A Tale of Two Trips: Disneyland and Hawaii July 2014 Long Way Home: The End 9/13 p.40

Large resort, slob people. I get ticked off when I occasionally see people leaving their garbage at a quick service table at Disney. People are just downright lazy and rude.

I'm glad dinner was good...that shrimp looks yummy right about now.
 
I'm with you on being disgusted by people who don't have the common courtesy of picking up after themselves. Just pick your stupid trash up and dispose of it properly people! Dinner looks extremely delicious, especially the dessert.
 


Finally a chance to catch up! Love all the pics and details! We're heading back to HI next summer and considering the Hilton for our big island stay. We would be there for 5 nights. Assuming we spend 1 night of the 5 in Hilo for a trip to VNP (we wouldn't check out of HWV just pay for 2 places for that 1 night...), do you think there's enough to do at HWV and the surrounding area to keep us busy for the other 3 days?
 
Well, once again, it has taken me forever to get back to this report.

As those of you on the Beach Club FAQ thread, or Facebook know, we returned from our trip to Yellowstone, which was fantastic, and a day later I ended up in the local hospital. I was feeling lousy the last couple of days of the trip, which I attributed to the altitude. I live at sea level and we were between 6,600 and 9,000 feet in the park. When my shortness of breath did not disappear after the trip and I couldn't walk and talk at the same time, I went to the ER and was surprised to be admitted. Thankfully, all of the cardiac tests came back with good results. Final diagnosis was infection, likely pneumonia. Let me tell you, the prescription to "take it easy" is a difficult one for me to swallow.

But I didn't enjoy my night in the hospital, so I don't want to repeat that. Plus we leave in one week for Florida (4 days with family at Universal then they fly home and I join my friends at the Beach Club for a couple of days. I need to be well for that. I think my gals plan on doing a lot of drinking. Alcohol is medicinal, right?

:drinking1


Have a great time on you "camping trip" to Yellowstone.

Thanks! The brochure for the place we stayed calls the room style "cabineering". Two bedroom cabin with kitchenette, gas fireplace and two flat screen tvs. "Glamping" is another word that might apply to our experience.

:rotfl:


That resort is huge. I would think it would take a few days to explore it all. We were on the Big Island back in the late 1990's and went over to explore the resort. It was lot smaller back then.

It was too big for our purposes. Normally, we would love having all that space to walk around and places to explore, but we just needed a place to eat and sleep and it was a pain getting around because of the size.

::yes::


Once again - several updates behind.

So much amazing food porn on this TR, but how dare you asked for more syrup for your shaved ice? The nerve! :rotfl:

Too funny that Ben and the entire computer camp had the same orange shirt on. Yup - bet he was loving that. Not!

Love all the snorkeling pictures. Just lovely.

Cool pictures from the plane.

I am planning a long trip to California next spring and I can imagine that an the end of 14 days I will be pretty whooped, too. But I see what you mean about the room. It needs a face lift, although the rest of the resort looks cool and having a monorail run through it is definitely unique. Sorry you just weren't feeling the place.

Bring on the volcanoes!

We had 3 distinct shave ice experiences. Downright nasty in Oahu, acceptable at the strip mall in Ka'anapali and heavenly in Lahaina!

:cold:

The nerd jokes were flying. Sorry Ben!

I miss snorkeling!!!

Helicopter tour coming right up. Get it? Up?

:laughing:


Wow! That place really is big! Glad your dinner was tasty though! :) Can't wait to see your volcano pictures ...

Great dinner.

The resort was huge. Perhaps an advantage in some situations, not ours.

I'm trying to get to my helicopter tour update...

:goodvibes:


Large resort, slob people. I get ticked off when I occasionally see people leaving their garbage at a quick service table at Disney. People are just downright lazy and rude.

I'm glad dinner was good...that shrimp looks yummy right about now.

What is wrong with people?!?

I was so proud of Nate on the Yellowstone trip. When he found pieces of paper on trash on the ground, he picked them up.

Yes, at least the meal was good. Should have gone back to the same place for our last meal...

:thumbsup2


Dinner looks fantastic!

Have fun on your trip!

It was!

We did!

And I survived (barely...)

