11-11-2025 to 11-19-2025 Kona, Hawaii

- May 25, 2026

January 2025, Roma, Dennis, Marcie, Barry, and I went to a fundraiser auction for the Culinary School in North Bend, Oregon. The students prepared all the food and desserts. Different wineries donated wines for tasting. It really is a fun event.

One of the items auctioned off was a week on the Big Island, Kona, HI and we WON!!! We all split the cost and went in November. The condo was on the top floor and right on the ocean, with a beautiful view. Each morning we watched the early surfers from our lanai as we had our coffee, tea, or hot chocolate. Such a beautiful way to start our day.

We spent a few days shopping downtown, eating and drinking. But mainly we did all four National Parks on the Island: Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park, Pu'ukoholā o Hōnaunau National Historic Park, and Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site. We got all our stamps and stickers in all the parks. We also hiked a bit of the Keauhou Trail and the Puako Petroglyph Archaeological Park trails.

The day we went to Hawai'i Volcanoes NP, it poured. We all bought raincoats at the visitor center, but they didn't help much. We didn't let the rain bother us, so we walked parts of the park and went in the lava tube, which was fun. We drove down to the lava fields by the beach and walked down to see the arch in the pouring rain. The area is called Keauhou Trail.

On the days we visited the other parks, we had great weather. All the visitor centers are beautiful and provide great histories of the parks.

One day, we drove to the north end of the island to go to a mall. The goal was to shop at Tommy Bahama. We all had $50.00 off coupons. We also ate at the restaurant above the store. What a beautiful view we had. Food and drinks were superb.

Snorkeling was so much fun. We went to a place 23 miles south of our condo in Kona called Two Step. It has a lava-edge entry, which makes it easy to get in the ocean. The fish were so beautiful. We highly recommend this area for snorkeling.

One of the restaurants downtown was The Temple. Barry and Dennis would hang out here while the rest of us shopped. Another we dined at was Huggo's. We had a great table right by the water. The view at night was beautiful with all the lights. Food and dessert were superb. Another was Jackie Rey's, and again the food was excellent. Downtown, we visited Sam's Hideaway a few times for tropical drinks.

Kaloko-Honokōhau National Historic Park is a park where you can see an abundance of turtles. This is a place I highly recommend. Rangers are walking the shore so you don't get too close. This was one of the last places we visited and what a fun time watching all the turtles and birds.

I've posted a lot of photos. It was hard to choose what to leave out. The photos are in the order they took place.