Hawaii Notes

This is my 3rd day on the island and it's a great vacation.

Went to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park yesterday.  Wish I had gone earlier, with a giant boonie hat and some good hiking shoes.  Really, to see what's going on there, you need to be on foot.  I tried to do the crater-rim drive, but most of the roads were closed.

The Big Island (the island of "Hawaii") is not usually high on the list of preferrences for vacations here.  Most of it is pretty desolate looking volcanic rock.  There are some exceptions.  Once you get into the mountains, it gets greener.  Went to a little town called "Waimea" and it was pretty green.

Really, parts of this place remind me a lot of northern california.

I have yet to feel the need for A/C in my condo.  The Island breezes keep things comfortable, despite the daytime temps in the low 80s.  This would be an amazing place to visit in the dead of winter.

Yes, I really did go to the local wal-mart.  I wanted to buy some sodas and a couple of souvenier tee shirts for my son.  I ate at the Macaroni grill my first night here.  However, the other day, driving back from the volcano, I stopped at a local Thai place and the noodles I got were amazing. 

It's Thursday already.  Tomorrow, I pick up my convention check.  I'll be just kicking around on Saturday.  Then, Sunday, I fly out late.

Hawaii isn't as developed as most of the US. Yes, in the touristy areas, you recognize a lot of chains from the mainland. Overall, though, it reminds me of what it was like visiting my grandparents in northern California when I was a kid. Most towns, you won't recognize the names of any of the businesses, other than True Value hardware. You can't just get anything, anywhere, like you can in most off the continental US. I'm sure it'll change, just as northern california did in the past 35 years. In the mean, time, though, Hawaii is familiar enough and yet, different enough that you know you're not in the continental US anymore.

The difference between island life and mainland life is probably best summed up by a conversation I had at the rental car place.  (It was Enterprise.)

The guy said, "Your plane leaves at 10:30 on Sunday?"  Yeah.  (All the flights out of Kona seem to be on red-eyes.)

"That's pretty late.  You might want to come here a few hours early because we'll be closed."

No late drop, no night attendant.  Just "we don't work that late" and that's it.  Hahaha!

I wanted to come very early, anyway, to try and see if I could get upgraded on my return flight.  I think I actually have a middle seat on one of my legs coming back.  (One is 7 hours long, the other is 5.)  At the least, I want to see if I can change to an aisle on either one of those.

Hawaii, even the big island, does really kick butt.  I wish I could have brought Logan, but oh well.  He's at an age, now, where it's a little unfair to bring him places if he doesn't have somebody his own age to play with.  I don't imagine I'll be paying airfare for one of his buddies to accompany us anytime soon.

The convention will be here in 2020 if I'm still in the Servpro system by then.  Maybe he'll want to come, then.  He'll be a college student, then, though.  May appeal to him, but maybe not. 

All in all, I still don't like vacations and I don't like being away from home.  Mostly, I just don't like being away from my boy, even if it's to a tropical paradise like this.

Wierd note:  when I was at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park there was this compound of buildings called the "Kilauea Military Camp".  I had no idea what it was.  Tried to drive around it and there were people there.  There were also tennis courts, a theatre... reminded me a lot of Camp Hovey when I was stationed in Korea.

I wondered if it was like a military school for juvenile delinquents or what. 

Turns out it's an Army MWR facility.  (Morale Welfare and Recreation.)  If you're in the military or retired, you can rent a cabin there.  (The fee is based on your pay-grade.  Folks who make more pay more.)

It wasn't dirt cheap, but it was reasonable.  $100 a night-ish.  You could rent an entire cabin for your family.  It had a lot of appeal to it.  For one, if you're going to explore Volcanoes National Park, you need more time than just an afternoon and a crater-rim drive. 

The thing I liked is that it had several dining facilities, entertainment, movies (family friendly), etc.  So, you didn't have to leave the park to get lunch, for instance.

The park, overall, is a pretty inhospitable environment, especially for very, very young kids.  But the camp would be an awesome place to see things in the park, but also have a nice environment where little kids can play.