Still Planning

Since our last post we have been exploring possibilities and places to visit in Europe this summer.  Our biggest challenge is getting in as many places as we can, in the few days that we are going to be there.  We have established that we will be in Barcelona, then we hope to be able to fly or take the train to Venice, Florence, and Rome (in that order) then a short flight back to Barcelona.  The details and the amount of time at each destination is still something we have to work on. Suggestions and recommendations are welcomed.

ANNOUNCING......

We are excited and happy to announce that we have purchased our tickets for our summer vacation 2013. We will be flying direct LAX to Barcelona Spain, then we are planning on taking either a plane or a train to Italy, so we can also visit Rome, Florence, and Venice. All these stops in 15 days. Looking forward to the best time of the year!!

European Destination

The last few days have been pretty exciting, as we are drawing close to our deadline to purchase our tickets for our next summer vacation. For the last couple of years we have been dreaming of traveling to Europe, but those dreams have been put on hold for a variety of reasons. This time we are closer than we have been before to making that dream a reality. As soon as we purchase our tickets we will announce our next destintion for summer 2013....

Scottsdale 2012

Many weeks have gone by since our trip to scottsdale, however, because it was part of our summer break and what we consider vacation we are posting it and sharing a few of the pictures and happy memories we created. This trip was special and different compared to our other Arizona trips because we had the opportunity to travel with Evelyn and the kids. No only was our experienced enriched but "intense". Shortly after we left the Loma Linda/Redlands area, enroute to hot, arrid, Arizona the A.C. on the car stopped working! What an experience to travel over 200 miles with no A.C. in 100 F. weather. Oh, and we must not forget flash the flood warnings! Even if we had chosen to roll down the windows it would not have been possible because of the rain. What an experience, that will not soon be forgotten thanks to the diffuculties that make it unforgettable in more ways than one.

Beach and Pool Day

Today we got up to one of the sunniest, gorgeous, breeziest days in paradise. Whoever said Puerto Rico is the Enchanted Island (isla del encanto) has not been to Hawaii, specially Kauai! Last night we decided that we would hangout at the beach and at the pool. We often travel to tropical places but spend very little time at beach and/or pool. All the activities related to our given destinations distract us from the main attraction which is usually the beach. After a morning power walk along a trail next to the beach, we had breakfast and then relaxation at the beach finally! Several hours of sunbathing, pool lounging and relaxing made us hungry! It is our custom to have a formal nice dinner at every destination we visit, so we decided to make reservations at "Donderos" at the resort. An Italian restaurant with view of the ocean and beautiful gardens. The timing of our dinner was intentional so that we could go to see the sunset at a location in town. It was such a marvelous sunset, no clouds, palm trees swaying to a breeze and almost perfect weather. WE will relish this day for months to come! We were blessed today in a great way.

Hula Hula Day!

Today was one of those days that goes down in history as the most relaxing, visually stimulating, fun day.  We got up and had breakfast at the Ilima Restaurant at the resort.  A wonderful restaurant with really good food but mostly a million dollar view into the Pacific ocean. 
After breakfast we traveled to the northern part of the island to visit and re-visit our favorite island attractions.  Our first stop was in the Hanalei area, a valley like section of the island where the taro root is planted, it was such a serene location!
Our next stop was the lighthouse, another inspiration to be absorbed into the memory bank of life, it was so beautiful, we could of just set up a tent and spent more time there. 
Finally we came back to our hotel just in time to view a very typical, hula show, a couple of hours went by so fast we didn't even realize time had slipped by so quickly.  How enjoyable that was!!!
After today we have concluded that we must return to stay more time at this property and  on this island, this is a promise that we intend to keep!

Hanapepe AKA: Hawaiian Jose

Two things stand out for us today  First, our visit to the coffee farm in Port Allen.  Acres and acres of coffee plants ready to be harvested and shipped to different parts of the world.  If you like coffee you would have loved the little samples that the farm has for the visitors.  Dark roast, medium, light.  Coconut, mocha, vanilla, Irish mint, hazelnut etc. With all the varieties it seemed more like a Baskin Robbins 31 flavors!
Our next stop was in Hanapepe a small  town dubbed the "smallest biggest town" in Kauai.  A quaint town with lots of small galleries and talented artist from around the world.  One particular artist stood out today, his name is Bill Crane, a  "PetrosArt" artist inspired by ancient Hawaii. A gentleman that  creates beautiful pieces and sculptures inspired by the sea. As we entered his gallery he greeted us and started conversation, naturally the conversation went to our home state, then our home city, which was Los Angeles for him as well.  Finally he told us he is an alumni of  Eagle Rock High School! Small world huh?  No wonder he seemed extra talented ;-)  

We had a wonderful relaxing kind of day today with little adrenaline (other than the hanging bridge in Hanapepe)  and lots of good memories.  Tomorrow we head out to explore the island to admire God's creation in its most natural state.  We look forward to a visually stimulating, hopefully dry day. 

