Hawaii Family Trip

Ever since we took the family trip to Europe in 2014, we have been planning a follow-up trip with all of our kids and grandkids.  Now that we have 9 grandkids the logistics of a family trip get much more complicated, so we chose Hawaii as the destination that could meet the more diverse needs of our larger family.  Unfortunately, d & Zhouyi and their kids were unable to make this trip because they were in the middle of a move from Sacramento to Riverside, CA.  However, everyone else joined us in Hawaii.  Our plan was to spend 4 nights on the Big Island and 3 nights on Oahu.  We flew in from Dallas to Kona, HI on July 27.  We had reserved an Airbnb near Kona on the Big Island large enough for the entire group.

The first day together we spent at the Magic Sands beach near Kona.  The grandkids played in the water and tried body surfing and loved it.  After this first day, it seemed that going to the beach is all the grandkids wanted to do and Hawaii has plenty of beaches so that's what we did!

Magic Sands Beach Park

Body surfing

Dinner at Shimaichi Sushi Restaurant in Kona

On July 29 a few of our party decided to take surfing lessons (Kevin, Rachael, Kathryn and Akston).  The rest of us drove across the Big Island to the eastern side.  On our journey across the island we passed the base of Manna Kea, the tallest volcano in Hawaii.  The road was lined with tents and road blocks set up by people protesting the placement of a new observatory on top of the mountain.  Near the east coast we went to Wailuku River State Park which had a beautiful waterfall.  We ate lunch in Hilo and then drove north up the coast to Waipi'o Valley lookout where we met up with the surfing members of our party.  The Waipi'o Valley is a beautiful isolated valley on the coast that has a single very steep road into it which requires 4WD.  We were content to take in the beautiful view of the valley from the top of the cliff. On the way back home we stopped at Spencer Beach Park on the west coast, another great beach that the grandkids thoroughly enjoyed.

Akston & Kathryn surfing the waves near Kona

Falls at Wailuku River State Park

Waipi'o Valley from the overlook

July 30 we once again drove to the east side of  the island this time stopping at Kaumana Caves near Hilo.  These caves are actually lava tubes and the kids loved following them back in as far as they could go.  Then we made a loop around the south end of the island stopping at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.  We viewed the steam vents in the Kilauea Volcano and drove the Chain of Craters Rd which has numerous overlooks of various inactive volcanic craters.  We ended the day at Punalu'u Black Sand Beach which was truly pure black sand...amazing!

Our group at the entrance to Kaumana Cave

Elynn, Beau and Denae hiking in Kaumana Cave

Coming out of the lava tube

Overlook into an inactive crater in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

Our group at the top of the overlook into the Kilauea Crater

Kileaua Crater overlook

Lee, My, Kathryn, and John carrying Ryder

Kileaua Crater

Punalu'u Black Sand Beach

Enjoying the beach

The sand was really black and coarse

Sea turtles at the Black Sand Beach

On July 31 we left our Airbnb in Kona and flew to Honolulu in Oahu.  Once again we rented cars and drove to our Airbnb which was on the north side of Oahu near the Polynesian Culture Center.  Before we left we took some pics of our beautiful venue on the Big Island.

Sunset from the balcony of our venue on Kona

Relaxing on the back deck

Busy in the kitchen

Grandkids playing in the family room

Outside patio overlooking the ocean

Everything was so green  and lush!

 On the morning of our first full day in Oahu we went to Kokololio Beach near our venue.  There we met my niece Kandi and her husband who is a professor at BYU Hawaii.  It was good to see them and catch up.  They also gave us several good sightseeing pointers.  In the afternoon we went to the Polynesian Culture Center (it was within walking distance of our venue).  We had a great time seeing all the demonstrations, displays and shows depicting the various Polynesian islands.  We also enjoyed a buffet dinner and nighttime show.

Kathryn, Ryder & Topher

Kokololio Beach

The gang at the beach
Kandi and her husband on the right

The family on a floating ride at the Polynesian Culture Center

Natives demonstrating how to climb a coconut tree

On August 2 we drove north up the island stopping at Turtle Bay and ending up at Waimea Bay Beach Park.  Waimea Bay has some of the best waves on the islands and is a place where they hold surfing competitions.  There is also a jumping rock that you can climb and jump into the ocean.  That evening we drove back down the island for dinner at Haleiwa Joe's restaurant and Haiku Gardens.  The food was excellent and the surrounding grounds and gardens were beautiful.   

Dinner at Haleiwa Joes

Gardens surrounding Haleiwa Joe's restaurant

The grandkids at the restaurant

Grandkids exploring the gardens

On August 3 some of the families departed for home, but Liz and I had booked a couple of additional days at another Airbnb closer to Honolulu.  So we checked out of our Airbnb in Laie and dropped Rachael and Kevin off at the airport and checked into our new venue.  We then headed to Kailua Beach State Park where we meet up with Topher's family.  They were having one last fling on the beach before catching their flight home late that evening.

