Monday, July 10, 2023

Minnesota / Michigan Day 8, July 8, 2023

 We had an uneventful return trip – got up, had breakfast in the lobby, loaded into the car and drove 20 minutes to the airport.  We arrived home at 1:20 pm to 96-degree weather and I’m trying not to be sad.  WE’VE SEEN EVERY PARK IN THE LOWER 48!!!  And it took about 13 years.


Return flight

Now it’s back to the grind of bad weather, nothing pretty to see, a job I hate and continued tragic hair loss.  Things will get better soon. Signing off

Minnesota / Michigan Day 7, July 7, 2023

This morning we got up bright and early and grabbed a more official sign picture.  


Then we met Billy (our pilot) on the dock at 8:30am.  We took off immediately and the flight back was just as amazing and less scary than the flight out.  The weather was perfect again and I do really wish we could have stayed longer but Ryan was thankful to get cell service. 

Return flight

We landed and ate breakfast along the “river” at Copper Range Depot Family Restaurant.  Then back on the road to Minneapolis (about a six-hour drive). 

We stopped a few times along the way then stopped for a late lunch in Siren, Wisconsin at Adventure Restaurant & Pub.  Our waitress Mary was a sweet older lady and the town was adorable.

We rolled into downtown around 5 and parked on the top floor of a parking garage that was filling up because tons of people were already at Target Field (the Twins ballpark) and the field was directly across from our hotel (Hampton Inn & Suites) which was just perfect. 

We stayed on the 9th floor (room 9-1-1) and I finally washed my hair because it was the first blow dryer I’d encountered and I had some tragic hair loss and ended up crying for a good bit before we got on our way.  We walked up and down the streets in downtown just so that I could get in my 35 minutes of exercise and we could see the city.  And damn it was so clean and the people were so nice.

Then just before 7 we strolled right up to the stadium and listened to the national anthem just as we walked in.  This field was just incredible as were our seats. The Twins played the Orioles and were sat on row 17 of Section 113 behind home plate.  The game was great – went into the 10th inning (Orioles won) and the weather was perfect – literally perfect.  We mostly wore pants and brought a sweatshirt that you didn’t need until the walk home.  It was the perfect end to an incredible vacation – one of my favorites.


Cool mural of Prince on the way home (just outside of the stadium.)



Minnesota / Michigan Day 6, July 6, 2023

BEST DAY OF THE TRIP.  We left the cabin early (the temperature was in the high 30s) and began a fairly long drive over to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

Btw, this is what it looks like at 4:15am.


Our cute cabin at Park Point Resort (Cabin #3)

View from our deck

First stop was just pass Duluth in Superior, WI where we stopped at a Kwik Trip, which was equally awesome to a Quick Trip in TX which made us wonder if the two were somehow related. 

We drove on and stopped at another Kwik Trip just after we crossed into Michigan (MY 50TH STATE!) – I think were in Ironwood, MI.  Another two hours to go to Houghton.  About 20 minutes outside of town, I finally told the kids the “surprise” – that we’re traveling via sea plane and not ferry!  Houghton is beautiful!  It sits on one side of the “river” which is really just Lake Superior. Hancock, MI sits on the other side.  We ate lunch at a Jimmy Johns then walked down to the Houston Visitor Center (I wasn’t sure there was a visitor center on the island or if there was, that it would be open).  We took a picture in front of kind of a shitty national park sign which sucks given it’s our last on in the contiguous states.  We bought hat pins and magnets, stamped the passbooks and Ryan got a pin for Ben. 

Done w/ the lower 48!

We then drove across the bridge into Hancock and parked our car at Isle Royale Seaplanes.  We got there really early – like 2:30 – but didn’t have to be there until 3:15. It was such a long drive that I just wanted to be sure we didn’t miss it. 

They weighed our bags and then we waited.  The weather was perfect – and that’s the big unknown with getting on/off the island is there can quickly be bad weather or dense fog.  But not today – it was genuinely perfect.  Our pilot Billy was awesome.  The plane held 8 people including the pilot.  Nick got to sit shotgun and the kids and I sat across the way back. 

The plane

Nervous Me

Coming in for landing on Isle Royale

I was a little panicked that I’d either get sick or have a panic attack just because the plane is SO small.  The kids and I were shoulder-to-shoulder, barely all fitting on the back row.  Some luggage is packed into the back of the plane and some goes into the pontoons.  I was also a little worried at first because there were like 14 people waiting and just one plane but then the second plane showed up. 

