Bay Area Vacation Photos

As promised, here are photos from our trip -- including the ones I took during our boat trip out to the Farallon Islands.

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Kona Vacation: The Wrap-up

If anyone has been following my posts about our Hawaiian vacation, I'm sorry to leave you hanging. The combination of a spotty Internet connection and a desire to actually experience the vacation rather than merely blog about it limited my posts while we were on the island. And unpacking, catching up with work, and general exhaustion prevented me from finishing up until now.



On Friday the ninth we went on a whale-watching cruise aboard one of the Body Glove boats. This is the time of year when humpback whales come to the waters off Hawaii to make little (well, relatively little) whales. Hence the numerous whale watching excursions heading out into the bay.

During our three-hour cruise, we ended up seeing only one humpback


but we got a great look at a pod of melon-head whales (one of those critters that, like a killer whale, is sorta a whale and sorta a dolphin) which, the guide said, were rarely sighted in that area.



After the trip, our wanderings brought us to an oddity: The Starbucks in Kailua Kona -- which, by the way, doesn't serve Kona coffee.



The next morning we went on a snorkel trip on the Fair Winds II. We had initially been booked on a trip to an area where we had never snorkeled; but that trip was canceled, and we went to the place we snorkeled the last time we were at the Big Island: Captain Cook's monument.

But we had no complaint. The crew took good care of us, and we had some great snorkeling. Amy saw a moray eel, and we both saw numerous tropical fish, including some huge parrotfish. Plus, during the trip, we saw about four humpback whales, including a mother and calf -- several more than we saw on the whale watching cruise.

Sunday morning brought the only storm we had during our stay -- a two-hour blow with 30-knot winds and heavy rain. During the storm, we saw two men snorkeling in the choppy waters directly off the rocky outcroppings of the shore. The two men managed to make it up onto one of the outcroppings. One man ran and sheltered behind a wall while the other was still struggling to pull himself up onto the rocks. If they were friends, I hope the friendship ended right there.

After the storm was over, the weather was beautiful. We rode our bikes back into Kailua and dropped them off at the rental place, hit the local Hilo Hattie store for souvenirs, and took a last amble through town.





That afternoon, we watched the sunset from the resort's pool area. We saw the sun go down in a perfectly clear sky -- and as it disappeared, we saw the green flash.

We finished up the day at Bongo Ben's for dinner, and then reluctantly packed.



On Monday, we drove the 100 miles back to the Hilo airport, and flew home after a great vacation.

Farewell, Hawaii. We will be back.



You can find more of my photos from the trip here.

Kona's Moonlit Waters

Taken at about 4:30 this morning.

Vacation Reading

I find book exchange shelves in vacation spots vaguely romantic. I imagine the beaten-up paperbacks within to have traveled the globe, snatched up in moments of repose during adventure-filled journeys.

As usual for one of my vacations, I've dragged with me more reading material than I can consume (particularly since I've added to it, as discussed below). I brought Michael Chabon's THE YIDDISH POLICEMEN'S UNION (I'm halfway through it), Max Allan Collin's A KILLING IN COMICS (a whodunit set in the comics biz in 1948), three graphic novels from Phil and Kaja Foglio's "Girl Genius" series (sat around for a couple of years because I couldn't find the time for them), and a couple of volumes of manga. I've just about finished the Girl Genius books, have cracked the Collins book, and have already read one of the stories in the Westlake omnibus book I bought today. It's wonderful to have time to read.

Hawaii 2009 -- Days 3 and 4

The scene from our lanai, a few hours ago:




Yesterday, after experiencing lousy service at Green Flash Coffee for breakfast (20 minutes to get our drinks -- we got them after our breakfast sandwiches had been prepared -- and one drink was just poured coffee!) we went to Kahaluu beach, where I did some snorkling. There was an amazing variety of sea life just a few yards offshore. That day, like today, started out sunny, but clouded up in the afternoon. We finished the day with steaks at the Kona Inn restaurant, where we witnessed the restaurant's amazing belt-driven ceiling fan system (there is a central motor that drives a series of belts operating all of the ceiling fans).

Today, Amy went horseback riding in the morning. (I opted out of that, since it's been just two years since I fell off a horse during my last Hawaii visit, and broke my wrist.) Before leaving, she had a much more positive experence at Green Flash Coffee. (Guess we just hit them at the wrong time.) While she was riding a horse, I rode my rented bicycle east through Kailua, and then north along Highway 19 until just before the Kona Airport. (The highway shoulder is quite accommodating for bicyclers -- there are special lanes for bikers to use in crossing the on-ramps). I visited a number of stores, including Kona Bay Books. There, I engaged in a vacation tradition from my childhood -- I bought an "old" book (Donald Westlake's LEVINE, in a 25-year-old paperback edition) and an old comic book (an issue of World's Finest from 1967, with a silly-but-entertaining story). The chatty lady at the bookstore remarked that mine was the second Westlake book she had sold that day. She hadn't realized that Westlake passed away last week, leading to various tributes and to folks like me picking up his books.

This evening, we had another delighful dinner experience, at Huggo's on the Rocks (at the same seaside location where Java on the Rocks serves breakfast). Nothing says "vacation" quite like sipping fruity frozen cocktails under the light of tiki torches with the sea roaring below you and a live band playing acousting Hawaiian music (with a hula dancer, yet).

Some photos can be found here. More will be posted when I get to a faster, more reliable Internet connection.

Kona Vacation -- Days 1 and 2

Right after the Anime LA convention, Amy and I boarded a plane on January 5 and flew off for our 2008 vacation -- delayed to early 2009. We wanted to go back to Hawaii, and since we had last been on the Big Island in 1999, we decided to go back -- this time, to the Kona side of the island. That's where I'm posting these deathless words.



