Yellowstone & Hawaii for Volcanoes 2010

June 22, 2010

We have two excursions today - one the Circle of Fire Helicopter, and the other going to the Volcano National Park. We don't have time in between to go back on the ship for lunch. Since we didn't do the Tora Tora Tora tour in Honolulu where black clothing was suggested for lack of reflection, I wore black for this one.

View of the island from the ship

Harbor

Our meeting time on the pier is to be 9:00, so we went up to the Aloha Cafe for breakfast about 6:30.

When we got back to the room, I figured that I could order something from room service to take with us in addition to the two rolls that I put in my pocket. So I ordered grilled cheese sandwiches and put them in a napkin in my bag.

Then we went out on the pier to meet with our group. While we waited there was electric ukulele music (very loud) and hula dancing.

Loud electric ukelele on in the pier June 2010

A black dude came into the terminal and weighed us on a scale. The rules said that if you were over 250 lbs that you would be charged extra. My grandson weighed 85 lbs - less than I had guessed (I guessed 100 lbs) and I was more than I had put down (but of course I'm usually weighing in the morning before breakfast when nude), but not over 250 lbs. We got into a van and they drove us to the airport.

We did this tour out of the Hilo Airport. Known as General Lyman Field prior to 1989, Hilo International Airport occupies 1,391 acres about two miles east of Hilo, on the eastern shore of the island of Hawaii. The airport has a couple of shops, a newsstand, a cocktail bar and a restaurant. Arriving passengers at Hilo International disembark through jetways to the second level of the terminal. They can take an escalator, elevator or stairs to get to the ground level baggage claim area, rental cars and ground transportation. Signs will direct them to the correct baggage carousel. A Visitor Information Booth is located in the arrival area to assist passengers.

I understand that there used to be helicopter tours right from the park, but they are no longer available as there were safety concerns. We walked to the Blue Sky Helicopter place and they gave us a safety briefing and handed out the little life preserver/fanny pack. I couldn't get mine on because it had been put away wrong.

We were lined up in groups - my grandson and I were in the first group - he was #3 and I was #4. Two of the others were two women from Australia, and there was also a young couple. They walked us out to our helicopter - they took me on a golf cart.

Blue Sky helicopter tour June 2010 and Controls of the helicopter

It was raining and we got wet. Our pilot was Julie. The young couple sat in the back on the right side, and we sat on the left side with my grandson next to the window.

Julie took off and flew toward the volcano.

As we are taking off

There were raindrops on the windows and there was a rainbow out the right side

Rainbow in the rain

Julie flies to the coast

Coastline

Houses on the lava plain and smoke or steam from a vent from a helicopter

barricade over the road

We flew over the house of the man who wouldn't evacuate,

Bed and Breakfast - closed off by lava flows

Because it was cloudy, we could see the red glow from the lava around the edges of the flow.

Glowing red

Glowing lava

Hot lava

Lava from the air

Shiny lava is recent - has more silica

She also flew around the edge of the crater with steam coming out.

Mauna Loa Volcano from the helicopter

Old and new lava

Sulfur or iron deposits

Island of trees and reflection in the window of the life jacket

My grandson got some really good photos (he was next to the window). Then she flew over some waterfalls on the river -

waterfall from helicopter

River

Waterfall

this part was a little rough for him as it was more bouncy and he was less interested.

University

Pride of America

Hilo

Airport tower when we came in for a landing

Julie took a photo of us with my camera,

and they also had cameras in the helicopter which showed where we went and had Julie's narrative.

We got back to the airport - the sun was out but I was still a little damp around the edges from the rain earlier. I got a ride on the golf cart back to the gate. I ordered the DVD of our ride (one for him and one for me). It occurred to me that we could probably get food at the airport, so I told him to go buy something and he got himself a hamburger. I ate one of the grilled cheese sandwiches and the rolls while I was waiting for the DVDs to be finished. Then we were driven back to the ship. I used the bathroom on the pier

Sign on the inside of the bathroom on the dock

before we assembled on the pier for the Volcanoes National Park Tour. We had a driver named Rob this time

Park in Hilo

Leaving tsunami evacuation area

First he took us to a candy company where we could see candy being made and we bought some.

I don't remember what we bought and we ate it before we got back to the ship. Their website says: Our ..original products – such as our Chocolate Dipped Macadamia Nut Shortbread Cookies are world renown. All of our products are made with the finest of ingredients, such as locally grown macadamia nuts, 100 percent Kona Coffee along with island eggs, real butter and high-grade chocolate

Entering the park

Blurry photo of the military camp from the bus

Our next stop at the National Park was the Jagger museum.

This time I had brought the NPS passports and we each got a stamp.