We left right on time at 4 and got the island around 5 and all I can say is spectacular. It was a little scary at first but then it was magical.  There was a couple on the row in front of us and a solo lady who worked on the island and was on the team that has been helping to replenish the wolf population.  She was interesting to listen to.  She also showed the couple a cool map on an app on her phone which I quickly downloaded and found useful on our hike (Gaia).  It was a short walk to the white tent where we signed ourselves in (you had to pay the entrance fees in advance and provide the receipt #).  It was another very short walk to the Rock Harbor Lodge, where we stayed.  Our room was directly on the water – no cell service, no TV, nothing.  

View from room 12 of Rock Harbor Lodge of Lake Superior.

Ryan got really upset when she learned we didn’t have service because her last text to Ben was on a plane.  She was sad for a while then she rallied.

Pretty quickly, we got situated, emptied our backpacks (we all left our suitcases in the car – Ryan opted to bring her roller bag) and loaded up to take a 4ish mile hike (Scoville Point Trail).  We ran into the café and grabbed sandwiches for later because they closed at 7:30 and we wouldn’t be back by then.  Then we headed out on the trail.  


And wow!  The bugs were bad but nothing compared to Voyageurs.  If we’d done the parks in reverse, we would’ve been complaining about the bugs but Isle Royale was bug-light compared to Voyageurs. 

The Gaia app came in handy because there were several places where the trail was hard to find but this app works off GPS satellite so didn’t require service.  Along the was to the Point we saw what looked like giant rabbit pellets.  We hung out at the Point for a while and talked about where we all wanted to live when the kids got older – it was sweet.  




Then on the return, a giant jack rabbit ran across the trail in front of us.  I think I was the only one who saw it but it was so damn big that at first I thought it was a doe.

Then we came upon the moose!  A baby moose…as we got closer, a second baby moose…and as we were passing by, a mama moose.  The kids and Nick were scared and kind of lost it so I don’t have any pictures of the mama but I clipped one from the funny video that's too long to post.

Two baby moose

Mama moose (image screen shot from video)

We returned to the Lodge around 8:15, officially dipped our toes in Lake Superior, then ate our sandwiches at the table in our room, overlooking the water. 

It was just an incredible day.  I wish we were staying here longer!

Minnesota / Michigan Day 5, July 5, 2023

 

We met Dan at our dock at 8:30 this morning with some apprehension because it was misting, windy, overcast and cold.  But the weather held up for us ok.  

Dan & Dan's Boat

He drove us, in his boat, over to the Cruiser Lake trailhead and dropped us off a little after 9am.  We were doused in bug spray but it mattered not – the bugs were epic – likely the single most memorable part of this trip.  

Getting dropped off at Cruiser Lake Trailhead

We hiked back to Agnes Lake (beautiful) 

Agnes Lake

Then we double backed and hiked to Eks Lake, stopping to eat lots of delicious wild blue berries.



 There’s a lot of remote camping out here so it was great when we took a dead-end trail to this:

A potty

We lost and found the trail several times and saw no humans at all.  We cut the hiking short because of the bugs and popped out on Eks Bay where Dan was waiting for us.  He’s the nicest guy – 63 – as stereo-typically Minnesotan as you can imagine – and he loves vampire books 😊 We got back in the boat and he drove us to Ellworth Rock Gardens, something Jason, the owner of our resort, said we should definitely do.  And it was definitely stupid.  Some weird guy “carved” statues out of rocks and arranged them with some flowers.  The best part of this stop was the wild raspberry bushes! 


The most photographed stop in the park was the statue called Meteorite.  So we HAD to go see it and it was literally a stack of rocks.

We got back in the boat and Dan took us back to the resort.  We never ate lunch on the trail because of the bugs so we ate our pepperoni, Ritz, cream cheese lunch in our cabin and just chilled out – much cooler today than the previous days. 

Later in the day we gathered our dirty clothes and drove back to International Falls to do some laundry and eat dinner.  The kids had never been in a laundromat before and I hadn’t in a lot of years but shit – detergent - $1.00 per load, 1 load of laundry - $2.50 (we did two) – one giant dryer load - $6.25!!!  So, two loads of laundry cost $13.25!  I feel like the last time I was at a laundromat it was $0.75 to wash and $0.50 to dry – max!  



After we put the clothes in the dryer we left (with some anxiety knowing that if someone were to steal our clothes, we’d be hosed…and naked) and ate dinner at Sammy’s Pizza just down the street.  It was good!  