Monday was spent entirely flying to Hilo, and then driving the 100 miles from the Hilo airport to Kailua-Kona. (They don't call it the big island for nothing!) Our arrival was complicated by two factors. First, the key we were left in a lock-box would not open our unit. (That was rectified that night, thank goodness.) Second, we arrived after 9:30 pm, and discovered that most of the restaurants close up no later than 9. We ended up at the local Bubba Gump Shrimp location, which fortunately was open late.

Today was absolutely gorgeous. The temperature has hovered between the upper 60's at night and the upper 70's during the day, all with that intoxicatingly balmy Hawaiian atmosphere. The weather today was clear. We are in a second-floor condo with the waves crashing against lava rocks below us. It is stereotypically Hawaiian.



We began the day by hiking over to Java on the Rocks for breakfast. This is an alfresco restaurant/bar right next to the lava-rock coastline, with the waves crashing nearby. (It becomes more of a bar in the evening.)



I had a magnificent cup of Kona coffee, and we shared a plate of tropical fruit.

We were joined at breakfast by an inquisitive gecko, who walked around on both Amy and me.





We then walked the rest of the way into town, and prowled the shops. I had an ulterior motive of replacing a long-billed baseball cap I bought in Kona back in 1999. The hat had blown into the Pacific the last time I visited Hawaii, in 2006. But long-billed baseball caps have passed out of fashion; the store where I bought it didn't have any. But I did buy a different hat, a pair of Crocs, and an aloha shirt (I have so many of those that a shirt must really speak to me to be selected). We had lunch at the Kona Canoe Club, overlooking the bay; and damned if we didn't see dolphins leaping and spinning in front of us. Talk about putting on a show for the tourists . . . .

We rented bicycles in town and rode them back to our complex, after signing up for a few activities (nimbly dodging the offers of discounts if we merely devoted a few hours to time-share presentations). We then walked to Lava Java for dinner. LJ is a wi-fi watering hole plus; it serves up not only coffee, but breakfast, lunch, dinner, and dessert. I had a delicious mahi mahi entree in some kind of sweet coconut sauce. We then walked into the center of town again and back to the complex. All together, we walked three miles and bicycled another mile, not counting the walking around we did in town. Got to burn off those calories . . . .

Kauai Giveth; Kauai Taketh Away

A mishap occurred in our Kauai vacation yesterday, when a delightful horseride/hike resulted in injury to Your Humble Servant. My saddle slipped down one side (due, according to the stable master, to my not being centered -- I knew I shoulda taken those meditation classes); the horse bucked and galloped; and I went airborne. Fortunately, I did not share Christopher Reeve's fate. My only injury was my right wrist, which sustained what the radiologist called a "subtle" fracture of the radius head. I can still type (obviously) but I'm wearing a splint.

Second mishap occurred this morning. I went out on a catamaran with Amy and her sister, Helen (who's staying with us in the condo) to the Na Pali coast (but alas, not to snorkle as planned, due to the wrist). As we raced over the waves, the wind snatched up the baseball cap I bought iin Kona on the Big Island in 1999, and returned it to Hawaiian Islands, albeit the watery portion.

More photos soon.

Mr. Barer and the Tropical Stack

Two background facts:

-- When I was a kid, my parents went to Hawaii. They brought back a can of coconut syrup, which sat in the fridge for several months. My images of Hawaii were shaped by Hawaii 5-0, pineapple commercials, and that can of coconut syrup. I imagined that Hawaii had to smell of pineapples and coconut syrup.

-- Earlier this summer, I read Lee Goldberg's second MONK novel, MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII. In the novel, which takes place on Kauai, Monk's assistant Natalie eats macadamia nut pancakes for practically every meal. It strained suspension of disbelief to the breaking point that Natalie would remain the so-slight-she's-almost-not-there blond shown on the TV show after ingesting that many pancakes, but hey, that's artistic license.

Last night, we observed the ritual of grabbing a couple of maitais (at the Olympic Cafe in Kapaa.) This morning, I informed Amy that we had to have some mac-nut pancakes. So we sauntered to the Ono Family diner, and each ordered the tropical stack (mine with bananas, Amy's without). The fully-loaded tropical stack mixes mac nuts, bananas, and coconut into the batter, and tops the stack with each of those treats. Plus, the diner served a hot pitcher of -- yes -- coconut syrup, with shreds floating in it. Holy Frappuchino, that was marvelous. By the time I was done, I was so full of carbs you could bag me, twist-tie me, and put me on the bakery shelf.

Afterward, I went swimming in the pool, unconcerned when a tropical rain started falling. No rain, no rainbows.

Kauai Getaway

It's vacation time, and yesterday Amy and I flew to Kauai. I've visited here once before, in 1994, and I've visited the Big Island and Maui in past vacations, but this is the first time I've visited Kauai with Amy. We're staying at the Pono Kai resort in Kapaa.

Since were up late Friday night packing, we only got a few hours of sleep before the taxi came Saturday morning. Amy got a nice nap on the plane, but I've never been good at sleeping on planes, so I inhaled an entertaining novel from Hard Case Crime, BUST, by Ken Bruen and Jason Starr. Ah, the joy of reading about bad people doing ill-advised deeds and suffering the consequences.

Once we got to the resort, we had lunch at the Olympic Cafe and ice cream at Beezer's. We paid the ritual visit to the ABC store, and browsed an art gallery. Then we came back to our room and laid down for a short nap. Six hours later, we woke up, watched some anime on the Cartoon Network, and went back to sleep.

This morning I took a 7 am stroll on the beach, where I shot these photos. We then went to the activity hard-sell -- er, orientation, and signed up for stuff to do for the week.