Kedron and I left on July 17th for a week on the Big Island of Hawaii!! Kedron had a 1st Year Conference to attend for work, and since this summer is our 10th wedding anniversary, we decided to make a special trip of it.
After 3 long flights, we landed in Kona on the Big Island (known as Hawaii). Contrary to (somewhat) popular belief, the main city of Honolulu is NOT on the Big Island; it's on Oahu. The Big Island is not really the most popular tourist destination (I'm guessing it sits 4th after Oahu, Maui, and Kauai??). It is twice as big as all the other islands combined, and therefore it does not feel as packed with tourists. Our resort was on the leeward side of the island. This side gets only 5-10 inches of rain per year, so it is quite desert-like once you get outside of the resort areas. Believe me, they work hard to keep that 'grass' in the picture below growing!! This was the view from our deck; we could overlook the resort pools and also the ocean!
(yes, I know your jealousy rate is rising now. . .)
Kedron enjoyed his conference for 2 days, while Rachel shopped and relaxed by the water. Our first major trip was to the observatory at Mauna Kea volcano. The Big Island is made up of 5 major volcanoes that have 'grown' together through the years. Mauna Kea is the tallest. Actually, if measured from the ocean floor, it is the tallest mountain in the world! We did not go all the way to the summit; they had a nice observatory point where they do free nightly stargazing. We arrived via a roller coaster they call a road, and drove up THROUGH THE CLOUDS to reach the the observation point. We watched the sun go down and then the staff set up their telescopes so we could view Saturn, Venus, and the moon. It was a very nice event, except that both Kedron and I got stuck in line behind people trying to hold their iPhones up to the telescope lenses to take a picture.. . .. you can imagine how well that went over with the Bardwells.
Here are some photos taken from our perch above the clouds:
The first of many 'selfies' taken (I had never head the term 'selfie' until this trip; am I even spelling it right??)
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