Sammy's in beautiful International Falls, MN

Nick got pizza, I got fried fish and fries (ate way too much), Ryan got chicken strips and Grant got poutine and wings – and as is normal for Grant, had tons of food left over.

We went back to the laundromat, folded our clothes and left.  Now we’re mostly packed, it’s 9pm and basically bright as day, and we’re leaving very early tomorrow morning.  The kids STILL think we’re getting to Isle Royale via ferry but we’re actually taking a seaplane and they don’t know about it.  I’ve had to lie to so many strangers because people keep asking how we’re getting there in front of the kids.  It’s basically as expensive to fly from the coast of Michigan to Isle Royale as it was to fly from Dallas to Minneapolis.  But I’m SO excited because none of us have ever been on a seaplane before. 

So I’m signing off from Voyageurs and will be signing on tomorrow night after we’ve seen the Last of the Lower 48!!

P.S.  Ryan found out this morning that she got 3s 4s and 5s on her four AP test which makes her a Distinguished AP Scholar.


Minnesota / Michigan Day 4, July 4, 2023

This was a fun day!  We left the cabin at 9:00 and drove to the Ash River Visitor Center (where we all might still have a little PTSD from Bug-Ageddon on Day 2).  I met a nice older bicyclist dude out on the dock who told me about June berries then found some and brought me a handful to try.  We loaded onto a boat with the oddest group of 25 other people…EVER.  

Our ferry at Ash River Visitor Center

Family picture on the dock









There was this bat shit crazy mom from Chicago who was just a hot mess.  She had three sons, her husband, a girlfriend of one of the sons and either her mom or her mom-in-law and she might have been the loudest person I’ve ever encountered. 





But no one topped JENNIFER – our ranger or deckhand depending on which hat she was wearing.  She had either a really high or really low IQ and was just adorable.  I envied how much she clearly loved her job and Ryan said she must wake up the same way Sponge Bob does but to her bald eagle alarm clock.  She spent a lot of time explaining that when she points things out she will reference a clock so the boat moving forward is 12:00.  And directly to her left is 9:00am (which made us chuckle because what about 9:00pm?)

Meet Jennifer (in the life jacket)

We stopped on our way to Kettle Falls and saw multiple bald eagles including a baby in his nest.

When we got to Kettle Falls and the Kettle Falls Hotel, we ate our lunch in a screened in porch that was part of the hotel and met a couple of very cool younger people traveling solo, both from Texas. One was a guy Frank who is an Influencer (IG handle SpeakingQuiteFrankly) and lives in a tiny house and one who was a music teacher at Texas A&M.  Almost everyone on the boat had been to multiple national parks. The sons of the bat shit crazy mom asked the kids to play volleyball with them – the oldest one who just graduated high school clearly had a mad crush on Ry and told her his parents think he’s going to Florida State University in the fall but “just between you and me, I’m actually going to Europe.” WEIRD.


We took a quick tour of the dam and the falls (with Jennifer) and it started raining but not too badly.  We got back on the boat around 2 and talked to Frank most of the way back.  He’s wrapping up the Lower 48 on this trip once he goes to Wind Cave and Teddy Rosevelt.  We also met an older couple from Tennessee. The wife was a retired high school teacher and she might have been my older soul sister. They’d been to 34 parks and she said they’d turned their dining room into a map room. 

After we got off the boat, she walked up next to me and said kind of clandestinely, “So, should this even be a national park?” Funny!

We said goodbye to Frank and stopped at two places on the way home, trying to find mosquito nets for our faces.  Both places were sold out – the first guy said he’d sold 50 in the last couple of days and the other place had sold 40.  They said the bugs are usually bad but that they are especially, incredibly bad right now, which is also what the cashier at Town Drug in International Falls said.  So, no luck on face nets for tomorrow.

We got back to the cabin and the temp had dropped a lot!  I did a yoga routine, Grant and I played Gin Rummy and I kicked his ass…again, we fixed tacos for dinner and the kids took the kayaks out again tonight.

It’s 10pm now and I can hear fireworks all around me. I think it’ll be an early night tonight because we’re meeting Dan, our boat captain, tomorrow morning at 8:30 on our dock!

Minnesota / Michigan Day 3, July 3, 2023

Today was a lot of fun and the weather was beautiful.  We all four went out on the kayaks around 10:45 and visited small islands - it was overcast and seemed like it would rain but never did.  We stayed out on the kayaks for a little more than an hour and even stopped at an island to pee.  It kind of reminds me of a prettier Lake DeGray with all the tiny islands.

