Hawaii – part one

Sorry for the long break, but we've been on vacation! In Hawaii! The whole reason for our trip was the Honolulu Marathon, but we built in a few days before and after the race to enjoy the scenery. And we enjoyed the heck out of it! I personally enjoyed about 650 photos worth, so I'm breaking them up into three parts. (Don't worry, I won't show you all of them.)
Part one: The Big Island
This was the rainiest portion of our trip, but we had enough nice weather to see most of what we wanted to see. We visited the Hilo farmer's market and stocked up on pineapples, papayas, star fruits, and apple bananas – quite different than the selection here in Wisconsin! Perfect for a picnic on the way to see some waterfalls. 



We spent a day at Volcanoes National Park and saw the steam pouring out of Kilauea Volcano. Truly fascinating to see an active volcano. (Did you know the volcano adds 50-100 acres of land to the island each year? Wow!)


We went to a black sand beach, where green sea turtles were lounging on the rocks and sand. I'm pretty sure Walter's favorite part of this vacation were the beaches and the animals. Wild chickens were running around everywhere. We even saw a wild peacock!



We woke up early most mornings since we were adjusting to the time difference and got to see a couple of gorgeous sunrises over the ocean. 


The house we stayed in was perfect. It was right on the ocean and a short walk from some tide pools where Gramma and Walter went snorkeling. It had a pool, which was freezing cold because of the rain, but also a hot tub, which was nice to lounge in and enjoy this view! 

We also visited the Hilo Coffee Mill, the Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory, and Lava Tree Park. There was plenty to do, even with all the rain. A fantastic island!
(See a few more photos on Flickr.)
Next up, Honolulu and the marathon...