Hawaii 2024 – The World According to Mike

In February 2024, Becky and I took our first vacation in four years, visiting the Big Island of Hawaii.

I’ve created a series of posts chronicling our adventures. Each page contains multiple photo galleries that you can page through.

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The pages are summarized below:

Hawaii 2024 – To the Big Island
Last year, we were invited by our good friends, Mike and Sara to join them in February for up to two weeks on the Big Island of Hawaii. Realizing we hadn’t vacationed in over four years, we decided to go for it. The thought of returning to Hawaii after more than 20 years, ...
Hawaii 2024 – Welcome to Paradise
Wind. We woke up before the sun but waited until twilight to get out of bed. Donning our clothes from the day before, we started checking the airline site again for any word about our luggage. The locator now said the luggage was in Denver (small comfort). We wouldn’t get an update until ...
Hawaii 2024 – Come Sail Away
Monday, we hopped aboard a catamaran sailboat, and set sail for a little snorkeling along the reef near Keahuolu Point. The captain of the vessel was named Mike. Both Mike and I approved of his name, much to Becky and Sara’s amusement. We then dubbed his first mate to be an honorary ...
Hawaii 2024 – Shopping, Walking, Dining, Drinking
Mike and Sara would golf every other day or so. Becky and I would drop them off at the course, and then have 4 or 5 hours to amuse ourselves. On the first day, we ...
Hawaii 2024 – Hapuna Beach & Mauna Kea Resort
On Thursday, Mike and Sara had another day of golf, while we wandered the local beach area. We pretty much spent all day in the Hapuna Beach and/or Mauna Kea Resort complex where our condo was located. There was a lot to see. ...
Hawaii 2024 – Top of the World
The Big Island of Hawaii has a lot to see. Tons of things. But there are a few items that are definitive destinations one should see at least once. On Friday of the first week, we visited one of those sights: the Observatory at the top of Mauna Kea. ...
Hawaii 2024 – Hawi
On Saturday, we took a spin around the oldest volcano on the Big Island. Kohala is the northwestern tip of the island. On one side, is the desert of the “Kohala Coast”. The top is often shrouded in white fluffy clouds which are formed by the moist air of the northeastern rainforest ...
Hawaii 2024 – Deja Vu
Ever since we arrived on the island, Becky had a side-quest to replace the Hawaii sweatshirt she had purchased on our last visit. In all the shopping we’d done, we found a few sweatshirts, but none that she liked. The one sweatshirt she had seen, that in retrospect matched her enthusiasm for the ...
Hawaii 2024 – Volcano
On Monday, February 12 we embarked on our farthest-ranging adventure yet. A nearly complete circle of the island. Punalu’u Bake Shop The Punalu’u Bake Shop, the southernmost bakery in the United States. They sell the local version ...
Hawaii 2024 – Akaka Falls
The Big Island has eight distinct climate types (out of a possible 13). There was still one that was missing from our tour of the island. We were missing the tropical / rainforest. And if you want to see that, you need to cross over Kohala and follow the north-eastern coast to ...
Hawaii 2024 – Valentine’s Day
Valentine’s Day had one planned event. Dinner at Ulu Ocean Grill – a beachfront restaurant at the Four Seasons resort. We went a little early to check out the vastly overpriced shopping at the resort. Then we moved to the bar to have a few drinks while we waited for the restaurant to open. ...
Hawaii 2024 – Goats, Kona, and the Great Bag Hunt
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. You pack a couple suitcases for vacation, and you stress out about coming in under the magical 50 pound bag limit. So you pack two suitcases. One is 40 pounds. The other is 48 pounds. That leaves you some room for some souvenirs ...
Hawaii 2024 – Kona Coffee
<Coming Soon>
Hawaii 2024 – The Voyage Home
<Details Coming Soon> We may not have seen it all, but we came pretty darn close! ...

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Stories

Hawaii 2024 - The Voyage Home

Date: February 17, 2024

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<Details Coming Soon> [< prev] [top] [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] We may not have seen it all, but we came pretty darn close! [< prev] [top] [0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Hawaii 2024 - Kona Coffee

Date: February 16, 2024

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<Coming Soon> [< prev] [top] [next >][0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [< prev] [top] [next >][0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Hawaii 2024 - Goats, Kona, and the Great Bag Hunt

Date: February 15, 2024

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Stop me if you've heard this one before. You pack a couple suitcases for vacation, and you stress out about coming in under the magical 50 pound bag limit. So you pack two suitcases. One is 40 pounds. The other is 48 pounds. That leaves you some room for some souvenirs on the way home. Right? Nope. [< prev] [top] [next >][0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] But first we woke up and sat out on the deck sipping coffee, and watching as a giant ... uh ... flock? herd? goatisserie? ... um group of goats came down from the golf course fairway, and started munching on the decorative plants in the condo yard. Anyway, back to the luggage issue... I don't know if you realize this, but sweatshirts are heavier than t-shirts. And ...

Hawaii 2024 - Valentine's Day

Date: February 14, 2024

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Valentine's Day had one planned event. Dinner at Ulu Ocean Grill - a beachfront restaurant at the Four Seasons resort. We went a little early to check out the vastly overpriced shopping at the resort. Then we moved to the bar to have a few drinks while we waited for the restaurant to open. The surf was up, and we watched the sea for any sign of whales. There were a few splashing about, but we didn't get any really good shots of them. The weather was beautiful, and we were all dressed in the best clothes we had brought with us... or bought during the trip. Becky work the pearl pendant we found in Kona that first day of shopping. I wore my fine hat, and my new shirt. The company was merry. The food was delicious. There was one item on the ...

Hawaii 2024 - Akaka Falls

Date: February 13, 2024

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The Big Island has eight distinct climate types (out of a possible 13). There was still one that was missing from our tour of the island. We were missing the tropical / rainforest. And if you want to see that, you need to cross over Kohala and follow the north-eastern coast to Hilo. [< prev] [top] [next >][0] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] The shores on this side are steep and cut with deep crevasses down to the sea. The trees and plant life are thick. The predominant color is green. Unlike the western, leeward side of the island, it rains daily. Those rains provide runoff for a number of impressive waterfalls. And that was our target for the afternoon. Akaka Falls. We headed up through Waimea, over the back of Kohala and picked ...