We fixed sandwiches in the cabin then just hung out for a while – Nick and Ryan napped, Grant was on his phone and I sat on the deck playing games on my ipad and reading a book that I bought last week to take on this trip because it sounded interesting, only to read the first chapter and realize that I’ve read it before and still have no idea what it’s about.  WTH?  It’s called Freedom by Jonathan Franzen.

Around 3 or so we drove to International Falls, MN which sits on the Canadian border and snapped pictures in front of Smoky Bear at Smoky Bear Park!  

Self explanatory

(There was a small festival going on and a band was setting up to play).  We walked three blocks to City Drug and got bug spray, anti-itch cream and a couple other things.  Ryan can’t get over the accents of the people.  But everyone is SO friendly.

We drove to the Rainy River Visitor Center (I think there are three in total and we’ve now seen them all) and it was my favorite. 

We drove back to the cabin, finally stopping to take an official picture (officially #53):


Then we baked some frozen pizzas and then I went back out on the kayak, after walking straight through the screen door and totally jacking it up.  I went and circled Echo Island and then Ryan and Grant took kayaks out too.  We all convened in the middle of the lake to watch the sun set 9:15pm! and Nick went for a walk.



9:15pm in the middle of Lake Kabatogama

When we got back to the cabin the kids started a fire and roasted s’mores (and were pissed to learn that the big box of Hershey bars they bought were Special Dark chocolate).  The bugs were so bad that they came back inside pretty quickly. 

Nick, Grant and I showered and Grant looks like he went through the jungles of Nam – he’s so jacked up with bug bites and cuts.

It’s 10:30 and we’re starting Season 1 of Stranger Things for the 3rd or 4th time. 

Fun day!

Minnesota / Michigan Day 2, July 2, 2023

Today will hopefully go down as the low point of this trip.  Nick and I walked around this morning.  (I fell asleep around 4:20 and got up at 7 so did get a couple of hours of sleep).  We heard a bird that sounded like a Mockingjay (Hunger Games reference) and we talked to a guy who owns the resort down the way who was gonna let us rent canoes at 2pm.

We got back to the cabin and drove to the Lake Kabatogama Visitor Center (Kah bah toe gah mah) and bought hat pins and magnets and stamped the passbooks.  #53 is official.  


The ranger recommended a hike from the Ash River Visitor Center (about 15? Miles from our current location) so we drove over and confirmed with the ranger at Ash River who casually mentioned that “it’s going to be buggy.” 

Well, that was the understatement of the year.  We started out on the 3.2-mile Blind Ash Bay trail (lollipop style – out and back with a loop at the end).  Right when we got to the loop, I couldn’t take it any more – it was like a scene out of Apocalypse Now – bugs everywhere, biting you on the face, buzzing in your ears as you slowly start to feel your sanity slipping away.  We turned around and hauled ass back to the car – MISERABLE!

From there we drove back to the cabin, stopping for gas at a little store.  We fixed sandwiches then got ready to go grab our canoes at 2pm. Only one was there and the owner had had an emergency so this other guy was there who said they rent them for $75/day (which seemed outrageous) so we said we’d come back tomorrow morning around 9 and get a full day use out of them.  When we drove back to the cabin, we finally met Jason and Robyn – the owners.  We had a nice and somewhat confusing conversation.  We asked Jason if he knew where we could rent some fishing poles.  He said he had some but then said that by the time you pay for tackle you might as well get a guide.  Then he mentioned that our boat was parked “Right over there” so I had to remind him that HE discouraged me from renting a boat and told me to get a guy who could drive us around.

We then talked at length about a fishing guide…long story and finally decided on a guide on Wednesday afternoon, only to learn there’ll be bad weather.  So now I’m hot and covered in sun screen I don’t need so I took a shower then for some reason, jumped back on the website of the place we’re staying (Park Point Resort) and saw that they have a ton of free kayaks for use whenever their guests want, for free!  All that mess and we could have just taken kayaks from here.  And now I’m clean 😊

Ryan said it best - this vacation is weird.  She’s convinced that all the Minnesotans are potential serial killers.  Now we’re sitting around the cabin (I can’t keep my eyes open) – Nick’s asleep and the kids are on their phones.  I’m not sure how the rest of the day will unfold but it’s still gorgeous here.

Tomorrow should be kayaks

Tuesday should be national park ferry trip to Kettle Falls

Wednesday should be boat trip with Phil (followed by possible fishing trip)

Then we leave early Thursday morning.  Here’s to rallying!

