Hawaii Exploring

When you're in Hawaii, you must wear fun hats! Steph and I had a blast shopping for some vacation-worthy accessories. Robb and Steph were the planners of the trip—they had printed out menus and notes on where to go each day. Lester and I were just along for the ride, happy to be in Hawaii no matter what we did or where we went. It was all about enjoying the moment and soaking up the experience!

These little lizards were all over the place. This guy sat on my sandal while I ate breakfast on the deck.

There were beautiful flowers and plants everywhere! Plants that I baby to keep alive at our house are growing as a week in the ditch along the highway and the plant was enormous.

Our first stop was this cute little bakery for their world famous buns/donuts. They were delicious and the place was pretty neat too.

So, there are random groups of wild pigs just in the streets. There are also a lot of wild chickens and roosters everywhere. 

We visited the waterfalls and caves on the Hilo side of the island. While the waterfalls were beautiful, they were a bit underwhelming since you couldn’t get very close to them. Everything in Hawaii is so well protected to preserve its natural beauty, which means tourists aren’t allowed to get too close. Still, it was a peaceful experience, and the scenery was stunning.

We all ventured a little way into the cave, but Robb was the only one brave enough to go further. To be fair, he also had a headlamp, which made it a lot easier to see. Some little kids were crawling through a narrow section that was so tight, you had to go on your stomach to get through. While the rest of us were definitely a "NO WAY" to that, Robb followed right behind them, undeterred.

We ate at one of the best places that night. The drinks were delicious and beautiful. The restaurant was partially outdoors with the side walls open to the outside if the weather allowed.

This is what our back deck opened out to. All night long you could hear the waves crashing against the rocks. No sound machine will ever beat the calmness of the real waves.

Our Airbnb was beautiful! The main bedroom was in the center of the house and opened right onto the deck. Halfway through the trip, we switched rooms so we could all enjoy the cooler space. As nice as the house was, we didn’t spend much time there. Every morning, we’d make a plan for the day, packing for both activities—like swimming and snorkeling—and dinner, which meant bringing along swim gear and dress clothes. Since our house was quite a distance from most things, we didn’t go back during the day. Steph and I got really good at changing in the Jeep!