Day 1 - Kona Farmer's Market, Drive through the saddle to Hilo, Volcano National Park
 Highlight of the day and the greatest way to start our trip. Considering that practically every store and restaurant was closed when we arrived last night, this was a huge upgrade. We had McDonald's for dinner last night. This morning, we ate fresh fruit in front of the ocean. Unobstructed views. Warm sun on my skin. No makeup. Totally worth the wait.  We went on a tour to check out the Volcanos. Before going to the National Park, the tour guide took us here...I can't remember what it was called, but it was a short walk over some volcano rocks to the ocean.   The last little bit of the walk had black sand.  Start of the walk at the Volcano National Park. I was so impressed by the vegetation growth on lava rocks. Life is amazing to me.  Gaseous stuff coming out of the hot volcanic land. It was like a free facial here - warm, steamy sulfur.
 We walked through so many puddles to get here. At the end, we were rewarded with a rainbow! Day 2 - Akaka Falls, Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots, Kaumana Caves, Hilo Farmer's Market, Mauna Loa Factory, Zoo, 4-Mile DriveYeah...I don't know how we had the energy to do all of these activities on this one day. Thankfully, all of these sites were super close to one another, but still, wow!  One of me and Brian's fav things to do together is to visit local mom and pop shops and hole-in-the-wall restaurants. The Papa'aloa Country Store is both. We ordered a loco moco and banana bread to-go so that we can eat it at the Laupahoehoe Point State Park. It was POURING rain that day. Needless to say, there wasn't much of a view because of the heavy fog, but at least the food was good.  View of Akaka Falls from the parking lot.
 Akaka Falls from the main viewpoint. It was raging that day because of the heavy rain. In fact, the whole island was under a flash flood watch.  Peek Akaka Falls in the background.  At Rainbow Falls. Also raging.  Under a gigantic banyan tree.  Taken at Boiling Pots. Couldn't help but notice the beautiful plants everywhere.  I was too afraid of these wild chickens. Brian had to shoo them away first for me to get out of the car. HAHA!
 Coming out of the Kaumana Caves. This was a free, amazing sight. Of course, free doesn't come without challenges. We first had to brave the wild chickens.    Hilo Farmer's Market 
 The first and only clear, turquoise water we saw on the trip.  Luckily for us, we were the only ones out at this beach. I think everyone else stayed indoors to hide from the heavy rain and flash floods.   Do not reenact! Don't ever turn your back against the waves.  We met a local Hawaiian painter who helped us capture this memory. He asked us not to share this beach with anyone and I wouldn't know how even if I wanted to! We just drove around and parked alongside the coast. Never got the name of this beach.  One of the highlights of this day was when we drove through some low-hanging trees to get to this isolated camping spot. We parked our car rental, rolled down our windows, and just enjoyed the sound and smell of the waves. Day 3 - Punalu'u Black Sand Beach, 5h drive back to Kona, Hapuna Beach (not pictured)Most of this day was spent on the road. The rain was heavy this day. Our original plan was to visit Black Sand Beach, buy some snacks for the road, and visit Papakolea Beach (Green sand beach) at the southernmost point of the USA on our way back to Kona. Unfortunately, because of the flash floods and road closures, we had to take a FAT detour back to the northern part of the island. Needless to say, a 2h 30m drive ended up taking ~5h.  The sad truth about being the photographer is that you don't often get captured in photos. This is one of the rare ones from the trip.  I'm smiling, but really, these volcano rocks are slippery!  Silly guy who I'm lucky to call mine!  Never fails to make me laugh  I don't know how he makes it look so majestic. This area was full of flies, spiders, etc.  Not pictured: Brian trying not to fall into huge gaps.  Close up of the huge gaps.  Unapologetic, mandatory palm tree pic. Day 4 and 5 - Resort bummin' at Sheraton Kona, Boogie Boarding at Hapuna and Magic SandsNot much of these two days were documented. We just reaaaally enjoyed the amenities of the resort, soaked in the sun, and embraced the time.  Our favorite restaurant on the whole island - Teshima's. We visited this restaurant twice. Once for breakfast and once for lunch. We went to L&L's for dinner instead of going to Teshima's for a third time.  Look at its little tongue! It was licking off some ice cream that Brian accidentally spilled. These little guys come out of nowhere!!! This was the last photo I took on the trip. At the time of this photo, the weather was like 86 degrees - the warmest of all days since we were on the island.
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I've always been a very curious and reflective person, and this blog serves as place for me to track and share some of those thoughts. Lately, I've been sharing more about travel, so follow along if you're interested in learning tips & tricks or just want inspo.
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