Hawaii- The Big Island

A year ago we were in Hawaii for our babymoon and to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.  I wanted to post about it months ago, but the volcano on The Big Island was active and unfortunately, some of the spots I was going to highlight no longer exist.  How sad!  I'm going to do the best I can with giving you the highlight reel for a trip to the Big Island including some amazing things you'll never get to experience.

Our adventure included stops on Hawai'i, O'ahu and Maui and was 2 weeks long.  My favorite island of all was the Big Island.  Don't get me wrong...I enjoyed pieces of the other 2 as well, but Hawai'i was so nice because it wasn't overcrowded like O'ahu.  It had decent roads, unlike Maui (which I feel isn't very drive-able).  It had TONS of adventure and exciting things to do outside and because Kevin's Uncle lives there, we were really able to settle in and it felt more relaxing.  It was a great stop to kick off our trip.

We were there for a total of 4 days (not including the night we arrived and the day we left).  And I could have been there for at least 4 days longer.  There was so much to see and so much I wish we had seen or had more time to discover.

How to get there:
Our trip started with flights through Atlanta and LAX before landing in Kona.  There are probably shorter flights or less connections, but the sole purpose of us breaking it up like that was so I could have time to walk between flights to help with blood pooling in my legs since I was 7.5 months pregnant.  I guess it worked!  I didn't have any pain or discomfort, that I remember, on the way there.  And, because flying into Kona was cheaper (at least at the time) than flying into Hilo or Honolulu or any other place on the islands, that was what we did.  Kevin's uncle lives south of Pahoa on the Hilo side of Hawai'i, so we knew we needed to make our way there, but arriving in Kona was also a good excuse to see that part of the island.

If you've never been to Hawaii, Kona is an awesome airport to fly into.  It's all open-air so the Hawaiians can enjoy the weather and the ocean breezes.  It was warm as we stepped off the plane and felt so tropical and it was a perfect welcome to the islands.  Other airports had sections outside, but nothing compared to the Kona airport!

Where to stay:
In the Kona area, I was recommended MANY amazing-looking resorts including the Fairmont Orchid, but we needed a clean, safe, inexpensive place to crash for one night. We chose the Holiday Inn Express in Kailua-Kona.  I think we even got our night for free with hotel points.  We got to the hotel at 8:30pm, which was 2:30am EST, so we didn't do much except shower and go straight to bed!  I can vouch that the room was nice, the bed was comfy and breakfast the next morning was great!  Breakfast was another experience that shouted "you're in Hawaii now".  The lobby was open air and birds kept flying over to the breakfast area looking for a stray crumb.  If they had known how delicious the cinnamon buns were, they might have gotten more than a crumb!

The rest of the trip we stayed with Kevin's Uncle Normand and his partner Kelly.  They run a vacation rental of sorts south of Pahoa called Isle of You.  It's a clothing optional farm where you can live for little (or no) expense in one of their yurts in exchange for working on the property.  Early in our relationship Kevin debated moving out there for a bit (which would have ended our relationship at the time), but having both visited, if we ever run away, this is one place you should check if you need to find us.  You are truly off the grid with no cell service or internet.  From the front of the rental cabin, where we stayed, you can see the ocean off in the distance.  The farm has avocados, starfruit, lilikoy, acres of banana trees, etc.  It is truly a jungle paradise.  This was homebase for our adventures on the island throughout the week and was in a great location, but again, off the beaten path so we could unplug and unwind.  There's no better way to start vacation than that!  Fortunately, they were spared in the recent lava flows.  It came less than a mile north of their property and they were evacuated, but then were able to return soon after.  They described being able to hear the lava flowing under the earth as they lay in bed at night.  I just can't imagine that having rested my head in the same spot.

What to do:
Explore Kona-
Kona is a beautiful town!  I honestly wish we had stayed there longer to explore more.  Highlights of our morning there were walking on the waterfront where Ironman competitors were practicing for the competition.  We got to explore the grounds of the Hulihe'e Palace, stopped in Holy Donuts for a treat (even after 5 cinnamon rolls between the two of us at breakfast, because....just because).

