We made it, it has been a long 3 years since Melissa and I dedicated some time alone to rejuvenate our souls and spend quality time together. I can hear myself giving advice to other married couples the importance of taking time. Long overdue!

It is nice to have a warm tropical breeze and have it be warm day and night, we are expecting inclement weather this weekend but hope to have some Sun this next week. One of the nice things about Hawaii (at least the Island I have visited) is that you can go to the South side of the Island and usually get Sun. We experienced that a bit today. Still being on West Coast time we were up early (4:30 local) we waited till the Sun was up  a bit then headed down to Kapaa to try a Breakfast place that had good reviews then get some food and supplies before heading back to the North side. It was much warmer and Sunny on the south side. We stopped at Lygate Park to get in the ocean and enjoy the Sun. I remember the first time we brought all the kids to Kauai, we took them all to the park to experience snorkeling in a controlled environment, somewhere I have a picture of Amanda standing next to Melissa and maybe Jessica and making fish lips as she stood up in the Water, I am sure it was not intentional I just happen to catch her in that pose - classic

So Kauai has become a comfortable place to come and visit, I am certainly a creature of habit but am not sure if this habit is a good one. Several things about Hawaii that I have forgot about are back at the forefront of my mind. Probably the one that is in my face as I sit here on the lanai is all the helicopter traffic around the Napali Coast, seems like they hover around Hannalie in a holding pattern until one exits the area then they swoop in one by one. Another issue is the expense of things on the North Shore of Kauai, we went and had Hamburgers yesterday at Bubba Burger (a Hawaiian franchise) and had two burgers with onion rings and two sodas;  $25.00 later – along with a stomach ache we decided not to do that again. We were glad that Costco opened up a store in Lehiu, along with the required assortment of Macadamia Nuts, steaks and drinks we should be good for several days of not being taken advantage of by locals. We were glad to see the shaved ice truck (Wishing Well Shaved Ice) in Hanalie, not sure why shaved ice tastes so much better in Hawaii – but it does! Especially when you get Macnut Ice cream in the bottom, good treat.

Our accommodations are not what we (I) had hoped, certainly a nice place but missing some amenities, I am going to leave it at that, you will have to wait till I leave and post comments to get all the dirt. We are thinking about dinner in a bit then probably back down to Hanalie Bay for a swim before heading back home to call it a day.

Black market health care

Like most middle class hard working Americans I have been notified that my current health insurance plan is being canceled as of Dec 31. Needless to say I am more than a little disappointed  my poor insurance broker probably hates to see my name on her caller ID. We have been in the individual market forever, the last several years we have experienced double digit increases. I am one that ops for a major medical plan that is HSA compatible, makes sence to me. These increases have not changed coverage much and I have endured.
This new law the government has forced on us has changed all that, among the changes Melissa and I have maternity coverage. Yes if it were physically possible Melissa could have a baby! Not only are we seeing significant increases in premiums but dedutables increasing. We will be paying just under 15k in premiums for the year and will need to spend an additional 10k for a 75-25% coverage to kick in, once I spend $12,700.00 out of pocket we are covered 100%, that's almost $28,000.00 before we see any coverage. That is more than I made per year the first 5 years Melissa and I were married. The premiums alone equal what most pay for a house payment.
Considering the alternative; drop coverage and pay the "penalty" and bank the premiums and hope no one gets sick enough to need hospilization- kind of scary.
I truly believe this miss guided law will open up the black market for health care - think about it, there will be a certain amount of the population that will not purchase medical insurance and will need medical care at some point, there will be doctors who will be willing to perform procedures on a cash bassis, out of their garage, prescriptions will be sold just as illegal drugs are now. Society will figure out a way around this hastily conceived law. I can see the headline now "Docotor arrested for performing illegal birth"
Someone PLEASE help, government is out of control with regulation; regulation equals power for the government, we need to take the power back

Just like that

Well all good thing usually come to an end. Today is travel day back to the mainland. We are packed up and ready to go.
Yesterday was as good as it gets in the Hilo area, we headed North of town for a ride and came across a scenic drive that led to some Botanical Garden, spent the money and walked the garden very beautiful and a lot of pictures, there are so many I will not post many - except

That's right I found Eve in the Garden! 

We continued north to Akaka falls a 400' drop with another walk through lush forest. After that we got some lunch and walked around Hilo for a bit. The pool and sunshine was beckoning us back to the house, we enjoyed a nice swim for a bit. We made reservations at the Hilo Bay Cafe and had a perfect dinner, after dinner the weather was still perfect orange sky sun set - so we dropped the top and headed back the the house.

