Knee surgery

  

                            The Elder had surgery this week so hopefully his knee will mend quickly.
                                 He had a lot of inflamed Plica tissue and a tear in his meniscus.

The Big Island

       

 Amazing sunsets every night. The sun would set so quickly if you blinked you would miss it. It just dropped instantly out of sight.We tried to capture them but by the time we would get the camera out and ready to shoot, it was over. So bizarre!

                                                                     Kona Temple

            It was very small but beautiful. The thing we found unusual was the small parking lot of roughly 20                         parking spots.

                                                         
                                                                     Kilauea Volcano

This is one of two active volcanos. We could see miles and miles of lava rock.

18 miles Southeast of the Big Island a new island called Loihi is forming.

This was the drive we took to the Green Sand Beach. It was a bit rough to get there. The only way to get to the beach was to hike for an hour and ten minutes or hire a local to drive you there in four wheel truck. We opted for the latter and it was well worth the 30 bucks. It really reminded us of being in Madagascar....sketchy! We did arrive safely despite the rugged terrain and the sketchy vehicle with completely bald tires. The beach was beautiful. It looked like it was made of green and gold glitter. 

                                                               
                                                                      Green Sand Beach

We really wanted to bring home some of this sand. The pictures do no justice to the beautiful colors of it but sadly it is against the law to remove sand. So we left it there for others to enjoy, except for the few grains hiding in our shoes.

                                                         
                                                                  Green Sand Beach

Most of the beaches and beautiful spots had little or no access other than walking or hiking to them. This was one of the hikes we took. It was straight down and a bit rugged. I made it......barely.

                                                                   Black Sand Beach

            Lava Java where we ate breakfast most days. They had a delicious Island style  breakfast of macadamia                                       and banana pancakes with coconut syrup served with fresh fruit and pineapple juice.  It kept us coming back for more, oh and the view wasn't bad either.

Hilo

                                                                    The Fairmont

                                                  Whale watching - they were everywhere