there were days when the sun was so cruel...

sunburnt and singing celine dion - it was a long day.

henry kapono - a famous hawaiian musician that played after the PGA tourney.

and the winner was tom watson. not that i have any idea who that is.

that guy crouched down in the middle of the picture is freddy couples, the most famous and almost winner of the mitsubishi electric champions tour at the hualalai four seasons.

last full day in hawaii and it was an excellent one.

beautiful.

a wild rooster.

can you find meara?

after the wine tasting we went into the wine vault where they kept all the expensive wines.

taro and guava bread - very yummy.

makin' purple and pink toast.

kukio - the best beach EVER.

a cell phone hug i sent to gary cause apparently yesterday was national hug day.

(photo cred: meara)

is that not awesome?

right where we were laying to get our sweet tans. well, a burn in meara's case.

lava rocks.

more lava rocks. so crazy.

!!!

the view from some lava rocks out in the water. our stuff was on that beach and there was a little pool created by the rocks for us to swim in.

dinner time. steak, mushrooms, and some purple sweet potatoes.

yummy.

day of the luau.

oh, you know, just a view of the ocean at lunch with some wonderful drinks.

no big deal.

reading some augusten burroughs at the beach.

the pig roast at the luau. they cook it underground in an oven called an inu. it was really tasty.

click to make bigger and you can see it better.

some sexy hula girls.

wicked hot fire dancer.

our new boyfriend. we share.

volcano!!

steam vents made by fissures in the ground from the volcano. it's letting out heat from underground.

blowing steam!

meara and her dad.

the active volcano! make bigger, check it out. it was amazing.

sunset - we were waiting for dark so we could see the volcano glow.

while waiting we were sitting in a cloud.

cloudy volcano.

not the greatest picture but it's a glowing volcano!

waipio & hilo.

waipio - and by the way... everything looks way cooler in person and the internet sorta ruins the color. deal with it.

amazing!

we had to off road to get to the black sand beach.

behind me was the ocean - in front of me was a jungle.

can you believe the color of the water?! i cannot get enough.

lava toes!

me & meara's black sand footprints with some lava rocks in the background.

that's maui - as seen from kona, which is where we are, the biggest island of hawaii.

don't you wish you lived on that house on the hill?

left: wild orchid - right: crazy tree with roots that grow down.

make bigger for full effect.

the picture on the right is a banana plant in its beginning of stages. it's red bananas!

akaka falls.

pineapple & coconut shave ice.

i found a tiny coconut.

huuuge waves.

it was a good day.

paddle boarding!

(photo cred: meara)

puppy dog chasin' coconuts.