Some pics of Big Island Trip

Our favorite beach , Kua Bay . First time went , on a Wednesday , it was closed . Had to walk down from the main drag . Hadn't a clue how far it was or how long it would take . 78 year old mother made it down and back up . Refused ride from guy a small motorbike . A stubborn old Yankee . Hehe...

Place of Refuge ...

View at Lapakahi State Historical Park , North Kohala ...

My daughter Mika , Waipio Valley .

A view from our condo's lanai ...Keauhou Bay ...Kona Coast

Nephew Brandon digging a hole at Kua Bay Beach ...

The condo in the center was ours , top floor left .

My daughter took a heck of a lot more photos than I did . Will post a few more soon .

Super fantastic trip with the exception of a rental car nightmare with Alamo at Kona Airport . Good thing I didn't have a pistol .

I really felt as if I'd COME HOME , despite the fact it was my/our first visit . Definitely my kind of place .

[ Edited by: sushiman 2008-04-27 04:07 ]

Beautiful pics.
I love visiting Kona.

Car rentals on the Big Island are always a horrible experience. My mother rented one that was infested with cockroaches, and there were no others available so she had to set off a bug bomb in it.
My parents ended up just buying a car there and storing it when they are not visiting.

On 2008-04-29 12:10, dangergirl299 wrote:
Beautiful pics.
I love visiting Kona.

Car rentals on the Big Island are always a horrible experience. My mother rented one that was infested with cockroaches, and there were no others available so she had to set off a bug bomb in it.
My parents ended up just buying a car there and storing it when they are not visiting.

Thank you . The camera - a Fujifilm Z10 - was purchased days before the trip and since I couldn't read the manual all pics were taken on AUTO ! Not as sharp as I would like ( just the way the cam is ) , but OK . Here is my ALAMO story :

We got a Chevy / GMC mini-van . Minutes after leaving the airport I opened the glove box to insert some stuff and the latch promptly broke . Since I didn't want to drive around for a week with a glove box door in my lap we took the car back to Alamo for an exchange . Once at Alamo they told us to take another Chevy of our choice . Once out on the road we sadly discovered that this van had a very loud rear end hum which sounded like a UFO was hovering 5 feet over our roof ! Back to Alamo . Once again no apology ; they told us to choose another van . First one we looked at had a broken cup holder . Next one looked good until my wife spotted the word BITCH carved into sliding door ! Finally found one without any obvious defects and once again hit the road . All was OK until the next day . We parked the car in a shopping center to do some shopping and left the engine running as my daughter wanted to stay in the car . We left the AC on . When we came out of the store we saw that the sliding door was open and wondered why . Daughter explained that the AC stopped a few minutes after we entered the store . When my wife started the vehicle , and tried to back out of the parking space , she found there was no power steering , and that a warning light was on saying " reduced engine power " . She turned off the engine and tried again but it was no good . On the third attempt the power steering kicked in but the warning light remained on . Since we had no idea what was wrong with the engine , we drove to our condo which was close by and called Alamo ( What a nightmare it was dealing with these people on the phone ). They told us to bring the car back , but there was no way my wife was going to drive a vehicle which might lose its PS and I told them this . They explained that if they came to get the car we would have to pay a towing charge , since they felt the car could be driven back by us ! After fighting with them for over 20 minutes - a losing battle I might add - we told them we would bring the car back the next day and that we expected a partial refund ( half of rental fee ) for all our aggravation and lost time . They reluctantly agreed to a partial refund and the next day we went to Kona to get the refund and hopefully a trouble free car . The first car we picked didn't make it out of the parking lot before we discovered the front end making clunky clanky noises . We didn't even tell them about it . We chose another vehicle which I am happy to report didn't cause us any trouble for the remainder of our trip . Needless to say I wouldn't use Alamo Rent A Car again if you PAID me ! The staff at Kona were the most uncaring and inept group of individuals I've ever dealt with in my life .