P.S.  Nick grilled burgers on the deck for dinner and the kids took the kayaks out tonight and loved it! 

Pic from deck of kids in kayaks on Lake Kabatogama

The day ended on a high note for sure.  We watched Bridesmaids (yes, I know, totally inappropriate) and headed to bed.

Minnesota / Michigan Day 1, July 1, 2023

Today is Sunday, July 2nd 2023 but this trip began yesterday.  We left DFW at 12:20 and flew to Minneapolis, MN.  The flight was short and easy but for the first time, maybe ever, the airline put us in random seats not next to each other because despite our booking this flight in mid-November, it changed several times and we lost our original seats.  Ryan sat alone, I sat alone and Grant & Nick sat together (because Grant said he didn’t want to sit with non-family members). 

We arrived at 2:45 and should have been able to walk straight to our Avis rental car but the spot the app said our car was in was empty so we had to wait in a long, slow line then finally got a black Highlander with 7 miles on it and got on our way close to 4pm.

We stopped after about an hour and went through a McDonalds drive thru for drinks and kept going.  The total drive was 4.5 hours.  We stopped south of Virginia, MN in Eveleth MN and ate dinner at Boomtown Brewery & Woodfire Grill.  

Dinner stop

We asked to sit on the patio (the only ones) and were commenting on how nice it felt outside when a family was leaving the restaurant and we overheard the little girl say, “It’s SO hot!”  It was 83 degrees.  The food was good but the service was slow (by Dallas standards) so we stayed longer than planned.  Next stop was at the Super One grocery store in Virginia, MN, just a few miles up the road.  I’d made the grocery list because when we did this in Hawaii, just a few weeks ago, it was a shit show.  So we were in and out pretty quickly but Ryan was stressed and overwhelmed at the pace of the shop and may have PTSD today.

Another 1.3 hours to go and we got to our cabin at 10:10 and there was still a hint of sunlight.  The sun set around 9:50pm – crazy!

The cabin’s adorable and we’re right on Lake Kabatogama.  There’s no AC, which I hadn’t thought about and the bed Nick and I shared was tiny and the pillow was awful so I think I finally fell asleep around 3am, only to wake up to a full-on sunrise at 4:15am!!!  But I’ll save all of this for my “Day 2” entry 😊 

Hawaii Day 8/9 June 3 & 4, 2023 - ALL ONE DAY

We got up Saturday morning and Nick and I took one last walk.  We parked at the Dragon Teeth parking lot and walked down to see the dragon teeth (rocks) and the labyrinth.  

Labyrinth

We got back to the condo and showered, packed, etc.  Grant finished watching ‘The Hangover’ and then we checked out at 10:30 and had a LOT of time to kill before our 7pm flight.  We went back to Whalers Village in Kaanapali and Grant bought a cool (and very Hawaiian) baseball cap and both kids got candy at the candy store. 

We went back to Lahaina and parked at the Maui Outlet mall parking lot and had fun going into the Coach store, Gap store, etc.  Then we walked back onto the main road (Front Street) and had a good lunch at Kimo’s.  


We sat down by the water and it was lovely.  We strolled some more – Ryan & I got Dole Whip one last time and she bought a funny shirt with a chicken (rooster) on it to memorialize her irrational fear of chickens 😊 We watches some birds for a while, one of which moved his head like Stevie Wonder and then walked back to the car.  It was just another spectacular day. 


Next, we drove in to Kahului (airport city) and attempted to go see the Ioa Valley Monument but it required reservations and we couldn’t figure out exactly what we’d be paying to see. 

We made a stop at a beautiful city park – baseball, softball and soccer fields then drove over to the town of Paia and walked through very expensive shops. 

We finally made our way back to the airport and got to our gate about an hour before our flight boarded.  We grabbed sandwiches in the airport and Nick and I watched the A&M/Stanford baseball game on my phone (their regional includes Stanford, San Jose State, Cal Fullerton & A&M).  They one just before I had to turn my phone off!

Grant was impressed by the plane – his first two-aisle plane – but damn if they didn’t offer movies via wifi.  They had the seatback screens but those required wired headphones to listen to the sound and none of us brought any.  So a long flight got longer.  Plus, the plane was FREEZING.  Otherwise, it was an uneventful flight.  We got back to Dallas around 6:30am Dallas time and the kids and Nick got in a couple of hours of sleep.  I think I slept about 30 minutes – I felt strange joint pain on the plane- and we made it home around 7:30am on Sunday June 4th.

