Aloha!

Fresh from the islands, our plane landed in LA at 10:50 PM Sunday night, which put us back into Bakersfield just shy of 2 AM... needless to say we are a little exhausted and jet-lagged.  Julia is especially thrown off her sleep schedule and has gotten up at 11 AM the last 2 mornings.   Hoping she'll come around to California time soon!  

We had a fabulous time in Hawaii, but are so happy to be back.  We flew to the Big Island on Friday, June 20th, and returned Sunday, June 29th.  A loooong time to be gone.  Our resort along the Kona coast was beautiful, but I wasn't really prepared for the Hawaiian landscape in and around Kona - lava rock everywhere.  No lush tropical garden, but black desert landscape.  Such a shock!  We did take a Circle Island Tour one day, and that showed us the rain forest, Kona Coffee plantations, waterfalls, etc.  So we saw that the entire island was not taken over by black lava rock.  It was fascinating to see the extent of the lava flow from the volcanos, but I think I prefer the white sands of Oahu to the black rock coastline of the Big Island.

My good friend Carole accompanied our little family because Joel was taking classes for much of the trip, and she was able to come along and help me with Julia.  I was able to sneak in a little pool lounge chair time and miraculously finished a whole book for the first time in a loooong time.  Here are some highlights from the trip.