• Vicki Bourckel
lut – mar 2020

CA and HAWAII 2020

29-dniowa przygoda według Vicki Czytaj więcej
  • Rozpocznij wyprawę
    25 lutego 2020

    Aannd we're off! Again!

    25 lutego 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 46 °F

    We have been looking forward to this trip ever since Andrew was assigned to Pearl Harbor almost two years ago. Yes we are VERY excited to be traveling west for several reasons--sunshine, Patrick, Jen, Peter, Betsy, Timothy, Andrew, Dani, sushine, beaches, oh yes and warm sunshine! We will be away for four weeks, three in Hawaii. Today is a travel day so nothing else to say. Glad to be leaving Baltimore and it's cold rainy temps for warm California and Hawaii sunshine! Glad to share our travels with you. Czytaj więcej

  • Day 2 Montrose CA

    26 lutego 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌙 66 °F

    It was a beautiful sunny day, in the 70s and it felt great. We are staying in an Air Bnb less than two miles from Patrick's apartment. It is just a bedroom and bathroom in the back of the house with a private entrance, We spent the morning with Jen and the kids, then took Peter and Betsy with us to Ash Wednesday service at their church. After lunch we all went to the Wildlife Learning Center. This was a return trip because we enjoyed it so much two years ago. It is small and you can see the animals pretty close up. There were monkeys, foxes, a lynx and a bobcat, eagles and owls and a parrot, tortoises, snakes, alligator, sloths and even a giraffe. The kids enjoyed it a lot. After a stop for ice cream on the way home, we spent the evening with the kids. Patrick had to return to church for the evening Ash Wed service, so Jen went too and we stayed with the kids, reading books and playing games. And we get to do it again tomorrow! Czytaj więcej

  • Day 3 CA

    27 lutego 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    Another day of fun in the California sun! Betsy and Peter were in school so Larry and I took Timothy to the park, letting Jen have a little time without kids. Timothy played hard. After lunch he had a nap and Betsy was home from school so we had some girl time. I painted her finger and toe nails a sparkly pink, then we strung some beads that were a gift from Aunt Katie. When Peter got home from school we all went to a park for some more outdoor time before going to eat out as a church fundraiser. Kids to bed and a little quiet time to chat. Czytaj więcej

  • Day 4 CA

    28 lutego 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    Larry and I decided to walk to the apartment from our Air bnb, just under 2 miles. Patrick picked us up halfway after dropping Jen off at work. Today Betsy was in school and Peter was home. I occupied Timothy with books and play while Peter, Larry and Patrick played Ticket to Ride. After Betsy came home and Timothy had a nap, we went to a favorite place, Descanso Gardens, for a walk. The gardens are kind of between seasons but it is still such an enjoyable place to spend some time. Spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, then patrick left for a one day, 2 night retreat at a nearby monastery with a few of his close friends. Larry and I walked the whole way back to our Air bnb. It was a nice walk, took us about 45 min. Czytaj więcej

  • Day 5 CA

    29 lutego 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 54 °F

    We woke up to a message from our Air bnb host that she had left warm pastries outside our door. By the time we hit up they were no longer warm but we put them in the microwave to get them warm again. Amazing homemade almond croissants, mmmmm they were good. Peter made us coffee when we got to their house, and then Jen, the kids, Larry and I went to Huntington Gardens, a huge place with many gorgeous gardens and several art museums. They had an outdoor children's activity area where the kids could create portraits, and they had a lot of fun with those. Timothy especially liked coloring with markers on clear plastic walls. Then Larry and Peter went to the American art museum and Jen, Betsy, Timothy and I went to the children's garden, which was amazing, well designed and clearly a favorite with many families there. We spent several hours there, then home to make homemade pizza on flatbread before watching the movie Moana. The kids were tired and were in bed before 7:30. We have enjoyed such wonderful, sunny, warm weather all week, so much nicer than the cool rainy februaries of the past two years. That is going to change tomorrow....... Czytaj więcej

  • Day 6 CA

    1 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌧 50 °F

    It's Sunday so we went to church at St Luke's Anglican church. It was chilly and a light rain was falling. Our host had left muffins on our doorknob this morning, not nearly as good as the croissants yesterday, but still a nice treat. After church and a light lunch, we just spent time with the kids. Played games while Timothy napped, as it was chilly and damp outside today. Picked up chinese food for dinner and enjoyed a homemade angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. It was hard to say goodbye tonight, knowing it will be more than six months before we see them again. We checked into a hotel near the airport that had a shuttle, tomorrow we fly to Hawaii, via Oakland. A few pictures from previous days, none taken today. Czytaj więcej