The day was long and disorienting.  My strategy was to not go to sleep at all then go to bed at normal time and be exhausted.  It kind of worked but today is Monday June 5th and I’m still very disoriented. 

Overall, this was a magical trip – the kids were so much fun and it was a nice blend of a normal Bomersbach National Park trip and a trip like their friends go on…something for everyone.  52 down, 11 to go!

 

 

 

 

Hawaii Day 7 June 2, 2023

Today was fun but I can’t believe we have to go home tomorrow.  Nick and I walked along the Kapalua Trail and by some incredible homes and golf courses.



We stopped at the Napili Market (grocery store) and got home around 10:30. We all put our suits on and hung out of chaise lounges.  Grant got SO sunburned on Day 2 that he wasn’t really wanting to spend a ton of time in the water but we had a small ball and the four of us played volleyball, soccer, baseball and hacky sac with it.  We drank some pina coladas and watched part of the A&M baseball game (vs Cal Fullerton in the Stanford Regional – baseball).  There were six turtles directly under our balcony this afternoon!

Hard to see turtles under the balcony

We got dressed in our family picture outfit and drove into Kaanapali where we had dinner reservations at Leilani’s on the Beach.  We first got gas in Kahana and drove down the Lower Honoapiliani Road a bit. We parked in Kaanapali and walked through Whaler’s Village, getting to the restaurant about an hour early.  We opted to dine outside where we could seat ourselves immediately.  The menu wasn’t as extensive as the main restaurant but we started with ceviche then each got meals we loved while listening to a band of three guys play Hawaiian music and other songs from Little Mermaid.  The sunset was stunning and we were able to get a great family photo. 

First trip where any of us packed "nice" clothes.

Afterwards the kids got gelato and we headed home. 

What a fun trip.

Hawaii Day 6 June 1, 2023

 Today was rather epic.  Up and out the door at 6:15 to get to the airport ridiculously early to fly to the Big Island.  Our flight left around 9:10 and landed in Hilo at 9:50. We rented a small Kia and drove to Volcanoes National Park (in the rain), arriving around 11. (Park 52!)


First stop was the Visitor Center and it was packed.  We ran into a strange bird in the parking lot.

Strange Bird

We bought the magnets, stamped the passbooks then set out on drive.  First stop was the lava tube (which was very cool).  We parked ½ mile before the lava tube and hiked down to it on a cool path that overlooked Kilauea Iki Crater.  The lava tube was cool and sparked an interesting conversation amongst the family about how different cultures choose or choose not to get out of your way on a hiking trail. 

We drove all the way down to the Ocean Arch (Holei Sea Arch) – AMAZING



 Then we ate smushed sandwiches and apples at a picnic table.   


We followed the 19-mile road back towards the visitor center, stopping to look at a few craters along the way.  We then drove the Crater Rim trail that goes towards the west.

We stopped at the Steaming Vents then drove to the end of the road to the Uekahuna Overlook.  It was raining and I’m sure the view could have been amazing but we didn’t see much.  But the steaming crater in the photo below was the one that had been erupting and side note: began erupting again on June 7th.


We drove back past the Visitor enter and took a left on Hwy 11 then took a right a few miles down the road and drove 11.5 miles up to the Mauna Loa Lookout – Mauna Loa erupted in November 2022.  Prior to that it hadn’t erupted since 1985.  The drive was windy, one-lane and a bit treacherous.  Along the way we saw 5-10 Nene which is some sort of endangered duck looking thing – they don’t move out of the road.  

Endangered Nene Hen - probably endangered b/c they don't get out of the way of your car.

When we got the top, we couldn’t see a damn thing but had the day been clear, who knows.  Total bummer.

We got back to the airport at 5 (stopping to refill the car and grab snacks from the gas station).  We returned the car, printed boarding passed, made it through security and to our gate in like 23 minutes – so cool – as was the Hilo Airport.

We had to wait a while for our not-very-full flight but it was great.  I love Hawaiian Airlines with their turquoise seats and lots of leg room!  


Nick and I split a Bikini Blonde beer (Maui Brewing Company) and we got back “home” at 7.  We drove to Paia and ate dinner at Paia Fish Market then got home around 9…I think.

Funny comments of the day – Grant, who’s on Accutane, has very chapped lips – he and Ryan were having fun taking jabs at each other and Ryan told him he had POW lips 😊

We pretty much went straight to bed when we got home.