We looked at the seismographs and exhibits.

Seismographs at the VNP

Observatory

Volcano watch

The Museum is next to the main crater, Halema'uma'u.

We took pictures of it.

From the visitor's center

The Hawaiians believe Kilauea and Halemaumau to be the home of Pele

Mauna Loa sign

I also took photos of the sign asking us not to feed the Nene (the Hawaiian goose-an endangered species)

Sign about Nene

because then they are attracted to the roads and parking lots and get run over and killed. I wouldn't have fed one, but I would have liked to see one. But they were all away from the tourist areas.

The driver (and signs at the museum) attempted to explain the difference between the two kinds of lava - Aa which is very jagged and rough and may be 10 feet thick, and Pahoehoe which is smooth and only one of two meters thick. The differences are caused by the temperature of the flowing lava. Hotter lava flows smoothly and spreads out more.

He said that it was best just to evacuate and wait for the lava to do its thing - because none of the things that people have done worked. Building dams to deflect it, - doesn't work. Putting water on it to cool and harden it - doesn't work. (Don't fool with Mother Nature - or Pele)

When we were there, Kilauea was Active at two Locations - the Summit and East Rift Zone

Eastern Rift zone

The most recent flow in the park had gone across the end of Chain of Crater's Road and part of the Crater Rim Drive was closed also.

Sign explaining how to access the lava flow

The place to see the hot lava flowing though was outside the park boundaries and it was most visible at night.

We loaded back in the bus. Rob stopped at the steam vent which has a railing around it. I didn't see but one of the steam vents because I didn't walk past the one that is in the parking lot. Rob explained that ground water seeps down to the hot volcanic rocks in this area and returns to the surface as steam. It is warm, but it isn't hot like a steam iron. At least this one wasn't. It did fog up my glasses.

Steam vent

The bus took us down through the tropical rain forest (where it was raining)

Tree Ferns and Ferns

and down into the temperate rainforest (it was still raining).

Forest

We went down to the where the lava had closed the road by flowing over it.
F

J.s photos of Old lava flow up close

Then we came back up to the lava tube. I stayed on the bus but my grandson got off at each stop.

Inside the tube

Inside Thurston volcano tube

We had one more stop at the Akatsuka Orchid Gardens.before we went back to the ship.

Orchid garden

Going to the gardens is free and they hope you will buy some of their products from the gift shop.

Grandson photographing orchids

Orchid

Succulent

They also sell through the internet and ship. The gift shop features orchid and floral-related products and made-in-Hawaii gifts, including Akatsuka Original Magnets-clay replica magnets designed after the orchids. You can also buy the plants which are certified for US Mainland travel and can be purchased and shipped from our counter or packed for carry-on.

We got back to the ship about 5 pm - it was to sail at 6. The dinner tonight was prime rib and they had it up in the buffet as well as the dining room. It was the Captain's night, so I changed into a long dress and decided to eat in the upper level dining room. My grandson went to the buffet. I told the people at the desk that I wanted to eat with other people so they had me sit in a chair until they found someone else to share with me. I got a couple who normally cruise with Renaissance - they were astonished at the extra price restaurants.

I had

Chicken egg drop soup

Roast beef, baked potato, onion rings. It came with carrots and peas which I didn't eat

Cappuccino chocolate mousse in a chocolate cup

My grandson went to the show, and then came back and fell asleep. While he was out the room steward made a towel animal.

Rabbit towel elephant

Since there is no way to get the announcements in the cabin (a major annoyance), I did not hear when they said that you could see the red lava on the shore, but I looked out and saw it and saw people at the rail. I was already in my nightgown and my grandson was sound asleep, so I didn't wake him up, and I couldn't take a picture from the room very well.

Lava on shore

This was disappointing, but we saw lots of lava earlier today

Full moon reflected in ship

Tomorrow our port is Kona

23 June 2010 - Kailua-Kona

We are tendering to this port so we were awakened at 6 by a lady on the catwalk outside our window lowering the lifeboats.

Lifeboat lady

We went to breakfast in the Skyline room, and my grandson was not impressed. He ordered biscuits with sausage gravy and there was no sausage

Biscuits, with Sausage (?) Gravy

and the gravy was like library paste. I had

Eggs Benedict

We have two trips scheduled today too. I realized that even though we had about 2 hours between trips, since it was a tender port, we would not want to go back to the ship for lunch.

The first one was the Seahorses and we were to meet in the theatre to go down to the tenders.

I thought the seahorses were very interesting.

Entrance

Seahorse logo out of white rocks

First we had to wash our hands up to the elbows to remove sunscreen etc and walk through an iodine pool. We saw how they raised the seahorse food (some in this outside pool)

Pool where they raise some of the food and guide explaining it

and got to feed some of them with these brine shrimp

Tiny shrimp to feed seahorses

They showed us seaweed (food for the seahorse food) and my grandson tasted some.

