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The Big Island, Hawaii 2004

7-hour flight to OaklandSaturday: Got to TIA by 6:20 a.m. for the flight to the "lovely" town of Oakland, CA. The kids bugged us about those darned Cinnabons again as soon as we got to the terminal. When will they learn that those things are made of crap! Got into Oakland after 7 hours on the plane. Renee’s diapers were so full by the end of the flight that she wet my lap thoroughly. I was too embarrassed to stand up from my seat. I’m glad Rob got a good laugh though. My mom's flight on JetBlue from JFK arrived shortly before our plane landed. It was nice to see her welcome us as we entered baggage claim. She seemed elated to be with her "apos."

Watched the UF-TN game and ordered 2 pizzas in the hotel room. Ron Zook sucks. 

Ray in front of the Manago Hotel Lola and Renee in front of the Manago Hotel View of Kalekekua Bay from Napo'opoo Road The view from our window after sunrise  

Sunday: We were all off like a herd of turtles again for a 7:00 a.m. flight. With the 3-hour time zone change, waking up was very difficult. The flight on Aloha Airlines was awesome. They fed us a meal and we all got to watch Spiderman 2. By noon, we arrived at Kona International. Wow, an airport without AC. Rob left me to take care of the checked-in luggage while he picked up the rental minivan. There were so many bike cases in baggage claim and Rob’s seemed the largest and, of course, was the last to be wheeled off the plane. Figures.

Once we were all in the minivan (what a piece of Sh#&! I can’t remember the model but it was made by GM), we headed to south Kona for lunch since we couldn’t check in until 2:00 p.m. Susan and Patrick, the owners of the Ho'onanea House, suggested some wonderful, affordable restaurants away from all the tourist traps. We ended up at the Manago Hotel in Kama'aina and had some delicious mahi-mahi. The entire meal for the 6 of us was around $35.00.

Around 2:00 p.m., we located rental home’s driveway off Napo’opoo Road, Captain Cook. Yikes, it seemed like a 90-degree descent. We met Susan and Patrick after months of emailing back and forth and they showed us around the grounds. Rob and I found heaven! After admiring the house, Rob and I went to the grocery store and bought a week’s supply of food. By 4:45 p.m. Hawaii time, we were exhausted. We shut the drapes, turned off the lights and then went to bed.

 Ray and Renee on the lava stairs Ray and Renee on the boardwalk Aerial, Mauna Kea Golf

Monday: It was 4: 00 a.m. and Rob and I were wide awake. It was pitch black outside and because of less light pollution, we could see so many stars. They went on forever. I went to the upstairs to see if my mom and the kids were awake. They’d all been up for about one hour. By daylight, we were all in the minivan, barely making it up the driveway, headed for the north Kohala coast. Jeff Cuddeback suggested that Rob ride the portion to the Hawi turnaround from the Queen K Highway. He left us at the Mauna Kea Resort where my mom and kids played around the "imported" white sand beach and I went off on my 1.5-hour run through the golf courses of Mauna Kea and the Hapuna Prince Resort. Quite "fancy-schmancy." Instead of overgrown tropical landscaping seen in the south Kona district, the grounds were well-manicured. I also found myself running on a cliff where there were a number of very large vacation homes being constructed. Susan mentioned that it takes at least a couple of thousands of dollars per month to air-condition abodes over 2,000 sq,. ft. on the Big Island. No wonder most residents here don't have any AC.

Rob returned from Hawi about 20 minutes after I finished my run. Off to Kailua-Kona we went so that Rob could swim the course. 

   Lola and the kids at the Pier Nicole and Ray playng around on the swim course Rob and Renee at the swim course   Lapakahi State National Park Donna in front of a village storage shed, Lapakahi State Park Rob on the lava rocks at Lapakahi

Tuesday: It was 4:00 a.m. again and we were all wide awake. I sure hope the owners didn’t hear Renee screaming. People who don’t have kids understand about two-year olds, right?

By 6:30, the family headed south to the pier again so that Rob could swim. When we got there, it was obvious that hundreds of other triathletes had the same agenda. Oh well. Nicole swam part of the course with Rob and then came back to shore after he saw Steve Mandel. They both swam for about an hour and then Rob came in to run 4 miles. Afterwards, we all had a big breakfast at Bubba Gump’s on Ali'i Drive.

We then dropped my mom and the kids off back at the house so that Rob and I could drive up to Hawi, which is not only the turnaround point for the bike course but a quaint town filled with artsy shops. The drive from Captain Cook to Hawi can take about 1.5 hours so Rob and I stopped at the Lapakahi State Park. How awe-inspiring. Once at Hawi, we hung around for a little bit, got some fruit smoothies and then headed back to Kona so that he could pick up his race bags and sign in. We wound up taking a slight detour onto US 19 and found the beautiful town of Waimea. Both Rob and I compared this place to Eden. We would have stayed longer there but we had to pick up his mom, Sharon, at the airport around 2:00 p.m. After picking up her bags and her rental car, we were all on Highway 11 heading south around 3:30 p.m. What a traffic nightmare. Okay, we had to make a mental note that traffic is really bad on the west coast after 3: 00 p.m. When we arrived back at the house, the kids and my mom had a full day of the pool and, yes, homework.

