Happy to be home!

Traveling is great, but it’s always nice to come home. The rabbits missed them!

One tired family

Night flights are hard (and this was a first for the girls). They are very tiered, but happy to be one step closer to home.

Landed!

Since flight school Sam and her pilot friends like to critique landings. According to Sam, this one was "butter" (That's very good.)

Homeward Bound

It’s kind of amazing that we can go from turtles one morning to the Rocky Mountains the next. And cover so much water and ground in just 7 hours.

Sunset in Hawaii

California 

Sunrise in Colorado 

Who’s flying this 757?

Another flight and another cockpit. This pilot must be good. He flies a 757 into Eagle in the winter.

Serious pilot talk!

And they put her to work!

Twilight Boarding

A beautiful sunset to conclude the Hawaiian adventure.

The Airport

It’s a unique place. Everything is outside! We enjoyed waiting in the fresh air as opposed to a traditional airport.

Jim said he’s never been able to bird watch in the airport before.

Airport Art- not much here, but we liked the guitar player.

Lunch

The girls wanted a taste of hone so we got lunch. Food and prices are the same as home. But here they have chocolate ice cream. 

They don’t have these at our Costco

Sarongs and Hawaiian shirts!

Act like a local…

And go to Costco for gas. The best prices around!

A ship

Or a floating city! It’s huge, even from a distance.

Ice Cream in Kona

We found this nice spot along the coast to have some ice cream. It’s the good stuff- Tropical Dreams, made in Waimea. 

Snack Stop

This shady spot was the perfect place to enjoy our treats from the Two Step bakery.

The brownie was great, but the cookie bar was DELICIOUS! We wished we had gotten more!

Kealakekua Bay

This is the spot where Captain Cook landed on the big island. And, coincidentally also the place he died. It’s a twisted and strange tale, but still a pretty bay with a monument at the far end. We did not go to the monument (technically on British soil) because the only way to easily get there is via water.

Two Step Bakery

It was listed on the GPS map and we love to stop at anything marked bakery. This one was a new experience. It was a cute roadside stand with a honor system for payment. We chose a cookie bar and a macadamia nut brownie.

Sam put our payment in the box! It was worth every penny!

South Point

An overlook to see the Southernmost point in Hawaii and the US. The road is rough and the point is windy so we opted for the overlook!

Honu

We went back to Punalu’u one more time to see if we could spot some more turtles. Jackpot!

There were four when we first walked up with a fifth coming in. Then another came up while we watched!

Good Morning

A beautiful good morning view from our balcony.

Back to Punalu’u

We went back to see the turtles. Unfortunately it was not our night- one was there when we arrived and we saw at least one more swimming, but none came ashore while we were there. 

We liked this sign. It’s not a message to middle schoolers- it was created by them.




We still enjoyed the view! On that outcropping of land there is a Heiau. Another ancient Hawaiian temple.

The sand is black and fine but not particularly soft. Ground up lava feels more like glass than sand.

After several hours of turtle watching (or not, as the case was for us) they got bored and played in the sand.

Sam's sand art drawing of Indi.

Sea Mountain

A small condo complex with a pool and hot tub. A perfect spot for our last night in Hawaii.

More games of tube chicken in the pool.

Punalu’u Black Sand Beach

A beautiful spot with a beach of fine black sand. It’s ground up lava that’s churned by the surf to make a lovely beach. It’s also known for turtle spotting.

This is the first time we have seen evidence of nesting turtles.

Whittington Beach Park

This is a hidden gem of you like watching the surf pound the rocks on the shore. We definitely do so we enjoyed the stop. 

The shore here is quite rocky from old lavas flows. 

These were some of the best lava tubes we have seen. 

The old pier (bombed by the IS military after Pearl Harbor to reduce enemy landing options) was a particularly great spot for wave watching.