A hui hou kakou, Hawai'i!
Ah, I do miss Hawaii, even if my 'liberation' of a small piece of lava rock seems to have angered its mother, Pele, the Fire Goddess. Kilauea's Halemaʻumaʻu Crater, which has been belching a lot of gas lately but nothing else, spit out some rocks the day after we departed for New Jersey last week, and Sunday night/Monday morning lava erupted from the crater for the first time in over fifteen years (though the volcano itself has been erupting since then, in a different location). Sorry, Pele, but you're not getting the lava back...!
Bright and early on Thursday the 13th, Rhonda and I departed for the airport. (Fred, Rosmary, and Sonia were traveling together on a different flight; Robert, who was supposed to fly with us, had to cancel last-minute due to a sudden death in the family.) We had almost a four-hour stop in San Francisco, and though we were advised against going into town by the guys at the information desk, we decided to take a BART train in anyway. We had just enough time to get to the Civic Center stop, walk around a little bit, grab lunch at an Asian seafood/BBQ buffet (we were almost exclusively surrounded by Asians there, a good sign), and hop on the train back to the airport; we got through security and had less than half an hour 'til boarding. Whew! At least Rhonda and I can say we've set foot in San Fran...
Even better, of course, was setting foot in Kona, Hawaii. It was drizzling and cloudy, on and off, when we arrived, and our luggages took an eternity to come down the carousel, but we were given leis by the people McKesson had hired to meet and greet us and bring us back to the hotel, and the airport itself is outdoors, and hey, we were in Hawaii! We rode to the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort with Lynette and Jim, and our driver gave us some history and insight along the way, pointing out the "Hawaiian graffiti" visible along Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway (Highway 19).
The hotel was gorgeous. After we'd checked into (and checked out) our rooms, we got together with Fred and the girls, who'd arrived ahead of us, and eventually headed to the King's Shops, a small outdoor mall across the road from the Marriott, where we had dinner at the Big Island Steak House and checked out some of the shops. We were all pretty exhausted from the long hours of travel and the six-hour time difference from home, so we eased ourselves into a hot tub back at the hotel and relaxed for a bit, then turned in.
On Friday morning, Rhonda and I walked the beach after a delicious and leisurely breakfast, then took a shuttle van to the Hilton not so far away. It was even more lovely than the Marriott, and we said hello to Butterscotch, an avian jewelry thief who loved attention, then walked the hotel grounds for a bit. We rode the monorail (yes, the Hilton has its own monorail), which afforded some spectacular views, and stopped for drinks (Lavaman Red Ale is some good stuff), then got on a boat for some more touring of the hotel. Yep, they've got their own little river... Heh.
We walked back, as Hilton and Marriott weren't all that far apart, but we'd spent enough time in the sun already to both get a little burned. We joined our companions on the beach, and went in the water for a bit. I managed to get in the pool and go down the waterslide at some point, too. The five of us had an early and extravagant sushi dinner at Sansei in the Queen's Shops, ordering almost too much food (though not quite!). I had an amazing 'Purple Haze' sake flavored with Chambord raspberry liqueur... yum. We'd planned to head back to Sansei for karaoke later that night, but everyone but me seemed unable to stay up late enough, so after they'd all retired, I took a little stroll along the beach. It was gorgeous, because there were no lights on the beach itself, but it was illuminated by moonlight, and the sky is so clear there that there are so many more stars visible. After twenty minutes or so of gazing, I decided to head back myself.
Breakfast was provided by McKesson for the next four days, and we partook of it heartily. I always love being able to have pineapple, melons, and other fruit along with breakfast. After eating on Saturday morning, we had a little bit of break time, then we and the other VARs and McKesson staff were ferried out to a catamaran for some whale watching and snorkeling. I did see some whales, but passed on the snorkeling for the moment. It was a nice time, as was the 'Aloha Dinner' luau they'd prepared for us that night, featuring a gorgeous sunset, hula and fire dancing, and some gusty winds. I got to meet Jim, an Advisory Board member with whom I've corresponded a lot over the past two years or so, and his wife Sharon, as well as several other VARs... We did finally make our way back to Sansei for some karaoke, but before I sang David Bowie's "Suffragette City" there (the first time that karaoke DJ had ever had anyone do Bowie at Sansei), I attempted a verse or two of "Folsom Prison Blues" to the accompaniment of Bob (a McKesson vice-president) and Todd (another VAR) on acoustic guitars. lol They were just jamming in the hospitality suite, and they invited me to join in but I had to decline the offer of Bob's guitar, as it was strung right-handed and I'm not, so then Bob asked if I could sing Johnny Cash. My voice just isn't that deep, but I gave it a shot.