:sad2:


I'm with you on being disgusted by people who don't have the common courtesy of picking up after themselves. Just pick your stupid trash up and dispose of it properly people! Dinner looks extremely delicious, especially the dessert.

I am with you on your rant!

I am proud of my boys who not only take care of their garbage, but also pickup after slobs who are out in the world.

Great dinner!

::yes::


Finally a chance to catch up! Love all the pics and details! We're heading back to HI next summer and considering the Hilton for our big island stay. We would be there for 5 nights. Assuming we spend 1 night of the 5 in Hilo for a trip to VNP (we wouldn't check out of HWV just pay for 2 places for that 1 night...), do you think there's enough to do at HWV and the surrounding area to keep us busy for the other 3 days?

We knew we weren't going to be around at all during our stay on the BI, so we didn't look into the things to do at the resort or in the area. But I know the snorkeling is supposed to be excellent on the BI (I so want to snorkel with real manta rays and sharks). Not sure about beaches, or plantations or other areas to explore, but I'm sure you will have plenty to do.

:thumbsup2
 
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UGH!!!

I have an update written, with all of my photos (Photobucket) embedded, but I am getting some sort of URL error when I try to post.

Driving me crazy!
 
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Lava Me Now or Lava Me Not?


As I have mentioned all along, we had a problem when we were trying to plan our itinerary on the Big Island. We only had one day, and what we wanted to do was tour Volcano National Park. On the other side of the island. 3 hour drive each way.

We looked at all sort of options, like hiring a tour company to take us there and back or changing our stay to the Hilo side of the island and flying out of there to the mainland. All of the helicopter tours we looked at left from and returned to the Kona airport.

I was thinking how great it would be to find a helicopter tour that would fly us to Hilo so we could do a ground tour of VNP and then return back to the Kona area by helicopter. And at the end of April, about 3 months before our trip, we found just what I was looking for:


Paradise Helicopter Volcano By Air & Land- Duration: 11 hours. A one hour helicopter tour going over the Big Island’s volcanoes. Then, touch down in Hilo and tour Volcano National Park with a guide from Hawaii Forest and Trail. Return from Hilo to Kona by helicopter along the scenic coastline.

This was a brand new tour that had just started to be offered.

It wasn’t cheap ($629 per person), but then again if you consider that just a single helicopter ride along can be around $300 for a one-hour trip, this was practically a bargain!

And just to confirm that we made the best choice, about 2 weeks before we left on our trip, we learned that after a long absence, lava had started flowing again and could be seen from the air.

Here is the write-up of the tour from the Paradise Helicopters website. It looks like they have made the tour even BETTER with visits to a black sand beach and samples of Kona coffee at Ka’u Coffee Mill.

Paradise Helicopter’s Volcano by Air & Land tour allows you to explore the Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park area in flight and on foot – including sinking your toes into a beautiful black sand beach and sipping on award-winning coffee. This adventure departs from the Kona International Airport in an executive style Bell 407 helicopter. En route to the Volcano area, you will overfly the world-famous Kona coffee district and skirt three of Hawai‘i’s towering volcanoes: Hualālai, Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Upon arrival to Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park, your pilot will search out the day’s activity – sometimes a burning forest fire, a stream or lake of glowing lava, or an entry into the ocean – usually only accessible from the air.

After the first part of your “air” experience, you will land in Hilo and meet your expert Hawaii Forest & Trail interpretive guide. Travel through the remote and rugged landscape of Kaʻū — home to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park, historic farming plantations and the famous black sand beach of Punaluʻu. Discover how the powerful forces of nature have shaped the people and landscape of this dynamic region, Hawai’i’s largest land district. The perfect blend of nature and culture led by an expert interpretive guide, this tour reveals what it’s like to live on two active volcanoes.

