The Big Island

 For the last three years Brandon and I have been able to escape to Hawaii for a Mommy and Daddy only vacation!  Our first year I met Brandon is Oahu after he finished up some work on a aircraft carrier that was out at sea, last year was Maui and this year we went to the Big Island. Each island seems to have a different feel to it.  We absolutely loved Oahu and Maui. The Big island has a VERY laid back hawaiian way to it. When the locals say 'I'm on hawaiian time' they definitely mean it on this island. No one is ever in a rush and we are able to fully relax in Hawaii. For those of you that know Brandon very well it's hard for him to fully relax. Brandon has a high stress job and his brain is always running a 100 miles a minute so when he can fully relax in a place like Hawaii it's amazing!

Hawaii is Brandon's and I's little escape from reality. For one week we get to rent a jeep and drive with the top down, have one too many drinks, eat out wherever, sit on a beach and not chase kids and just enjoy each other. Brandon and I get to re-connect with each other and focus solely on us. We feel that a week away from the kids is not only good for us, but good for them also. We have traveled a lot over the last few years so the kids have had LOTS of Mom and Dad time. When we leave for a week on vacation the kids are also getting a vacation. The kids get to spend quality time with family, play hard with cousins, stay up late and I'm sure have a few extra treats that I would say no to ;) We feel that time away is good for the whole family. For those of you that don't take trips without the kids, you need to start trying it! It's not only good for your marriage but it's also good for your kids! Come on parents, let loose and have a little fun, the kids will be just fine!

This year we decided to go for a more private and cheaper place. Last year in Maui we spent $500 a night on a resort and were disappointed. We told ourselves that we were NOT doing that again. So, this year we did the exact opposite. We found a place on VRBO.com that was private and only $70 a night.  This place was far from the resort style but it was perfect for us. Brandon would joke and say "This is borderline camping for Ashley". The house ran on one solar panel so we had to limit our lighting in the evening. There was a water catchment system outside for household water. On the last night we actually ran out of water because it hadn't rained enough. I was happy to not have it rain on us all week but I was a little irritated about our water running out. I got to enjoy a lovely  two minute cold shower that night :) Also the house wasn't sealed very well so we had a few friends living with us.

Our little bungalow. The drive way down was 4 wheel drive only and .25 miles . It was a bumpy ride but well worth the view! 

Our little friend that lived behind the fridge

Papaya trees out the back door 

These birds were beautiful but also very hard to get a picture of. This was as close as I could get with out one flying away. 

Each morning the birds would be feasting on the papayas 

The view from our deck. 

We didn't really have any set plans for the week but we knew of a few places we wanted to go. Our first few days were to just be lazy and hit a few beaches. The first beach we snorkeled at was in Kona.

I love seeing turtles but when I see tourists get too close it irritates me. This lady actually had the nerve to touch a turtle. Tourists don't seem to care that they need to stay at least 15 ft. away. If you travel to Hawaii please don't bug the turtles and observe them from the correct distance! A little while later I saw this lady hobbling out of the ocean with a huge bruise on her back because she hit a rock. I thought to myself 'Well, that's what ya get for slapping the turtle!' Ha ha! 

My first turtle sighting on the beach! 

The next day we decided to head north and see some scenery. Most of the day was spent driving. The locals never seem in a hurry so a 30 mile stretch of road could take almost a hour. We finally arrived to our destination and saw this...

Absolutely gorgeous! 

The next few days were spent being lazy and hanging out of beaches, walking around town and trying the local food.

This beach was perfect! All beaches in Hawaii are public but this one was semi private. In order to get to the beach you had to get a parking pass from the guards at the gate. Only 27 cars were allowed to park so not many people were there. We had this whole side to ourselves. 

My view for four hours! 

Brandon lost his sunglasses in the ocean and had to buy new ones...oops! 

Towards the end of the week we got up early and went to the southern tip of the island. Our first stop for the day was the southernmost point in the US.

Brandon at the southernmost point in the US

This end of the island is so windy that the trees actually grow sideways 

Our next stop was green sand beach. To get to this beach it required a hour walk or a VERY bumpy 4X4 drive. We decided to walk it instead of being bounced around and possibly damaging the rental car. We parked our car at the entrance and immediately got a  tap on our window. I looked out to see a young lady by herself. As I rolled down my window she asked if she could make the walk out to beach with us. We of course said yes because her only other options were to pay $25 for some local to drive her out there or she would be walking by herself. I would not have felt comfortable with either of those options either so I'm glad she asked us. On our walk out to the beach we chatted with the lady about traveling and life. She was on a 1 month vacation by herself in Hawaii. She had been island hoping and visiting a few friends along the way and even made a stop in San Diego and Seattle on her way over from the East coast. The main reason she wanted to visit Seattle was because of the famous trilogy, 50 Shades of Grey! Of course we chit chatted about those books for a bit ;) Brandon was more interested in the fact that she grew up in Russia and not the book series though! Overall it was a great walk out to the beach and we enjoyed the company!

The scenery walking to Green Sand Beach 

In all the guide books it didn't make it clear that the beach wasn't very accessible, so this is as close as we got to it

After finishing up at Green Sand Beach we drove a little further down the road to go to the black sand beach. Black sand beach is well known for having turtles everywhere so I was pretty excited to make this stop. As soon as I hoped out of the car I was on a mission to find  a turtle!

First turtle spotted! 

We found this big turtle lounging on the beach!

Getting as close as I can without disturbing the turtle :)

After  finding a few turtles we were done at this beach because it was really windy and the water was rough. There were also a few tour buses parking so we wanted to avoid the tourists. We hopped back into the car and made the drive back to the rental house for some drinks and dinner :)

Some of the best snorkeling in the Kona area is at Captain Cook monument. Getting to the monument isn't the easiest so we knew it would be a whole day outing. To get to the monument you can hike the four mile trail, swim a mile across the bay or pay for a snorkeling tour. We aren't fans of paying  for a two hour boat tour that only includes 20-30 minutes of snorkeling so it was either swim or hike. I am a confident lap swimmer but open water swims still scare me so our only option was to hike. We got a fairly early start on the day and began the hike around 8:30am. The two mile walk straight down hill took us about 45 minutes. The last 1.5 miles of the trail was full of rocks and holes so I had to watch my footing. 

The view at the half way point

Captain Cook monument that sits on the beach

We spent a good four hours snorkeling and sitting alongside the water. Once the tour boats left it was a very peaceful area. The water was calm and absolutely beautiful!

I consider myself to be in fairly good shape but walking back up this hill sucked. The walk back up took us one hour including a few breaks. The sun was beating down on us and it was hot. I was glad that Brandon packed us lots of water before we left the house. The hill didn't give us any breaks, it was straight up. After reaching the car we hoped in, made a stop at the grocery store and then headed back to the rental.

Taking a break on the way back up the hill. 

Heading up 

Our last few days were spent relaxing and picking up a few requested souvenirs for the kids. We had a great 8 days on the Big Island and can't wait to go back next year! Aloha :)