Hawaii 2009!

I'm hoping there is a Hawaii 20?? blog update in the future. Mark this island (Big Island) on your must visit list because there is a lot to see! We didn't have the greatest weather, but it was sure nicer than what we missed at home. I had planned to soak up the sun for a couple days while Phil did the A&W thing and go to some meetings. Well, it didn't work out like that, as it was too cold to sit by the pool and the wind would have blown my book away!
We were delayed a whole day in getting to Hawaii. To make a long story short ... don't fly United through San Fransisco and check the plane's maintenance record! The good thing is that we did eventually get there ... and back! The first day was sunny, and the last day was sunny. The days in between varied from cloudy-windy-cool-misty-rainy-downpour! What is nice about the big island is there is so much to do! We didn't get our beach days, but we saw a lot, and covered most of the island (ps. there is unlimited miles when you rent a vehicle)! We didn't have umbrellas or raincoats and kept thinking we wouldn't need them the next day! So, I don't have photos of the lava pool (heated pools from the lava) or of many of the gorgeous valleys, etc, because I didn't want to drench the camera. We also went snorkeling for a bit - would have liked an underwater camera for that!
Anyway, these photos are from our first day there (Tuesday March 3); in the Captain Cook area of Kona. We went to the City of Refuge, did the Coastal Trail, Hookena (I think) Beach and the painted church.