I need to mention we have survived not one but two Tsunami watches while on HI, an Earthquake in the Philippians and another this morning of the coast of Coasta Rica.

Even though we are sad to leave and head back to life, we have had and needed this time to spend together, I am glad I was able to spend a week alone with my best friend!

Mahalo 

Volcano Day

Well not much (any) Lava flow, they have not had any for several months, in fact the last time it reached the Sea was on 03. Kind of disappointing that we did  to get to see Fire earth but the Park was impressive, not many places on this earth that you can walk on ground younger than you. The picture above is the current action, the Lava is about 100 feet below the Caldera and that is even several hundred feet below the look out point, you can go at night and there is a eerie Orange glow, not for me tonight. The diversity of vegetation is amazing, from pure rain forest to baron dessert Island.

The Hawaiian people still have a reverence for the God Pele, we found a couple "offerings" in the park, both were flowers simply placed on the ground.

We were looking forward to and even purchased a flashlight so we could walk into the Lava Tube that has no lighting, when we made it though the lit one the next was closed. These Lava tunnels are interesting and there are many other locations that are simply wholes in the ground. 

We drove from the upper part of the park at 4,000ft elevation down 20 miles to Sea level, 

The dark section in the above picture is an old Lava Flow, the whole hillside is dotted with various colors, the darker the Lava the newer it is. I should also mention the temperature at the top was 65 ish and by the time we made Sea level we were around 85. 

Looking back from Sea level

I think the highlight of the day was seeing the sign buried in the last lava flow, the last one that made it to the Ocean took out a road that the county had reclaimed once before so now they have just have abandon  the effort so revive it. 

All in all we had a great day, spent about 7 hours in the park exploring and goofing off, after many short hikes, which equates to one long hike we headed back to the house and jumped in the pool (between rain showers), went into Hilo for some dinner, we found a great cafe that serves some good food, we got there just in time just as they were bringing our plates the place got very busy with people standing outside for a table. The restaurant is known for Natural food and did not disappoint. Tomorrow we head up to some Falls just North of town, will do some last minute shopping and then get ready for a day of travel on Wednesday. We have truly enjoyed ourselves - in spite of the rain - the rain makes you appreciate the Sun that much more when it comes out. Don't thinks we would come back to Hawaii (the Island) again, nice to visiting and would consider a short trip; if the Volcano were spewing Lava: from - you guessed it, Kauai. 

We miss our Family and after tomorrow will be ready to come home, we have more adventures to tell you all about our trip. Thanks to all of you for being the great people you are.

Love 

Dad

That'L be enough Donkey

So back in the 80's Kauai was hit by a Huricane, it destroyed all the chicken coops and now they have a thriving wild checken popoulation ( kind of like Prunedale) you see them everywhere, along the roadside in town, especially Hanalei. Well not sure what happend on Hawaii but apparently they have a wild Burro population, on the East side. Melissa realy wanted to see one infact she kept saying "I'm looken for Donkey" and thought it would be a good story to tell if we were to hit one, I did  not agree. We never saw one but thougth these signs were funny, kep reminding me of Shrek.

We spent all day yesterday on the east side, we went of a beach that was in a resort, they only let 30 cars park and since we are early birds we got a spot, beautiful beach as you can see above but just marginal snorkeling, I think it was due to the fact it faced open water and might of had predators nearby? Strong winds kept us from laying on the beach, the sand was flying and would have the effect of being sand blasted, not good for skin or eyes. We headed back North just a bit to Spencer Park, there were a lot of locals camping but still very windy, they had their Tents tied to trees and anything that was secure, prospects were good for snorkeling, but not a sole in the water, finally, a local walked by and I asked " Bra" (Hawaiian for hey man) whats up with the water how come no one is out snorkeling? He replied "note sure, not to many reefs and  a lot of Sharks", well even standing on the shore made Melissa nervous and we quickly hi-tailed it back to the car dropped the top and headed South. Our Goal was a Slack Key Guitar festival. Well along the way we stopped and had some lunch and did some shopping. We were disappointed that the festival was in doors at a Hotel in a convention center with a bunch of old people - now I do not listen to old people Music, so we were a bit out of sorts, being among all those stuffy old people, we were really looking forward to and outdoor concert with the typical Hawaiian feel. Anyway, three numbers in and and we bailed. We traveled back  up North, we stopped at the Harley Davidson shop to check out T-Shirts, I asked about all the Bikes on the Island , the girl told me each Island takes a holiday and Labor day Was Hawaii's so they ship their bikes form all the other Islands and gather.  A lot of very nice custom bikes, envious am I. We continued North to get diner a Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, very nice meal with Melissa, after diner we had the long drive back over the Island. When we left the restaurant it was 80 degrees, by the time we got to the top of the Island it had dropped to 48 Brrr, needless to say a long day but fun.

