Honeymoon Chronicles
Day 11 - Last full day! We had breakfast as usual outside and this little gecko joined us:
Then it was off to the Volcano National Park to hike around the Caldera. Here the Caldera is smoking - volcanic ash - smells like high levels of sulfur!
We hiked all the way around - about 8 1/2 miles! The second half of the hike is through the caldera on the old lava flows - and this sign says "Thin Crust" - we were very careful!
After our long hike and a quick buffet lunch overlooking the Caldera we drove to the north end of the island to go horse back riding! This time it was an open range ride. The horses are beautiful - this one has an imprint of the hawaiin islands on it's side (just about):
Here's me and my pal Blaze. Blaze was very good to me - we trotted and cantered and he listened to commands quite well.
And on horseback we got to watch the sunset - perfect for our last night in Hawaii!!!
Day 12 thru 13 - our trip home. It was exhausting - spending almost 20 hours either on planes or in airports (unfortunately our nice single layover got canceled and we had a double layover - plus we had to fly from the big island to Honolulu to start the trip back). But we made it and we had such a wonderful time in Hawaii! Here I am back in Albany - waiting for my dad to pick us up - I finally got a Lei on the way home.
And it was good to come home - not so great going back to work on monday but good to be home :)

Honeymoon Chronicles
Day 9 - goodbye Kauai - off to the Big Island. Arriving on the big island near dinner time - we drove to our B&B. The owner then told us that if we wanted to go see the lava, the best time to go was at night - lava! So we drove to the end of the road (about 20 minutes) and then hiked in the dark to get as close as we were allowed. The lava was spurting up into the air. This is the best picture I got :
Day 10 - Mauna Kea! Our first full day on the big island we decided to go to the summit of Mauna Kea and see the telescopes. This was very high on my list of things I wanted to do and I was very glad my husband was excited too. About halfway up we saw this:
then at the top there are numerous telescopes. The two center ones there that match are the Keck Telescopes - we went inside Keck 1!
After a long drive back down, even though it was early the altitude was affecting us both so we had an early dinner and an early night. It was an amazing day!

Day 8 - Napali Coast! Well sunburn or no - we needed to get out and do some hiking so I carried the backpack and we headed to the very end of the road on the north end of the island. There's this hike which is very very tough - we did only the first 2 miles- here's the sign:
And a view of the Napali coast while we were hiking:
Finally we made it to the beach and there were sea lions taking a rest!
Another view from the beach - just so beautiful here!
Then a VERY long hike back and we were done for the day :) We drove around and saw some more sites but didn't want to walk anymore!

Honeymoon Chronicles
Day 6 - Beach Day! We stayed at the local beach and swam, boogie boarded and just had fun. Then out to dinner. Unfortunately my husband got some sun burn on his shoulders :(

Day 7 - Craft Fair - due to sunburn we decided to have another low key day - we hit the local craft fair for gifts and I got a henna tattoo - here in this picture it's still wet, after the green stuff hardens and falls off it leaves a nice brown stain. I loved this tattoo!

Honeymoon Chronicles
Day 4 - Kapaia Stitchery! We needed a more relaxing day so we went shopping! There's a quilt store that I went crazy in - I got some wonderful fabrics! Next door was a wood shop and my husband got some gifts there as well as a hand carved box for himself!

Day 5 - Horseback Riding! We did a trail ride - it was quiet and relaxing and ended at a water hole for swimming with lunch provided. Here's a picture of a chicken hanging out on top of the waterfall where my husband was swimming (too cold for me!):

Honeymoon Chronicles
Day 3 - Up at dawn! Perfect timing for a sunset view on the beach. This is Anahola Bay by the way:
And here's the sunrise!
Then off for a day of hiking in Waimea Canyon! Here's a view on the drive up the mountain:
And a view while we were hiking Canyon trail:
Another view of some wonderful rock formations:
The hiking was strenuous but so much fun and just what we needed for our first full day on the island. On the way back to the house we went out to dinner care of my husband's sister (she gave us a gift card as a shower gift!). Dinner was wonderful!

Honeymoon Chronicles
Day 1 - Oahu
After a long flight we finally got to Hawaii at 1pm in the afternoon! We checked into our hotel and this was our balcony view:
Then I immediately took a nap because I was exhausted :) We went out to dinner and even with a nap i was tired early!

Day 2 - Oahu
Up at 4am! That whole time change trickiness! We went to Denny's for breakfast at 5am when we realized we were not sleeping in. Then for a wonderful walk on the beach!

Day 2 - Kauai
We finally arrived to our destination - a wonderful house on Anahola Bay in Kauai. We stopped at the grocery store on the way and made up an easy dinner and had an early night (still not adjusted fully).