· Discover all the “must see” spots within the Park; including Jaggar Museum, Nāhuku (Thurston Lava Tube) and Halema‘uma‘u Crater
· Sample and shop for award-winning farm fresh coffee at Kaʻū Coffee Mill, along with other Hawai‘i Island grown treats like macadamia nuts, honey and chocolate
· Walk across a crystal-fine black sand beach as you search for basking sea turtles at Punaluʻu
· Immerse yourself in stories of Hawaiian legends and mythology, with a focus on Pele, Hawaiian goddess of fire, lightning, wind and volcanoes
· Explore a lava tube and discover the mysteries of how these tunnels are formed

A picnic lunch is served during your adventure before you return to the Hilo Airport to take to the sky again. Back in the air, you’ll take the leisurely route to Kona along the eastern and northern coasts. You will venture deep into uninhabited valleys that showcase Hawai‘i’s wild, untamed beauty. Water cascades down sheer valley walls, and surf pounds rocky cliffs and unreachable beaches. Finally, watch the landscape shift again, as you fly over Pololū Valley, south to Kawaihae and over beautiful white and black sand beaches to make your way down the coastline and return to the Kona Airport in time to enjoy one of Hawai‘i’s famed sunsets.


********************************************************************

The morning of the tour, we got a quick breakfast and waited for our ride to the airport which was coming at 7 am. When the van arrived, we got on board with a middle-aged couple from Wisconsin. They would be our tour companions for the day and were very nice.

We arrived at the airport where we watched an orientation/safety video. Then came the weigh-in. Everybody has to step on the scale so that the weight in the helicopter can be properly distributed. Our instruction crew handed us some ginger candy to help with nausea and told us we were lucky that Cal, the owner of Paradise helicopters, would be flying our helicopter

(Later, we would hear one of the crew say “Cal, great to see you flying again!” What does THAT mean…)



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Mark was placed, almost literally, in the drivers’ seat. He was right next to our pilot. He had a fantastic view through the windshield and asked “Is there anything I should be careful not to touch?” “That lever!” answered Cal. I tried to hand over one of my cameras to Mark, but he refused to take it.


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I was seated on the same side as the man and the boys were on the same side as the woman.


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We were given headphones and microphones so we could listen to Cal’s descriptions and ask questions and make comments. Cal said we were a pretty quiet bunch and most of our comments were brief, like “Wow!” “Breathtaking!” “Unbelieveable!”


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We flew over pastureland, forests, lava fields, craters, steam vents, the observation center at Mauna Kea, Kilauea Volcano and the active lava flow.


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The dark “rivers” are where lava has flowed and since cooled:


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Mauna Kea Astronomy Center:


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Flying over Kilauea:


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Then, we flew toward the area that had active lava flow. Would we see it?
Lava Me Now or Lava Me Not?



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The answer is, yes, with varying degrees of vantage point. From Mark’s front row seat, he saw rivers of lava flow. I was taking video and pictures, and the best view I had of lava was this pool:



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Pretty amazing! The color of the lava was just unreal.

ETA: Since our trip, the lava has really started flowing furiously and last summer actually threatened one of towns in its path.


All too soon, we were approaching the Hilo airport, for the ground portion of our excursion. Which turned out to be my favorite part of the day.


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Next Up: Can You Spare a Few Moments To Learn About Our Volcano God Pele?
 
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Hey wait, I'm part of a middle aged couple from WI. And we are nice too, but it wasn't us.....
Loved your views. We did the long drive from Kona to VNP, to Hilo then back around the northern route to Kona. Long day, but one of my favorites from our two week trip to HI. Really loving your TR. Have fun in FL, and feel better soon!
 
I am sorry to hear about your hospital visit, but glad you are ok!

What a coincidence that you went to Yellowstone this summer ... we were in HI around the same time as you were last year and we were in Yellowstone this July. :) You aren't going to CA in summer 2016, are you?! LOL!

Anyway, I loved this latest installment! We did a self styled circle tour of the Big Island on land, so it is super neat to see everything from the air. It looks like you had a wonderfully clear day for your tour - we were there during the remnants of tropical depression Wali so conditions were very rainy and foggy & it wasn't until our secod day that we were able to have a clear view of the crater - on the plus side, we had the Thurston Lava Tube & Devastation Trail to ourselves (literally, not another car in the parking lot at either spot b/c it was cold and rainy - I told my family it was like Disney and we were touring rain or shine - even purchased ponchos from the hotel gift shop!).