Cloudy with a chance of Plumerias

When we are home we jog to release stress, while we are on vacation it's merely to deserve the extra calories we will ingest while on vacation.  After all those rich meals we have consumed lately it may be that we will have to purchase a couple of Moo Moos to accomodate the expanding waisline.  Today as we were finishing our morning jog, we started to feel a light drizzle and as we got closer to the finish line the rain started coming down harder, to the point of bucketfulls.  Much of the day today was like that.  Overcast and rainy.  We had anticipated going to the beach so Alec could take his surf lessons, but the cautious side of him kicked in and he chose to skip on that possibility because the waves have been pretty intense the past few days. 
So no surf lessons and no beach...we just went to town, bought a few things and came back for a  little photo shoot we had scheduled.

For sunset we went to another part of town to watch the close of another day. We are so happy to be staying where we are,  without a doubt we have already decided we will be back.  We drank the water and have caught the bug to return to this island.  Tomorrow we hope to explore a bit more of Kauai.  Stay tuned for pictures and more stories.

Tropical 4th of July

Three out of the past five years we have not been on U.S.A. soil for independence day.  Although this year we were in the U.S.A. it almost felt like we were on foreign territory.  First because we are sooooo far from the mainland (including the time zone).  As we watched on TV the east coast enjoying their fireworks it was only 3:00 P.M. for us.  Second we decided that we would go to watch the fireworks in a little town called Kekaha, about 30 min. from where we are staying in Poipu Beach.  We were pleasantly surprized at how local the celebrations were.  A few hundred people speaking Hawaiian and eating typical foods of Hawaii with a little mix of American.  Kind of neat to see the cultures merge into one big melting pot of foods and language, and music.  There was a band playing Hawaiian, American and an ocassional spanish song translated into English!   It was such an intimate small town festivity tha even the mayor of the town (Bernard Carvalho) was present at the celebration.  The highlight of the evening of course were the fireworks, which were pretty impressive considering it was a small town production.  We did learn a small phrase, that sums up what we celebrate today:  Hana' ho (spelled phonetic) Happy Birthday America!
    

Saving the Best for Last

Because of technical difficulties with the browser at the hotel we are now staying at, we were unable to log on yesterday.  Fortunately there was not much to say except that we have now arrived to the final stop of our vacation.  We are now staying at the Grand Hyatt Regency hotel in Kauai.  Because we are loyal Hyatt members they have upgraded us to a suite that is the most beautiful room we have stayed at, in all our vacations.  It has a jacuzzi tub, a couple of bedrooms, living room, ocean front views and regency club access (which means unlimited snacks, desserts and appetizers at different times of the day).  Alec is super excited about the many pools with slides, lazy river and artificial lagoon on the premises.  A wonderful and exciting time awaits us!
  Last night as we planned our day for  today we decided that we would stay at the resort all day and enjoy the ammenities.  ENJOY we did.  We were awaken by the downpour of strong rain and showers, but shortly after were relieved to see the bright sun peeking through the clouds.  Just in time for our morning jog.  The rest of the day was just rest and relaxation inside the pool/lagoon until our skin was so wrinkled and so prunnie we just had to get out.

Finally, the icing on the cake came after dinner, when we decided to sit and watch the waves crash and surfers smoothly ride the waves as effortly as we sat in the pool.  This was one of those days that meditation specialist make you dream of when they are trying to make you relax, today we had one good long session!!!

Paddling & Snorkling

Before our activity today we had breakfast at the hotel restaurant called Kai, a beautiful outdoor experience.  Fresh air combined with good food and some sun, made for a good eating experience. 
    Our main activity today consisted of Kayaking for a couple of miles in the open sea, in an effort to reach a landing called "Captain Cooks monument" for the best snorkling experience on the big island of Hawaii.  Oh, what a place for snorkling it turned out to be.   It was as if we were snorkling in an aquarium with a variety of colored fish.  We regret not having a water proof camera for underwater pictures, but the best way to describe it would be to say it was like a scene from the movie Finding Nemo.  About two miles each way of paddling and the snorkling did not give us much time to do much else except to visit a coffee plantation/farm on the way back to our hotel.  A good ending to a short stay in an island with much left to be explored. 
We hope to be back someday to see so much more that this beautiful island has to offer. 
Until them Mahalo for such good memories and not so good weather ;-) Hopefully sunnier days next time. 

Alooooha! 
(P.S. we are having technical difficulties once again, and are therefore unable to load pictures. we will attempt to load pictures tomorrow from our new hotel)

Five Thousand miles to the Volcano

We have literally traveled thousands of miles to witness what we did today.  Unlike last year in Costa Rica, this time we were able to see an active volcano spewing magestically into the air.  How fragile we  are to know we are standing in active ground, ready to errupt and take us all with no warning.   We had never had the opportunity of viewing an active volcano and we feel satisfied to finally have seen this natural wonder in person.  Although it took us about three hours to get there from where we are staying, it was well worth the drive.   On a smaller note, we also had the opportunity of learning about the hawaiian culture up close and personal.  Earlier in the day we happened to stumble by an activity that drew us close to the culture and activities of the island.  The place was called Pu'uhonua, O Honaunau it was the 51st  anniversary of it becoming a national park.  As part of their community event the national park system set up different activities to enrich the community and tourist with knowledge of customs, traditions and crafts of the Hawaiian people.  One of the activities we participated in was a canoe ride into the clear, clear ocean! The main attraction was not so much the activity but the fact that the canoe itself was a traditional hawaiian, handmade canoe.  As we paddled we could see several feet down into the ocean.  Beautiful sight indeed.
Today we were able to see mother earth in all it's beauty and splendor, we thank God for the wonderful opportunity. 

