Kona, HI or Another Day in Paradise!

Before Katrina's "accident", her mom (my sister, Kathy) and Grandma (my Mom) had already made plans to come to Oahu and then travel to Kona aka The Big Island for a few days. I was going to fly home (which was then Salem, OR) on the same day that they arrived. Since I had never been to Hawaii and it had been awhile since I had seen my mom and sister, I decided to join them and delay my return for an additional week. They arrived without all the problems that I did (remember that closed highway that I sat on for 4 hours?). A few days later all six of us flew to Kona. What an experience that was! Two small children, one senior, one handicapped person and two women with bad backs! We made it with all of us intact! Katrina had to be "hand" screened with her new titanium elbow but that was the worst of it! :-)

We arrived in Kona and played tourist for a few hours before we could check into the hotel. We stayed at the Hilton in Waikoloa. Let me tell you, this place is spectacular! There is a tram and a boat that runs from one end of it to the other! It was huge! In addition, there are something like 7 swimming pools and even an area where you could swim with the dolphins. If swimming with dolphins wasn't your thing, you could just watch as they worked with them! The kids loved swimming in the pools and didn't care if they swam with dolphins! They found a kid-sized pool that also had a kid-sized slide! Once they found out that their great-aunt (that would be me) would catch them at the end of the slide and help them back to the side (neither one know how to swim) they must have gone on it a zillion times! I felt like a drowned rat way before I convinced them that we had to leave! :-) Later that evening, Katrina and I had issues with the tram since it wasn't running as it should (we heard that one of the trams had been shut down for some reason...it took us over an hour to get where we wanted to be and then back to where we had to get off for our room)!

The next day we headed to the volcano and stopped at Akaka Falls first. It was raining when we got there but we walked to the falls anyway. When we were done, we were all wet and cold but we did get to see the falls! It was neat to see the volcano but after getting lunch, stopping at the falls and driving to the other side of the island to get to the volcano it was getting late. It was also raining, but that quit shortly before we got to the visitors center (which is where I got the great pictures of the rainbow)! We were taking a one-way loop road around the volcano when the "low fuel" light came on in the rental car so we decided we'd better take a short-cut and end that part of our trip! Since it was late and everyone was getting hungry, it worked out o.k. Poor Harmony didn't make it to dinner since she fell asleep while we were driving. Even though we carried her into the restaurant, she never even knew we ate! :-) Oh, to be a three year old!

On the way back to the hotel, we were almost t-boned by a driver who ran a VERY red light! It made for a very heart-stopping few moments! Katrina suffered the most since she didn't have her splint on and the sudden stop threw us all forward. Didn't seem to have any lasting effects on any of us, so we all counted our blessings twice that day!

We had a whirlwind trip and only stayed on the Big Island for three days, but the day we left, we didn't fly back until late so we had the last day to play tourist as well! Spent the morning and early afternoon back in the pools with the kids, Katrina and Kathy had massages and enjoyed the spa and then we headed out! We spent some time shopping in Kona, back to the airport and a short flight back to Oahu! Once back we unpacked and repacked our bags as we (me, my mom and sister) were flying back to the mainland the next day!

The time in Hawaii flew by and I was met in Portland, OR by Don who was anxious for me to get back! He had already been enjoying the Monaco rally that was being held in Salem, OR for a few days! He was well taken care of while I was gone by our friends, Glenda and Ray Roe who drove with him from Idaho Falls to Salem and then by Jerri and Lloyd Wood who met them in Salem! Once they all arrived at the rally grounds they had some additional help from Vicki and Steve Terra who had driven from Southern California to attend the rally!

I was able to enjoy the last day of the rally in Salem, had enough time to see the vendors there (and spend a few $$), see the coaches on display that Don wanted to show me and enjoy the dinner they had that night along with the entertainment that evening (The Platters). The day went by pretty quickly and I froze since the temps were about 20 degrees colder than in Hawaii, it was also rainy, but I managed! We said our good-byes to the Terra's and the next day the Roe's, Wood's and Leith's drove to Harrisburg, OR where we all were having some work done to our coaches!

Just another day...in Paradise!

Some of you may not know that I left Don...temporarily! My niece, Katrina, who lives in Hawaii was injured in an accident last Friday. Her husband is currently serving in the US Army in Kuwait and she has two young children at home, Justice who is 6 and Harmony, 3. They told her that she had broken her elbow, but they didn't do surgery until Monday afternoon. That was after the orthopedic surgeon finally looked at the x-rays on Sunday night! The emergency room doctor thought that they would probably do the surgery that night, but the orthopedic doctor said to splint her up, schedule her for surgery on Tuesday (Monday was a holiday) and send her home! Guess he changed his mind after he finally looked at the x-rays in person! They ended up replacing her elbow with a titanium prosthetic since her bones were shattered! Anyway, she won't be able to lift ANYTHING for six months and starts rehab on Monday! Her mom (my sister, Kathy) was already scheduled for a visit mid-September so I came until she gets here! We arrive/depart on the same day!

After only a few days...I know why God gives us children when we are younger! :-) It's been fun spending time with Justice and Harmony, but they are constantly on the go! On Wednesday it's piano lessons, Thursday is soccer practice, Friday is gymnastics, Saturday is soccer, Sunday is church AND gymnastics, Monday is the start of rehab (and something else...but I don't remember), Tuesday is a DAY-OFF and on Wednesday it starts all over! I forgot to mention the 4 month old puppy...Spirit, a Labradoodle! He may only be 4 months, but he is BIG and going to get bigger! The one good thing...he appears to be potty-trained, but he, like most puppies his age, likes to chew things! Anything and everything that he can get! He is also big enough to "graze" the kitchen counters! Don't leave something there that you might want to eat later! Otherwise it will soon be gone! Disappeared...in an instant!

Almost forgot to mention my arrival! Katrina had a good friend of hers, Jean, pick me up at the airport. Now I have to mention Jean and her husband, Charlie! Jean and Charlie have gone above and beyond for Katrina and Jerry (Katrina's husband). Ever since Jerry has been deployed, Charlie has made sure that he comes over and mowes Katrina's grass. They ended up picking her up at the emergency room, took her to the doctor for her pre-op, watched the kids and brought her home after her surgery and suffered through 4 HOURS of traffic on the way home from the airport! Just a little before I landed in Honolulu, a military transport hit a pedestrian bridge over the highway with a crane that they were transporting. Guess they didn't get it all the way down! Anyhow, they decided that the bridge wasn't safe and CLOSED the highway for the entire day through at least Wednesday!!! Jean and I sat in the traffic for FOUR HOURS! We felt that we really knew each other well during that ride! They diverted traffic off just before the accident, but all in all...it took us 3 hours to go less that 3 miles! There was a BIG headline about it on all the local papers the next day! At least I was a little bit of historical news for Hawaii!

Well, now that I've told you about my arrival and the last few days...I can't show any pictures other than the ones just like those here I haven't done any of the "touristy" stuff that most people do when they come to Hawaii! Guess I'll have to wait to do that when I come back, sometime in the future! :-)