Sunday saw us trundled onto a bus and out to Volcanoes National Park, with stops along the way at Rainbow Falls, Thurston Lava Tube, and Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park. Saw a lot of vog, too... It was pouring when we stopped for lunch, but the rain had subsided by the time we continued to the Jaggar Museum and Halemaʻumaʻu. Kilauea was letting off a lot of smoke, and the sodium dioxide could easily be smelled in the air. Just before we got into the lave tube, we heard and saw Lynette's camera fall from the bridge and hit the rocks below! One of the other VARs was using it to take a shot, and, well... oops. =-O The rest of the excursion was mostly uneventful, though Sal, our driver, did tend to talk and snicker a lot. Oh, and Rhonda managed to delete all the pictures from her digital camera. D'oh!!! We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and got to see another terrific sunset. Bob, Todd, and I joked about me looking for a left-handed guitar on the Hard Rock walls and borrowing it for the night; although I didn't do it, Rhonda and I did stop in at the hospitality suite again after we'd been taken back to the Marriott and we, along with Bob's wife Joni and Todd's wife Heather and a few others, listened to the guys playing and singing again 'til it was time for bed.
On Monday, I broke away from the rest of my gang. While they went for an ATV excursion along the cliffs, I opted for high-speed rafting out to Kealakekua Bay and Captain Cook's Monument, where I went snorkeling with Bob, Joni, David (another McKesson vice-president), and his wife Rhonda, and several other enterprising souls not from our McKesson Achievement Club group. We had a blast! David took off like a madman, first into the water, once we were at the bay, but Rhonda and I were a little less certain of ourselves and sat on the edge of the boat before jumping in together. I was the only one of the five of us with a disposable underwater camera, so I snapped all the pics and promised to get them copies.
On the way back, we got to see some spinner dolphins, at first from a distance, then alongside and in the wake of the boat. The water was so clear, I got a decent picture of a dolphin in the water next to us. Back at the Captain Zodiac office, I was glad to see that my accidentally discarded sunglasses had been saved at the desk by the cute Asian woman. ;)
I met Rhonda, Rosmary, and Sonia at the pool, and Fred joined us for lunch. Dinner that night was at the Parker House, a bit of Hawaiian history as it belonged to the family that started the Parker cattle ranch there, currently the fifth largest in the nation. The meal was incredible, as was the house and its gardens.
Rhonda and I had time for breakfast, a last walk on the beach and visit to the King's Shops, and lunch with our gang before getting shuttled back to the airport for our flight to Chicago, and then on to Newark. It was sad to leave, but I had a wonderful time and am definitely glad to have been invited along... Pictures, of course, are up in my Gallery... of Death!
Bright and early on Thursday the 13th, Rhonda and I departed for the airport. (Fred, Rosmary, and Sonia were traveling together on a different flight; Robert, who was supposed to fly with us, had to cancel last-minute due to a sudden death in the family.) We had almost a four-hour stop in San Francisco, and though we were advised against going into town by the guys at the information desk, we decided to take a BART train in anyway. We had just enough time to get to the Civic Center stop, walk around a little bit, grab lunch at an Asian seafood/BBQ buffet (we were almost exclusively surrounded by Asians there, a good sign), and hop on the train back to the airport; we got through security and had less than half an hour 'til boarding. Whew! At least Rhonda and I can say we've set foot in San Fran...
Even better, of course, was setting foot in Kona, Hawaii. It was drizzling and cloudy, on and off, when we arrived, and our luggages took an eternity to come down the carousel, but we were given leis by the people McKesson had hired to meet and greet us and bring us back to the hotel, and the airport itself is outdoors, and hey, we were in Hawaii! We rode to the Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort with Lynette and Jim, and our driver gave us some history and insight along the way, pointing out the "Hawaiian graffiti" visible along Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway (Highway 19).
The hotel was gorgeous. After we'd checked into (and checked out) our rooms, we got together with Fred and the girls, who'd arrived ahead of us, and eventually headed to the King's Shops, a small outdoor mall across the road from the Marriott, where we had dinner at the Big Island Steak House and checked out some of the shops. We were all pretty exhausted from the long hours of travel and the six-hour time difference from home, so we eased ourselves into a hot tub back at the hotel and relaxed for a bit, then turned in.
On Friday morning, Rhonda and I walked the beach after a delicious and leisurely breakfast, then took a shuttle van to the Hilton not so far away. It was even more lovely than the Marriott, and we said hello to Butterscotch, an avian jewelry thief who loved attention, then walked the hotel grounds for a bit. We rode the monorail (yes, the Hilton has its own monorail), which afforded some spectacular views, and stopped for drinks (Lavaman Red Ale is some good stuff), then got on a boat for some more touring of the hotel. Yep, they've got their own little river... Heh.