  • Day 7-travel day

    2 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    From Burbank to Oakland, to Honolulu to Kailua-Kona, it was a LOONNGG travel day. Talked to Dani while we had an hour in Honolulu, Andrew was on duty. The Kona airport was all outdoors, under thatched roofs, wish we had seen it in the daylight. It was after 11pm when we finally checked into our resort and parking was hard to find. And had to haul luggage up a flight of stairs. But we are in Hawaii, will be in Kona for eight nights before heading to the other side of the Big Island Czytaj więcej

  • Day 8- Kailua-Kona, Hawaii

    3 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 73 °F

    Today was a chill day, sleeping late, enjoyed coffee on our balcony, unpacked, walked around the resort. They had a welcome party at the resort, we got leis-flowers for me, some kind of seed for Larry - there was a hula dancer and a native brother and sister who sang Hawaiian songs with guitar and ukelele. And they had puu-puu, an appetizer snack. It was nice and I was really happy to get such a beautiful Lei, since you don't get them at the airport anymore. We drove into downtown Kona to walk around for a little while, saw lots of restaurants and tourist shops and a gorgeous sunset on the beach. We are now relaxed and ready to see this island of Hawaii. Stay tuned, tomorrow should be fun! Czytaj więcej

  • Day 9 Kailua-Kona, HI

    4 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌙 73 °F

    Today was such a fun day! We did something we have never done before - snorkeling! We went with Fair Wind cruises and it was such a wonderful experience. 45min ride out, with breakfast served and masks and fins were fitted. There was instruction on how to snorkel and then in we went! Although it was 84 degrees and sunny, the water was a little cool for me. But oh it was worth it. We were in Kealakekua Bay and the water was crystal clear. Saw so many varieties of tropical fish, and enjoyed the snorkeling a lot. There waa also a large pod of small spinner dolphins in the bay that put on quite a show for us the whole time we were there, breaching and spinning. The ships crew grilled burgers and dogs for us and after lunch, we headed back. On the way back we saw a humpback whale and lots of cute little flying fish that liked like birds. The crew was so helpful and attentive, the boat was user friendly, with stairs into the water and a couple water slides for fun. We did not go down the slide, sort of wishing I had tried it. They had masks with vision correction for my nearsightedness so we could see the fish clearly. After we got back we stopped by the farmers market for some fresh pineapple and watermelon. Then to the resort for a little rest before dinner outside on the patio of Kona Brewing Company. Nice place, good food. Another good day! Czytaj więcej

  • Day 10- Kailua-Kona, HI

    5 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    This morning the resort offered a free Lei-making class, so off I went! It was fun and easy, and the instructor took some nice pictures. I am going to save it for greeting Dani(and Andrew) at the Hilo airport next week, she said they can last up to two weeks if kept refrigerated. Great use of orchids.... We went to YWAM Kona/University of the Nations, it is only half a mile from the resort. The tour guide never showed up so we drove around the campus and will try again tomorrow. Then we visited a couple of thrift stores(Larry is looking for cheaper Hawaiian shirts) and a quilt shop. Next stop, Larry dropped me off at a nail salon for a pedicure near Kona Brewing Company where he was going to do a Brewery tour and tasting. The salon he dropped me at did not take walk ins, so I walked a short distance down the street to another salon and had a nice relaxing pedicure, then went next door for some sushi before walking over to the Brewery to meet Larry. We went home, had something to eat and then went to the *Gathering* at the YWAM center, a weekly worship and teaching service. It was amazing to be there. When I was in YWAM in 1974, this center was a vision in the hearts of the leadership, and now to be here and see all that is being taught and the huge campus and facilities full of people, it was very moving for me.
    Excited for a "family reunion" tomorrow!
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  • Day 11 south of Kailua-Kona