Anyway, I loved The Big Island so much - VNP was just amazing and felt unreal. Looking at those photographs of yours is bringing it all back! I bet your tour was amazing with a local guide & I look forward to hearing the tale! :)
 
I really like your pictures of the volcanic activity from the air, especially the picture of the cinder cones sticking out of the field of black lava. I would never have thought that the cones could be anything but black but there must have been a lot of ash that came out later to build up cinder cones like that.

The active lava flow is not very abundant except for that orange pool. That is neat.
 
Since this trip report has already seen its first birthday, I have two other reports moving along like glaciers and (at least) one more in the wings I am anxious to finish this one off. I worked on an update last night, then I will have the return helicopter flight home and a brief chapter about our final hours in Hawaii and our return home.

Once again, thank you to everyone who is following along. I appreciate your patience and perseverance!

:beach:


That helicopter tour looks awesome!

It really was! My favorite excursion ever. We had a helicopter flight over volcanoes, followed by a land-based tour of Volcano National Park and we still had the flight back to look forward to!

:goodvibes:


Hey wait, I'm part of a middle aged couple from WI. And we are nice too, but it wasn't us.....
Loved your views. We did the long drive from Kona to VNP, to Hilo then back around the northern route to Kona. Long day, but one of my favorites from our two week trip to HI. Really loving your TR. Have fun in FL, and feel better soon!

Wouldn't that have been a fun grouping!

I did look at the drive and the places to explore between Kona and Hilo, but we just didn't have the time (or desire) for all that driving.

I have been feeling much better, especially the past few days. Thankfully, because we leave on Wednesday. The trip to the hospital really set me back, I have so much I need to do before we leave and then when I come home, the boys have an open house at the high school that night and start school the next day.

:scared1:


I am sorry to hear about your hospital visit, but glad you are ok!

What a coincidence that you went to Yellowstone this summer ... we were in HI around the same time as you were last year and we were in Yellowstone this July. :) You aren't going to CA in summer 2016, are you?! LOL!

Anyway, I loved this latest installment! We did a self styled circle tour of the Big Island on land, so it is super neat to see everything from the air. It looks like you had a wonderfully clear day for your tour - we were there during the remnants of tropical depression Wali so conditions were very rainy and foggy & it wasn't until our secod day that we were able to have a clear view of the crater - on the plus side, we had the Thurston Lava Tube & Devastation Trail to ourselves (literally, not another car in the parking lot at either spot b/c it was cold and rainy - I told my family it was like Disney and we were touring rain or shine - even purchased ponchos from the hotel gift shop!).

Anyway, I loved The Big Island so much - VNP was just amazing and felt unreal. Looking at those photographs of yours is bringing it all back! I bet your tour was amazing with a local guide & I look forward to hearing the tale! :)

Thanks! I'm feeling MUCH better!

That is funny about our parallel vacations! I do remember being shocked at the storms that hit Hawaii after we came home. It sounds like you made the most of the crummy weather by enjoying the absence of crowds.

What is on your itinerary for CA next summer? Are you doing the Disneyland thing?

We do not have our next trip planned! ACK! It is the first time in a long time that we don't "have one in the hopper". I would love to go back to Mexico in February, but the place we go to is getting super expensive. The boys are pushing for Europe in either April or next summer. They are history buffs and Ben wants to visit important WWII sites in England and France. He has about 10 museums on his wish list!

:sad2:

Next summer is our 30th anniversary, so we are trying to decide how to celebrate that. A tropical island always works, of course, but with Nate in college and Ben in high school, we would keep it domestic (one of the US Virgins, probably). Or Mark has floated out a trip to WDW. He hasn't been since 2013. Maybe during the fall for Food & Wine and the Halloween Party. Dilemma is whether to bring Ben or not...

Pictures from VNP coming up soon. We loved it!

:thumbsup2


Wow that is stunning. What an adventure!

Thank you so much! It was a GREAT tour!

:cool2:


I really like your pictures of the volcanic activity from the air, especially the picture of the cinder cones sticking out of the field of black lava. I would never have thought that the cones could be anything but black but there must have been a lot of ash that came out later to build up cinder cones like that.

The active lava flow is not very abundant except for that orange pool. That is neat.

Thank you!

I like the cones, too.

That was all I saw for lava. Mark and the boys said they saw flowing lava. I missed it and of course Mark had refused to take a camera!

