R&M Cook Fam: Our 10th Anniversary Trip!

Rusty and I will have been married for ten years as of May 21st. Has it really been that long? It doesn't seem like it. Because of scheduling we took our anniversary trip on April 23rd - April 26th. Mike and Holly kept KyKy and Katelyn so it was just the two of us. We flew out on Thursday morning, arrived in Hilo around 8:30 and set out for Volcanos National Park. It is amazing what you can do when you don't have any kids with you. We hit all of the highlights of the park in one day. We hiked about 6 miles on various hikes, and went through the Thurston lava tube (on the lighted side and with our headlamps to the back of "the dark side.") We went to both of the visitors centers and watched two videos in the theatre at the first visitors center. We went to the end of a road that had once connected a horn of the island. The lava flow covered it several years ago. You park your car and walk along the road until it just ends and becomes a mass of hardened lava. There are some street signs showing and bits of road that weren't covered. Rusty found some of Pele's hair in the cracks of the lava, which is something he really wanted to see. Pele is the volcano goddess. When the lava flows some of it stretches so thin that it looks like hair. When Rusty grabbed the first strand I was dubious, thinking it was just someones hair that blew into the crack and got stuck. He pulled more out and sure enough, it was Pele's hair. It breaks in half just like an ultra thin strand of lava should. That night we went back the way we had come to go to the lava viewing location. Right now there are no surface lava flows, but it is flowing in lava tubes into the ocean. When it hits the ocean the steam rises and looks bright red. Against the black sky, it was so mesmerizing. We watched the steam changing shapes and looked for images, like you would with the clouds. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. We didn't make it to our hotel until almost midnight. We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa. It is a really, really nice hotel. One of the perks of living in Hawaii is the Kamaina deals. The next day we lounged around at the hotel. All of the buildings of the hotel are connected by a waterway and they have a boat tram that takes you from the lobby to your building or around the resort. We rode the boat, looking at the wildlife that reside on the little islands of the waterway. The resort has a dolphin program, where you can pay to swim with the dolphins. We didn't do that, but watched the dolphins with their trainers. We swam in the pool, walked across the swinging bridge that hangs over a section of the pool, rode down the water slide a few times, sat in the hot tubs, and snorkeled. They had a lagoon that was open to the ocean. Rusty was really impressed with the variety and size of the fish in the lagoon. We even saw a barracuda and a few turtles. That afternoon we went on a sea arch hike. There were about 12 sea arches in a 1 1/2 mile stretch of coastline. The third day I would have to say was our very favorite. In the morning we rented a kayak and kayaked across a bay to Captain Cook's monument. We read that pods of dolphins frequented the bay and we were hoping to see them. Sure enough, the dolphins were out. We kayaked over to them and joined them in the water. They were circling the group of kayaks that had stopped to see and swim with them. Rusty dove down a few times and one time they changed direction after he was about 30 feet deep and they split up and swam around him. We swam with them for about an hour. It was so amazing. And just for a little icing on the cake, there was some of the best snorkeling we have seen in Hawaii right around the reef at Captain Cook's monument. That night we had reservations to go on a Manta Ray night dive. Manta Rays look like sting rays without the stinger. There are no sting rays in Hawaii. We both scuba dive and have wanted to do this since we first heard about it over a year ago. We came across another pod of dolphins while on the boat on the way to the dive site. Spinner dolphins are the only type of dolphins that do acrobatic jumps without being trained and these spinner dolphins put on a little show for us. When we got to the dive site we had high hopes. The dive instructor told us that for 1-2 weeks every year they get an unusual amount of manta rays into the dive sight. On average they get 3-6 manta's in per night, but for the last week and a half before our dive there had been upwards of 20 mantas. The record number of Mantas for the last 29 years that they have been doing this dive commercially on the big island is 26 mantas in a night. The dive was 30 feet deep. They set up a "campfire," which is a box with several lights shining upward. Every diver has a dive light that you hold on your shoulder or head. Plankton is attracted to the light and the Mantas feed on the plankton. This was my first night dive, so I was a little nervous. As soon as we got down there were Mantas swooping over our heads. There was no time to be nervous, it was way too amazing. I can't possibly describe in words how incredible this was. They were coming so close that they would brush against your face and mask. They are called gentle giants. They come toward you with their mouth completely open and funnel plankton into their mouths with their wings, then swoop above you just in time. We had 22 Mantas come in, including Big Bertha, the biggest Manta on the Big Island (yes, they all have names, are identified by their spots, and the dive masters can identify them by a quick glance.) Big Bertha has a 14 foot wing span. One of the dive masters was the videographer and we bought the video. If I can figure out a way to post the video on my blog I will. On Sunday we spent more time at the pool, and took our time getting back to the airport on the other side of the island. We stopped to see Akaka falla and a black sand beach. We went to "What's shakin," a little shake stand on a back road near Hilo. We felt like we got to see a pretty fair portion of the island for 4 days. We also got to eat at Outback steakhouse ( a novelty for us) and the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Yes, they actually have a restaurant based wholly on the movie. They have one on Oahu, and a few other places also. I think it saves alot of tourist time when you have no desire to go shopping at all the small shops. They start to feel all the same after awhile. We would have been sad to leave, but we get to come back to our kids and life on KAUAI. How could that be bad? Happy Anniversay us. I'm looking forward to the next 10 years.