I didn't, but I've eaten seaweed before. Then we saw the leafy seadragons (no photos) and adult seahorses.

Adult seahorses

We got to have a seahorse tail wrapped around our fingers. My grandson's seahorse stayed with him a long time. He said it liked him.

Grandson's seahorse

Mine swam off before we could get a photo. We had to try three times for me. I don't know if my hands were too hot, my arms weren't far enough into the water or my fingers were too fat.

My seahorse

Last they showed us a seahorse aquarium with various species.

Species seashorses

Species seahorse

They ship breeding pairs all over the world to people who have salt water aquaria if they are willing to go through the program to learn to take care of them.

When we got back to the port, I asked the bus driver where to eat lunch and she said Quinn's. After several attempts to find it (we asked at the surf shop and he said he didn't know even though Quinn's was right next to him on the other side), we ended up in a coffee shop where my grandson bought some coffee for his dad. The coffee shop lady gave us good directions.

Quinn's front window

Inside Quinns

My grandson had fish and chips (fresh Ono fish) and fries

Fish and chips

and I had the special blue cheese bacon burger

Specials board and my blue cheese burger for $9.95

Before we left, I went to the ladies room and this was a painting that was in the wall in there.

Ladies room decoration

Our second tour was for an outrigger canoe. While we waited for it we watched the kids swimming in the surf beside the tender pier.

Tender pier

Children in the waves

Bus stop

Pride of Hawaii anchored out

Church

I thought an outrigger canoe would be paddled and while you could do that, it also proved to be a sailboat. They brought it up to the beach right opposite the tender pier and we waded out and got on.

On the outrigger sailboat leaving the beach

We were the only two passengers but the man running the canoe also had a young girl (maybe a little older than my grandson) named Gaby.

Outrigger

We motored out and My grandson and Gabby put up the sail and we had a nice sail.

Raising the sails

Outrigger

Seats on one side

We saw a lighthouse and I took some photos of that and the surf on the rocks

Surf and lighthouse

Lighthouse

Lighthouse in the harbor

Surf

Gabby tried to blow the conch shell horn and could not do it - my grandson did a really good job of it.

Conch horn

The sail got backwinded while they were doing that, so we jibed,

Canoe

and then came in to the harbor. We tendered back to the ship.

Tonight was lobster night

Lobster night

and I was a little late up to the Skylight room, and most of the tables were full. There was one table which was already in progress and they put back a seat on it for me.

Tomorrow is Kauai - Our last day of excursions

Kauai- 24 June 2010 on the Pride of America

Our last day of excursions and again we have two of them. We are going to be here today and half of tomorrow before we leave for Oahu.

It was yesterday that we tendered to shore. We are at a dock today. What are we doing with the lifeboats now?

We have a 7:30 time to be on the dock for the snorkeling excursion, so I had the wake-up call at 5:30 and my grandson didn't even hear it.

I saw a lighthouse from the window, and he went out and took photos of it

Lighthouse

View from the ship

and also of the next one we saw.

Lighthouse

We went up to the buffet for breakfast at 6.

part of grandson's breakfast

I have finally found the healthful breakfast stuff (!)

Healthy breakfast food?

We were to wear a bathing suit under our clothes and bring a towel, sunscreen and dark glasses. I decided to wear my suit and my dive skin under my clothes. My grandson took his things in the beach bag he got from the Waikiki Beachcomber and I took my usual black grandmother bag. (The grandmother bag had a place to put photos into plastic holders on one side)

There were two vans of us - we were in Paul's van. Paul was very funny and he did a lot of sounds, like he would say "Hold on we're going around a corner" and then would make tire screeching sounds.

Getting ready to snorkel

My grandson loved this. He did various horns, dogs barking, police sirens and the like also. He took us first to the snorkeling tour office where all of us were given wetsuits - shorties.

My grandson, unfortunately, was too tall for the one that fitted him closely in the body and the one that was long enough was loose. They also gave us our fins, masks etc. Paul's people went with him to pick up two people from a hotel and then we drove out to the north shore to a beach where there wasn't as much wave action because it is protected by an outer reef.

We were instructed in the proper procedures. There were two people towing surfboards so that people could hold on to the side of the board and just look down between their arms.

Paul was taking the non-beginners. My grandson held onto the board. He had two problems. One was that he got very cold because his wet suit didn't fit well. The other problem was that he has a loose tooth which is sore and he couldn't bite the snorkel well. So he didn't really have a good time.