Lights went out for all of us around 6:45 p.m. this day.

   Running up the steep driveway Pooped at the top of the driveway Renee makes it up the steep driveway Lola and Grandmother decide to go the other way  

 Nicole at Bubba Gump's Athlete's Expo Taping the Athlete's Greeting for Ironmanlive.com

Wednesday: We barely made it up the steep driveway because of a morning drizzle. We all had to get out of the minivan at the bottom of the hill so that it could make it up the incline. What a hunk of junk. Anyway, we headed back to Kailua-Kona so that Rob could swim the course, bike for about an one hour and run about 3. I noticed him messing with his kneecap in the minivan and he admitted that he felt a bit of knee tendonitis from sitting on an airplane for a couple of days. Just great! He gets over his stress fracture and now he’s feeling slight knee tendonitis (which, thank goodness, eventually disappeared after a couple of days of moving around). After his workouts, we all headed to Bubba Gumps’ again and then the athletes’ expo.

Lights out at 7:30…uh-oh, we were getting used to time zone change which wasn't good because Rob had to be at the Kailua-Kona pier at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Hapuna Beach Rob and Renee, City of Refuge Ray fascinated at the City of Refuge Kids at the CIty of Refuge Sea turtle seen in Kealekakua Bay Nicole, City of Refuge Tikis at the City of Refuge Skaggs Family, City of Refuge Sunset from our room, Captain Cook

Thursday: After Rob's early-morning workouts, we decided to drive back to the north Kohala coast and check out the gorgeous town of Waimea again. When we got there, we drove around the neighborhoods and found a vacant lot on top of a hill. The views were just gorgeous and the climate in this town moderate. We called the realtor for the asking price and then Rob and I proceeded to suffer sticker-shock. After coming back to reality, we decided to eat at Merriman’s Restaurant. They served the best organic, locally grown salad greens I have ever tasted. Truly yummy.

We all found ourselves at the expensive Parker Square Shopping Center where Rob and I could only afford coffee. A local Waimea girl took a liking to our little Renee and kept her entertained with M&Ms. So, our moms took Nicole and Ray window shopping. On the way back to Captain Cook, we stopped at Hapuna State Park Beach. This is considered to be one of the best beaches on the Big Island. Well, when you’re from Florida where there are miles and miles of sand, a small stretch of beach just doesn’t do it for you.

Once we all got back to the Captain Cook area around 3:00 p.m., we were in to mood to check out more sights. We decided to haul the kids to the City of Refuge (Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historic Park) where the kids became fascinated by the sea life found along the lava rocks. They could have affixed themselves permanently to the lava in order to play with the sea turtles, crabs, fish and shrimp. But Rob and I were starting to get tired so we gathered our belongings and promised the kids we’d bring them back in the morning.  After returning to the house, Rob and I just lulled ourselves to sleep by watching the sunset from our room.

Bike check-in, Friday night Kids playing in lava puddles Ray, waving on lava rocks Renee sitting on the lava rocks Day of rest

Friday: Since Rob had to check-his bike later in the day, we returned to the City of Refuge, which was a short drive from the Ho'onanea House. The kids played in the lava rocks for hours. For lunch, we went back to the Manago Hotel since Rob’s mom hadn’t dined there yet. As previously, food was great, service was fast and the price affordable.

By mid-afternoon, Rob and I headed back to the race hotel to check in his bike. The line wasn’t too bad but we found ourselves in traffic around 3:45 p.m. We sat and sat and sat. Finally got home after 5:00 p.m., had dinner at the house and then Rob, his mom, and I turned in shortly after sunset. Saturday was to be a long day.

Saturday: I was lucky enough to get a pier pass from Susan so that I could watch the swim start. My poor mother-in-law had to watch from afar. Rob came in after 59 minutes and he smiled at me as I yelled his name during his swim-bike transition. Then off his mom and I went in the minivan to try and catch Rob at the turnaround in Hawi. The drive on 250 was spectacular but slow. That stupid minivan handled terribly. When we got to Hawi, we found a small crowd already there. There were a couple of school buses that had already dropped off athletes’ family members at the bike turnaround. I then overheard refs talking about several pros dropping out early on the bike course and I thought to myself, "how odd." Turns out that there was a wicked crosswind that was blowing on the triathletes pretty badly. It would turn out that many, including Simon Lessing, Luc Van Lierde, Thomas Hellriegel, Jurgen Zack and Chris McCormack would call it an early day.

Rob finally reached Hawi after 2:45 hrs. on the bike. He coasted and smiled and waved at me as he passed me on his bike. It was very obvious to me that he was saving himself on the bike leg so that he could finish the marathon. After the Vineman, DNF-ing was not an option here. After Rob left Hawi, my mother-in-law and I headed back on 250 and stopped to take some photos of the Kohala coast. The views were breathtaking.

