Saturday

B, my aunt K, and I went for a drive (and to check out antique shops). Along the way we got lost (surprised?), and ended up on this LONG, straight, dead-end road that had signs that said "burial" on either side every few yards - between the palm trees - and when we looked carefully, we could see the mongooses at the bases of the trees.

I commented to my step-sister, K, that only tourists take pictures of common house pests...


The kids spend most of the day in the pool. At the beginning of the week the twins, J and K, wouldn't go near it. Now they're begging their cousin, E, to swim with them.

Saturday

I didn't get a chance to post pictures last night, as my step-dad and I were in the ER with my mom. She's having another one of her "episodes," probably some bug she picked up in Mexico... a year ago... that they haven't found yet; I liked the doc she had - he actually listened to her and didn't JUST snow her with drugs (don't let that fool you - he did snow her with drugs, but he actually tried to fix the problem!). Anyway... she's sleeping now... not sure how she's doing, no one wants to disturb her to ask, step-dad just keeps the meds flowing...

Friday

Friday started with a trip to the farmer's market



Then we went to see the first church built in Hawaii, where Joe set off the car alarm... while illegally parked.... and couldn't get it turned off...


While we were at the farmer's market, my mom had a barefoot massage by an eighty-three year-old man...



More of the farmer's market offerings... all from the Big Island...

Thursday

Only tourists snap pictures of hibiscus flowers at the Starbucks Drive Thru...


I met these two cute hogs... from a distance... they grunted at me and then ran off...

Between these and Donkey Crossing signs, there's quite a few critters crossing the road... Maybe we should stop them and ask them why they're crossing....



B checking out the neighborhood produce stand: bananas, pineapple, limes, guava, papaya, mango, etc. Yeah... that's a mild sunburn you see on his shoulder...

Round and Round we go...

We stopped at the Punalu'u Bake Shop - the southernmost bakery in the US. The guava bread is FANTASTIC!

My Grandma at the Black Sand Beach


The black sand in Brian's hand - it's much more coarse than regular sand - created by hot lava hitting the cold sea water and shattering.

Notice the contrast between the stark lava field and the green hills beyond.

Our trip to the volcano was, um, interesting. Between the sign below, and the rain...

Brian got out of the car and turned for a picture - less than 30 seconds - look how wet he got!
This is the visitor center at the volcano - and the waterfall coming off the roof
Just for my father-in-law....

More Pictures from Hawaii...

Open the picture below - the tree on the left is guava, the middle is avocado, and the right is mango...

Wild chickens in a parking lot...
Just for my mother-in-law....

The view from a scenic point overlooking miles of interconnected lava tubes...

Coffee

Today, we went to Kona Joe's Coffee. The owner acquired and began the farm in 1995, and began with a unique technique to growing coffee - he uses trellises, just like in vineyards. He has patented his trellises, but his coffee trees produce approximately 33% more coffee per tree each year, and the coffee cherries get more sun, and ripen so much better than traditional growing techniques. The following picture is from the roasting plant, looking over a field of trellised coffee trees.


Coffee trees less than a month from the beginning of harvest season

Nearly ripe coffee cherries
Another view of Kona Joe's Coffee trees
More to come...

--Erika

More Pictures from the House...

Plumeria



Palm Date Tree

Bird of Paradise
Bird of Paradise and Palm

Aloha!

This morning's photos are of the house we are staying at, mainly the front grounds and the fauna. There are quite a few wild animals that come to the house; we've had cats, "cardinal" birds, chickens, cockroaches, dragonflies, all manner of bugs, and, of course, geckos. There are reports that wild turkeys will come in the house if you leave the screens (see first two pictures below) open. Click on any of the pictures to have them shown full size. The following photo was taken from the plantation style front porch, looking toward the ocean (the blue behind the foliage toward the middle of the picture... behind the pool).

The following is a picture of the entrance to the house. Next, a view from the living room, looking through the screens to the porch - you can see the columns at the edge of the porch.

Pineapple, anyone?

More later... either this evening or tomorrow morning...

--Erika