He had the snorkel camera and since he couldn't take pictures very well with his hands holding the board, Paul took the camera and went out and took photos - he had about 60 of them.

We saw various fish.

Spotted trunk fish

Triggerfish

Threadfin butterfly fish

Dyscyllus

Needlefish ?

There was a flounder almost perfectly disguised

flounder

Paul took several photos of a turtle

Turtle

getting out of the water after snorkeling

When we got back to the beach we stripped off our wetsuits and put all their equipment in bins, and then there were beach showers and bathrooms and they had snacks and drinks.

My grandson was still cold. We got back to the ship about 12:30, and I hung the bathing suits in the shower to dry.

Bathing suits hung up after snorkeling

My grandson said he wasn't really hungry - he has been complaining about his ribs hurting him, but we can't figure out why as he doesn't think he has hit them on anything. They hurt on the other side from where he smashed his camera when he fell the other day.

I went to the Cadillac Cafe (the 24 hour restaurant) for lunch and had

Mac and cheese

and tried to order a milkshake, but those cost extra unless you have a teen card which I didn't. So I had cheesecake instead

Cheesecake

At lunch they have tables outside on the promenade deck, but I ate inside.

Outdoor tables of the Cadillac Cafe from inside

My grandson joined me at the end and I walked down to the stern of the ship to take some more lighthouse pictures.

Then we went to trivia. My grandson insisted on playing separately from me. We got luggage tags as second/third/fourth/whatever place.

The last excursion that I booked was the Kilohana Manor House and Luau.

Luau ticket

For reasons that I do not remember, I booked the platinum tour which turned out to be the best one I could have booked. We were to meet on the pier at 15:50, so we went down right after trivia. I was wearing a dress on which I had pinned my Latitudes pin - I probably should have been more dressy, but oh-well.

Anyway there were 1000+ people going from the ship to this luau, and there were three levels of participation. You could just do the show, you could do the buffet and show, or you could do an actual dinner with servers, and the show. We had the top level. We were the first bus to be loaded- there were 53 of us..

There were two fat Russian ladies who plopped themselves in the handicapped seats, so when I got on I sat on the other side and Justin sat back farther in the bus since he isn't handicapped.

There is another lady who was on this tour who has had two knee replacements and who has to be wanded at security because of metal in her knees. She didn't get to sit in the handicapped seats- she could have sat with me, but she wanted to sit with her husband.

Our photo

We drove to the plantation, and got out of the bus - were greeted given leis - our leis had special green flowers in them so that the luau people would know that we were to eat in the manor house. My grandson and all the men got a shell lei. We had our photos taken by the ship photographers (I bought two of them later).

Kauai Plantation Railway

Then we were put on the train for a tour of the plantation.

Train ride

If you take this tour, sit on the left. The right side has sugar cane that intrudes into the car and all the sights to see

Lychee from the train

(such as the crops which were labeled) were on the left. They had horses, cows, goats, sheep, and pigs.

Horses on the left, and sheep and goats on the right

Running pigs

They threw bread to the pigs - there were some really little babies, and the pigs would run after the train to get the bread

Piglets

Then they picked me and the lady with the knee replacement as special "aunties" and took us in first to dinner.

Manor house

Entertainment at dinner

menu

First we had .

Chicken skewers as appetizers

Next came a citrus salad which my grandson didn't eat. Finally we had a plate which included mahi mahi in a coconut leaf, beef with teriyaki sauce, pork, purple sweet potatoes (which were good), rice, poi, vegetables and salmon.

Purple sweet potato

We were to chose our dessert from chiffon cloud pie or banana cream pie or sorbet. We both picked the cloud pie but he didn't like it because it was a fruit thing.

lilloki chiffon pie

I don't know if he would have liked the sorbet better as it was fruit flavors.

I think the regular luau people had pineapple upsidedown cake, but I doubt he would have liked that any better.

Ladies room in the manor house

Then they met us and took us in first for the show and we sat right up front and close to both the bar and the bathroom. The show was mainly dancing with an underlying story about getting from Polynesia to the Kauai. I did not understand most of the symbolism

Feather cape

Beginning of the story

Dancing

They did some fire-baton twirling/fire-eating/dancing too. My grandson loved that part of the show

Fire dancers

At the end, we were the first bus to be loaded and us two special aunties were the first to get on. So we got back to the ship first and went through security first ahead of all the 950 other guests.

They said that there was a discount for buying the photos that night, so I went and did that, and then went to bed

June 25, 2010

We are still in Kauai but we are relaxing.

My grandson got up about 7 and when we were dressed we went to the Cadillac Cafe for breakfast.

I wrote up the two days and sent the email and then we went to trivia. I was second with 13 correct - the winner had 14. We sail for Oahu at 1300

The room steward made us a monkey with a tail (so a spider monkey) and a swan.

