Pele's Magic Kingdom... Kilauea

Sunday we went around the Island, spending several hours at Volcanoes National Park. It was a 12 hour driving day but amazing, as always, with fantastic views everywhere.

After we left the park we headed into Hilo and aroubd the Hamakua Coast stopping by Akaka Falls!

We stopped at a bay that JP hiked down to and then for malasadas at Tex Drive In before heading home... long day!

Tonight John and JP have gone manta ray diving so I'm sure they are on a great adventure.... me, I'm slipping into a hot tub with a good book and enjoying to quite time!

Remembering My Mom with Aloha...

82 years ago tomorrow, June 6th my Mom was born. Even though she died in 2004 she is always in my thoughts, even more now that I live in Hawaii.  My Dad was in the Navy and we were stationed here from 1957-1960. I was young but still have my random memories and of course, my photographs. In remembrance of my Mom, I want to share a few photos from that time and a list of random memories...


Robin, Mom and me in our Fiat, named Suzy

-My mom was always very active and involved; she made shell jewelry and sold it, she was President of the CPO Wives Club, she was active in the Elks Club wives group.

Mom in black on the stairs at Elks Club

-When the huge tsunami hit in 1960 we were lucky to live on a hill... our house became a refuge for strangers and my mother opened our house to them. I remember a huge pot of chicken soup on the stove trying to find a way to feed everyone.

-My mom got a 3' carved tiki for Christmas and as a joke put a braided rope around it, like it was a necklace for the Jolly Green Giant, and "wore" it to bingo as a good luck charm!


This is me!

-My mom loved for us to be involved in local activities and had Robin and I take hula and Tahitian dance lessons. She made all of our dance costumes herself.


Mom and Uncle Joey

-My mom loved to be involved in the culture no matter where we lived. I can remember she was almost always wearing mumus which was very common attire then.

-My parents were loved by the community for all they did and the kind and loving people they were. They would do anything to help someone in need. When we left they had a big going away party to say "Aloha" to us and my Mom made us sailor costumes to wear and fixed our hair in rag curls!

New article about our Aloha party

Violet at the volcano

No matter how long she is gone, my Mom is with me always in my heart, I close my eyes and open my mind and she is there. I remember all of the things she did for me and my sisters and how much she sacrificed. She did not have and easy life, but she lived it with grace, and love, a sense of humor and a strong spirit. When my wind chimes ring, it is her talking to me...maybe she's complaining, maybe she's praising, maybe she's telling one of her endless stories.... but she's always singing. My mother, Violet Fouke McGoon, was an amazing woman and she will always be thought of with much ALOHA.

Happy Birthday, in Hawaiian is Hau'oli lā hānau (pronounced How-o-lee Laa Haa-now)

Another Lazy Day for the Farmer

John took another day off from farm work to take JP surfing down at Pine Trees Beach north of Kona. It sounded like he had fun and worked up an appetite so they stopped for linch before heading home!
You can see JP's first surfing effort here on the Big Island...

A Fun Time in Paradise

We have company! JP, John's second cousin, has come to visit us for 2 weeks from Denver. He arrived yesterday and we had a nice dinner at an ocean side resaurant, Humpy's, in Kona before heading to the house. We were blessed with an amazing sunset for him to watch from the lanai, watching the red ball slow drop from the sky and below the horizon before the night was black and the crickets started their chirpping.

This morning we got up early and loaded the kayaks into the truck and headed to Hookena Beach. The sun was shining, the ocean cooperated and we had fun paddling along the coast. the guys stayed out longer than I did but I came in and took a swim in the surface. Later we went to the Place of Refuge, a scared site which is now a National Park.

Check out our kayaking fun in the video below!

A Beautiful, Peaceful Place - St. Benedict's

John and I went to Mass this week at the closest Catholic church to us, Saint Benedict's Painted Church, in Honaunau, about 10 miles away. They have a 7:00am Sunday mass so we got up with the sun. St. Benedict's is an amazing church founded in 1899 and the interior was painted by a self-taught priest after the fashion of a gothic cathedral in Burgos, Spain. With the windows open, the birds singing and the beautiful views out the windows it is a restful, peaceful place. The congregation is small but friendly and as newcomers we were welcomed with handmade leis and asked to introduce ourselves at the end of Mass.
If you want to learn more this is their website: www.thepaintedchurch.org.

A quote from the newsletter, beautiful in Hawaiian:

O ke kea hemolele kou malamalama. Aole o Satana kou alakai.
May the holy cross be my light. Let not the dragon be my guide.

OUR 4 Wheelin' Green Sand Adventure

Which way to the beach?

John got a Toyota 4-Runner and with a little work it's running pretty good... for a car that passed 200,000 miles as we drove to the Green Sand Beach today! I've been wanting to go to this beach, but not walk the 5 miles at this EXTREMELY windy point on the Island, so when we got this 4-wheel vehicle the first thing I wanted to do was take this drive! You HAVE to have a 4-wheel drive if you don't want to walk and it was a little iffy to the point that a few times we backed up to try different routes.... we finally got there and climbed down the cliff to see what really was a GREEN sand beach! Kinda cool to be able to go see green sand and on the way back we stopped and picked wild guavas (I'm going to make some jam) and then going up our drive we stopped and picked up some macadamia nuts as a lot more have fallen since the pickers were here!

Shakespeare and Rainy Day Hike on the Manuka Trail

Last week we stopped by this reserve to check it out and promised we would come back on the weekend and take the 2 miles hike which included a "gentle 400' raise" according to the sign. I packed a lunch and our ponchos (just in case) and we set off! Two points I want to make; 1.) I realized about 1/4 mile after we started that 400' = 40 stories and 2.) Always carry a poncho!

We did have fun, even in the rain and we had the trail all to ourselves! I posted this video on YouTube!

Also, on a culture note, this week we went and saw a Shakespeare play, "The Tempest"... totally community theater and who can understand Shakespeare I want to know????

Again, it was really a fun time but it was no roller derby!

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I am going for a mani/pedi thanks to Carolina and Celly's thoughtfulness and thinking ahead when they were here...they got me a gift certificate, whooohooo! Then John is taking me to lunch at Sam Choy's!