at 5:00 p.m. for dinner. Sandy made her 7-layer bean dip, good stuff!

Thursday, July 16: Lazy morning getting Douglas adjusted to the time zone and new place.

Harry Potter afternoon movie day. All 4 of us went to see Harry Potter, the half-blood prince down in Kona. Great movie, a little long but entertaining. Went after the movie to the Kona Brewing Company for pizza and my favorite brew. We picked up a growler of Wailua Wheat for later consumption as well.

Wednesday – July 15: Douglas is coming, we are all looking forward to having him here. We talked with him this morning and his flight from San Jose to LAX is on time, but the flight from LAX to Kona is delayed from 1:00 to 3:43 p.m.. Instead of arriving at 3:45, he will be coming in at 6:13 on Delta 1767. It’s OK, but Rosie is REALLY anxious to see the new Harry Potter movie with him. He agreed to wait and see it with us as well, after he teased Rosie that he was going to see it with Julia last night at midnight.

Well, things change. Douglas’ flight has been delayed from 1:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m Hawaii time. We have been just hanging out waiting it out with him. He is due to arrive at 11:00 p.m., instead of 6:45 p.m. or so. I am sure that he is tired, but we are anxious to have him here for a while. It is a good thing we didn’t plan anything for tomorrow so that he can relax!