My grandson went to towel folding and learned to make an elephant. Before we disembarked, he used all the towels and both bedspreads and made a forest of elephants and pythons.

I ate lunch in the Skyline restaurant with an old lady - I figure she was about 80. She wondered why the cruise cost her so much money, so I explained about the single supplement. She was astonished. I had fish and chips but the batter was quite tough.

Fish and chips

I took some more lighthouse photos as we sailed out.

Light in the llghthouse

I tried to print out the boarding passes at 5 for our flight to the Big Island, but the computer wouldn't let me. I called Hawaiian Air (it was a codeshare with AA) and she couldn't explain why but she did give me the flight ID which was different from the AA one. I tried again with that, but it still didn't work. I was very upset, as I thought maybe there was something wrong with my reservations.

They wouldn't seat me with anyone to share - they seated me by the back window so I could see the island going by. We were passing some spectacular cliffs and rainbows.





and then they lowered the shade so I couldn't see anything. I could NOT get it to be raised.

Eventually they moved me to a side window, but the window was dirty so the pictures wouldn't be as good.

Double rainbow

I did see the lighthouse that I had seen the previous night but it was too far away for a good photo.

I had soup and steak, but I was too upset to eat more than half of the steak, and did not get dessert.

My grandson was about packed although he almost forgot his good shirt. I managed to get all my dirty clothes into the red suitcase, and all the clean ones into the little black C.I.E tour bag (the bag I was given on the first tour to Ireland with my grandson in 2007)

June 26, 2010 Dis-embarking

I had asked for the 9:15 disembarkation time (just about the last time I could get) so I went up to the restaurant for breakfast and met the lady that I had lunch with before. She was getting off earlier and they came for her with a wheelchair. After breakfast I went back to the room.

I called the FedEx 800 number for an address that I could mail the bag and she said she could not give me an address unless I gave her a zip code. She looked under Honolulu and said there were no Fed Ex offices there. My grandson googled Honolulu zips on his phone, and I gave her two of them at which point she gave me an address on Queen Street.

About 8:30 we went down to the Pink Champagne Bar and got a wheelchair and they wheeled me out and we got our luggage. No customs or immigration. He took us out and secured us a cab (everyone else had to wait their turn).

I told the driver the address and went in and mailed the suitcase with all my dirty clothes which cost me $104.00. The cab dropped us off at the airport and I tried to get a boarding pass and get my grandson's bag checked, but was given a severe talking too by the counter person for Hawaiian because they don't issue boarding passes more than 4 hours in advance and she berated me for being 4 hours too early.

Ticket counters

So I sat in the wheelchair until 1 am and waited.

My grandson tried various ploys to get something to eat,

Grandson studying the airport map

but all the eating places were on the other side of security. At 1300 the wheelchair guy came back and got my grandson's suitcase checked and got our boarding passes (they weighed our carry-ons too) and then we went through security to wait at the gate. My grandson got us each a piece of cheese pizza, and me a chocolate chip cookie and himself a brownie. He also had a root beer.

The flight took off at 1700

Taking off

Pride of America at the dock in Honolulu

and we flew over Diamond Head,

Inside the Diamond Head crater

but my photo is out of focus.

Remote beach

We landed at 1735

and we got the checked bag, and went to car rental and I had a red Kia Spectra by 1800.

Red Kia Spectra

The rental car exit lady told us where we could go to McDonalds, so we did that. my grandson got the #10 (fish sandwich) and I got two plain burgers and water. I set out to drive the 2.5 to 3 hours up to the Volcanoes National Park. On the map it looked like the park was about equidistant between the two airports, but it is much closer to Hilo. It was possibly a mistake to fly to Kona, although on the other hand the area around the Kona airport is much more rural and easier to navigate.

The Volcano House (the equivalent of the Old Faithful Inn) was closed for renovations

Volcano House

and I did not know whether I could stay at the military cottages without my husband, so we made a reservation at one of the houses in the Chalet Kilauea Collection. This is a collection of guest houses and lodges throughout the area.

When we arrived, we had first to find the main office (the Inn at Volcano is the headquarters) and pick up a key and get directions (This is at a different location than we are staying). It was really dark, so that was a tiny bit difficult. It was seven tenths of a mile down Wright Road

The confirmation email letter said:

***Check Out : 11:00AM

• **Cancellation/Change Policy, Early Departures, Etc. : The following percentages apply to the entire stay indicated above with extra person charges, if applicable. For a cancellation submitted MORE than 72-hours from arrival (based on a 3pm HST arrival), 0% penalty. For a cancellation submitted LESS than 72-hours from arrival (based on a 3pm HST arrival), 100% penalty.