We drove over to Kona Coffee to enjoy some brew on the lanai.  My coffee might have been one of the best I've ever had in my life.  I got a decaf latte and at the last minute added caramel and it was divine.  We also picked up some Hawaiian tea that I've been enjoying for months.

Finally, we stopped over at Kona Brewing Co. and just happened to make it in time for the first tour of the day.  It was fun to hear the history and sample the brews.  I did have a small sip of each, but they hooked me up with some fresh juices, which were delicious and then we stayed for lunch- pizza and salad.  For just over 12 hours, we really saw a lot of Kona!

Explore the South of the Island-
Then began our drive to Pahoa and one of the main reasons I like the Big Island so much!  The drive was beautiful, but we also felt comfortable stopping along the way to explore things we saw.  Rent a car on this island so you can explore!  We took the road that wrapped around the south of the island and stopped at lava fields, the Southernmost Bakery in the USA (which has delicious treats and a nice restroom), and the black sand beach, before arriving in Pahoa.

The black sand beach, Punalu'u, was gorgeous!  We parked and made the very quick walk over to the sand.  This was our first sea turtle sighting (which was a treat) and we relaxed under the palm trees and just marveled at the jet black sand.  This beach has concessions and a lifeguard (there were some swimmers and surfers) and a nice shower house with bathrooms.  It was the perfect, quick pit-stop on our drive through the southern part of the island.

However, we ventured back to the South of the Island another day to hike to the green sand beach, Papakolea.  Let me give you some backstory.  In planning this trip, I had learned there was at least one black sand beach (though now I know there are many) and a green sand beach.  They were on our list of must-sees.  On the drive from Kona to Pahoa, we stopped at a lava field and struck up a conversation with a local about the green sand beach.  He said, "oh yeah, it's about a mile in and a mile out and it's basically a walk, nothing strenuous, I wear my flops for it."  And he was in some beat up flops.  I pictured a wooden walkway partially shaded by coconut trees.  Regardless of the strenuousness of the walk(hike), I knew I'd wear my hiking shoes, but it didn't seem like a bad deal.  Let me tell you, this man was a liar!  He was in no physical shape to make the trek that we did.  Thank goodness we were prepared with water and food because this was not for the faint of heart, but it was worth it, oh was it ever worth it!  We got to the southernmost point of the island at 9:30am (about two hours later than we wanted to be there) and parked in a lot with abandoned cars and seedy looking locals selling water and other items.  There were signs on cardboard advertising rides out to the beach, which we ignored and then politely said "no thank you" to when verbally asked.  The hike was sometimes on flat ground, sometimes rocky, sometimes sandy, sometimes in tire ruts that went halfway up my calf to as tall as my waist.  The hike was 2.5 miles under an unrelenting sun and took us about an hour and a half.

We spotted the beach finally, after hugging the coast for the longest time and periodically checking GPS to make sure we were headed in the right direction and hadn't missed it.  And then we couldn't figure out how to get to it because it was so far down a cliff.  But, we spotted some of those beat-up vehicles and walked that direction and the climb down wasn't bad at all.  Thank goodness we brought along an umbrella because there were no trees on the entire route or on the beach, and I lived under that while we stayed on the beach.  We stuck our toes in the water and enjoyed our packed lunches.

Then started the 2.5 mile trek back.

If I had to do it again, I'd do it all the same, with maybe one extra bottle of water.  The folks being driven in looked like they were being shaken to death with the bumpy terrain (that would not have been good for my pregnant body).  And it was fun to find the beach on our own.  It made this a true adventure!
There are only 4 green sand beaches in the world.  Wikipedia tells me the others are in Guam, Galapagos and Norway.  The sand is olive green because of a mineral, olivine, that erodes out of an enclosing volcano cone.  I can't explain it, but it was pretty cool to see and even more amazing to stick my toes in that green sand!
The result of this adventure was salty clothes (from sweat and seawater), red dirt dusted pants and shoes and one of the worst sunburns I've ever had.  I lathered up before we trekked out and reapplied once on the beach, but my sunscreen was no match for the hot Hawaiian sun.

