The Hawaii Round-Up

I've been tossing around the idea of a blog post about Hawaii for a few days. Trouble is, I'm not entirely sure of what I want to say. It was Hawaii. It was amazingly beautiful and amazingly expensive. I was knocked off my feet a few times while we were in Hawaii. I also had a few things confirmed about my traveling preferences.

New experiences:

1. We have been to the State of Hawaii before -- specifically to the islands of Oahu and Maui. On this trip we also went to Oahu for my conference presentation and then The Island of Hawaii, dubbed as "The Big Island." This was new.

2. I have seen lava fields before in Arizona, Idaho, and even on our previous trip to Hawaii. I had not, however, seen such vast and endless lava fields before, and certainly not lava fields that literally stretch out to the ocean. I had also never seen such recent lava fields before. We walked through lava flows from the 1970s. It was amazing.

Neil in the lava fields at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park - that is the ocean in the distance

3. I have a preference for what I call "dramatic mountains," which basically means that I prefer the Rocky Mountains over the Smokies. The same would be true for coastlines. I prefer granite ledges over sandy beaches. As it turns out, I prefer tall, lava cliffs over all of them. It would be pointless for me to describe the beauty that I beheld at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, near the Holei Sea Arch, because there are not words to describe it. Needless to say, it was probably the most wonderful thing that I have ever seen. A close competitor is Haleakala National Park on Maui, followed by the Grand Tetons and the Grand Canyon.

Cliffs near the Holei Sea Arch

Things which were confirmed on our trip:

1. Neil and I really do not like to vacation in tourist destinations. When we visited Maui we stayed in the small town of Hana, where there are hardly any tourists, as far as we could tell. A colleague once said to me, "You stayed in Hana? But there isn't anything there..." Exactly. This time we stayed in the Kailua-Kona area of the Island of Hawaii. In truth, I never figured out if we were just in Kona or Kailua-Kona. We stayed in a clean, spacious, well-stocked efficiency apartment across the street from the ocean -- which happened to be on the marathon portion of the annual Ironman race. Perfect for running. We were within 5 miles of shopping malls and grocery stores. We were also 1 mile from some of the best snorkeling on the island (or so we were told) and a half mile from a state park beach. It was a good set-up. Nevertheless, we were just too close to people. By 8am, there were 50 people on the beaches and by 3pm, there were easily 150 people there. It's good that we're not really beach people, huh? Anyway - confirmed what we already knew: head away from the people.

Many, many people at the conference hotel in Honolulu on Waikiki Beach. 

2. On a related note: National parks have wonderful things to see, but if there are people around, it will likely be less exciting. I can certainly handle some people at a national park. Poor Neil feels that his experience is altered if even a single person walks up to an area that he is viewing. If he sees someone alone at a look-out spot, he will not approach. He does not want to ruin that person's experience. This can be difficult to manage at a busy national park. The key word here is busy. Last summer we visited two national parks with Dorothy and purposely selected parks that are relatively unknown. Still beautiful, but not overrun. It was more suited to our needs. 

3. Neil does not like vacations that are planned or stocked with things to do...activities. He likes to go to sleep at night without much of a plan for the next day. At the same time, I do not like to be idle. As a result, our vacations where we drive day after day, in remote areas are really best for us. There is no plan other than to drive and see where the road takes us. At the same time, we are not idle. We are going somewhere. And, I can always start the day with a run while Neil contemplates the universe. It's a good thing that we both like driving and like remote areas! One day in Hawaii on our way to a national park we had time to wander a little. We stopped in a town, visited a theater from 1932, and talked to the operations manager. We took our time, looked at the local theater "scene," and took pictures. Neil declared, "Now this is what it's all about!" I couldn't agree more.  

Wonderful 1932 theater Kealakekua, Hawaii

So, Hawaii was wonderful. It was beautiful. How could it not be? It was less magical than last time because this time we expected to be wowed by deserts, volcanic mountains, black sand beaches, the Pacific breeze, and the like. We knew what Hawaii would hold for us this time. I'm not sure that I will see more beauty elsewhere. 

Hawaii sunset

But, I think that a driving trip without any specific destinations other than cornfields might be in our future  for next time. Or, a trip to Hawaii in a non-tourist town with no destinations in mind.

Route 91, eastern Nebraska, from 2010