Once we got back to town, Sharon and I planted ourselves on the corner of Palani Drive and Kuakini Hwy. We caught Rob entering the bike transition and then 8 minutes later he headed out on the marathon with his fuel belt on. "How the heck is he gonna run 26.2 miles lugging that thing around?" When he saw me on Kuakini Hwy., he stopped to plant a big, sweaty kiss on my lips. I knew that he was having a good day and now it was up to him to be smart and plod through the rest of the race. Sharon and I stuck around the same intersection since the run course went through that checkpoint 2 more times. After seeing Rob run on Palani again, we decided it was a good time to find parking on Ali'i Drive for the finish—whenever that would be. After parking that worthless piece of metal, we went to the family bleachers. We each had a ticket to sit in that area but so did all the family members of  1801 triathletes. So, we stood at the finish line and waited until Rob came in, which was around 5:56 p.m., by my watch. Rob's mom and I were really relieved that Rob ran through the chute in a straight line and even managed to crack a big smile at us after he crossed the final banner. Watching a number of athletes stumble and fall at the finish line prior to Rob's completion really stressed the both of us out. 

We made it back to the house around 8:30 p.m. and we were all thoroughly exhausted. Okay, Rob was thoroughly exhausted—Sharon and I were just frazzled. I owe my mom a great deal of gratitude for this day since she watched the kids for over 13 hours by herself.  If you're not used to having a toddler around, the experience can be quite frustrating.

   Waking up on the morning after the race Breakfast at the Aloha Cafe Donna, St. Peter CC Lola and the girls at mass Panaramic view of the rear of St. Peter Renee, singing to the choir Rob and Renee, riding the boat to the submarine Pre-boarding at the Atlantis Submarine Underwater view from sub Sea turtle at City of Refuge

Sunday: Don't ask me why but we planned on doing the Atlantis Submarine this day. Cheesy, huh? Luckily, Rob wasn't that sore when he woke up and he was up to doing something "tourist-y." We got up around 6:30 a.m. and headed to the Aloha Cafe-Theater in Kainaliu town. After an awesome breakfast, we took my mom to pray at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Kahalu'u. This was the cutest church I've ever seen and the views behind this historic structure were gorgeous. After a small mass that included my mom, Nicole, and Renee we drove back to the Kailua-Kona pier to board the submarine. It was fun, but I doubt we would ever do it again. Don't get me wrong, it was great for the kids but Rob and I saw more tropical fish jumping into the Honaunau Bay than we did inside the underwater submersible. Thank goodness the ride didn't last too long and we drove back to Captain Cook, where we dropped Rob's mom off, and then took the kids and my mom back to the City of Refuge. Nicole, Ray and Renee would spend countless hours there watching all marine life in the lava rocks. This time around at the sacred grounds, we saw an abundance of sea turtles nibbling away on the lava rocks. Holy-Moley!

   Renee brushing Grandmother's wig View from Hwy 11, south point Whittington Sugar PierChalet Kilauea Chalet Kilauea 

Rainwater tank behind the Hoku Mana House  Hoku Mana House, Volcano Village

Monday: Sharon had to go back to Kerrville today. She is recovering from lymphoma so she couldn't miss a check-up. After we said our good-byes in the morning, Rob, my mom, the kids and I headed southward to Volcano Village to stay overnight at the "campy" Chalet Kilauea. We drove southward on Highway 11 and took up some sightseeing which included, the town of Na'alehu, the Black Sand Beach, the Whittington Sugar Pier, and Punalu'u. The main house of the Chalet was romantic and quaint (great for a couple sans children). With 3 noisy Skaggslettes, we decided to stay in one of their rental homes, the Hoku Mana House. Talk about "out in the sticks." We unloaded our overnight bags at the rental and then drove to see the lava flows at the Volcano National Park. Unfortunately, there weren't any active eruptions the night we were there. Sigh! The dinner at the Thai Thai house was awesome though.

One thing I should add is that it was friggin' cold 4,000 ft. above sea level. Stupid me for not packing long-sleeved shirts.

   Kids at Na'ahelu Bakery Ray, Rob and Lola, Na'ahelu Bakey Honaunau Bay

Tuesday: At the crack of dawn, we were back on Highway 11 for the drive back to Captain Cook. This time we stopped at the Punalu'u bakery and got some coffee and cinnamon raison bread. When we finally arrived at the Ho'onanea House, it felt like home. We dumped off our dirty laundry and headed out to visit the Painted Church and to snorkel in Honaunau Bay. It was our last full day in Hawaii and we wanted to make the most of it. At Honaunau Bay—probably the Big Island's best area for snorkeling, the five of us were wading through a foot of water and found a baby moray eel wedged in the lava rocks. Where else in the world would you be able to see a moray eel that close to shore? 

Rob and I decided to splurge this final night out and ate at the Kee'i Cafe.

Wednesday: Our trip to Paradise was coming to an end. We were all packed to catch a 1:10 p.m. flight back to the mainland. Mahalo, Susan and Patrick. Ahui-ho.

The Howarths Ho'onanea House

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