Maritime Provinces

I usually have my laptop with me on vacation, but I haven't been able to close my lid since it was broken in August 2025. So instead of writing a post for each day of our recent trip to Canada, I'm going to just summarize the whole trip in one post.

On this trip we went to many National Parks. Our pass had expired in May, so we purchased a new annual pass at the Vanderbilt Mansion. Our purchase paid for itself on the first day we had the pass because the tours at Vanderbilt and FDR's home cost money for those over the age of fifteen. No tickets were needed to tour Eleanor Roosevelt's home. The kids each earned seven Junior Ranger badges during the trip as we also visited Saint Croix Island International Historic Site in Maine on the way to New Brunswick as well as Salem Maritime, Saugus Iron Works, and JFK's birthplace in Massachusetts on the way home. I had included an eighth US National Park site in the itinerary (Frederick Law Olmstead), but we skipped it so we could get home a little earlier on Sunday night. We didn't need to buy an annual pass for the Canadian national parks because they are free for everyone from June 19- September 7. The only exception was we did pay for a guided tour at the Fortress of Louisbourg. While we were in Canada the kids also earned some Xplorers dog tags. This is the Canadian version of the Junior Ranger program. In 2018 the kids completed the Xplorers program at Fort George in Ontario. On this trip they earned one at Fundy National Park (New Brunswick), Alexander Graham Bell (Nova Scotia), Signal Hill (Newfoundland), and Green Gables Heritage (Prince Edward Island). We had to pay $4 each for the kids to do the one on PEI. There have been a few times over the years that we've had to pay for the kids to do one in the US. At several sites the Xplorers program has been eliminated in Canada so the kids were not able to earn a dog tag at the Citadel in Halifax, the Fortress of Louisbourg, or Gros Morne National Park. We didn't end up hiking at Terra Nova National Park or Cape Breton as planned, and we were at Cape Spear before the visitor center opened. Of all the National Park sites we visited, Gros Morne was my favorite. We went on several hikes there and also took a two-hour boat tour of the Western Brook Pond, which is a gorgeous site (reminded us of Alaska). On one of the hikes we were walking on the mantle. Just counting US National Park sites, our family has now been to 182 of them (out of 433 total). Nadia has earned 238 Junior Ranger badges, Ian has earned 237, and Oliver has earned 226. 

We also enjoyed some beautiful places that were not part of a National Park. We hiked to the Hopewell Rocks. Unfortunately, it was at high tide. I wish it had worked out to visit there at low tide like we did when I went with my family 25+ years ago. We walked on the rocks near the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove, saw the sea arch and Spillars Cove in Bonavista, walked between Cavendish Beach and the Cliffs on PEI, and hiked the gorgeous Skerwink Tral in Port Rexton. That hike was one of my most favorite experiences of the vacation. In terms of animals, the highlights were seeing many puffins, seagulls, and cormorants near the shore of Newfoundland and also kayaking near a harbor seal colony off the coast of Nova Scotia. Paul has the most diverse interests of anyone in our family, so I think he enjoyed almost all of the activities. Some of his favorite historical sites were the Maritime Museum in Halifax, Halifax Citadel, Fortress of Louisbourg, Signal Hill, and Saugus Iron Works. 

We were gone for twelve nights. Two of those were spent on an overnight ferry going between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. Seven nights we stayed at a hotel, and five of those mornings we enjoyed a free breakfast. Two of us could have had a free breakfast at The Guv'nor in St. John's, but since it was only for two people and the restaurant didn't open until 8:00 am, none of us had breakfast there. Three nights we stayed at an Airbnb. The mattress that Paul and I found to be the most comfortable was the one in Rocky Harbour, NL. At two of the hotels, I was able to book a room that had three queen beds, which was nice as typically Nadia sleeps on a couch. One Airbnb I booked had three bedrooms, so Nadia got her own bedroom that night, and Oliver slept on a couch so downstairs so that he and Ian didn't need to share a bed. On Cape Breton I had to book two separate rooms, so Nadia got her own bed that night as well. Ian slept well on the ferry going in both directions, but most of us got more sleep on the ferry back to Nova Scotia. I definitely got more sleep on the ferry than I do on a red-eye flight. I was able to do two loads of laundry at the Airbnb in Bonavista on the evening of our 25th wedding anniversary. 