Changes to this reservation are not possible. Should your travel plans change, please cancel this reservation, honoring the above penalties, and then re-book your reservation.

Early departures will not generate any refunds

The Lokahi Lodge was regular house on narrow (one lane) road. It is very close to the park entrance so it is convenient.

Road to the house the next morning

We were supposed to take our shoes off outside the door. We had two keys - one was for the house door which we were supposed to keep locked

Shoes outside the door

and one was for the room door. There was a red wood stove

and a big common room with a full kitchen.

Common Room

Kitchen

I couldn't get the car key out of the ignition when I parked - I tried stepping on the brake and turning the wheel - nothing worked.

Our room was the Olena Room.

The room had a TV with a lot more channels than on the cruise ship and

Exterior door

an exterior door to the veranda, and a somewhat old fashioned bathroom.

There was also a dehumidifier which at first I thought was a heater. It was a bit cold and I got a blanket out of the closet for my bed. When I registered the next day, they told me that additional blankets were in the hall closet.

After we got settled and used the bathroom, I went out into the common room to send emails, and got into a conversation with some men who had been playing a game. One of them went out to the car with me and said I didn't have it all the way in Park.

I found out that they were engineers from Taiwan who had a conference in Honolulu and had come over to the Big Island for a day or two. I told them that there was wi-fi in the lobby (and actually it worked in our room too) and they said no that there was just a computer set-up there.

Computer set-up

I insisted that there was wi-fi, so one of them tracked down the router, and then they agreed that I was right and there was wi-fi. I thought that was sort of amusing. The result was that I didn't get any emails written.

June 27, 2010

I had to go register at the place where we got the key,

Main office of the hotel

so I did that and added breakfast ($6.00 @) to the bill. They had juice, cold cereal (including some that my grandson liked), fruit (pineapple, mango and orange slices), bread to toast, bagels and cream cheese, and then they had Hawaiian bread in plain, poi and mango flavors. He thought it was flavorless, but I liked it. They also had Hawaiian bread pudding.

Buffet breakfast

We got to the park entrance about 9:30, and went in for free on my Golden Age passport - normal entrance fee is $10/vehicle good for 7 days.

Entrance fees

US flag and Hawaii state flag at the Visitor's center

Stephen Mather plaque

Roosevelt's Tree Army (CCC)

We went to the Visitor's Center (which we had not been to on the ship excursion) and saw the NPS film and looked around at the exhibits. My grandson took several photos of the petroglyphs

Man with a canoe paddle

Green sea turtle

Man on a horse after 1803

Goat

Ranger talk

I found from talking to one of the rangers that there would be a ranger led walk to the Kilauea Crater that morning at about 10:30, so my grandson did that.

US Geological Survey Bench Mark

Photos from the ranger walk

I hung around the Visitor's Center.

Rain Forest ecosystem

Woodlands ecosystem

Upland forest ecosystem

Alpine ecosystem

He got back about 11:20, and it was almost time for lunch, so we left the park and went into the town of Volcano. No McDonalds here.

I stopped at a general store/cafe place and decided to look in the store first and get something for breakfast the next morning. He picked out a package of cold cereal (which he eats without milk), and got a coke, and I got a muffin. Then I saw that they had hot dogs and also hamburgers, so he got a hamburger and I got a hot dog which we ate on the way back to the park.

We drove all the way down to the end (where it was closed by a lava flow) of Chain of Craters Road

End of the road

Coastline

We got out and walked to the Holei Sea Arch.

Hazardous coastline

It was just a short walk but the surface was VERY uneven and it was very hot and sunny so it was hard for me.

Lava at the end of the road

Lava on the ground near the sea arch

Holei Sea Arch

Foot of the arch

Surf at the sea arch

I wanted to see the arch because a similar arch in Aruba has collapsed and that is always a danger with these kinds of formations, although this one looks like it is pretty study.

Grandson's photo of the sea arch

There were signs all over the place about warning of an unstable coastline - I saw people deliberately go up to those signs.

Cliffs may Collapse

One of the guides pointed out a big deep crack across the trail and said that might be the next bit to fall into the sea.

Danger sign and crack

When I got back to the car, I could not get it to move out of Park. I tried everything I could think of - stepping on the brake, turning the wheel etc. Eventually I got out and rocked the car and then I could get it to shift. I found this unsettling.

My grandson wanted to see the petroglyphs which were also at the bottom of the Chain of Craters Road, so we went to that location

Sign at the start of the trail

and I let him go.

Walking off on the trail to see petroglyphs

It was a very long trail and hot and sunny. He disappeared into the lava field. I started to worry that he didn't have water, sunscreen or a hat, but he came back unscathed with photos.

