Grandpa Ray, Julian, Cezar and me Andrew at Rainbow Falls, Hilo, Hawaii
Hi I am your guest blogger, Andrew Garcia (on the right with the cool shades). My grandpa asked me to blog about the trip we took to Hawaii. My cousins Cezar and Julian also went with me on the trip. Me and Julian (next to Grandpa) had flown before, whereas it was Cezar’s first time to go on a plane. It was the first time for all of us to go to a tropical island. We looked forward to explore the island because we live in Texas, a flat prairie mainland terrain.
On a Tuesday morning, we had to wake up early to go with our luggage to Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport to Terminal C. We checked in, went through security and waited at the terminal. We boarded the airplane and flew off, to me it was a long flight with 8 hours but the good part is its 5 hours earlier so the day would be longer. So, we left at 10:30am (Central) and got to Hawaii at Kailua-Kona Airport at 1:45 (Hawaii-Aleutian) which was 6:45pm in Dallas.
We Just arrived at Kailua-Kona International Airport – the whole airport is outside!
We arrived at Kailua-Kona International Airport in the afternoon and rented a red Jeep rental car and drove to Kona and it was gloomy that day which was weird because we were on the sunny side of the island. We arrived at the Hotel which was fancy and nice which was named after the King Kamehameha of Hawaii. We got the good view of the beachfront, it was actually like a beach pier-cape cove.
That afternoon, we rested at the hotel and later walked right next to the pier and walked to the restaurant Bubba Gum’s we were hungry because the AA stewards gave us a turkey wrap and no snacks because “they forgot to pack them” that was very unusual! We sat right next to the seafront and felt the breeze while we were eating, after we ate we went walking down the street and see beautiful blossoms of flowers with different colors. We went and relaxed at the hotel and went to sleep and me and Julian and Cezar woke up at 3:30 in the morning because we had jet lag.
View from the mountains of Mauna Kea Visitor Center, where they set up telescopes for free planet and star watching. We saw a million stars, and Jupiter with its moons. And a satellite flew over looking like a falling star that never fell completely but kept on going across the sky.
The next day, we woke up super early and went to the ABC store (which is like Walgreens). We ate cereal and went down to the beach and went kayaking in a two 2 seat kayaks. We went kayaking all the way to the light post and back. We also saw a cruise ship very close by. We next went back and returned the kayaks and went snorkeling with the sun shining and Cezar was a little scared of the fish in the water but then got over it. Then, later that night we went to Pizza Hut to eat their buffet, Grandpa Ray was telling us his stories, but then started laughing and speaking loud and had everyone looking at our table! The rest of the afternoon we went around and then Grandpa Ray drove us to Mauna Kea (tallest mountain in the world from seafloor to summit). We went at night and saw all the stars and we were in the clear sky up like 2,900 ft of elevation, with only a crescent moon. We saw the dark sky full of stars and constellations and we were wearing our jackets because it was 45 degrees in the mountain( We went from Hot Beach to Cold Mountain)!
Me, Julian, and Cezar at Hapuna Beach in Northern Hawaii (Waimea) – too windy with sand blowing!
On Thursday, we woke up and left the hotel and got our luggage in the car and drove to Hilo, the rainy side of the island where my great uncle John lives. We drove through the northern highway of Hawaii to get there.
Downtown Hilo – small city with more Hawaiian locals than tourists. Kona on the other side is the touristy city.
We stopped by the famous Hapuna Beach. The day was very windy and the sand was white – we went swimming in the blue clear water. Afterwards we went to the city of Honoka’a where they had this Tex Restaurant which served Malasadas (which are hot, filled sweet bread). We went back on the road and saw beautiful ravines. We stopped and took a picture on an old 1940 bridge they built over a massive ravine with walls of palm trees.
We arrived at Hilo and got Jamba Juice and something to eat. We then left to where great uncle John lives: Hawaiian Paradise Park Neighborhood which is close to the town of Kea’au . We got our stuff and explored great uncle John’s house and stayed here the rest of the week, sleeping on air mattress beds with the door and windows open with the sounds of the rainforest and the breeze and we heard rain (it was the rainy side of the island and sometimes it rained at night and sprinkled in the morning).
The next morning we woke up to a jungle-like feeling with the humid, damp morning after the rain (was about the only rain we got while in Hawaii). We then ate breakfast something simple and changed clothes and headed off to the Southern side of the island. We drove and went through this roundabout which was very interesting to go through because the people were proud to make that roundabout in Pahoa. On that same town there was like a desolate town because of lava flows that almost destroyed the town so almost everyone fled the town – only the lava stopped right on the edge of town. We went on this remote road and saw groves of papayas and we were in the area called Puna known for its hippies. In a half hour we arrived to Ahalanui County Beach. This place is called the warm pool because it is heated by the lava flowing underneath it, which was interesting.
We went to swim and snorkel because there were fish in the pond. We later left and went through a road to Isaac Hale Park which had a lot of great surfers and woman surfers too. Then, we drove more and saw a tomb with flowers and necklaces and arrived to McKenzie State Park. At that park it had cliffs very nice to see with the waves crashing on the rock and then we drove back to John’s house but we stopped at this pharmacy called Long’s Drugs which had everything that you could need – it was like a mini Walmart.
The next morning, we went to the same area, passed Pahoa and we went to this town and parked our car and walked to the side of the ocean where there were tide pools with crystal clear water. We snorkeled all around these shallow pools but we couldn’t touch the ground because there was coral there, it would damage the coral so me, Julian, and grandpa snorkeled while Cezar was exploring the rocks because he did not like the idea of swimming with the fish and maybe damaging the coral. But we saw interesting fish with yellow and black stripes and sea urchins!
We then left and went all the way to Hilo and went to the mall King Kuhio and watched several movies everyday in the afternoon and thought that Wonder Woman was a good movie.
At Punalu’u Black Sand Beach with great Uncle John who lives on the Big Island of Hawaii
The next day, we went to the hot pond Alahanui park again and swam for a while in the morning. Later we went to Punalu’u Beach Park with our great uncle John and explored that black sand beach because it was made from the black lava rocks. We saw black crabs crawling on the rocks and sand. Later we went to Downtown Hilo and explored Rainbow falls (the picture in the beginning) and we also went to this factory that makes different kinds of nuts and cookies – we got to eat free samples and watch them make the cookies through a clear window.
Back at the house Cezar liked to play on the pool table in the area below the house while Julian liked to shoot fallen coconuts with a bow and arrow, then open them with a knife and eat some of the white chewy meat inside – he is a good archer with survival skills.
The next morning in paradise we went to the McKenzie state park with its great views and explored there and came back from the place through a scenic route toward John’s house. We had to get back soon to go to this flea market that only opened on Sundays 10am- 2pm, we arrived there and got snow cones (Shaved Ice they called them) we watched the lady shave the ice and put the flavors. We then went and got different things to eat and watch this guitarist play music for everyone and also buy some souvenirs for our parents and walked around. We then went and rested the afternoon.
Later we went to see the Volcano only 30 minutes from great Uncle John’s house during the day and smelled the sour gas vents – feels like air from an open oven. Then we returned that night to see the lava lake glow in the main crater.
We liked Hawaii a lot.
Categories: travel
Books and Travels 
Andrew, I loved your blog. You did a very nice job. I could picture all the beauty and fun on the Island.