We will be off to the Volcano today, looking forward to seeing some Lava. It looks like a rainy day ahead. Will try to post later about the Park.

Paradise at last

Well we got sidetracked today by that wonderful orb in the sky we love to worship, the Sun came out today! We headed into Hilo to scout out the Farmers Market, a TON of fresh (tropical) fruit and  produce on one side of the street and arts and crafts on the other side. We have been eating a lot of Bananas here they are grown locally and have a different taste to them, I also think they don't have to travel so far to get to market so they are left on the tree longer. So we got some Bananas and a few more Mangoes and Papaya. When we went to breakfast the other day Mom ordered fruit, they brought a chilled Papaya and a lemon wedge - local style I guess, it was delicious, just squeeze the lemon onto the fruit and enjoy! We have been doing that frequently, the Mangoes and Papaya are so fresh and tasty.

As soon as we crossed the street something caught my eye from the back of the stalls, as we made our way back we discovered a local artist whose medium is copper sheet material, they burn it to achieve color then use grinders and such to "etch" the face for the final design, the picture above is a piece we bought, the picture does not really do it justice, there are so many colors and depending on the light the colors seem to shift along with the design, a very warm piece.

Another treasure found was this great handmade quilt, the detail of the stitching is amazing Melissa estimated 80 hrs or so of hand work, we cant wait to get home and put both pieces on the wall.
Well since the sun was out - something we have not seen much of  - we decided to head home and hang out around the pool. We asked several locals for a beach in the area we could hit and they all told us go to the other side of the Island, so the pool it was. Nice decorator clouds floating overhead a warm tropical breeze and of course a beautiful Woman to hang out with and Paradise Achieved. We did have plans to go to Volcano Park but just decided to lay low and stay home, we got some meat to BBQ and some fresh veggies and fruit so dinner will be a treat.
Tomorrow we will head back over to the Kona side, we got the low down on beached and snorkel spots, we will hit them in the morning then go to a Slack Key Guitar festival for the rest of our day, sorry Volcano you have been bumped to Monday.
Since we had such an enjoyable day we are considering staying indefinably, relaxed are we!
Jess glad to hear your on the mend, lay low till we get back and Mom will come over to help out, Thanks Amanda, Lauren and Lindsey for jumping into action, that is what families are for, you guys make me proud.
Love to All

New Day

So this is what a new day looks like in Hawaii, Yup still stuck on CA time, did pretty good today slept till 5:00 AM Hi time. Last knight I had to resort to watching TV standing up, as soon as I went horizontal my eyes closed, kind of like one of those dolls the girls used to have.
Toured the middle southern portion of the Island today, we left the house about 7:00 and headed over highway 2000 to the Kona side, was quite a climb and was not sure the hoopty rental car was going to make    it over the hill - stupid 4 banger Chrysler. Anyways as soon as we crested the top the rain stopped and the sun came out, I thought our central coast of CA was the only place that micro climates existed, they are alive and doing well here in HI. We continued down the west side of the Island and stopped in Koalapehunkai (just kidding made that word up) walked around some shops and had some Mexican food, ya Mexican food in Hawaii go figure, wasn't the best but have had worst. browsed a farmers market and bought some amazing Macadamia Brittle, Mmm Soooo good, sorry guys I ate it all. We got back in the car anxious to find a beach and enjoy the water and sunshine, found one about 10 min from first stop, Mom wanted to lay on the beach and monitor Jessica via cell phone so I dawned the flippers and mask and headed out to scare some fish. This location was just ok as far as snorkeling goes, not to deep but had a  fare amount of fish, A few I had not seen when we were in Kauai. Looking at the map we decided that we would continue along highway 11 all the way home, heading over took about 2 hrs and from our last stop it took about the same.
So tomorrow is shoes and shirts day, we will head up to Volcano National Park and see if can experience some Lava, Melissa want to go check out the Lava Tubes, yup BYOF (bring your own flashlight) got the cameras charging and hope to get some good pictures.
One more thing the Frogs around this house are amazing, not all your typical Rib-bit they almost sound like a bird, if we leave a window open at night the Surf and the frogs get rather loud, kind of soothing in a strange way