DATE: Friday, December 23, 2022 One of the benefits of the jetlag was allowing us to be nice and ready for this morning's sunrise. I started waking up at around 3:45, and it sounds like most everyone had the same experience. Our AirBnB is right on the beach, so we all ventured down at about … Continue reading Day 2: North Shore & Haliewa

DATE: Saturday, December 24, 2022 It's 5:46am Saturday morning, and I'm a little behind on my blog posts. I might has well take advantage of the quiet time by sitting next to the beach with a Kona coffee and catching up. So far, it's just me and a nearby wild rooster (commonly seen on the … Continue reading Day 3: Hiking & Honolulu

DATE: Sunday, December 25, 2022 Merry Christmas! I think? It sure doesn't feel like it. But that's okay. 😃 First thing this morning, we discovered that Santa had found us! He left some stockings for the kids and we all got matching bracelets to commemorate our vacation. We then headed down in our matching Christmas … Continue reading Day 4: Christmas, Church, Beach & Turtles

DATE: Monday, December 26, 2022 Well, last morning on the North Shore. Coffee and sunrise, as was my routine. The rest of the family eventually came down to join me. And Seth stuck around with me until the sun came up. After the relaxing sunrise, it was time to shift gears and start to pack … Continue reading Day 5: Pearl Harbor, Flight to Big Island

DATE: Tuesday, December 27, 2022 First full day on the Big Island today. In general, as I understand it, the Big Island is separated naturally into two east-west halves, the "Hilo side" is the windward (east) side, and the "Kona side" is the leeward (west) side. From what I'm told, the Hilo side is more … Continue reading Day 6: Hilo Tour, Waterfalls, & Dinner Adventures

DATE: Wednesday, December 28, 2022 Today was a pretty hard day with a lot of driving and not a lot of sightseeing. The Big Island is just that...big! So we just had to spend most of the time in the car to see anything on this part of the island. We started heading toward Pohoiki … Continue reading Day 7: South Shore Beaches & South Point

DATE: Thursday, December 29, 2022 Well, today, we are starting the halfway point in our vacation. It's crazy to look back and reflect on all that we've done this past week and to know that we have just as much to do in this coming week. It's been a great vacation so far. Once of … Continue reading Day 8: Kawainui Stream Bridge, Snorkeling, & Waimea

DATE: Friday, December 30, 2022 Today is our last full day on the Big Island. We'd spend most of the day today in Volcano National Park. This park is on the site of two volcanos, Kilauea and Mauna Loa, but we were at Kilauea, the second youngest, and historically, the most active. After getting our … Continue reading Day 9: Volcano National Park & Family Pictures

DATE: Saturday, December 31, 2022 New Year's Eve! It was an early morning for us today since we had a 7:30 am flight back to Oahu, and Dad is a jerk for getting us to the airport so early. Classic Dad. Hilo has a very small airport, and in retrospect, we could have gotten there … Continue reading Day 10: Back to Oahu & Germain’s Luau

DATE: Sunday, January 1, 2023 Happy New Year! 2022 is in the books, and 2023 started off as great as it could for us. We don't have a whole lot planned for today since it's New Year's Day, and we don't expect too many tourist spots to be open. We did get to visit again … Continue reading Day 11: Lord’s Day Worship, Byodo-In Temple, Sights & Sunset