Derek wanted to plan a mid-winter getaway for us to have a chance to thaw out from all of Alaska's snow & freezing temperatures, and it was an added bonus to plan the trip around my birthday....so I got to ring in my 39th year in Hawaii! I don't think in all of my 39 years I have ever been on vacation on my birthday, so this was really fun! And trading in our snow boots for flip flops didn't hurt either. ;) The girls were a little bummed to miss out on school while we were gone {and they unfortunately had to miss out on the Battle of the Books competition they had both qualified for}, but they quickly realized from all of their friends that these mid-winter trips are the norm for Alaskans. Everyone jets off during these bleak winter days in search of some much-needed sunshine!
When researching for our trip, we randomly discovered that a limo service would be the most affordable way for us to get to/from the airport, and this mode of transportation was quite the hit for our crew! First rido in a limo...check!
We spent our first full day in Hawaii doing exactly what we'd dreamed of....playing in the sand & eating Chick-fil-a! It was PERFECT!
The next day we woke up super early to head back to the airport & hop on a plane to the Big Island! After landing on the Big Island, we rented a car & set off to explore! Black Sand Beach was a super quick little pit stop on our way to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and it was one of our favorite parts of the whole vacation! The "black blobs" in the photos below are essentially cooled lava. We even got to see sea turtles! It was such a cool spot.
Next up was the national park & boy does our fam enjoy a good Visitor Center!
By this point, it was well after 1pm & we had had eaten breakfast at 5am. We walked over to the Volcano House for lunch, which is a restaurant located inside the national park. The entire dining area looks out over the volcano. It was the most surreal view & such an amazing experience. We literally watched the ash & steam come up as we ate lunch.
The next couple of pictures below are of the lava tubes at the national park, which was so cool to see & walk through.
We spent about 4 hours in total driving across the Big Island. The topography was incredible. The island is only about 100 miles across but within minutes you can go from the dry side of the island with coffee plantations to lava wastelands to jungle/rainforest. It was so crazy to be looking out the window at a lush green view and then to look up again to just see blackness where lava had flowed.
After a long travel day from Alaska to Hawaii + no nap + going to bed at 1am Alaskan time, a full day on the beach + no nap, followed up by another epic day of travel to and from the Big Island...the fatigue caught up to us! ;) Brady crawled into bed after his shower that night and fell asleep with all of the lights on before we even had a chance to do read together before bedtime or tuck him in. We wore him out!
Lots more pictures to come soon...this was such a fun trip!!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for letting us know you stopped by! :) We love hearing from you!