Hawaii Days 7 and 8

Our last full day in paradise...

Today we went back into Kona. We still hadn't gone to Kona Brewery, and a couple of us wanted to do the oyster thing at Hilo Hattie. But first we hung out on the beach. Go figure! Who would have thought it?!? But after awhile we were off.

So we drove down the coast to have lunch was at Kona Brewery. We also signed up for their second tour of the day at 3pm. Lunch was yummy! I had a salad, thought maybe I should eat healthy at least one meal during the trip. I did not have beer, or a beer sampler like everyone else did. Well, everyone but Kaitlin.
After lunch we ran to Wal-Mart really quickly. Why you ask? I know, I know. But I will admit that this was a very nice Wal-Mart with a Hawaiian souvenir section. Dad was looking for one particular Hawaiian artist's CD, which Wally didn't have. But, they had a larger section of Hawaiian music than we do Latin music. After this stop we rushed back to Kona Brewery for our tour.

Tour over. Time for samples! Now, I'm not a huge beer fan. To me, just about all of them taste the same and they just about always taste like Coors Light. But Kona has some pretty good brews. And some of them you can only get if you're at the brew pub, like their Ginger something something beer. It was good!
Off to Hilo Hattie, where we were just a couple days before. I broke open an oyster. More like I picked out an oyster to be broke open. Double golden pearls for me! Since I got those mounted as earrings I was "gifted" another oyster. Yeah! A black pearl. Well, that would be pretty on a simple pendant. Since I got that one mounted I was "gifted" another oyster. Another black pearl. Stop. No more mounting. Are you catching on to their gimmick? I quit there.
We were done. Done shopping. Done walking. Done for the day. So back to the house we went. Once we got back we saw everyone on the beach, so we ran down there with our cameras to take family pictures and catch the sunset. Now we just have to decide what picture to use for the family Christmas card. I like this one...
Time for dinner. Time to pack and clean up. Time to enjoy our last night of crashing waves and geckos. So the guys, and mom, smoked cigars. Geez! Oh, I think Paige had one too...

We woke up early. Finished putting this away for traveling. Cleaned up the house. And sat on the beach for one last time.
It was a little bittersweet to be leaving. It's hard to leave paradise, but at the same time I knew that it would be time to return to reality at some point. I was actually missing work a little. I missed my dogs. I missed my bed. I missed my friends. I missed being able to talk to Dennis without family listening in, or giving me a bad time because I was talking to him again. Yea, it was time to return home.

After (what seemed like) a long flight, and a drive from the airport, we returned to our own little paradise where we were greeted not only by very happy doggies, but also by Coleman (Paige's beau) who drove from Fresno to surprise her.

Yes, it was good to be home.

Ok, I'm ready to go back now!

Hawaii Day 7 and 8 Album