Rocky mountain way

The Hawaii Volcanoes National Park is an interesting place in our world. See something you want to see with a sign attached to it and you pull right onto the shoulder. No parking lot necessary. And so George Three listened to Scott’s veteran advice, and the five of us wandered on a lava rock bed.…

Now that’s a hole in the ground

When you get to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park in Hilo, you can drive around and split your attention on a wide variety of craters, lava rocks and, these days, the bubbling, live volcano that’s the center of attention. A stop at the Visitors Center and Scott’s advice helped us plan our agenda. This crater…

The Shack brings you to places you can only imagine

Mack had things good in life. Lovely and loving wife. Three smart and connected children. A robust family dynamic that included curious talk and practice of faith that strayed just enough from the center to keep him involved and interested. And then came that fateful camping trip out to the woods. There are a lot…

the big win.

My great blogging friend Beth wrote this one today at her place after attending a Detroit Tigers game and witnessing a worker at field level attempt to douse the enthusiasm of a bunch of kids enjoying the game. It made me glad for the full-on Syracuse Chiefs experience GM Jason Smorol encourages at NBT Stadium…

A lush life on the edge of the sea

The Tropical Botanical Garden bursts with green life. Once you pass through those gates, you down a long flight of wooden stairs, both sides flanked with exotic plants. The backstory told us that the original caretakers found this breathtaking piece of land basically trashed as a dump. They nurtured it, loved it, and brought it…

We fall hard for the big water sight in Hilo

A few twists and turns from the Waipio Lookout, and we’d made our way closer to Hilo and at the tourist point Akaka Falls. We paid our five bucks for the car full. Fair price for a state park, I figured as I followed the attendant’s instructions at the big meter and was handed the…

That’s one beautiful view from the Hawaiian mountain

Kona sits by the sunny sea. Hilo stands next to the rumbling volcano. That simplifies the geography of the Big Island, sure, but that’s the way it looked to our Dodge Journey stocked with tourists for a day of wandering from the former to the latter smack dab in the middle of our dream family…

In the middle of Kona, we meet a sea turtle

Fielding questions, our Dolphin Watch captain Nick told us that all we had to do to see sea turtles was go to the corner of the Kona Harbor. We walked there the next day. Bingo. My terrific daughter Elisabeth and sensational significant George Three went up close. We all appreciated the experience, my dear wife…

What do the farmers bring to the Hawaiian markets?

Our natural curiosity brought us to the Kona Farmers Market PDQ. Two of them, in fact. The whole family reunion spilled into the collection of white tents in the middle of busy Ali’i Drive the first full day of our dream vacation. We sweltered in the morning sun. The whole dang thing was set up…

There’s plenty to see while walking around Kona

There’s an attitude you feel while walking around Kona. Sure, Ali’i Drive is set up for shopping. Tourists are more than welcome to buy and dine. We walked, too, my dear wife Karen, terrific daughter Elisabeth and fantastic significant George Three and I. Every dang day of the family reunion and dream vacation. I noticed…