Christmas in a Very Warm Climate

Mauna Kea Beach on the Big Island of Hawai'i.  Yup, that's where H and I spent Christmas morning!  A few months ago we knew we'd have our family Christmas at Thanksgiving, so we made plans to spend a week in Hawai'i over break.

This is the view we had while chatting with our families in Iowa, Texas, Colorado and California on Christmas morning.

Ten years ago, right after 9/11, we took our daughters to Maui over New Year's. After that trip, H decided that he wanted to go to the Big Island some day, rent a camper van, and roam around the island. Before going to Hawai'i the first time, we thought that Honolulu was on the island of Hawai'i.  However, Hawai'i is actually the name of the largest and most southern (and geologically newest) island in the chain. Hawai'i has two distinct sides (wet and dry) and a great variety of topography.  The island consists of 5 volcanoes - one is extinct, three are somewhat dormant, and Kilauea which is active.  The Hawai'i Belt Road circles the perimeter in about 250 miles.

We landed in Hilo (the wet, east side) in order to pick up our VW Vanagon from Happy Campers Hawai'i. For the next seven days we drove most of the perimeter, stopping at various campgrounds, seeing volcanoes, exotic beaches, wildlife, cultural history, and trying out as many different kinds of food as we could find.

Now, back home, the task is to go through over 600 photos.  Some I'll post, some I'll put in this blog, some I'll try to remember just where we were when I snapped the shutter.  After all, there are many, many beaches in Hawai'i.