Vacation to Hawaii

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In mid-January, 2009, Bob and I traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii for an 8-day stay. He had been there with his family before, but it was my first time. I'd had a very brief trip to Oahu with my family when I was 9, but due to a medical mix-up (my mother was on dialysis at the time), the hospital would not treat Mom and our vacation went from 10 days to 2-1/2. We flew through the Dole pineapple factory and visited a couple of beaches, but it was a frenzied whirlwind of a trip. This time, I looked forward to a more leisurely pace, one that would allow us the time to explore the Big Island.

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Our first full day on the Big Island, we met with the condo facilities' concierge to plan our week's activities. We some definite "Do's" - go to a lu'au, go horseback riding, see Hawaii's active volcano - Kilauea. We planned to catch the lu'au at our first opportunity.

Staying on the south end of Kailua Bay, we made the beautiful drive up Ali'i Drive to King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel to catch the Island Breeze Lu'au.

Upon arriving, guests we treated to cocktails, a hula class, a craft project in which we made angelfish on a fishing pole out of woven coconut frond, and a demonstration on the proper way to find a ripe coconut and open it.

The hotel is adjacent to the grounds in which Kamehameha the Great resided and and buried. To honor this, the performers proceed from Kamakahonu Bay onto the grounds in the ritual of the Royal Court arrival. During this time, the king and queen are greeted with a hula dance in their honor.

After the feast of the lu'au, Island Breeze Productions dancers perform a Polynesian Review demonstrating dances of countries whose people migrated and settled in Hawaii.

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Our second day on the island found us driving an hour inland to the town of Waimea for a Cowboys of Hawaii at Parker Ranch horseback ride. Waimea is in a valley below Mauna Kea, which is home to snow skiing and seven observatories from around the world. One typically doesn't think of snow skiing in Hawaii, but the Big Island has something like 12 of the world's 14 microclimates within its 4000 square miles.

Bob and I were paired up with Appy and PJ, respectively. Our group - us, a small group from Maryland and a mother and daughter pair from Australia - along with our guide, Lila, headed out into the pasture land of the Parker Ranch. Covering thousands of acres, and surrounding the town of Waimea, the Parker Ranch is one of the United States largest working ranches.

The beauty of this ride is the lack of nose-to-tail plodding. For experienced riders, you are encouraged to spread out and at given times, the group breaks into canters across the fields. The pace throughout is brisk and I, for one, was thankful PJ's trot was smoother than most! She was frisky, but easily controlled, and just a bit put out that I would slow her down and spoil her fun for something a frivolous as a picture!

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