We walked back, as Hilton and Marriott weren't all that far apart, but we'd spent enough time in the sun already to both get a little burned. We joined our companions on the beach, and went in the water for a bit. I managed to get in the pool and go down the waterslide at some point, too. The five of us had an early and extravagant sushi dinner at Sansei in the Queen's Shops, ordering almost too much food (though not quite!). I had an amazing 'Purple Haze' sake flavored with Chambord raspberry liqueur... yum. We'd planned to head back to Sansei for karaoke later that night, but everyone but me seemed unable to stay up late enough, so after they'd all retired, I took a little stroll along the beach. It was gorgeous, because there were no lights on the beach itself, but it was illuminated by moonlight, and the sky is so clear there that there are so many more stars visible. After twenty minutes or so of gazing, I decided to head back myself.
Breakfast was provided by McKesson for the next four days, and we partook of it heartily. I always love being able to have pineapple, melons, and other fruit along with breakfast. After eating on Saturday morning, we had a little bit of break time, then we and the other VARs and McKesson staff were ferried out to a catamaran for some whale watching and snorkeling. I did see some whales, but passed on the snorkeling for the moment. It was a nice time, as was the 'Aloha Dinner' luau they'd prepared for us that night, featuring a gorgeous sunset, hula and fire dancing, and some gusty winds. I got to meet Jim, an Advisory Board member with whom I've corresponded a lot over the past two years or so, and his wife Sharon, as well as several other VARs... We did finally make our way back to Sansei for some karaoke, but before I sang David Bowie's "Suffragette City" there (the first time that karaoke DJ had ever had anyone do Bowie at Sansei), I attempted a verse or two of "Folsom Prison Blues" to the accompaniment of Bob (a McKesson vice-president) and Todd (another VAR) on acoustic guitars. lol They were just jamming in the hospitality suite, and they invited me to join in but I had to decline the offer of Bob's guitar, as it was strung right-handed and I'm not, so then Bob asked if I could sing Johnny Cash. My voice just isn't that deep, but I gave it a shot.
Sunday saw us trundled onto a bus and out to Volcanoes National Park, with stops along the way at Rainbow Falls, Thurston Lava Tube, and Punalu'u Black Sand Beach Park. Saw a lot of vog, too... It was pouring when we stopped for lunch, but the rain had subsided by the time we continued to the Jaggar Museum and Halemaʻumaʻu. Kilauea was letting off a lot of smoke, and the sodium dioxide could easily be smelled in the air. Just before we got into the lave tube, we heard and saw Lynette's camera fall from the bridge and hit the rocks below! One of the other VARs was using it to take a shot, and, well... oops. =-O The rest of the excursion was mostly uneventful, though Sal, our driver, did tend to talk and snicker a lot. Oh, and Rhonda managed to delete all the pictures from her digital camera. D'oh!!! We had dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe, and got to see another terrific sunset. Bob, Todd, and I joked about me looking for a left-handed guitar on the Hard Rock walls and borrowing it for the night; although I didn't do it, Rhonda and I did stop in at the hospitality suite again after we'd been taken back to the Marriott and we, along with Bob's wife Joni and Todd's wife Heather and a few others, listened to the guys playing and singing again 'til it was time for bed.
On Monday, I broke away from the rest of my gang. While they went for an ATV excursion along the cliffs, I opted for high-speed rafting out to Kealakekua Bay and Captain Cook's Monument, where I went snorkeling with Bob, Joni, David (another McKesson vice-president), and his wife Rhonda, and several other enterprising souls not from our McKesson Achievement Club group. We had a blast! David took off like a madman, first into the water, once we were at the bay, but Rhonda and I were a little less certain of ourselves and sat on the edge of the boat before jumping in together. I was the only one of the five of us with a disposable underwater camera, so I snapped all the pics and promised to get them copies.
On the way back, we got to see some spinner dolphins, at first from a distance, then alongside and in the wake of the boat. The water was so clear, I got a decent picture of a dolphin in the water next to us. Back at the Captain Zodiac office, I was glad to see that my accidentally discarded sunglasses had been saved at the desk by the cute Asian woman. ;)
I met Rhonda, Rosmary, and Sonia at the pool, and Fred joined us for lunch. Dinner that night was at the Parker House, a bit of Hawaiian history as it belonged to the family that started the Parker cattle ranch there, currently the fifth largest in the nation. The meal was incredible, as was the house and its gardens.
Rhonda and I had time for breakfast, a last walk on the beach and visit to the King's Shops, and lunch with our gang before getting shuttled back to the airport for our flight to Chicago, and then on to Newark. It was sad to leave, but I had a wonderful time and am definitely glad to have been invited along... Pictures, of course, are up in my Gallery... of Death!
mood: 
good
goodmusic: "My Pain Exposure" by Ashley Mounts
crazy