    6 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    Today we drive south from the resort, past the Little Blue Church, which is a popular spot for photographs and weddings. It was cute but I didn't see what the big deal was. Then we stopped by Fair Wind Cruises so Larry could pick up the cap he left on the snorkeling boat. It was fun to walk on the pier with the boats gone, the water was so clear and we could see a lot of fish without snorkeling.
    Then we headed up the volcano of Mauna Loa, found another quilt shop and a cute little group of antique, boutique and thrift shops and wandered through them, but didn't find anything. Later I learned from my cousin Shelley that my aunt Dorothy had worked at Kimura fabrics for many years! We passed a street BBQ place selling chicken and ribs and got a combo platter with some of each. It was a generous prion that s enough for us to share. The chicken was so good! We sat in the car to eat as it was raining. After our lunch we visited Greenwell Coffee Farm and did a tour, learning how coffee is grown, picked by hand, and processed. It was so interesting but made me feel guilty about how labor intensive each cup of coffee really is. They also let us have unlimited samples of their 100% Kona coffees. We did get some to bring home. It rained off and on during the tour but we had umbrellas. One more cool site for today was St. Benedict's Catholic Church, also known as the Painted Church. The inside had paintings all over the inside, they were beautiful and interesting. I will add a second post with extra pics because this version of Find Penguins only lets me add 6 pictures per entry.
    Then the highlight of the day was visiting my cousin Shelley and her husband Paul. They had fixed a wonderful dinner for us and showed us their gardens and unique home that they had built. Shelley also gave us a tour of her studio where she does her palm sheath art, such an interesting medium, and her works were beautiful. We had such a nice time with them, I had not seen Shelley since the late 1960s when we were teenagers. It was much cooler in the higher elevation where they live, in the 60s, and as we drove back down to the coast and our resort, the temp went up over ten degrees. Tomorrow we are driving north!
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  • Day 12 Kailua-Kona

    7 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Lazy vacation day, got a late start and went to lunch at On The Rocks, on the beach, with our toes in the sand. Had fish tacos and Larry had their "famous" Mai Tai. Then we walked through Kona on Ali'i Drive, a mile to the pier and a mile back. More wandering in shops and people watching. By then it was happy hour at our lunch spot so we stopped in again and Larry had a drink called a Hawaiian Rainbow that was pretty and good, I didn't get a picture until he had already drank some. A quick run to Walmart for cream and sodas and then back to the resort for the evening. We are enjoying the relaxed pace of staying somewhere for a whole week, not being in a hurry to cram in a lot of sights and activities. I haven't mentioned how gorgeous this resort is. The landscaping is lush with hibiscus, bougainvillea and of course Palm trees. The paths around the condos wind around and it is just a nice place to stroll around. There are two swimming pools, Larry got in the hot tub one night, but we aren't really into pool swimming. We do still need to get to a beach or two! Czytaj więcej

  • Day 13 Kailua-Kona

    8 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    It's Sunday, so we go to church! I had asked some people for a recommendation and twice I was told Living Stones church. Checked the website, looked good so off we went. It was a mile from our resort, and is oceanfront. The building is smallish, so they had tents and chairs set up outside with video screens to accommodate everyone. It is a large church with two campuses and four services at one and two at the other. We got there in time to sit inside, but outside can't be too bad with the ocean right next to you. We enjoyed the worship and message, people were friendly. After church we walked about half a mile down the road to another marketplace with lots of souvenir shops and a couple of food trucks, had lunch(brisket, smoked Mac & cheese, Cole slaw with macadamia nuts and corn bread) and then walked back to the car and went back to the resort.
    This evening we had another "must do" tourist experience in Hawaii- a luau! It was outside, next to a beach-seems like everything is next to the beach here! They served Mai Tais and other drinks, and had live Hawaiian music. Then a conch shell was blown and King Kamehameha and his queen and court were rowed in from the ocean and the processed from the boat to the luau stage and were presented. There were a number of activities as we waited for the dinner to begin. Hula lesson, lawn bowling, Hawaiian checkers, temporary tattoos and then they pulled the whole roasted pig out of its roasting pit and shredded it for our dinner. The food was good and besides the pork there was teriyaki beef, marinated fish, Kona coffee chicken, poke tuna and lots of sides. The couple across the table from us was from Eastern PA, and there was a guy with an Orioles Hawaiian shirt on! It really is a small world! Larry fits right in with all his Hawaiian shirts, wishes he'd brought more and will probably pick up a couple here too. After the meal, there was a great show of island dances, examples from Hawaii, New Zealand, Samoa, Tahiti. There was hulas and the grand finale was a guy twirling fire knives, he was really good. It was a three hour experience and we really enjoyed it!
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  • Day 14- Around the Island