Explore Hilo-
We ventured up to Hilo on a Saturday morning and beat the crowds to Rainbow Falls.  This is a beautiful waterfall right in Hilo where you can frequently spot a rainbow at the base of the falls.  We got a quick glimpse, but my favorite part of this was walking back through the giant banyan trees to the top of the waterfall and exploring up there.

When we tired here, we went into downtown Hilo to explore the Farmer's Market.  They open twice a week and have over 200 vendors.  It was HOT, so, so hot and we walked in and out of the stalls looking for nothing particular, but enjoying the Hawaiian crafts and food.  We did stop for a smoothie before checking out some of the waterfront stores for a traditional wedding outfit for Kevin and our vow renewal later in the trip.

Downtown Hilo has a Miami-esque vibe, in my opinion, and it was fun to window shop a bit.

Other highlights around Hilo are Boiling Pots and beaches over near Leleiwi, which we didn't get to explore.

Explore the North of the Island-
Regardless of where you're staying on the island, you must get North!  The day we visited Hilo, we kept driving with no destination in mind, but found the most amazing stops along the way.  One we skipped was the Hawaii Tropical Botanical Gardens.  If gardens are your thing, I hear this is a must, but we wanted to experience the tropical paradise outside of a garden.  Our first stop on our trip north was Akaka Falls.  These gorgeous waterfalls are easy to get to and so, so beautiful!  This is the first time I felt like we were walking in Jurassic Park.

From there we drove up to Waipio Valley Lookout.  If we had time, I would have loved to ride on horseback in the valley or drive around on 4-wheelers, but as it was, we only had time for a peek at the Valley of the Kings.  This is another spot where I expected a stegosaurus to just emerge from the jungle.

A drive through Waimea got us the most delicious malasadas and we were able to take the Saddle Road across the island and back down to Pahoa, which offered a totally different landscape on this diverse island.

Explore the East of the Island-
When on an island of volcanoes, go see a volcano!  We ventured into Volcanoes National Park for a few short hours one afternoon.  My regret is not spending more time here.  However, in a short amount of time, we got to see (smell and feel) the steam vents, walk through a lava tube and check out the crater.  On our trip, we couldn't drive around the entire rim because of the sulfurous gases.  I can't imagine with the current flow that it's opened back up.  You might not be able to enter the park at all.

Probably the most fantastic part of the trip was seeing red hot lava flow into the ocean.  We ventured southeast to Kalapana mainly because I wanted a burger for dinner and we heard Uncles (also known as Dr. Unks, Uncles Kitchen or Uncles Awa Club) served good ones.  Well, on a Saturday night, they were out of burgers and didn't have any menu items except for a chicken sandwich.  Picture a McDonald's fish sandwich and replace the fish with something they claimed to be chicken, but which looked the same.  Not great.

While eating we said, hey while we're down here, let's walk out onto the beach and take a peek at the lava.  It would have been that easy and yet, we didn't walk far enough out on the beach.  Instead, we got in the car and drove over to where we saw a sign that said Lava Viewing Area.  We parked around 6pm, with a ton of other cars and started walking to the entrance.  There were bike vendors on each side of the path hollering at us to rent a bike and we thought, no, we got this.  We're just going to walk over, see it, and leave.

We got up to the first gate and saw a sign that said 4 miles from here til the lava area.  4 MILES?  WHAT?  We turned right around and walked back towards the bikes.  I knew I couldn't walk 4 miles in.  We'd never make it before midnight, but I also didn't think I could bike in either.  Balancing a bike is one thing.  Doing it on gravel, at night, 31 weeks pregnant is another thing all together.  Kevin had seen one tent with electric bikes and we walked over there.  They gave us a safety rundown and spoke confidence into me.  We strapped on our helmets and we were off.  I tell you what, living is biking to a volcano at 6pm with your drawstring pants hugging your swollen baby belly, your hands death gripping the handle bars, afraid to turbo because if you fall off, you know you're either going to break a bone or injure the baby.  This is seriously the most adventurous thing we did and the most incredible!
When we arrived at the lava viewing area, we locked up our bikes and started the hike up the hardened lava towards the molten lava glowing in the mountain.  We had been going for awhile (maybe 30 minutes to an hour) when we learned we'd have to go another hour just to get kind of close.