Not counting the two ferry rides, we had three other outings that involved being on the water. The first was a four-hour kayaking trip off of Nova Scotia. The second was the boat tour of the Western Brook Pond that was almost cancelled due to fog. I'm very glad it actually took place. The third was what Oliver chose since we were on vacation on his 14th birthday. We took a two-hour tidal bore rapids tour that included mud sliding. I wish I had photos of the kids covered in mud. I was especially surprised that Ian changed his mind and participated in that part of the outing because since he was a toddler he has never liked getting dirty/messy. The tides change more dramatically in the Bay of Fundy than anywhere on the planet. Thankfully the titanium in the sand keeps the water nice and warm. 

Since we were traveling in our own vehicle, we were able to bring along more food from home. In general, we tried to save money when it came to food expenses. Some highlights included the soft ice cream that we had near the entrance to Fundy National Park, eating a donair in Halifax (I was the only one who tried one), getting sandwiches from a grocery store multiple times, getting breakfast sandwiches and/or donuts at Tim Hortons and Robin's Donuts multiple times. eating pizza twice (Paul's favorite) and eating a meal at Market Family Cafe in St. John's. The food there was amazing and reasonably priced. Four of us thought we had our best meal on the trip at that restaurant. The boys really enjoyed eating at A&W one time as they loved the root beer served in a chilled glass mug. The most frustrating evening for eating was on August 10 because a crow damaged a transformer and caused a power outage that lasted 44 hours. The restaurants were all closed, and everyone was buying the food at the gas station and pharmacy so there wasn't much available. 

In general, my least two favorite aspects of a vacation are #1 not getting much sleep due to all different mattresses and #2 how exhausting and unpleasant it is to spend many hours in an airplane, ferry, or van. Not counting the nights on the ferry, I think the night we had the hardest time sleeping was the Airbnb we stayed in on August 7 because it was way too hot inside. I slept on the couch because I couldn't sleep upstairs due to the heat. As far as time spent traveling, we drove a little over 4K miles in 13 days. Eek! Then when we came home, we were home for less than 48 hours before we drove to Yvonne's house in Maryland and then on to Virginia to take Nadia to college. That round trip was a little shy of 1K miles, so we drove a little over 5K miles in 17 days. Our odometer turned over to 100,000 miles near the end of our trip home from Maryland this morning. We've had the vehicle for 5 years. I'm hoping to do VERY little driving in the coming months. I had finished the license plate game at the end of July, but Oliver wanted us to start again. So far in the month of August, we saw license plates for all ten provinces of Canada. Nine of the provinces we saw multiple license plantes, but we only spotted Saskatchewan one time. By the end of our vacation, we had seen plates from 40 of the 50 states (plus we saw DC). By the time we came home from taking Nadia to college, we had seen 46 of them. The ones we are still looking for are Arkansas, Kansas, North Dakota, and New Mexico. Paul and I shared the driving. As was the case in Europe, we encountered a lot more roundabouts than we do here in the US. We were in three different time zones. Atlantic is one hour ahead of Eastern, and Newfoundland is 1/2 an hour ahead of Atlantic. During the drives Nadia read many books (some on her Kindle as well as some physical books that she brought). Ian, Oliver, Paul, and I listened to all of Priest and part of Warrior by Jared Dodd. Ian played a LOT of chess on his phone. Both boys also played with the Nintendo Switch. Thanks to a free trial of SiriusXM, we also listened to some music although it was challenging to get a signal on Newfoundland. 

I have now been to 8 of Canada's 10 provinces as I went to 7 of them with my parents. Paul and the kids have now been to 5 of the provinces as they've spent time in Ontario on more than one occasion. If all goes as planned, we will travel to British Columbia and Alberta next summer with Nadia after she finishes her internship. Our next vacation will probably be to Utah (with a little time in NV, CA, and ID) without Nadia in the spring. We're planning to fly for both of those trips, so I hope those trips involve a lot less than 4K miles of driving, but I'm glad I finally made it to Newfoundland for the first time. It's my favorite province of the five that the kids have visited. 

