Aloha from Hawaii

Michele at Blessing

Punta Gorda - Fort Myers - Houston - Los Angeles - Kona, Big Island of Hawaii - that's the route we flew last Saturday after getting up at 3:30 AM and arriving at 7:30 PM (Hawaii time is 6 hours behind Eastern Daylight Savings time!)  Whew! Long flights, but pleasant ones all on frequent flyer United Airlines miles.

Michele met us at the Kona Reef Condos with a welcome dinner of tacos, chips and lots of stuff to stock our frig.  It was so great to see her! 

Since we've been here, we had some fun adventures.  We really enjoyed being part of the Kaiser Clinic Opening.  The Grand Kahuna performed a beautiful Hawaiian Blessing Ceremony.  Check out his picture! 

We also had an unforgettable night snorkel with lots of manta rays.  It's hard to describe the beauty of these creatures as you watch them do barrel rolls underneath you.  And they are H U G E!  We also enjoyed snorkeling Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, known as the 2-step, where we encountered lots of gorgeous fish above huge coral.  Yesterday, we drove out to Waipio Valley and took a tour down the steepest terrain maintained by a county government to a gorgeous tropical valley (it was the opening shot in the movie, Jurasic Park.)  Awesome!