The Painted Church near Kona 

 Puako on the Big Island

 The northern tip of the Big Island of Hawaii

 Sunset on the beach in Kona

T

On the beach in Kona

Kealakekua Bay on the Big Island

Kona

 Maui - Island of Lanai

Snorkel Trip in Maui

25th Wedding Anniversary Trip to Hawaii

Our 25^th Wedding Anniversary Trip ~ A bit early!.....

The 20^th was our day to start 'the trip'. We closed everything up at the motorhome and left around 2pm. We made a quick stop at the flea market to pickup the sunshade drop for the motorhome and then headed to Coachella. We arrived at Spotlight 29 Casino around 530p. We had a happy hour glass of wine and then a slice of pizza for dinner. From there it was standing in line for 40 minutes for the doors to open for the free Elton John Tribute concert. It was excellent. We were in the third row so we had a great view of his piano playing which was awesome. His name of Kenny Metcalf and the Early Years Band. He played for over an hour and a half. We then drove to Danny's where we overnighted.

On the 21^st Dixie did a little cleaning at Danny's condo and then we realized somehow Mike's flipflops got left behind. We had a breakfast at Micky D's and then found some flipflops at Marshall’s. We then headed to Riverside to Aunt Marge's. We had a nice afternoon and evening visiting.

We started our long day on the 22^nd attending church with Marge and then she drove us to meet up with Doug. We all had lunch a Marie Calendar’s in Buena Park. We left there around 1230p for the Courtyard Marriott in El Segundo where we were to park the pickup while we are gone. Well we ran into a bit of a snaffo as they said we had a reservation for our overnight on the 30^th , they did NOT have any parking. They advised they didn't have park and fly agreement with Hotels.com/Expedia and also their parking was closed for that package deal. After much to do and phone calls, the manager agreed to let us park there. We caught the 2p shuttle to the airport and got checked in and through security in record time – about 15 minutes. We spent a little time in the United Club prior to our 440pm flight. We got exit row seats all together which gave use plenty of leg room...first would have been better but it was not to be!!! We arrived in Maui at 720p. It took awhile to get our bags and to the rental car place. We arrived at the World Mark Condo around 9pm. We visited with Fran and Camilla before we pooped out around 11pm. We took a sleeping pill to overcome the jetlag/time change.

The 23^rd we went for a walk and ended up at the place Camilla is renting for the month. We walked back via the ocean side. We packed up our beach stuff and headed out around noon. We made sandwiches and made a stop at the ABC Store and we were off. We drove south and took in the scenery. We stopped at a beach south of Waila...we think it as Po'olenalena Beach. We had our lunch and spent the afternoon there. We were in the water riding the waves in when a big wave came over the top of us...Dixie's glasses and visor came off. We thought the glasses were long gone...we saw them on the beach after one wave but couldn't get to them in time. We all searched and luckily another man on the beach located them on the ocean floor. Very thankful for that. On the way back to the hotel we drove into the Four Season's Hotel complex...Fran's Nephew, Tim works at Spado's, a restaurant there. We then went to the grocery store and bought hamburger for dinner. We made a great meal back at the condo. Groceries and eating out is quite 'spendy' here!

The 24^th....Doug and Fran left shortly after 7am for their Helicopter ride to view Haleakala/Hana. They had a wonderful time. We went for a walk as the Helo ride was not in our budget. We drove to Lahinia in the afternoon and a bit further north on the island. We made a a few stops to view some scenery. We had a happy hour drink in Lahina overlooking the water. It was a bit windy. From there Doug/Fran dropped us off at the theater to see the 'Ulalena' show. It was a great show of the Hawaiian History. Thanks Doug & Fran for the tickets for our Anniversary. After the show we went to a great Chinese restaurant called Fu Lin.

