life in eden: Traveling Jones's

It seemed right after my son graduated 8th grade, we went trekking. First stop--a cruise of Hawaii.

We started in Honolulu with a tour of the Arizona Memorial, a must-see. The tour started with a very emotional movie, with actual footage of the attack. Even my son was moved.

The Arizona Memorial, from a distance.

A wall in memory of those killed in the attack.

The U.S.S. Missouri

Next stop was Maui. While there, my husband Bruce took us for a looong walk to find the shirt shop, Hilo Hattie. This was despite the fact we passed many decent souvenir shops. We all got tired of walking, but finally found the store, made some purchases, and yelled at Bruce for the goose chase. Family Fun. We also took a boat trip for some swimming and snorkeling. I don't snorkel, because I don't know how to breath properly with the mask and tube, but I wanted to go into the water anyway, so I did with my suit and cover-up. I was surprised that I was not provided with a life jacket, but "noodles" instead. I managed to swallow lots of salty water and get half an ocean's worth into my eyes. I very quickly climbed back aboard, as did my son.

The ride back to the dock was nasty, as we were against the wind and current. One man desperately tried and succeeded not to barf. I don't get seasick, but got so wet, I felt like a crew member of "The Deadliest Catch".

(above) Turtles at a Maui Aquarium
(below) a beach we stopped after a long walk around Maui

These next six are from a Luau we went to in Maui. My mother -in-law liked the show, but not the food.

The next port of call found us on the Big Island. On one side is Hilo, where it rained a warm tropical rain, as Bruce, his mom, and I took a volcano and coffee bus tour. Bruce and I got out to walk through a rain forest on a trial circling one of the volcanoes, not far off, we felt our way through a lava tube. I say we felt our way, because I was a dumb ass, and didn't bring my regular glasses, I wore my sunglasses erroneously thinking it would be sunny. Well, it wasn't, especially in the cave.

inside the lava tube.

At crater's edge.

The Mister at a viewpoint.

More lava tube.

Next was a lunch featuring a delicious purple sweet potato salad situated next to an out of the way art gallery, were we had wine and browsed, and purchased a gift for the neighbor girl, who watched the cat while we were gone.

Donkey balls=Chocolate covered macadamia nuts.mmmmmmm!

Austin, our son, not having so much fun on the boat.

Kauai, the final stop

One should not miss Wiamea Canyon!

See?

From left to right: Kim, my sister-in-law's partner, me getting tired of something, my sister-in-law Linda and my mother-in-law Marilyn.

Kauai is my favorite of the islands. The colors are beautiful. Though I'm afraid of heights, as is Bruce, we took a helicopter trip once to get an ariel view of the canyons and waterfalls. We didn't go up in a copter this trip, but our son did with his aunts and liked it. The nice part of cruising Hawaii is that there are many opportunities to get off the boat and explore the islands. As I get older, I'm getting so I can't stand crowds, so I'm not a big fan of cruising, but we got some major family time. Nice, because my mother-in-law can't travel comfortably anymore.

After lots of family time, Bruce and I had some alone time in California wine country, after the July 4th holiday, while our son hung out with his cousin at my sister's beach house. We stayed at a Best Western bed and breakfast, a very nice change from sleeping in twin beds on the cruise ship. The following photos are out of sequence.