That was enough for us, we turned around and hiked back down and past our bikes to an area where we sat with a group of people and watched the lava flow into the ocean.  It didn't seem real.  Partly because it was night and it was far enough away that it looked too tiny.  Partly because I'm sitting on hardened lava with active lava spitting out just across the way.  The best was to see the steam rising up out of the water and the lava spitting every so often.

Well, it was finally time to trek back and this is when the electric bikes came in handy, because it had been a LONG day and it was 8:30pm with 4 miles to go.  We made it back in one piece, turned in our bikes and then I got ice cream as a prize!

The electric bike company is Hawaii Lava Bikes.  I hear they do tours now, so if you're on the Big Island and want some adventure, I 100% recommend them!  Though, things might have changed a bit since the last eruption.  And, if you have the option of taking a helicopter tour or boat tour to the lava, I wouldn't sneeze at that either.

Finally, a spot that I know is no longer around is Ahalanui Hot Thermal Pool (Pualaa).  We ventured here with the uncles one night for a float in the hot springs.  This property use to be privately owned and the owner had built up this huge pool where ocean water meets up with water flowing toward the ocean underground that is heated by magma.  The thermal heated water is always warm.  When the owner died, he gave the property to the county/city so everyone could enjoy it.  We happened to visit on a full moon (or close to a full moon) and there was a group chanting and blowing conch shells and celebrating the solstice in a ceremony.  It was beautiful to hear as we relaxed in the warm water and watched the moon rise with the ocean waves breaking against the stone walls surrounding the pool.  I'm so sad this is gone!

What to eat:
We packed a lot of picnic lunches and ate a lot of breakfasts in our cabin, but we did have a few stellar meals to share.

Kona- Highlights were Kona Coffee and Holy Donuts.  Not full meals, but certainly treats you don't want to miss.

Pahoa provided breakfast one morning at Black Rock Cafe and dinner one night at Paolo's Bistro.  Black Rock Cafe is nothing fancy and the staff wasn't overly friendly, but it was a delicious breakfast for dirt cheap!  Bacon, eggs, grits, toast, pancakes, etc.

Paolo's Bistro was tres fancy!  There is no menu.  It changes daily based on what the chef feels like making and is verbally given to you as you're seated.  I got mushroom filled ravioli and was so satisfied!  The entire place holds about 10 people total.  Great for a fancy date night!

One very unique spot we had lunch was Mr. Ed's Bakery near Akaka Falls.  It is a bakery and a convenience store, but there is literally nothing else in the whole town for food.  They have pulled pork stuffed bread and hamburgers and hotdogs, so you don't have to settle for a bag of chips and a Twinkie, but it felt like we were back in time on the dude ranch!

Regrets:
Not spending more time on this island.  If we ever make it back, I'd love to spend more time north of Kona in the Northwestern part of the island.  We had our quick drive-through, but it wasn't enough.  I scoped out some great beaches to find sea turtles, but we never made it.  I'd definitely spend more time in Volcanoes National Park and I'd love to have more time in Kona.  I hear Lava Lava Beach Club is the place to go for a great luau. 

All in all, this island was the perfect mix of relaxation and adventure.  We got to see it at our own pace and that was great!

Next stop, O'ahu.

Post Birth- The Things No One Tells You Part 2

Sorry for the radio silence/lack of posting over the past few months.  I don't really have an excuse.  I've been over here just lounging around, watching tv, painting my nails and eating bon bons.  HA!  Yeah right!  I've been chasing a small human around and haven't opened my computer except to pay bills.  Look at my neglected piggies (if you dare)...they speak for themselves.

