Hawaii Trip: Part 2

Continued from this post...

Big Island vacation Part 2

Day 4:

We ate breakfast in our room- bagels and a fruit salad made of papayas, pineapple, and apple bananas (yum!). Afterwards we hit the road towards Volcanoes National Park. Less than an hour into the ride, Izzy pukes. Oh man. Here we are on the side of the road, trying to wipe off her shirt, shorts, and car seat. Her shorts weren't too bad but we took off her tshirt and put it in the back of the car. Other than being surprised, she seems okay so we cross our fingers that it was just car sickness and keep driving towards the National Park (with the windows open).

On the way we decide to stop at the black sand beach where there are supposedly green sea turtles. Izzy slept in the car (an adult stayed with her at all times) while we hung out on the beach a bit, but there were megabuses of tourists and too many people for a turtle to feel comfortable to come up on the shore (we saw them bobbing their heads out the water a bit).

We finally arrived at Volcanoes National Park and headed into the visitors center. We were hoping to see lava at some point, but found out that the depth of the lava lake in the crater (where you used to be able to see lava bubbling at night) dropped in April 2015 and the only way to see lava is to charter a helicopter. Hmmm too expensive.

So we picked up a guide on the 10 best hikes and headed for lunch at the Volcano Room which had amazing views of the Halemaʻumaʻu crater and some National Park tshirts. 

View from the Volcano Room lunch spot

Izzy's new Volcanoes National Park tshirt- her current tshirt obsession

With our bellies full we headed to the Thurston Lava Tubes which Izzy enjoyed, although it was hard to take pictures in it. Because I was pregnant and because we had Izzy we had to stay away from one of the hikes because there was too much sulfur in the air (I guess it was not good for our lungs). Instead we did the Ilahi hike (basically lots of steam vents on either side of the trail) with CP carrying Izzy on his back in the hiking backpack.

We figured that we would head back to the National Park another day so we cut the day short after seeing some boring tree molds and started to head back to Kona. As a bathroom break we stopped by the black sand beach again and all of us got to watch a green sea turtle eating!

Poking his head out of the water

Black sand hands!

Day 5:

After a lazy morning of hanging out at the condo while I washed and cleaned the car seat and associated clothes, I take Izzy to the pool while CP and my MIL go grocery shopping. We end up having lunch by the pool- grilled burgers (hot dog for Izzy), mango guacamole, pasta salad, and purple potato salad. 

Izzy by the pool

After a bit more time in the pool, we get cleaned up and head out to a farmers market in Kona. Izzy wants to try on ALL of the bracelets and necklaces while we are there.

Modeling a necklace

She also gets excited when one of the shop owners lets her try the ukulele (we end up buying her one two days later).

The rest of the day is spent exploring downtown Kona...

Ice cream afternoon snack

Ironman winner!

Cool tree in downtown Kona

Day 6:
We got up and headed out about an hour north of Kona for a whale watch. The people at the condo assured us that the boat would be safe for a toddler, but it literally had two ropes as wide as a pen strung around the boat. The whole trip was a mess as Izzy spent most of the trip eating or crying. She didn't understand that we couldn't swim in the water and although she saw a few whales, most of them were far away and there just wasn't enough action for her. 

Lunch then tested her patience because she ate so much on the boat and wasn't hungry but yet our food took forever to come out. She took a 30 minutes nap on the car ride back and managed to sleep through the bumpiest car ride ever as we turned down the road towards a state park. The 1.5 mile road was ridiculously bumpy and unfortunately I had to go to the bathroom before we even turned on the road. The state park consisted of an awesome, large lava field with a beautiful beach at the end (if your car could make it)- and thankfully, a porta potty.

Nice, right?

Izzy standing on lava

We hit some traffic on the way home (traffic in Hawaii?), so we rushed to our condo, grabbed a few things and then headed out to a luau at the Royal Kona resort. Izzy didn't eat much but had fun making a lei bracelet and watching the dancers. Her favorite was the fire dancer at the end of the show.

To be continued....