May 13, 2013

Dear Children,

            Well, we had to take a round about trip to our travels to Kona but it was, of course, worth it. Our round about trip made me a little nervous about getting home in a timely manner since I had to cook the chicken for the Relief Society stake dinner the afternoon that we were to return. I was being forewarned!

            The night before we went to Hawaii, we traveled to Woodburn in hopes to see Alina play softball with her high school JV team. Unfortunately, with Friday evening traffic, we arrived late and her coach had just pulled her since she has been injured several time  (and they were so far ahead). Oh well, we had more opportunity to visit with her behind the dug out. Sunhee was there so we got a chance to see her and visit with her also. Alina was headed to the Moore’s home for the weekend after her game.

The closer we got to our flight to get to Kona, the more the flights filled up. We were taking an airline we had not used before so we didn't know what to expect. We had to get to Phoenix to fly to Kona on US Airlines. We learned our flight from Portland filled so we went in a day early to Las Vegas. On the evening that we arrived in Las Vegas, we quickly learned that the morning flights to Phoenix were too full to take a risk so we dashed home with Morty so he could pack and return to the airport in less than an hour to fly out that night on Southwest to Phoenix.

            Aaron had planned a great dinner and I was looking forward to relaxing at Aaron's for the evening, even playing some games. But, Nate quickly met us at the boys' home, we rushed dinner, Morty packed and found a hotel in Phoenix and then we raced back to the airport right after having Aaron's yummy tri-tip and sweet potato meal. We stayed in a nice hotel, called Drury, making our flight to Kona the next morning much more secure. Plus we met a Kona Native at breakfast and he gave us lots of tips.

            We couldn't have asked for better conditions in Kona. Our condo was great; we even had a small ocean view with beautiful sunsets from our porch. We enjoyed very sunny mornings that made snorkeling wonderful. Some of the afternoons clouded over but, when so, we had had enough sun and headed to the condo for some pool time.

            One of my favorite times was the first morning breakfast on the deck in the warm sun, just relaxing and talking. Of course, we were talking about how to gather the family in a sunny warm location so everyone could join us and enjoy each other. Morty loved his trip to an all inclusive resort in the Dominican Republic and I love the idea of not cooking on vacation if I had my choice (but I do enjoy being able to cook so that we may travel more with less money). It is fun to dream as every time Dad and I travel we always think of how fun it would be if all of you could be with us.

            We explored several different beaches and snorkeling sites; they were all beautiful. The first afternoon there, we headed to the closest beach to watch the sunset. My favorite was a beach right in front of where Blake and Adrianne will be staying (the Severson's condo) this week! In fact, we were trying to

figure out where that condo was so we were slowly driving past one of the places we suspected when we saw Blake's mom and dad driving out of the parking lot! It was such a fun surprise! They invited us up to see their place; they have a fabulous location.

            Kahalu’u Beach Park, the favorite snorkeling beach, had more varieties of fish in a small amount of space that is very easily accessible. In fact, Morty walked through the tide pools at lower tide and saw lots of turtles and tropical fish without even putting on a snorkel and fins. He was the first one to spot a turtle.

            Katie joined us Tuesday afternoon, after we toured the perimeter of the entire island so that we could see the volcano. We could have spent all day at the volcano; we will have to return. I would like to go back at night to see the glow of the volcano.  I would love to return to this island; can you tell? There were lots of things I would like to do again but now that I have seen Hilo, I would just concentrate on the Kona side of the island.

            After picking up Katie, we stopped at a place Blake and Adrianne suggested, Killer Tacos and headed north to see some spots suggested to us by a native of Kona we met at the Phoenix hotel. We stayed at the second beach which was a beautiful white sand beach, Hapuna Beach. It extended for miles. There was a small reef so we saw turtles there and stayed for the sunset.

            Katie snorkeled with us at a preserve, Honaunau Bay, south of our place early the next morning. The water was very clear and all the coral was incredible. There was no beach; we got into the water from the lava-like rock bed that surrounded the bay. We decided to move up to our favorite snorkel beach since we knew the rocks would start getting hot and that was the only place to lay a towel down. Besides, a black crab came crawling up from the rock crevasses that looked too much like a huge spider! We spent all afternoon at the second beach and then went to a farmers' market in town for papaya, mango and avocado.

            The first hour we were in Kona, we followed the rest of the rental cars from our flight towards Costco and bought a large bag of chicken and fish so all nights we had some variety of chicken. Tonight was chicken taco salad with fresh avocado. We played some games on two of the evenings but most nights we were pretty exhausted when we returned to the condo.

            It was a great trip and a warm, wonderful break even though Portland had the best weather of the year during the time that we were gone. Our last day was very relaxing starting with an early snorkel trip and then checking out. We stayed at the condo pool until we left for home. We did go to a Worldmark owner education for the purpose of getting an American Express card to pay for our dinner that night. I usually learn some new tricks that help use our WorldMark service but not this time. It was a waste of both of our time but we did enjoy an incredible dinner at Jackie Rays Grill. Then the adventure began . . .

            We arrived very early to the airport after we drove to see the Kona Temple. We didn't want to take a chance not to get off the island on our first try. We were told there would be a delay until almost midnight. Apparently, when the plane landed at 2:00 in the afternoon from the mainland, the toilet overflowed. But, there are no US Airways workers in Kona so it was just left to “brew” in the warm Hawaiian sun all afternoon. Of course, they couldn't get the smell out that evening and finally sent the plane back empty. All the passengers were given transportation to a hotel, food vouchers and a night's stay except all of us non-revenue ticket holders. We agreed that we would have been willing to ride that stinky plane back to Phoenix to get home!

            There were several Southwest employees stranded with us at the airport. The Kona airport is small and there is nothing around it. Everything was closed by the time the decision not to fly the plane was made and they were doing some electrical work on the airport so we could not stay there. Across the street there was an old ticket counter area that was no longer used. There were benches and we found a bench for the night. It took a couple of hours of being on the lap top to figure out our way home and then we tried to sleep. It was an adventure. I didn't imagine sleeping on a “park bench” as being part of our vacation but with the mild weather it was better than it sounded. I just don't want to ever do that again!

At 5:00 in the morning we stood in line to get the first flight out on Hawaiian Air. We flew to Honolulu and waited in that airport for a little over seven hours for our flight to Portland. We did learn how to buy a stand-by seat on another airline; that might be valuable again! Plus, the Honolulu airport actually has some garden areas so we didn't have to stay inside the whole time. Morty didn't have the benefit of being able to buy a discounted stand-by ticket. He bought a full price ticket to another island, Kaua’i, and flew US Air back to Phoenix so we beat him home by about 12 hours.

            The hardest thing for me was having to enlist many of my friends to do the work I was going to do Friday afternoon: grill the chicken for the Stake Relief Society dinner. I had to walk Cathy Crandall and Kathleen Westhora around my kitchen by phone. It was hardest to tell them that I was stranded in Hawaii and could they change their day's plans to bail me out. Being stranded in Hawaii isn't everyone's picture of a feel sorry thing! Even with the ending of our trip fresh on our minds, we are ready to go again!

            We had a quiet Mother’s Day with Katie having to work. Plus, early that morning, Dad took Grandma Maldonado to the airport to head to Vancouver, Canada for her Alaskan cruise. I was teaching the four year olds in Primary so I avoided the smart remarks in Relief Society about being “stranded” in Hawaii an extra day.

            I hope you had a great week also. Love, Mom