Hawaii!

Here are about a million pictures from our trip to Hawaii:

They started the Hawaii-themed items with free cookies on the plane!

Then we got free macadamia nuts and Mai Tais!

Almost there: Maui's on your right!

We're finally there! Pretty (and weird) island flowers!

Fish tacos in Kona Kailua!

Our view from the hotel room...
(Thank you Hilton points!)

Be careful, you never know...

The perfect beach at Hapuna

Hapuna again with some rock formations

Some crooked trees in the water at Beach 69

And then, I found a homemade grass skirt!
(I put it on and took pictures with it later)

The token feet-at-the-beach picture

My burn from 10 hours in the sun with minimal sunscreen
(It was unintentional, I promise!)

The fruit plate we ordered for breakfast the next morning.
YUM! (Mango and everything!)

Jason's burnt ankles:

Waipi'o Valley near Hawi on the northern coast of the Big Island

The other side of Waipi'o Valley.
(Gorgeous...)

A random beach we found and watched the locals surf.

Hawaiian sunset from our hotel.

We tried to go to Mauna Kea, but feared we'd run out of gas on the way up (ascending from sea level to the summit at 13,700 feet within the span of 15 miles). So we took a chance and drove to Hilo on the other side of the island. On the way, we stopped at Rainbow Falls!

Climbing to the top of the falls...

The pools above the falls.

And then, we drove on to Hilo...

And then, we drove to the top of the massive mountain of Mauna Kea. On the way up, we were sure we'd have to push our little red Mustang convertible the rest of the way! Take a look:
(It's the end of the world! That grade is steep!)

FINALLY at 13,000 feet in the air!

And finally, the TOP! We owe it all to our trusty 'Stang.
(By the way, most rental car companies exclude this drive up the mountain from their contracts because it's so dangerous. It's also recommended that you do the trip with a four wheel drive. And now we know why...)

The view from the top!
(Notice that we're above the clouds...)

So beautiful! See the trail? Yes, you can actually WALK all the way to the top. Though, no one really recommends it, even our guide book!
(Apparently, the top of this mountain is so similar to the moon that NASA astronauts come here to train for their moonwalks. )

And then, we hit a really bad patch of fog on the way back to our hotel!
(We could barely see anything!)

After our dizzying mountain trip, we stopped at the Four Seasons Resort for dinner.
It was AMAZING! Best night of the trip!

Our view from dinner.
("We don't have any tables, but you can eat at our BEACHSIDE LOUNGE.")

Um...OKAY!

Here's the view of our restaurant.
Incredible food, too!

And finally, the last days at our hotel.

Good bye hotel!

Good bye Hawaii!
We'll be back!