    9 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 70 °F

    We left this morning for Hilo on the opposite side of the Big Island to go to the only Walgreens on the island so Larry could get a prescription refilled. To make a long story short, that didn't happen. So we drove by the air bnb that we will stay in this weekend and then had lunch at Hilo Burger, where the burgers were made fresh from Hawaiian beef. They were very good. Back to the trip across, we drove the " Saddle Road", the fastest road across the island and the only place in Hawaii where you can go 60mph. The road goes between two Volcanoes, Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea. There was a little snow on top of Mauna Kea and the temp dropped 20 degrees as we climbed 6000 ft. The drive was less than two hours, and the landscape had several dramatic changes, from lush, to scrubby and dry, to black lava fields, to very dry and then back to green and heavy growth as we got to rainy Hilo.
    After lunch we got on the Hawaii Belt Rd heading to the north side of the island, driving along the road that Andrew will be running for the marathon on Sunday, but kept going until we got to the Waipio Valley Lookout, a stunning scenic overlook. There were also beautiful flowers right alongside the road where we parked the car. It was getting late, and we passed a quilt shop at 4:10, that had closed at 4.😕
    So we headed east, hoping to get to a sunny warm beach before sunset. After 30-40 minutes driving in light rain, we got to what was probably a beautiful beach, if it wasn't raining. We turned south down the Kohala coast and stopped at Anaeho'omalu Beach. It was only a light rain that even stopped briefly, and we really wanted to get on a beach, so we did. As we got out of the car there was a fantastic full rainbow! The beach also was beautiful, even in the rain and we did a short stroll. Somewhere on that walk, I lost my (prescription) sunglasses so we stopped at Walmart to get a cheap pair to last until I get home and can get new rx ones.
    Packing up tonight to head to the southern part of the island for a few nights before meeting up with Andrew and Dani for marathon weekend!
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  • Day 14- more pictures

    9 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F

    Interesting things we have learned about Hawaii :
    The hawaiian alphabet only uses 12 letters--a, e i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p, w
    Hawaii is the farthest place from everything!
    The Big Island has 10 of the 15 climate zones in the world. Czytaj więcej

  • Day 15- Leaving Kona

    10 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F

    We checked out of our Kona resort, but grabbed a quick geocache right in front of the resort before leaving and turning south. We stopped by Shelley and Paul's place, less than 20 min down the road, to drop off a couple of things she had lined us. It was wonderful to see their gardens in the sunlight, with pineapples, bananas, medicinal Marijuana(!) and spend a little more time with them. Then we headed to Pu'uhonua o Honaunau, or Place of Refuge, a national historic park. It had some thatched structures and a great wall of lava rock that was up to 12 ft tall and at least as wide. After doing the walk around the historic part, we also walked accustomed the lava beach in the park to a large tide pool and saw lots of beautiful tropical fish, without having to snorkel. Then walked to the picnic grounds and had a picnic lunch and enjoyed the beach. It was all lava rock, and a bit of a challenge to walk on, but the water was warm and the was also a great tide pool there. After a few hours there we headed on down the road toward our next destination. But first we got hungry so stopped at a local bar and grill for dinner - fish tacos again for Larry and seafood chowder for me. We both shared and had a good meal. Finally arrived at my cousin Karen's house (Shelley's older sister) where we are staying at her air bnb rental for the next three nights. It is an older house with a large living and dining room. Her gorgeous big house is on the same property. We had a nice visit on the deck with Karen and her husband Cliff before heading to bed. Czytaj więcej

  • DY 16- Na'ahelu

    11 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    Cousin Karen wanted to be a tour guide for us this morning. She picked a bunch of ti leaves for a project later. First stop was Punalu'u Bake Shop, amazing sweet breads and maladadas(Portuguese donuts) 🥯🥯😋😋. Will probably stop the again. Then we went to a farmers market/craft vendors in her town, it was nice and Karen knew most of the folks. We sat with a friend of hers while she taught me how to make a rope Lei out of the ti leaves picked earlier. Pretty neat craft, I liked how it turned out. Then we went a few more miles down the road to the famous black sand beach called Punalu'u, where green sea turtles are often on the beach lying in the sun. The black sand is really tiny beads of lava, it's really interesting. While no turtles were on the beach, we saw a lot of them swimming not far offshore. Pretty disappointing as we see turtle symbols everywhere and have yet to see a live turtle. Back to the air bnb for lunch. We relaxed a bit and wandered around Karen's beautiful tropical gardens. We decided to check back at the turtle beach but tide was coming in, waves were hight and no turtles on the beach, just swimming and popping up their heads to breathe. So we found a couple of geocaches nearby before heading to a local Cafe for supper. Hope we can see the turtles before we leave here. Czytaj więcej

