Hawaii Part 1

We went to Hawaii.  Yay, for us.  We went in gray, blah. January.  Do you know how amazing it is to leave sub zero temperatures and get off a plane and be greeted by warm humid air?  Heaven.  It is heaven.  Our flight left early on Saturday morning and we flew through SF and then directly onto Kona.  A brief pause to sing the praises of Xanax.  I hate flying.  Flying gives me amazing amounts of anxiety. To the point where I was about ready to throw in the towel.  The thought of having to get on an airplane gave me anxiety for months before a trip.  No more.  I took a xanax or 2 or 3 and slept like a baby.  Through turbulance.  Through everything.  Slept the ENTIRE way.  Heaven.  

 So anyway, after a blissful flight we landed in Kona, picked up our car, and drove straight to the hotel.  We stayed at the Fairmont Orchid.  Talk about blissful and heavenly.  That place was amazing.  Quite a step up from Motel 6.

 We quickly changed and spent the afternoon enjoying the local scenery from lounge chairs. 

 After a quick shower and change of clothes we drove up to Kawaihai and met Mamo and Pod at the never disappointing Cafe Pesto.  And the ganache torte is as good as I remembered it.  The next morning Rob had classes from 7-12.  I had a hard time deciding what to do.  I jogged up the beach path.  Turns out our hotel and Puoko are right next to eachother, so enjoyed watching some whales from Puoko then changed into my suit and spent some time poolside and beachside.

 After Rob's meetings we headed up to Waimea and went for a hike up to Anna's Pond and through Anna's ranch.  It was so beautiful.  Pictures never do it justice.

 Anna's pond was crazy crazy low.  Time for some rain!!!!!  Still pretty, but it was more of a puddle than a pond, except it had ginormous tadpoles.

 Love, love, love, the old gnarled wind blown Ohia trees:

 Rob and Pod explored around this little resevoir:

After the hike we went back to the house and had an excellent meal.  Such a great day.