DSCN2252.jpg
11/6/2015 21:47
Our friends Dan and Michael at the Kona Coffee Festival talent night.

DSCN2214.jpg
11/3/2015 21:08
Beautiful finches greeted us

DSCN2228.jpg
11/6/2015 15:19
Cocoa pods grow from tiny flowers on the trunk of the trees. We visited the Hawaiian Chocolate company.

DSCN2242.jpg
11/6/2015 15:36
The beans are covered with a sweet coating that the gekos love. They are formented, dried, roasted, and made into chocolate.

DSCN2234.jpg
11/6/2015 15:33
The pods come in 3 different colors, depending on the tree, but they all have the same kind of beans inside.

DSCN2286.jpg
11/7/2015 16:00

DSCN2216.jpg
11/10/2015 18:18
Lava and sea near Keahou bay

DSCN2223.jpg
11/3/2015 21:39
Surf on lava

DSCN2224.jpg
11/3/2015 21:40
Keahou harbor -- very close to where we stayed.

DSCN2394.jpg
11/14/2015 17:15
Pounding Poi at the coffee festival

HiroshimaSinger.jpg
11/21/2015 16:12
Hiroshima Peace Concert. This was the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II. Singer, songwriter, Buddhist minister and an absolutely delightful person, Kazumi NIkaido.

SamChoys.jpg
11/21/2015 16:14
Dinner with the San Diego contingent.

DSCF2644.jpg
11/10/2015 13:34
Pat and Ingrid at Hapuna Beach.

DSCF2688.jpg
11/13/2015 13:33
My favorite beach on the Kona side -- Hapuna Beach

hapuna1.jpg
11/13/2015 16:17
Hapuna

DSCF2672.jpg
11/13/2015 16:58
Ingrid and Carl at Hapuna Beach

DSCN2363.jpg
11/14/2015 11:27
We took Saddle Road to get to the mushroom farm. There are lots of old vents on the extinct volcano.

DSCN2302.jpg
11/9/2015 14:28
We went to the Hamakua mushroom farm near Hilo. http://hamakuamushrooms.com/

DSCN2313.jpg
11/9/2015 22:45

DSCN2324.jpg
11/9/2015 16:16
Mushrooms growing in their plastic jars

Kameheameha.jpg
11/11/2015 16:15
King Kamehameha the Great's statue in Kohala. This was his birthplace. He unified the Hawaiian Islands as a kingdom.

vanilla.jpg
11/11/2015 16:16
Hawaiian vanilla farm. We had lunch there.

DSCN2356.jpg
11/11/2015 17:57
Vanilla beans before they are dried. Vanilla is a special kind of orchid.

DSCN2370.jpg
11/13/2015 21:11
Getting ready for the lantern parade from Pancho and Lefty's restaurant.

DSCN2384.jpg
11/13/2015 22:03
Lantern parade

DSCF2648.jpg
11/12/2015 18:32
I went snorkeling near the Pu`uhonua O Honaunau (Place of Refuge) and saw an amazing variety of fish.

DSCF2666.jpg
11/12/2015 18:40
My favorite is the spotted boxfish.

DSCF2651.jpg
11/12/2015 18:34

BonDancing.jpg
11/21/2015 16:09
I did Japanese Bon dancing for 100 minutes. Great fun,

DSCN2395.jpg
11/14/2015 23:13
Taiko drummers at the bon dance