The 25^th we started our day out early. We had to be at the Lahina pier at 715a (a 45 minutes drive from the condo). We went on a snorkel tour to the Island of Lanai with 'Captain Steve's'. Our captain was Jonathan and his mate was Mika. We saw some whales on the way over. It was windy and the weather was iffy so they had a hard time finding a good snorkeling spot. We went quite a ways around the island. We made two snorkel stops and also had lunch on the boat. It was a good snorkel...saw lots of fish. The trip back was more than rough. We all got soaked. The weather was a bit dicy so we had to take the long way back...however, we did see several whales. One calf slapped his tale several times for us! We were pretty beat after that ride so we headed back to the condo in Kehie.

The 26^th was travel day. We left Maui on the 1203p flight which was about a ½ hour late. We didn't think we were going to get seats but at the last minute they had some no-shows. We arrived in Kona around 1p. We got our rental car (got an upgrade from a full size to a Ford Explorer) and were off to the condo...this World Mark room looks just like the other one! Bonnie (Fran's sister came over) to visit. We went to the store and bought snacks – that was dinner!

The 27^th we took a drive south. We stopped on the roadside for a Huli Huli Chicken plate lunch...it was wonderful. Then we checked out the beaches. Next stop was a tour of the Greenwell Coffee Farm. It was very interesting and informative...we have never seen coffee trees before. We then went to a beach called Two Step near,........State Park. Doug/Fran dove and snorkeled here before. We had rented snorkel gear at Big Island Divers in the morning so we got in the water to snorkel. This spot has lots of colorful fish...Tang and Parrot fish were the coolest. Of course right after we got out of the water we say the dolphin fins! We met Bonnie & Michael (boyfriend) for dinner at Quinn's....we enjoyed some wonderful fish and seafood!

The 28^th we drove to the north point of the Big Island. We saw where Bonnie teaches and then to the end of the road where we were high up overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful site. From there we drove back over the mountain and returned via Wiama. All in all we put on over 200 miles. We went to Bonnie & Michael's that evening. We met two other couples and we all sat on the beach at their condo and watched to the sunset and enjoyed some drinks and snacks! It was a beautiful setting and a fun time!

The 29^th we all took advantage of Bonnie...We treated ourselves to a massage! It was wonderful. After all that we went to the Harbor House for a late lunch. We enjoyed some fresh fish! It was quite cloudy and it rained a bit. We had planned to snorkel again but decided against that due to the weather. We went to the pool/hotub instead. The rest of the day we packed. Dixie cut Michael and Bonnie's hair. Around 830p we decided we needed something else to eat so we made a run to McDonald's!

The 30^th was the day to leave the islands. We packed up and headed to breakfast – another trip to the Big Island Grill. There food is wonderful and local! From there we drove south and checked out a bit more of the island. We ended up at the car rental return just after noon. We got checked into at the airport for our 152p flight and went to the gate. The flight had 6-7 seats up until that point. Suddenly there were non. The agent said she may have one seat....we would take two but not just one. Well – we didn't get on and the next flight that wasn't until 834p was also full. It was time to make some decisions. There was a Lavaman Triathlon in Kona on Sunday and that may have been the cause for the flight fluctuation. Tue. the flight was also full so Dixie started checking other options. We found the flight out of Honolulu had 100 open seats. We then decided to purchase passes online on Hawaiian Airlines. We headed to that gate and got on the flight leaving at 311p.

Once in Honolulu we went to the United Club. Dixie had packed her card by mistake but we managed to all get in the club. It was a much better place to pass the 4-5 hr wait time. The flight was scheduled for 845p but was delayed for an hour due to Guam connections. We had a sandwich at Quiznos and went to the gate. The flight ended up not taking off until 11pm. So much for our $247 hotel in LA for Monday night.

March 31^st – we arrived in LA around 630am. Our bags were there as they traveled on the original flight from Kona. We arrived at the hotel at 715am. We checked into the room and slept for 3 hours. We checked out at noon and headed to Riverside to pick up our car. We stopped at the same Marie Calendar’s in Buena Park for lunch. We got to Aunt Marge's around 230p. We visited for a bit and then took off for Yuma. We arrived at the motorhome around 730p. It was a very long 2 days....but a very fun time in Hawaii!