Petroglyph - Triangular man

I had not turned the car off so I wouldn't have trouble with the transmission.

Rim of Craters drive

Start of the Naulu trail

Picnic ares

We got up to the rainforest section and it was, of course, raining. He wanted to do a Kilauea Iki trail which he said would loop back to the parking lot. But he went to the steam vent first which wasn't what he wanted.

Steam vent

In the meantime, I called Alamo to report the transmission problems. I told the lady that I was just leaving the car in neutral and she wanted to know how I got the keys out of the ignition and I said that I didn't. At this point my grandson came back and signaled to me that he was going down another trail.

Grandson starts off on the Kilauea Iki Crater Rim Trail

After I finished with the rental car lady, I waited a little bit, but he did not come back to the car. So I phoned him.

Kilauea Iki trail

Plants on the Kilauea Iki Trail

Volcano vent on the Kilauae Iki trail

Kilauea Iki trail

He said the trail would come out at the Visitor's Center and it was raining harder and I should go to the Visitor's Center to pick him up. So I did, and we went back to the hotel for him to dry out. He hung up his jeans and shirt to dry.

After we took him back to the lodge and dried him out, it was time for dinner. It was raining still and dark by this time. I asked him whether he had ever had Thai food which tends to be spicy. He said he was OK with that, so we went to the Thai Thai Restaurant.

Village Center shops

This restaurant was in a building with a TruValue, a laundromat, an art/gift store and an ATM. We parked down at the TruValue end.

I ordered cranberry juice to drink and it came with a blossom in it.

I wasn't sure whether to eat it or not. I also got Yellow Curry which is one of the milder ones and has potato in it. It came with rice.

Yellow Curry

I suggested that my grandson try a mild beef noodle soup which came in a very big bowl.

Beef noodle soup - mild

He didn't make very big inroads into the soup as he was having trouble with the noodles - they were slippery. We each tried the other one's food

I wanted to order coconut ice cream which I knew he wouldn't want so I suggested that he try coffee ice cream and he said he liked that.

Kona coffee ice cream

We drove back to the Jaggar Museum where you can look into the crater and at night you can see the red lava bubbling away there. My grandson went to take photos but I stayed with the car because I couldn't lock it, and I was afraid to leave it when I couldn't put it in park. He got some good photos.

Hot lava at night

I looked at my Hawaiian Airlines schedule again and it came up with a time of 11:45 that the plane was supposed to leave, but there was no printer with the computer set-up so I couldn't print out my boarding pass. Actually - unlike AA, Hawaiian does not allow you to print out your boarding pass more than 4 hours in advance.

I put my phone on to charge as I had been using it, but didn't turn it off. I also got a blanket from the hall closet for my grandson's bed (I had been using the one in the room closet and it was cold). The machine we had thought might be a heat was in fact a de-humidifier.

I had my grandson set the alarm for 6:00 because the time I had for the flight to Honolulu was 11:45. I wanted to get there in time to gas the car up and turn it in and still be there more than an hour before the flight. Actually the flight times had changed to 1400 and the website gave me the wrong times.

June 28, 2010 - Flying Around

At 0430, my phone rang. It took me so long to realize what was happening that I did not get to answer it. It was a number I did not recognize. Later when I tried to call it back it was always busy so I figure it was a mainland telemarketer.

We went down the mountain - there was a car following us that followed us almost all the way to the airport. Had I known two things

• a) that the flight wasn't until 1400 and
• b) that I couldn't check in more than 4 hours in advance,

then I would not have hurried and would have made some stops on the way. My grandson ate his cereal and I ate my muffin. He gave me the Apple Jacks (which he didn't want) and I put them in my pocket.

We got down to near the airport and I stopped to get gas. It took 9.5 gallons (I filled it way up because we weren't right at the airport) and he figured that was 30 mpg. We dropped the car at the Alamo place and I told them about the key problem. Then we had to carry our bags over to the shuttle - I went to the bathroom first. The shuttle driver dropped us off some distance from the terminal so I didn't tip him.

We got into the terminal at 9:55, and tried to print a boarding pass and the machine said I needed help. I still didn't know that Hawaiian didn't allow passes to be printed more than 4 hours before the flight and we were still 4 hours and 5 minutes before the flight. An airport employee asked if I needed help and I answered that according to their machine I did. So he got me a wheelchair and we went to the check-in desk. Of course by now it was less than 4 hours in advance of the flight, so we could not only check in but could print both boarding passes and check my grandsons bag.

They asked me if he could check in without me, and I said yes, so he went through the line by himself, and apparently they inspected his backpack (which was so heavy it nearly overbalanced him) and stirred the contents so that his gameboy was on the bottom instead of on top where he put it.

