Big lsland Here We Come!

[indysteel]

In October of 2014, my boss for the last 12 years will retire. It will be his successor's sole prerogative to retain me. I love my job and hope to stay, but it's largely out of my control. If she or he doesn't want me, my life could radically change. If, for instance, I have to go back to private practice, I may find myself with far less vacation time and far more stress.

So, DH and I decided to take a big trip in 2013. We're spending 10 days on the Big Island of Hawaii next April. Ten days!! We plan to split our time between the Hilo and Kona sides of the island. We just booked the flights tonight and I have an email in to the owner of the Hilo rental home where we'd like to stay (it's actually in the Puna district).

I'm so excited! I've only been to Oahu and DH has never been. We debated which island to go to, but we finally settled on the Big Island. I doubt we'll be disappointed!

[roguedog]

congrats! sounds lovely. how can you go wrong? i've wanted to go to the big island since there seems to be so much diversity in climate and potential activities.

very exciting!

[OakLeaf]

Fun!

[Wahine]

Good for you!! Have a great time. I love Hawaii. I've spent quite a lot of time on both Maui and the Big Island. Lovely.

[salsabike]

Snorkel! Snorkel! And if you like geology--we are serious geology weenies--it is incredibly interesting to drive around the Big Island, as well. If you are interested, you might want to take the book "Roadside Geology of Hawaii" with you--fascinating! I went to Hawaii (North Kohala Coast) for the first time in March and fell wildly in love with it.

[malkin]

Wonderful!

Dinner at Volcano Nat'l Park!
I was there with my brother/ The volcano was quiet, but my brother ordered escargot--one of which exploded (!) when he stabbed it with his fork. Talk about drama!

Desert was pie with mac nuts in the crust. Soooo tasty!!!!!

[Veronica]

We've been to the Big Island 4 times since 2003 when we took our tandem and circumnavigated it.

Love the geology, love to snorkel, love to hike...

When are you going in April?

Veronica

[indysteel]

We leave April 24th. Return May 3.

Did I mention that I'm excited? That's so cool that you rode your tandem around is the island, V!

[Catrin]

This sounds just plain awesome Indy! I've a couple of friends who went on their honeymoon trip there 15 years ago, and they told me they had a great time mountain biking. I assume they rented bikes when they were there, but don't know what they had in place 15 years ago.

Snorkeling sounds like a LOT of fun!

[Veronica]

In Volcano I reccommend staying here or Kilauea Lodge. Have dinner at least once at Kilauea LOdge.

You can rent some pretty nice bikes in Kona and ride up to Hawi on the Ironman route. We rented from Bike Works.

We've stayed in 4 different places on the Kona Coast and would recommend all of them for different reasons.

If they are still doing tours, Arnotts Lodge had some good ones up Mauna Kea and to see the lava flows. You don't have to stay there to do their tours.

Highly encourage getting Wizard Publications Hawaii The Big Island Revealed as your guidebook.


Veronica

[indysteel]

In Volcano I reccommend staying here or Kilauea Lodge. Have dinner at least once at Kilauea LOdge.

You can rent some pretty nice bikes in Kona and ride up to Hawi on the Ironman route. We rented from Bike Works.

We've stayed in 4 different places on the Kona Coast and would recommend all of them for different reasons.

If they are still doing tours, Arnotts Lodge had some good ones up Mauna Kea and to see the lava flows. You don't have to stay there to do their tours.

Highly encourage getting Wizard Publications Hawaii The Big Island Revealed as your guidebook.


Veronica

Thanks for the suggestions. It's been hard to decide on accommodations. We prefer not to move around too much, although that does mean more driving. We're pretty settled on staying in a rental house that's about 40 minutes from the national park. It's on the very edge of the coast and has some stunning views. It's not far outside Hilo town and will put us is a decent position to explore the Hamakua Coast, as well as South Point, although obviously lots of driving will be involved. The second place is a studio cottage outside of Kailua-Kona. That location should put us in a decent position to explore that side of the island. I'm not sure from which base we'll explore Waimea and the Waipi'o Valley. It's about the same distance from each.

It's going to be a busy ten days with a fair amount of driving. There are so many things from which to choose. We have the Big Island Revealed Guidebook and will just have to spend some time pouring over it in an effort to prioritize. I think we need to accept that we won't be able to see and do it all. At least we have plenty of time to plan.....

[Veronica]

Why do you think we've been 4 times? We still haven't seen and done everything we want!

Veronica

[indysteel]

Why do you think we've been 4 times? We still haven't seen and done everything we want!

Veronica

I'm jealous that you've been able to visit the island that many times. It's such an expensive and long trek from Indy. Are you planning a Hawaii trip in 2013?

I'm just glad DH is always game for whatever I suggest. Hawaii has been in the back of my mind for a while, but there was a thread earlier this year on RBR that really caught my attention. So I say to him: "How 'bout the Big Island for 2013." Without pausing, he says "sure." That's how we've decided on most of our trips. I suggest it; he agrees and I then run with it. I love planning vacations, and he loves to let me plan them!

First things first though. We have our trip to Maine in September to look forward to. I'm excited about that one as well. I spent a summer as a child in the New Hampshire with my mom's family, and I've had a romantic attachment to that general area ever since. It's been on my to-do list for a while.

[Veronica]

Yeah, we're lucky. Hawaii is closer to us than Maine.

The only thing we've planned so far for 2013 is about 10 days in Maine for Thom's parents 50th wedding anniversary. They've got a 4 day shindig planned so far - rehearsal dinner, contra dance, the EVENT, family breakfast. The other days are for visiting my family and doing some touristy stuff.

Then we're doing a rafting trip of part of the Grand Canyon with Thom's parents and probably spending a couple of days in Vegas.

Those two things are the end of June, beginning of July.

We'll do something else, just the two of us. But I don't know what yet. Maybe the San Juans... maybe a trip down the CA Coast. Definitely something involving bikes.

Veronica

[indysteel]

Yeah, we're lucky. Hawaii is closer to us than Maine.

The only thing we've planned so far for 2013 is about 10 days in Maine for Thom's parents 50th wedding anniversary. They've got a 4 day shindig planned so far - rehearsal dinner, contra dance, the EVENT, family breakfast. The other days are for visiting my family and doing some touristy stuff.

Then we're doing a rafting trip of part of the Grand Canyon with Thom's parents and probably spending a couple of days in Vegas.

Those two things are the end of June, beginning of July.

We'll do something else, just the two of us. But I don't know what yet. Maybe the San Juans... maybe a trip down the CA Coast. Definitely something involving bikes.

Veronica

Sounds good. Now I remember the picture of the dress you're planning to buy for the anniversary party. It's pretty!

If we end up going on a second trip next year, it's going to be something on the cheap. I almost have him talked into doing BRAT, the bike tour in Tennessee I did a couple of times before we met. It's nothing exotic, but I always had a really good time and the road riding there is quite nice. There are so few details to worry about, which is sort of refreshing.