:(

Even a week or two later, the pictures we were seeing from the Paradise Helicopter Facebook page showed a lot more lava than what we saw.

::yes::
 
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Volcano National Park
Can You Spare a Few Moments To Learn About Our Volcano God Pele?




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After landing at the Hilo airport, we were greeted by our guides from Hawaii Forest and Trail.



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Our main guide would be “Danger Dan”. His real name was Matt, but that was the (secret) nickname we gave him. Danger Dan was a talker! Mostly in a good way. He related a lot of information and told lots of stories during our time together. A lot of stories about Pele, the volcano goddess. Many of his sentences started “Here’s a (another) story about Pele”



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As an aside: When we were recently in Yellowstone, we also had a tour guide named Matt who talked a lot. Maybe being a tour guide in a National Park is your destiny if your name is Matt and you are loquacious.


Accompanying Danger Dan on this tour was Brittany. She had just started a job in the office of Hawaii Forest and Trail and all employees go on the tours as an orientation.


They greeted us with a fantastic breakfast. A delicious baked bread, fruit, bagels, cream cheese. They also had cold drinks and gave us reusable water bottles to use throughout the day.


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It was quite a ride to Volcano National Park from Hilo. Maybe 45 minutes. But no worries, Danger Dan had plenty of things to tell us on the way.



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Kilauea Iki overlook- The first stop we made was a vista with Kilauea in the distance:



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Then, it was on to the Thurston Lava Tube- Nahuku which sits hidden under a rain-forest canopy.


A lava tube is a natural conduit formed by flowing lava which moves beneath the hardened surface of a lava flow. Tubes can be actively draining lava from a volcano during an eruption, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like channel.


Thurston is massive, 600 feet long with a ceiling height of more than 20 feet in places. When it was discovered in 1913, the ceiling was covered with lava stalactites. No more: collectors all but destroyed the original appearance of the cave.


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That didn’t work out!


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That’s better! Well, except for the red-eye I need to fix.


Continued in Next Post
 
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Continued From Previous Post

Napua Crater Trail


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The next place we stopped was a hike through an old lava bed. We only covered a very small piece of this trail, but hikers who complete the entire 14 mile round trip (7 + hours) hike will experience varied, diverse terrain ranging from recent lava flows to dense tree fern rain forests.


This is where we really loved having a knowledgeable guide with us. He explained what we were looking at, often telling tales weaving nature and culture together. Of course, there were stories about Pele!



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Ohia Lehua plant




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We sampled these berries, after tossing a few to the ground as an offering to Pele, as advised by Danger Dan.




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Hapuu

This fern had a story about a lover who was pursuing Pele or maybe something about Pele’s sister. Or both. I can’t remember and I am getting all of the Pele stories confused. Danger Dan was very funny as he was trying to be discreet in telling some of the racier stories in front of the boys. A few of them discussed people, gods and goddesses who wanted to “get together” with one another.






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Pandanus or Plumeria


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At one point, we came to a large gap in our path. We all made a dramatic leap over the crevice so we didn’t fall in. Then Nate came over, stretched his long legs and just stepped over the gap!



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Funny and slightly embarrassing!


We picked up pieces of lava and looked closely at the different textures and colors.


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Danger Dan pointed out a couple of common lava formations called Pele’s tears and Pele’s hair


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Pele’s tears


I don’t have any of my own pictures of Pele’s hair, although we did find some. This is from the Jaggar Museum


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Then Danger Dan pointed out this rock and asked us what we think it looks like



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My vote was for monk seal.


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Continued from Previous Post

Kilauea

After our hike, we got back into the van and drove to a lunch spot overlooking the coastline. It was a great place to enjoy the box lunch which was included with our tour. Although it wasn’t worthy of food porn, the sandwich, chips, cookie and drink really hit the spot.



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Across the street from where we ate were these hills. You can see where the places where lava has travelled from the island’s volcanoes to the sea.


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After lunch we made our way to the rim of Kilauea and the Jaggar Museum.



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OK. Thanks for the warning!




One the way back down from the crater, we stopped at a roadside steam vent.


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With that, the tour was finished and we returned to the Hilo airport for our ride home.


Next Up: Helicopter Mom
 
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