Hawaii 2026 - The Return Home

 Tonight we had a re-eye flight from Kona back to the Mainland.  We definitely made the most of our time today.  
The morning consisted of packing, packing, and more packing.  We had accumulated a lot of gifts and things so it took a while to get organized.  Somehow, we were coming home with FOUR new tiki mugs!

One last look at the Royal Kona

Of course we did even more shopping today.  We had a very nice lunch at a Japanese restaurant and drove up to Waipi'o Valley Lookout on the north side of the island.  I think that we can say we've seen most of the types of terrain on this island.  The transition from lava field to farmland to jungle in the space of 60 miles was amazing.

 As Hans drove us back to Kona I was mesmerized by how clear the coastline was up to 
where I went for a swim yesterday afternoon

Upon our return to Kona we went back to Kona Brewing Company and had some of their pizza.  I got a beer sampler and we hung out until it was time to gas up the rental car and go back to the airport (after collecting our luggage, which we had stored at the hotel for the day).

Even though the Kona airport is small and efficient it still sucked to be just waiting to board a plane.  And since our flight was at 9:30 pm we were tired and ready to be just done for the night.

We were home by 5 pm the next day - in 100-degree heat!  Yuck!  But, we were grateful for the long July 4th weekend during which we could rest and recover.  This trip will be hard to beat.  What a heck of a time.

Hawaii 2026 - Luau

I say this for every trip - all good things must come to an end.  This was our final full day in Hawaii.  In the morning we went to a local coffee shop and had really nice papaya yogurt bowls for breakfast.  Our only real goal for today was a little bit of last minute shopping and checking off any other experiences we were interested in.

We drove to Pu'ukohola Heiau National Historic Site, the site of a small museum and the remnants of an old temple.  Nearby is Spencer Beach Park, a quiet and small beach with a pleasant shaded picnic area and plenty of shower.  I had come prepared for one final Hawaii swim and so I went into the shallow calm water and enjoyed a little bit of sun an sea while Hans took pictures of native birds at the park.

When we were finished we had lunch at a tiny hole-in-the-wall spot and then went to a macadamia nut factory.  They were offering samples of their various products including Ka'u-grown coffee at their sister business.

We had to get back to the hotel before dinnertime because we had tickets for the hotel's luau, which featured performances meant to reflect Polynesian cultures all around the Pacific Ocean.  The food was INCREDIBLE and the open bar had us feeling good at the end of the night.  We still had to have a final round of drinks at the tiki bar before bed.

To the side of the parking lot were piles of macadamia nut shells and birds everywhere

Some pre-luau rum on our balcony

We had an ocean-front room on the third floor of this tower, to the right in the middle

Guests gather all around the mesquite-smoked kalua pork pit

Mahalo!

Hawaii 2026 - Stars at the Summit

Today's tour wasn't until 3 pm and we had some errands to run.  We took a break from Hawaiian cuisine and ate our cheapest vacation meal of the trip at Costco!  Even here where everything is crazy-expensive, the beef hotdog and soda combo costs $1.50.

Oh, I forgot.  My pre-trip at-home manicure was looking absolutely dreadful this morning so I made a 9 am appointment at a nail salon.  My only regret is that it took almost two hours, but the very nice nail tech did a very nice job.

Anyway, in the afternoon we put on warm layers and donned our long pants and hiking shoes and then parked at the nearby Courtyard Marriott so that we could be picked up by our tour driver and guide for the evening.  We were going to the top of Mauna Kea!

The dormant shield volcano is the site of dozens of observatories for various purposes related to space science.  The nearly 14,000-foot elevation is above most clouds and the atmosphere is thinner - which is a good combination for astronomy.

Our driver's narration of Hawaii fun facts and corny jokes made for a relaxing trip up the mountain.  We stopped at the visitor center at about 9,000 feet for a bathroom break and dinner, which was served in old-school Stanley thermoses.  We made a few other stops on the way up so that we could gradually experience the elevation gain.  By the time we were at the summit I could really feel it if I moved around too much.  I was grateful that our driver had explained all of the ways we might feel "weird" in the thin atmosphere - because I definitely had heavy legs.

The sunset was spectacular.

As it grew dark we loaded back onto the bus and descended back to a more comfortable elevation on the mountain and our driver set up a telescope for some guided star gazing.  At this point I set up a camera and tripod to take some pictures.  Tonight was the full moon, so there was almost no chance of photographing faint deep sky objects like nebulae but the unique landscape was fully illuminated like daytime in long-exposure photos.

We were dropped off in town by about 11 pm and I was very tired by the time we went to bed. 

The true summit of Mauna Kea and the rising full moon

In the distance you can see the top of Red Hill on Maui, about 80 miles away

We could see the top of Mauna Loa, about 25 miles away

This satellite dish for radio astronomy is the exact same type as what they used for filming the movie Contact and it is part of the Very Long Baseline Array project.  The array's signal can be amplified five-fold if they enlist the help of the Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia