Football, Dinner and Cards

Well, I am going to get back into my blog. Took a break there from it after 2 weeks of intense blogging...back to life, back to reality.
Tonight we had some friends over to watch the games and grill some chicken. Katie and Keivon are the friends that like to play cards, we are always asking them over since we love cards so much (and they are cool people...).
Tomorrow I have the day off, I plan to stay in my PJs all day....Unless Colleen Evans (I hope you are reading this) calls me and we get together. We are good friends from college, she's lived in Dallas for 2 years and we haven't gotten together once...I know CRAZY. One question, why aren't we hanging out all the time??? Colleen? If you are out there, let's be friends!!!! I want to meet your baby.
Well, goodnight folks...tomorrow I am going to blog about my new washer and dryer...I am obsessed with doing laundry...does your washer and dryer sing to you when it's done? Mine does...(that is just a teaser!)

Yeah, I was crazy!!

Too much of a time commitment...ah well!

I might be crazy...

but, I just applied for a part-time job at a veterinary clinic!! I have a "working interview" on Saturday to see how I like it and to see if I can hang! Here goes nothin'!

There's no place like home!

We are home now...unpacked, laundry started, and ready for bed. It feels really good to be home and pet my animals...

I do need to report that we did indeed swim/kayak with the dolphins on our final attempt yesterday morning. It was AMAZING! I don't really know how to describe something so wonderful. They are beautiful, graceful, curious creatures. Vince and I both just watched, jaws droppped...all we could say was...WOW!! I don't know many events in nature that can top that one!

Good Night!

One...two....three strikes you're out?

Well...we aren't out! (By the way, this is Holly again! Vince said "I am blogged out") We hit strike 3 with the dolphins this morning and are consequently growing worried that we may never swim with the dolphins. We have one morning left and we are stationing people at all 3 spots the dolphins frequent. If someone sees them, they are to call the others and we will rush over to swim with them. Let's hope it works!

Tomorrow is our last day in Hawaii...tonight is our last night :(

Since I am getting up early and am tired right now, I am going to just list the things we did today (in order)...

1) Got up early to try and swim with dolphins (unsuccessful again)

2) Went to a very nice, unpopulated beach to work on our tans

3) While we were at the beach for 3 hours we: built a palm leaf shelter for shade, explored tidal pools, panicked because we thought we lost someone in the current, and the boys snorkeled for the first time!

4) Came home to shower and practice our skit for the talent show

5) Enjoyed a marvelous Japanese diner prepared by Matt and Yukari

6) Watched and participated in the traditional TALENT SHOW (our SNL cheerleader skit was a hit...whew!)

7) Had our nightly Uno game

8) And now, Vince is passed out beside me (from too much sun, but he will never admit it), and I am about to go to bed as well!

Let's all do the dolphin dance (similar to the rain dance, of course) and hope that the dolphins come out to play tomorrow!

This is the last posting I will do until we get back to Texas. We leave at 10pm tomorrow (Friday) and arrive home at 10pm Saturday...wow...24 hours of travel time! I think I am ready to be home...2 weeks is a long time to be living out of a suitcase...but I don't want to enter the real world just yet!

This has been one of the best trips I have experience so far in my 27 (on Jan 7th) years of life. To see, explore and learn about 2 completely different places has been awesome!! Thanks for taking this trip with us as you have been reading our adventures!! See you on the Mainland! Mahalo!

No dolphins, but plenty of snow!

Today was another early morning as we once again drove to Captain Cook Cove to make our second attempt at swimming with the dolphins. We were unsuccessful...but hold out hope. We are trying again tomorrow. Not wanting the early rise to be a waste. We went to the Place of Refuge and oohhed and aahhhed over some cute sea turtles. We were so close to them we could have touched them but, out of respect for the species, did not. We took some pictures with the underwater camera and are excited to see how those turn out!! After lunch and a short rest it was off to the top of the world...

...okay maybe not, but it felt like it. Today we set out with a guided tour company to the top of the tallest point in Hawaii, Mauna Kea. This dormant volcano is particularly special to not only Hawaiians, but to the astronomy world as well. There are over 2 billion bucks worth of telescopes on the peak, making it the greatest collection of high powered scopes in the world. There are many reasons why they picked this point to put them all and all of them were explained to us in great detail by our guide Greg. On our way to the summit we went through valleys and changed climates numerous times seeing another side of Hawaii that we had not seen.

A view halfway to the top

The drive to the top was a little bumpy and scary. There were few guardrails, more piles of old lava than anything. The slope of the mountain is covered in cinder cones; these perfect mounds where the magma did not break the surface, but pushed gravel up in to ahill instead. When we reached the summit at just under 14,000 ft. the temperature was right around freezing and dropped quickly as the sun set. The sunset was nothing short of breathtaking. At that altitude we were above the clouds and watching it set into the clouds with Maui on our right and Mauna Loa, a large active volcano, on our left it was unique and something again I will remember forever.

Who knew there was so much snow to be seen in Hawaii.

The University of Hawaii's telescopes

After the sunset we drove down to 9,000 ft. to the visitor's center and our guide Greg taught us about the sky above us. I had never seen so many stars in my life! We learned about Nebula's, constellations, planets, and more than I could remember at this late evening moment. Absolutely amazing what dangles above our heads every night and a shame we cannot see any of it where we live in Texas. The experience has given me a greater respect for what lies outside our world and thoughts of where it all begins and ends.

What an amazing sunset!

I found the perfect place

To put my tree house and swing vine to vine and be one with nature. Maybe not anytime soon, but at least now I know the place where I would do it. Today was an early morning that commenced with a drive towards the east to Hilo, the wettest city in the US. (274 inches of rain a year!) Our drive to Hilo was an amazing one filled with crazy climate changes from rainforest to desert and spectacular views of waves crashing into the jagged black coastline. At the halfway point of our journey we were welcomed by the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park; the site of the most active volcano in the world, Kilauea. We were able to drive around the massive crater where the volcano last erupted in this particular spot in 1982 and see the sulfur and steam coming up out of the ground. The locals believe that there Goddess lives in this crater and is the life blood of the islands. It was a very sacred and ere place. We did not get to see any lava flowing since it is deep in the park and only viewable by helicopter.

Kilauea crater and a local offering

After arriving in Hilo and doing some shopping at the local farmers market, we finally set off on what I had been waiting for the whole day; WATERFALLS! First up was Rainbow Falls. This 80 ft. waterfall was just north of downtown Hilo and right next to an elementary school. Very pretty and powerful as all the water fell uninterrupted into the pool below.

Rainbow Falls

Just upstream about a mile were The Boiling Pots; named this because in spots they are boiling due to the hot rocks below the river bed that are superheated by the flowing lava underneath them. Holly and I got a little dirty trying to get a better look at the boiling pools.

The Boiling Pots

Last but not at all least was Akaka Falls. This place was utterly amazing and the site of my future tree house. On the walk to the main attraction were numerous small waterfalls that flow through a tropical paradise filled with bamboo trees, birds of paradise, and crazy ferns taller than anything I had ever seen. As the rumbling gets louder the cliff drops straight off, you turn the corner and there it is; Akaka Falls dropping almost 500 feet down a lush green background. It was a top ten site for these eyes. I felt satisfied with the day and glad that we had gotten in all we had set out to do.

Holly and I in front of Akaka Falls

Tomorrow has the chance to be even better, with a trip to the top of the world. Time will only tell. Mahalo.