Remember this post?  I really thought I captured it all and then small things kept popping into my mind.  So, I wanted to get them all out there for you.  Someone reading this is about to get pregnant.  Someone is embarking on their 3rd trimester.  Someone is about to pop and someone is in the sleep deprivation of those first few weeks and may need a laugh or to know they're not alone!  Read on!

4th meal: Late night or middle of the night feasting.  When breastfeeding, you burn a LOT of calories and need to keep yourself fueled up!  I was ravenous.  Mostly in the middle of the night.  I had forgotten about it later, but those first few weeks were serious!  We had some awesome friends come by and drop off an assortment of groceries and those are what I craved at 2am, 3am, 4am.  Wheat thins, pudding cups, babybels, Gatorade, apple slices, coconut water or LOTS of tap water...(no picking and choosing, that was the full meal).  I also had a friend make the most FABULOUS lactation cookies and I had one of those every night too!  (No-bake cookies-with cocoa, peanut butter, oats-work well to boost your supply, if you can't find a good lactation cookie recipe or don't have the energy to make them.)
The first night I indulged in this delightful feast, I was alone in the kitchen after putting the baby back to bed and I just kept pulling things out of the cabinet and fridge.  I felt like I was secretly being filmed for one of those shows like My 600-lb Life.  In subsequent nights, I had Kevin fetch my snacks after we changed the baby and I'd eat as I fed her or just after.  That worked out nice!
So, stock up on snacks, or maybe you'll have a food fairy drop off the motherlode like they did for us.  You'll be happy to have something in the house for those late night feedings when you're so, so, hungry!

Strange new moles/skin tags: I noticed these soon after birth, but don't think I asked a midwife about them until a week in or our 6 week visit post-birth.  In my armpits, crotch and on my boobs were these flat, but raised up things, dark in color, that looked like a new mole or even a skin tag.  They were strange.  I thought they were the new normal.  In fact, I remember asking the midwife about them and then saying, "I just thought once you were a mom you started getting strange things like these."  She laughed!  And then assured me they were from hormones.  They disappeared.  I don't know when.  They went as fast as they came and I haven't thought about them since...until now.

And the biggest reason for making a Part 2 of this post...

The best thing about pregnancy, hands down, was not having a period.  The best thing about breastfeeding, hands down, was not having a period.  I thought as long as I continue breastfeeding, I'll keep that period away.  Wow, was I mistaken!?!  I really feel gypped!  Your period will return whenever it damn well pleases.  I enjoyed 16 months period-free.  16 incredible months.  They were the best months of my life.  And my period didn't just come back.  It decided to rear its ugly head when I had our child strapped to me in the Ergo and we were running from terminal to terminal with no time to spare to catch a flight.  Not ideal.  Not prepared.  Not what I bargained for.
So, don't be me.  Don't rely on breastfeeding to ward off aunt Flo.  (Don't rely on breastfeeding to not get pregnant either..seriously!  That would be a BAD plan.)  Don't plan that the rest of your life will be period-free.  Although, I'm really channeling Michelle Duggar right now!  I would continue to pop out kids to and fro if it would prevent me from ever having that time of the month again. 
And if you're one of the lucky ones that nurses for 12 months, 18 months, 24 months and doesn't get the crimson tide, I hate you officially!  I said it!  Dang your voodoo magic!  I don't hate you, I'm just super jealous of you and dislike you a lot!

So, there it is!  Part 2.
In other news, this week is National Midwifery Week.  Thank a midwife for their work!  And if you've had a hospital birth/experience that was anything but amazing, and you're in the Raleigh area, I suggest you check out Baby+Co. Cary.  They are THE BEST!  Birth is supposed to be beautiful!  Even if the result is a tired, hungry lady with rando moles and a raging period.

Oh, I also read a book since my last post, recommended to me by another mom: The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby's First Year.  It was entertaining.  If you're going through this stage of life and want a laugh, it's not a bad one to read.  Good luck!