At Home on Sunset Beach on Oahu

Back in 1961, when my dad was in the army and stationed in Hawaii, Mom and Dad lived on Sunset Beach in a little bungalow.

Today, we went looking for it, and believe it or not, it's still there...and looks the same! They have turned the bungalows into vacation rentals. Ki Iki Beach Rentals has their site here.

This is the beach just off of the porch.

Here's the front...they rented this for 99 dollars a month and lived here a year and a half before moving on base. Pretty tough life, huh?

The owners let us go in and look around...here's the view out the front window on this rainy day.

They lived here right up until mom was due to have me...then they moved on post. So I guess you could say I lived here too, in a way!

Mom standing in her old kitchen.

Looking across the porch...

and reminiscing.

Vacationing with mom means I'm spending more time in the shops....I bought this pretty sarong yesterday.

Sunset Beach on Dwellable

On Oahu in Hawaii

This island has plenty of sand beaches...this little one is tucked in between a few rock outcroppings.

Beautiful. I'm using my sunglasses here to polarize it for you so you can see how wonderfully clear the water is. It's beautiful, but this island is much more busy and crowed than Hawaii. I liked the north end best...the vegetation is more lush on that side. We sat on Sunset Beach for a while and watched the surfers. I don't think I have a pic of that end of the island though...I was too busy enjoying the scenery to take pics I guess!

Here's the view of Waikiki Beach out our hotel window. We stayed one night at Hilton Hawaiian Village. It was very nice and our room was beautiful. A bit of an attitude problem with some of the staff there...first time I've seen that at a Hilton I think.

Another view from the hotel room...Honolulu is such a big, busy city.

The next morning...such a nice view to wake up to!

Hilton Hawaiian Village on Dwellable

Catching up on the Hawaii Trip

I've been seeing Hawaii at a pretty good pace and not blogging..but today I'm relaxing and thought I'd catch you up on some of the highlights. This pic is proof positive that I do sometimes get up before sunrise. Doesn't happen often though. With scenery this beautiful, it's worth it!

This is a memorial for the 21 school children and 3 adults who were lost in the 1946 tsunami at Laupahoehoe Point. A touching and sobering reminder of the power of the sea. You can read the stories of the people who died...in one case it was a mom and several of her children. Breaks your heart. The park here is so beautiful.


Waves crashing in at Laupahoehoe Point.

We checked out the ranch country on the island of Hawaii...

so completely different from the tropical areas, and so vast!

One day we ended the day in Hilo...we visited some caves formed by the tubes through which the lava flowed.

Once we squeezed through this little hole in the back of the cave opening, it opened up into huge rooms. It was very cool...I couldnt' get a decent pic because I didn't bring a big enough flash light, and my flash wouldn't reach out far enough.

Rainbow Falls in Hilo.



Another day we went to Volcanoes National Park. These are steam vents. The rain water seeps down and is heated by the molten rock, then it escapes as steam through any cracks in the earth.

Just amazing how our earth is created...and is still being created.

Big Island on Dwellable

Black Sand Beach and a Natural Hot Tub

This Puna area road is known as "the red road." It's no longer red, but it is lovely.

This one lane road leads to a park popular with surfers...and it also contains this little geothermal hot pool:
It's a natural hot tub!

Part of the same park. It's Isaac Hale Beach Park.

Later we stopped at Mackenzie State Park. This is such a lovely place...we rested and sunned ourselves in a lovely pine grove at the top of these steep cliffs, and listened to the surf pounding the rocks.

You can camp here, but if you are a sleepwalker, I'd advise against it...it's a long way down!

Later we walked over a new lava field to a beautiful black sand beach.

Life is good.

Puna on Dwellable

Kilauea Volcano in Hawaii

Down at the end of the street is the ocean...and such a beautiful place. And breezy too, as you can see!

The colors of the water amaze me. I could sit here for hours...I think if I lived here, I'd find it hard to get anything done. Of course I could draw or write as I sit here. That's getting something done, right?


Walking on the lava rock to get to the spot to view the current flow entering the sea.


Here it is by day.

And here is a video of it at night. Click and watch...it's really spectacular!

Volcano on Dwellable

We're on the island of Hawaii...

housesitting for Ted..which of course means he was sweet to let us use his house as our own. This morning we ate fresh fruit that he left for us for breakfast. I had never had the spiky fruit before..rambutan. Peel the skin off and they look like big grapes, and taste even better!

The view out the front door. They have a tiny little frog here that makes a lot of noise, but I rather like it!

After a relaxing morning laying around eating fruit and deciding what to do today, we headed into Hilo. To me it felt like were were getting a late start, but actually it was still pretty early! The five hour time difference was working with us at this point!

Hilo is a charming little town, and has just about everything you could need...even a nice art store.

Joe getting ready to check out a store that has snorkeling supplies.

Then we headed north and took a very scenic drive...it seems there was a waterfall at every curve in the road.

Alakahi Trail led us to this beautiful spot. Onomea Bay.

Here we are trying to take a photo of ourselves as we walk to Akaka Falls. We aren't as good at the arm length photo thing as the kids are....might have something to do with the fact that you look a lot better at arm's length when you are still in your teens!


Akaka Falls...so beautiful!
While in Hilo we bought these prints by Eide Hansamut. I love them. Joe seems to be fondest of the middle one with the beautiful lady. As always, you can click on any of the photos to see them larger.

Now it's raining like you wouldn't believe! Hope this post makes sense....it's only 9:40 here, but my body still thinks it's 2:40am!

Ninole on Dwellable