[ Edited by: sushiman 2008-04-29 17:16 ]

Thanks for the memories! My hubby and I want to retire to the Big Island - set up a "Yurt Motel" on a small coffee plantation and rent to wandering travellers! I think it will be WAY too much work and would rather set up a small bead store! Ahhh, troubles in paradise!

On 2008-04-29 15:38, beadtiki wrote:
Thanks for the memories! My hubby and I want to retire to the Big Island - set up a "Yurt Motel" on a small coffee plantation and rent to wandering travellers! I think it will be WAY too much work and would rather set up a small bead store! Ahhh, troubles in paradise!

The day before we arrived , Kilauea erupted sending ash and gases into the sky . The air was not too bad for the next week , but the smoke and ash did have a negative affect on the sunsets around Kailua-Kona . I understand the air has gotten much worse in recent weeks .

Since returning , a day hasn't gone by when I didn't daydream about being back on the Big Island on Kua Beach slugging a Kona brew and gazing out onto the aqua blue sea and pureblue sky ...

Arg! You're killing me! LOL The first time I was on the Big Island, we stayed on Ali'i Drive on the far end from town. I think the volcano had been recently active as the "vog" was nearly intollerable. Add to that it was the end of summer, it was raining a lot, we didn't have a vehicle, we were stuck with my entire family of in-laws (18 of them) and to make things worse, the AC in our unit wasn't working! It was like being stranded in paradise without the ability to get to the beach! We did manage to borrow a car and spent the entire day and night away from Kona (did you get to Akaka Falls?) and met the nicest people who invited us in to their home, plied us with fresh fruits from their yards and entertained us until late in the night. We have been devotees of the Big Island ever since. Went back five years later, found those same people, met some new friends and when it was time to leave, I sat at the airport crying. I cry whenever I watch shows about Hawaii on the Travel Channel. My heart belongs to Hawai'i.

On 2008-04-29 17:21, sushiman wrote:

On 2008-04-29 15:38, beadtiki wrote:
Thanks for the memories! My hubby and I want to retire to the Big Island - set up a "Yurt Motel" on a small coffee plantation and rent to wandering travellers! I think it will be WAY too much work and would rather set up a small bead store! Ahhh, troubles in paradise!

The day before we arrived , Kilauea erupted sending ash and gases into the sky . The air was not too bad for the next week , but the smoke and ash did have a negative affect on the sunsets around Kailua-Kona . I understand the air has gotten much worse in recent weeks .

Since returning , a day hasn't gone by when I didn't daydream about being back on the Big Island on Kua Beach slugging a Kona brew and gazing out onto the aqua blue sea and pureblue sky ...

On 2008-04-29 21:11, beadtiki wrote:
I sat at the airport crying. I cry whenever I watch shows about Hawaii on the Travel Channel. My heart belongs to Hawai'i.

On 2008-04-29 17:21, sushiman wrote:

On 2008-04-29 15:38, beadtiki wrote:
Thanks for the memories! My hubby and I want to retire to the Big Island - set up a "Yurt Motel" on a small coffee plantation and rent to wandering travellers! I think it will be WAY too much work and would rather set up a small bead store! Ahhh, troubles in paradise!

The day before we arrived , Kilauea erupted sending ash and gases into the sky . The air was not too bad for the next week , but the smoke and ash did have a negative affect on the sunsets around Kailua-Kona . I understand the air has gotten much worse in recent weeks .

Since returning , a day hasn't gone by when I didn't daydream about being back on the Big Island on Kua Beach slugging a Kona brew and gazing out onto the aqua blue sea and pureblue sky ...

As I've been telling friends and family ; I left my heart on old Hawaii ( sung to the melody of I Left My Heart in SF ) .
I fell deeply in love with the place ( love at first sight mind you ! ) and , to quote General MacArthur : " I will return . " One way or another I'm going to get back next year .