A not so Hyatt day

In the last four days we have been breaking record for morning wake-ups.  Each day has been earlier and earlier. We are tempted to remain awake and just sleep in our clothes ready for the next day's activities. :-)  Our wake up call came at 4:15 this morning so that we could be ready to fly out of Oahu to Kona, Hawaii.  Airport travel takes so much time!!! Between taking off your shoes for security,  picking up luggage, the rental car, checking in to the hotel etc. it was almost noon.  We finally did make it to our hotel, the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort.  Nothing like Hyatt but it will do for the next few days we are here.  We haven't seen much of the island so far, but we are looking forward to the challenge of distinguishing city/town names. Most towns only use vowels and a couple of consonants so it is hard to read the string of 6,8,10 letter names that the towns have.   Tomorrow for example we are headed to Kealakekua Bay, Pu'uhonua o Honaunau Park, hope those places are not as difficult to find as their name. 
We would say that the highlight of our day was our evening meal, where we got to see the sun set in the horizon as we heard the waves crash. All day it had been overcast and threatning to rain, yet in the evening the sun peeked way out of the clouds and allowed us to enjoy a wonderful sunset.
One of the features of the hotel we are staying at, is that they have a section where manta rays gather at sundown...sometimes.  Well it happens that they chose not to today.  Ok. We'll try again tomorrow.  It's bedtime for us hoping to get up after 6:00 A.M. for the first time in months...

Until tomorrow, have a good night....zzzzz

Pearl Harbor Day

Today we accomplished two out of the three activities we had planned.  We started out by going to sail on a small catamaran called the Molokai, It would have been a wonderful fun relaxing experience had it not POURED on us most of the time.  We were in the middle of the big, blue, beautiful ocean, enjoying the serenity that comes with being out at sea  when it started raining huge bucketfuls! So back we went to the shore to continue our day.  The 20 min. without rain were nice anyway.

Our second activity was a trip to Pearl Harbor.  We had been here seventeen years ago for our honeymoon, but neither one of us remembered much of the trip so we decided to take Alec and to refresh our memories of the experience. We are happy that we made the effort since it was so educational
The next time we visit Pearl Harbor may be in another seventeen years. 
For now Aloha to you all and Mahalo for taking the time to read our blog. 

Rest and Relaxation in Waikiki

Unlike yesterday this felt more like a vacation day. Getting up early to go jogging may not spell out rest and relaxation to many people out there, but to us, running on the streets of Waikiki with a view of the beach is quite invigorating and relaxing. It is exactly the activity we would start our days with if we had the time during the rest of the year when we are not on vacation.  
One of the places we like to visit and have brunch at when we are in Los Angeles is Dukes in Malibu, today we had the opportunity of having a delicious lunch at Dukes of Waikiki.  The fresh salads, combined with the great sunny weather (at that moment) and the relaxed feeling of the island made it just that much better. 

Early in the day we decided that the surfing lessons and the catamaran ride as well as our trip to Pearl Harbor will take place tomorrow. Today we just sat at the beach, read our books, got wet from the ocassional cloud downpour and took pictures next to a Banyan tree.  Not much to brag about today, but we know it will be getting busier and busier as the days go by, for now, it's Aloha from us three.

Unexpected Expected Weather

I don't know why we count the first travel date as a vacation day when all we do is rush to the airport, wait for our flight, fly for 5 hours (as we did today), layover in Maui for an hour and then head to our final destination for this leg of our trip.  All while on an empty stomach and with very litlle sleep...  Sounds more like concentration camp circumstances than a tropical vacation to us.  Fortunatley we arrived safely and finally sat and ate a decent meal (at Siams Square, Thai cuisine).  Not surprinsingly and as expected for us it has been sprinkling/raining most of the time since we arrived, but what else is new....  After more than 14 hours on the road we are finally in our hotel room at the Hyatt Place in Waikiki. We are looking forward to a more exciting stress free day tomorrow.  We anticipate having pictures and definately more interesting experiences to share with you tomorrow.  Specially since Alec is anticipating taking surfing lessons, and perhaps doing a few other fun family activities.
Until tomorrow, Aloha to all!

Countdown til Hawaii

We have finally completed the purchase of all the components of our summer Hawaiian vacation.  We are excited to know that we will be visiting 3 out of 5 of the most known and visited islands.  Honolulu, Kona and Kauai.  As of today it is 29 more days until we start our paradise hopin' summer 2012 vacation.

Hawaii

As much as we would love to travel to Europe this summer,  we will likely to travel to three islands in Hawaii.  The big island, Oahu and Kauai.  As soon as we purchase our airline tickets we will start posting on this blog. 
Aloha!