  • Day 17-Volcanoes National Park

    12 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 57 °F

    We stopped again at Black Sand beach but no turtles so we drove on down the road an hour to Volcanoes National Park. The temperature dropped ten degrees as we climbed a couple thousand feet. This part of the island is very undeveloped, no towns or services. We got an overview of the park from the rangers, no movie because their theater is being renovated. This is the volcano that erupted in 2018, spilling out ten years worth of lava in three months, according to the ranger. Then we set off to walk past steam vents, holes in the ground that let steam escape from the heat of the magma deep below. Part of the walk was a boardwalk, and the trail led us to the room of the volcano crater, whu h more than doubled in size after the last eruption. The walk back to the visitor center was through tropical rain forest growth. We had a picnic lunch again abs then set off to see the Thurston lava tube, formed by hot lava flowing beneath hardened lava, it is like a cave. We came out the end and got another nice walk through the rain forest, and then an overlook to another smaller crater next to the big one. It was all really interesting. Then we headed to Hilo, 30 minutes away, to kill the rest of the day, as we had a special airport pick up at 9:30pm. We did a little retail therapy, then had dinner at a local grill and walked along the oceanfront park in the dark. Tried to find a geocache in the dark without success, maybe we will look again on Sunday.
    Finally it was time to head to the airport, where we greeted Andrew and Dani at the airport with leis that I made. Then it was an hour and a half drive in total darkness back to the air bnb for our last night there.
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  • Day 18- Volcanoes NP PT 2 to Hilo

    13 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌧 72 °F

    We said goodbye to Karen after Andrew and Dani both had a run. One last time we stopped at the black sand beach and it was a happy day for Larry! There were TWO sea turtles up on the beach, just chilling. Then we headed back to Volcanoes NP and did the same walks with Andrew and Dani that we did yesterday, and then drove down the volcano past vast "fields" of lava as far as we could see all the way down to the ocean. A powerful sight. It was cooler and cloudy today with light rain much of the day. 😕🌨️
    After the park we headed to Hilo where we checked into a very nice 2 bedroom home for our Air bnb for the next two nights. Had dinner at a Thai restaurant, picked up a few groceries and called it a day.
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  • Day 19- Hilo

    14 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    After a leisurely breakfast and morning, we headed out to the Hilo Farmers Market just down the street, it was a lot of fresh produce, some baked goods and ethnic foods and a lot of craft and souvenir vendors. We picked up some fruit and food for lunch. Then we went to the marathon packet pickup, and drove out to check out part of the marathon route. We drove the first 7.5 miles, a very scenic and hilly road until we got to the point where the runners will turn around and go back the way they came, pass the starting point and go 4-5 miles in the other direction and then turn around and return to the start. So we can see him at the start, around Mile 15 when they come back by and then wait for the finish. The race starts at 6am🙄😴😫 so we are going to bed early tonight. No pictures! Czytaj więcej

  • Day 20-Hilo, Marathon, Honolulu

    15 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    Andrew and Dani were up at three am to get ready for a 6am start time for the Big IsIand Marathon. Larry and I got up at 5:30 and got down to the route so we could cheer for Andrew near the start of the race. It was still very dark, the runners had to run the first few miles in the dark until the sun came up. Then us spectators headed up to Mcdonalds for coffee and breakfast until Andrew would come back around mile 15. He was in third place at that time, and stayed there until the finish, 3rd overall. He ran over 2 minutes faster than the CA marathon last year. I think that averages out to about 7 1/2 minutes/mile for all 26.1 miles, amazing, isn't it? We hung around for the awards ceremony, then had to get back to our rental home and pack up to get to the airport. The flight to Honolulu was about half an hour. We stopped at Andrew and Dani's apartment, grabbed a few groceries and then went to Waikiki to check into our resort for the next week. It is just a couple of blocks to the beach, which I hope to see tomorrow. Andrew and Dani have planned a full week of fun for us! Stay tuned. Czytaj więcej

  • Day 21-Honolulu

    16 marca 2020, Stany Zjednoczone ⋅ 🌧 77 °F

    We slept in a little after a long day yesterday. Andrew went around the corner to get breakfast from 7-Eleven. He says they have surprisingly good food! Then we went on a tour of Lion Coffee roastery and had a cup of their coffee. It was interesting to see the processing after having gone to Kona's coffee farms. Andrew drove us around some of the sights of Honolulu before we went to the commissary for groceries. Dani and I shopped at the NEX(Naval Exchange) while Andrew got groceries. Larry hung out in the food court, and we all had lunch there. It was now raining, so we went back to A & D's apartment so they could pack for the rest of the week with us - staying at our resort in our 2 bedroom condo. While it rained, we played a great game of Monopoly, American edition that was a lot of fun. Especially because I won!!! At 5:30, the rain had almost stopped so Andrew drove us around a little more, up to a fantastic Lookout where we could see all of Honolulu.
    Andrew prepared a delicious meal of ramen with chicken, pork and vegetables. We had to stop playing to eat then finished the game. Back to our condo, bringing groceries and the kids laundry!
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