Inside the venue in Laie, Oahu

Outside the venue in Laie

The next day we drove to the Byodo-In Temple on the southeast side of Oahu.  This is a Japanese style temple with beautiful landscaped grounds.  It was a peaceful way to connect with nature.  We then drove up the entire east coast and came back through the middle of the island, getting an appreciation for the diversity of the Hawaiian landscape, from rainforests on east side to quite arid on the west side.

Byodo-In Temple

Colorful carp on the temple grounds

Mormon Temple in Laie

Sea arch near Laie

 Our final day on the island was August 5.  This day we checked out of our Airbnb and drove down the southeast coast to Hanauma Bay.  However, the entire area was so crowded with tourists that there was no parking or access to many of the sights.  So we drove to an off-the-radar site we found in a guidebook call Spitting Cave.  Access to the trail for Spitting Cave was an alley off a neighborhood street, so no tourists.  We reached the overlook and were rewarded with a stunning view of the coast from the cliff tops.  Next we drove to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and spent a few hours touring the museums and displays.....impressive and interesting.  Finally it was time to go the the airport to catch our flight home.  It's easy to have a wonderful time in Hawaii and with family it was just that much better.

Spitting Cave Overlook
Beautiful end to a great family vacation in Hawaii

Lake Powell & Bear Lake

We began our annual trip to Lake Powell on July 6th.  This year we were joining the Keeton family on the house boat.  Since they were pulling their ski boat from San Antonio, our boat was not required and we decided to make the trip in the car instead of the RV.  We met up with the Keetons in Albuquerque, NM and caravaned to Lake Powell from there.

With 2 adults, 4 kids and 2 seniors on the houseboat we had some concerns about going down river and being able to anchor the houseboat, but John and Kathryn proved equal to the task and we found a nice place to anchor in Clear Creek Canyon. We had a great week exploring canyons, hiking, tubing and water skiing.  John, Kathryn and Akston hiked to the top of Hole in the Rock.  They also stood the 3-person pyramid.  Liz and I both slalom skied.  (for me it was significant because it was my first time since my second hip replacement).

Liz on slalom ski - looking young and fit

Lee

Akston getting some air

Akston and Reayen getting more air

John, Kathry and Akston doing the pyramid

The Crew - John, Reayen, Lee, Liz, Akston, Kathryn, Elynn & Ryder

On Sunday, July 14 we left Lake Powell.  The Keetons headed for home and we headed to Bear Lake, Utah.  We planned to have a mini family reunion with some of Liz's siblings and their spouses.  We stayed in her brother Jacob's cabin at Bear Lake and met up with her sisters Anna Maria, Barbara and Kathryn.  Monday night we ate dinner with everyone at Zipz, a local restaurant in Garden City.

Dinner at Zipz with Liz's sisters and some Budge cousins

 On Tuesday we went on an adventure to see some sights in the Bear Lake area.  Mark Budge (Liz cousin) lives locally and was our guide.  We started with Minnetonka Cave which is up St Charles canyon.  The cave was very interesting and required substantial climbing so we got a work out.  We also saw some beautiful natural formations.

Doreen, Mark, Barbara, Lee, Liz, Budge, Anna Maria, & Jim
at Minnetonka Cave

Getting ready to explore the cave

Entrance to Minnetonka Cave

 After the cave we went Paris Spring which is a pretty natural spring up Paris canyon.  After the spring we had lunch at the Paris Subway and then drove to Bloomington Lake.  This is a beautiful natural lake in the tops of the mountains.  The hike in was good exercise and when we arrived at the lake we discovered a rope swing tied to a tree overhanging the lake.  With a running start you could swing way out over the lake and then let go, landing in the glacier fed water.  We decided to try that some other time.

At Paris Spring

The group of us at Bloomington Lake

Bloomington Lake with surrounding snow

On Wednesday we left Bear Lake and drove up to Barbara's house in Ashton, ID.  That afternoon Frank and Barbara took us for a ride through the wilderness in their Ranger ATV.....great fun!  On Thursday we left Ashton and headed for the West Entrance of Yellowstone.  We drove through the park and went out the northeast entrance on the Beartooth Highway.  This highway connects the northeast entrance of Yellowstone with Red Lodge, MT.  It climbs to over 10,000 ft and reveals some spectacular views.  The road is a definite "must see" for anyone's bucket list.

Climbing up the Beartooth Highway

View near the summit of Beartooth Highway

View near the summit

Beartooth Lake

View of the canyon descending toward Red Lodge

Beartooth Peak?

We stopped at Red Lodge, MT for lunch and ate at the Red Box Car.  Red Lodge is a mecca for motorcycles because Beartooth Highway is on the must do list for bikers.  There were plenty of bikers in town the day we were there.

After lunch we headed for Caspar, WY where we planned to spend the night in a motel.  However we discovered that everything in town was booked because of some major rodeo, so we spent the night in a campground and slept in the back of the car.  On July 19th we drove to Amarillo where we got a hotel for the night and arrived home on July 20, worn out but full of happy memories.