Meantime, they took me around back. The TSA lady removed all my stuff (hat, coat, shoes, Apple Jacks in my pocket, computer from computer bag, passport case and cane) and took them to be scanned. Then I had to stand up with my arms spread so the TSA lady could wand my front, and then turn around so she could wand the back and then stand with the right leg forward so she could wand that and then the left foot forward so that one could be wanded. Then we had to put me back together. I should have gone through with my grandson and just gotten up and walked through the scanner - he was finished long before I was.

They put my wheelchair in the shade at Gate 9. This airport doesn't have any interior rooms except the restaurant and gift shop. The rest of it is open to the outside with just a roof.

statues in the middle of the airport

My grandson got himself a pretzel

and was feeding bits to the bird.

BIrds in the airport

About 11:30, the wheelchair guy came and asked if I was ready to go - turned out he thought I was on the flight to Maui which was leaving from gate 9.

Gates at Airport in Kona

When it got to be noon, J. went and got us hamburgers

and went on feeding the bird his crumbs. I got up and walked to the bathrooms, leaving him with my stuff and filled my water bottle. At this point I saw the sign that said "Do not feed the birds" He tried to make the case that it was only not to feed the birds by the bathrooms, but I didn't buy it.

On the plane, we had the choice of passion-orange-guava nectar or water to drink and no snack.

Juice

My grandson had water and had a bit of trouble getting his open.

We didn't fly over the Diamond Head lighthouse so I could take another picture, but we did see an aircraft carrier on the way in.

It was dark when we took off to go back to DFW so I didn't get a chance then either.

I had a wheelchair to go from the Hawaiian gate over to where the AA airlines flight was to be. We also went through the agriculture inspection on the way. I found a plug and started to write up the trip, and then my grandson got hungry and bought us each a pizza.

Taking a photo of my pizza

He thought that it was funny that the name of the shop was the Kaina Chicken Company.

Chicken company sign

Airport Restroom in Honolulu

When we got on, we found that his backpack was so big that it would no longer go under the seat, so he put it in the overhead.

Airplane

He wanted to find his Gameboy, but couldn't find it. So he watched the movie (Alvin and the Chipmunks the Squeakquil) and then slept. I wanted to have some food to take my pills with, so I asked for a chicken sandwich, but instead got a chicken salad which I really couldn't eat.

Chicken salad

We could buy a blanket and pillow for $8.00, but I didn't.

I tried to take a photo of the full moon reflected in the plane wing, but did not get a very good one.

Full moon

The lady in front of me had reclined her seat so I couldn't get stuff from around my feet. I could feel my ankles swelling.

Monday 29 June 2010

Landing DFW

When we got to DFW, the wheelchair lady pushed us to baggage claim, but we didn't have to claim my grandson's bag because my daughter was there and had gotten it there already The wheelchair lady pushed me all the way to the garage, so I tipped her with all the change I had left.

Grandson collapses at home

My daughter dropped us at her house and I tried to do some computing but just fell asleep. I waked up and got some lunch but the house was completely silent. Bob wanted to know if I had gotten there, but I had just been too groggy to think of phoning.

Dresses I bought for my granddaughters in Hawaii

Since my daughter was at a church camp all day her mother-in-law had us over to dinner

Family dinner

and our grandson had a chance to tell about the trip

Tuesday 30 June 2010

Then the next morning my daughter took my grandson to Strength camp (he missed the first day)

Dropping grandson off

and dropped me at the airport. I got a wheelchair but when it came time to board, the wheelchair person did not appear, so I walked on.

Taking off from DFW

Snacks on AA

River

Coming in for a landing at BWI

When we landed at BWI, I called Bob and he had his phone on and said he was just going into the parking garage. When we came out of the gate area, he was there but I didn't recognize him - he was wearing the shirt I got him in St. Kitts.

We had lunch at Jaspers on the way home.

Jasper's kitchen

Crabcake and fries appetizer

Crab cake appetizer

BBQ chicken quesadilla appetizer

Key lime pie

Ladies room

It has taken me a couple of days for my ankles to go down - I've lost 5 lbs since I got home and I think some of that is water. I found that Bob had completely forgotten to pick up my prescriptions that I phoned in before I left so I had to wait to this morning to phone the Pax pharmacy and re-order it. I also made an eye doctor appointment for Thursday and had my hair cut.

Sequel

We spent the rest of 2010 pretty close to home. We went out to dinner once a week. We went sailing on our boat. We went to the Oyster Festival. We drove up to our daughters for Thanksgiving.

Our next trip was a cruise out of Baltimore to the Bahamas and the Caribbean plus a road trip to Key West and out to see our grandchildren in Texas.