Hawaii!

Dinarte's birthday bash in Maui, and a side trip to the Big Island

Our room at the Four SeasonsKenny in the pool
Kenny drinkingHula dancers
Dinarte does the hula tooHaleakala
Haleakala - base of craterMiddle of crater
Eric hikingBase of Halemau trail
Windsurfers at Ho'okipa beachKenny gets slathered with sunblock
Kilauea crater at Volcanoes National ParkOcean at Volcanoes National Park
Hale'maumau craterKenny gets a ride
Steam bluffsSteam is hot
Pheasant mating danceKenny got his very own infant boarding pass on the flight to Honolulu
There's plenty of leg room in first class...We forgot toys for the flight over, so I put some pennies and a flower into a water bottle for Kenny as a rattle.
Tom and LisaChuck and Erik
Jonathan and LucySean and Joe
Sylvia, Kenny and EricHonolulu
The view from our room at the Four SeasonsA very nice welcoming cheese platter
They had a little gift package for Kenny, including swim diapersThey also spelled out his name in little sponges next to the tub!
The view on the beach - black volcanic rock, and white coral, that will at some point in the future become sandDinner at the Pacific Grill
We loved the hotelBreakfast buffet - yummy!
Kenny gets to try some papayaKenny in his swim diapers
Kenny and mommy at the pool
Kenny plays waiter at poolside, with one of the little iced cloths they hand out.Beautiful grounds
You could exercise if you wanted to (we didn't)
View from the club level patio
Fresh arrangements in the lobbyThe reading area at the club level lounge
Another view from our patio
At the birthday party. Not all of these photos are ours.


The settingEveryone got "leied"
Erik, Steve and Maria, Dinarte's sisterEric taking pictures of everyone's leis
The man himself - Dinarte with a very stylish leiEvery guest got a gorgeous lei. We took pictures of most of them.
ChuckLisa
SteveTom
SeanLucy
ErikJoe
JohnJonathan
EricMaria
The group pictureJohn and Dinarte
Sylvia, Dinarte and EricJoe, Dinarte and Sean
Lisa and TomSteve and Maria
Sylvia and EricLucy and Jonathan
The gaysThe guys
The galsWe had no bow for Dinarte's present, so we substituted flowers.
Beautiful sculpted ice Happy Birthday sign.The "over the hill" birthday cake
The hula show was top-notch.
Eric gettin' down
Dinarte surrounded by hula dancers
Dinarte and John with the hula dancers, after the show.Lucy with a palm headdress
These were the most scrumptious little cakes. The one on the far left had its topping licked off by a stray cat.The next day, we drove to Haleakala National Park, and did a hike down the Sliding Sands trail, and up the Halemau trail. Some views from the drive up.
Science city, on the top of Haleakala, where all the observatories are
There was a group riding horse about to go down the mountain as well - luckily they took a long time to get going, so we never saw them in the crater. As a matter of fact, we saw nobody at all in the crater the whole day, except for 3 people that were walking out when we were about 15 minutes into the hike.Views of the crater
Thank goodness the weather started to get a little warmer here. At the top it was freezing cold and windy
Our first view of the silversword plant
Cool rocks everywhere...you could be on the moon!
The silversword in bloom
Starting to see a little bit of green again...then we're back to black lava again...
Starting to get close to the Holua cabin
At Holua cabin
Looking for the old Halemau trailAn old lava flow. The weather is starting to get foggy and drizzly
Reaching the base of the Halemau trail.Starting to see some huge ferns here, since there's so much more moisture around
The trail out is a very easy walk - gentle steady slope all the way up.Ohelo berries. I used to pick these all the time when I worked here.
Interesting "pyramid" visible from the trailViews from the trail up
This very expensive fence surrounds the park. It's meant to keep non-native animals (cats, goats, pigs) out.After finishing the hike, we had to hitchhike a ride back to our car, at the top of the mountain. It was COLD! Luckily we waited only 15 minutes - the 4th car picked us up. Maybe because I was jumping up and down, and waving. Eric was less enthusiastic.
I lived in both of these buildings when I worked at the park, in 1991/1992.
Beautiful clouds on the drive downStopped at a fruit stand to buy some guavas and loquats from a very friendly guy.
And then back to luxury at the Four Seasons! This was the evenings desert buffetHanging out in the club lounge
Next mornings breakfast buffet
Dinarte and John spend a lot of time lounging at the poolKenny followed their example
Eric got a foot massage the day after the hike. It felt good at the time, but didn't alleviate the soreness for very long.Afternoon tea - salmon sandwiches, roast duck sandwiches, and egg salad sandwiches
...plus wonderful little tea cakesHanging out at the beach with Kenny
Hors d'oeuvres that evening were chicken wings, lumpia, crab legs elegantly cut, gazpacho, and sushi
And the desert buffet included poached pears, little crepe thingies, cookies, chocolate truffle deserts, etc.We hung out in Paia on the way to the airport. It's a unique place, kind of a hippie town. Interesting signs at the local grocery.
The natural food groceryA world famous windsurfing beach is nearby
On the flight to the island of HawaiiPapaya tree
We took a very hot walk around noon near Kona - not a great idea.Kona village
Resting in the shadeThe Pu'ukohala Heiau - an old Hawaiian temple.
Hanging out at a park.
The area around Kona was a moonscape of black lavaAt Volcanoes National Park
Fern fiddleheadsThurston Lava Cave
Inside the caveDesolation Trail - one of the few stroller friendly trails around. It may have been desolated when the trail was first built years ago, but since then lots of vegetation has come up.
Ferns growing in the little cavities where I assume trees were.The view down to the crater
Interesting volcanic formations
Kenny at an overlookAt the end of the road, there's often lava flows visible in the distance, at least at night. Unfortunately, we saw nothing but old lava flows, which were still interesting.
We postulated that some hot lava may have hit this sign.
At the park museum, we saw this rock pick covered in lava
View of the steam ventsKilauea Military Camp, where Eric spent some time with his family when he was a kid. There's lots of cottages where folks in the military can stay.
The steam bluffs were nearby
Pretty hot!Lehua tree
Kenny at the Volcano house, where we had dinnerHe slid off the high chair pretty quickly, so we fed him in his stroller
Walking around Kona
Hibiscus in the rainThe saddle road over the island. It was fresh and cool up here...
Mauna Loa. What a broad, flat mountain!
Mauna KeaAt a nearby park
The new tsunami warning system in HiloMacademia nuts
We were a little disappointed with this place - it was basically just a big tourist shop with a large macademia nut selection.Hand-dipping macademia nut cookies. Looked very time-consuming.
A view of the factory. It was pretty much shut down.At the county zoo
The Lady Amhearst pheasant. The male put on quite a show, chasing the female.In downtown Hilo. Hilo is very laid back, looks like not much has changed there.
Driving along the coastline
We stopped at Laupahoehoe park, where in the tsunami of 1946, 20 some children were killed.
Around Waimea
You can see the observatories of Mauna Loa here