Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Aloha!

Hubby and I returned last night from our little island get away. We've been relaxing on the Big Island of Hawaii soaking up the warm sun. This hammock was outside on the grounds of our hotel, next to the ocean and was the prefect spot to watch the sunset.

This is our third trip to the islands but our first trip to the big island. Are timing was prefect as we missed the first big snow fall at home. My daughter was taking care of the house and Jenny (the cat) while we were away and I got a few frantic text messages with "help" where is the shovel and salt???. Fortunately the usual weather here is to have a warm spell after a snow fall and it now looks like it never snowed at all.

Paradise wasn't entirely prefect. Our plane arrived early in the morning, too early to check in to our hotel. We decided a tour of a coffee farm would be a good first day activity. That's when it started....the rain. And not just your whimpy rain drops, this was like stepping under a water fall. The rain cut the tour short and we decided the next best thing would be sit the rain out while enjoying Kona coffee and a chocolate brownie. We sat for a very very long long time, the rain doesn't seem to be letting up, the waitress came around and said the roads are starting to get washed out. Hmmm.....we better go to our hotel. About a 2 minute drive down the road, we saw a few cars stopped on the road in front of us and then we saw it, just like the movies, mud and rocks raging across the road, unbelievable what do we do now? A couple of cars turned around but where would they go?? Soon they discovered more mud and rocks across the road in the other direction as well. And then a pipe next to the road broke and water was shooting up in the sky about 30 feet right behind us. So to make a long story short, we stayed in the car watching raging mud, down pouring rain and water shooting up from the ground for about 2 hours before it let up and the road could finally be cleared. I can't tell you how worried I was that our first night on the island was going to be sleeping in a car. The next day there was almost no signs of all the rocks and mud....incredible experience. The rest of the trip was dry, sunny and stress free....whew.

I have so many things to show you, the packages waiting for me when I got home and the antique shop find I brought home from the island. This was going to be a short post that turned long quickly. I feel like I've missed so much and have so much catching up to do in blogland. I'll be around shortly to read what everyone has been up to this last week.

17 comments:

Darlene said...

Cute picture! :-)

Rain, rocks and mud is not a good way to start a vacation but thank goodness it was just one day. Whew!

I'm glad you're home - I've missed you. :-)

Annie said...

East West - home's best

Knot Garden said...

Sounds like you saw some dramatic weather! Hope the rest of your holiday was calm and relaxing.

Quilter Kathy said...

Wow! What an adventure!
Look forward to reading more about it!

Unknown said...

Hmm wondered where you were hiding, now we know. Not the best start to a trip away. Glad you're back with us.

Libby said...

Aloha and mahalo for bringing back a little island paradise . . . Hubby and I surely would have parked ourselves in the hammock for the duration *s*

Red Geranium Cottage said...

Glad you ended up having a good time after all. That rain can be brutal over there. Can't wait to see your pics.

QuiltNut Creations said...

welcome home! glad the rest of your trip was restful

Mar said...

Welcome home! you sound relaxed, glad the weather didn't stay drippy. Can't wait to hear more.

*karendianne. said...

Welcome home! Happy you got away to relax at just the perfect time but you were missed here, too!

Quilts And Pieces said...

Wow! What an experience! Actually probably good on the first day instead of ruining your last day! Oh how I wish I had some relaxing days in Hawaii!

Pam said...

I saw a news story about a rain storm in Hawaii and I was wondering about how you were making out and if you were somewhere near the rain. Sounds like quite the adventure!! Good thing you missed the snow though - it was quite the adventure as well :))

Looking forward to your pictures.

Mrs. Goodneedle said...

Welcome home! I was glad to read that your first-day adventure was an isolated one. I know how much you must have enjoyed this getaway, well deserved!

Thimbleanna said...

Oh my gosh! How scary! I wouldn't have been nearly as worried about spending the night in the car as I would have been about being washed away. At least you got a brownie out of the ordeal LOL!

Unknown said...

I am glad that it was just the first day that was a disaster, glad to "hear" from you again.

Carole said...

Love the picture! Glad to read that all was well afterwards! Keep well!

Karen said...

YIKES that would have been so scary. I'm glad that it all turned out fine and that the rest of your trip was uneventful and wonderful.

Hugs - Karen