2026 first time experiences

Nadia and her friend, Abby

I used to post goals on January 1 on my blog, but in 2022 I started the tradition of posting a bucket list of sorts for the year by posting a list of first-time experiences. I modify the list throughout the year by adding things as well as deleting others, and I mark them off when they are accomplished. Last year's list ended up containing 123 experiences in the end. Two got deleted last week when we didn't go to the Art Institute or Indiana Dunes National Park. The majority of the items on the list are usually things we will see and do on one of our vacations. 

1. Take Abby with us when we ski at Elk Mountain - Done!
2. Watch season 6 of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS - Done!
3. See Riverdance performance at CAC - Done!
4. Ian and Paul attend a concert by the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra - Done!
5. Ian and I attend a reception at the Lycoming College Art Gallery - Done!
6. Tour the Pennsylvania Capitol and the Pennsylvania National Fire Museum - Done!
7. See Joshua at Sight and Sound  - Done!
8. See the movie A Great Awakening  - Done!
9. All three kids participate in The Little Mermaid musical at MCS - Done!
10. Ian gets his first job - done!
11. Have Nadia's graduation party at Trout Pond Park - done!
12. See the play It Runs in the Family at CWC - done!
13. Tower of London - Done!
14. British Museum - Done!
15. Kensington Palace - Done!
16. Big Ben - Done!
17. Westminster Abbey - Done!
18. Churchill War Rooms - Done!
19. Punt on River Cam - Done!
20. Camera Obscura - Done!
21. St. Giles Cathedral - Done!
22. National Museum of Scotland - Done!
23. Arthur's Seat - Done!
24. Alnwick Castle - Done!
25. John Knox house - Done!
26. Eat at The Piemaker - Done!
27. Kelpies at the Helix - Done!
28. Battle of Bannockburn - Done!
29. Stirling Castle - Done!
30. National Wallace Museum - Done!
31. Riverside Museum - Done!
32. Loch Lommond cruise - Done!
33. See Paddington the Musical - Done!
34. Eilean Donan Castle - Done!
35. Kilt Rock - Done!
36. Quiraing - Done!
37. Titanic Bellfast - Done!
38. C.S. Lewis Square - Done!
39. Gobbins Cliff Path - Done!
40. Blackhead Coastal Path - Done!
41. Carrik a Rede rope bridge - Done!
42. Giant's Causeway - Done!
43. EPIC Irish emigration museum - Done!
44. Eat at Leo Burdock's Fish and Chips- Done!
45. Christ Church Cathedral - Done!
46. Trinity College Book of Kells - Done!
47. Ha'penny bridge - Done!
48. Little Museum of Dublin - Done!
49. Eat at Indulgence Cafe - Done!
50. GPO Museum - Done!
51. Eat at Lemon Jelly Cafe - Done!
52. St. Patrick's Cathedral - Done!
53. Conwy Castle - Done!
54. Caernarfon Castle - Done!
55. Snowdon Mountain Railway - Done!
56. Caerphilly Castle- Done!
57. Jane Austen's House - Done!
58. Buckingham Palace - Done!
59. eat Welsh cakes at Cardiff Market - Done!
60. Cardiff Castle - Done!
61. St. Fagan's National History Museum - Done!
62. Sainte-Chapelle - Done!
63. Notre Dame de Paris - Done!
64. Musee d'Orsay - Done!
65. Eat at Moo Pie Gelato - Done!
66. Eat at Haggis Box - Done!
67. Explore Greyfriars Kirkyard - Done!
68. Eat ice cream at The Rinkha - Done!
69. Eat at Jack's Gelato - Done!
70. Arc de Triomphe - Done!
71. Eiffel Tower - Done!
72. Eat crepes, baguettes, and pain au chocolat in Paris - done!
73. Ride a train from Belfast to Dublin - Done!
74. Eat at Makar's Mash Bar - Done!
75. Ian attends cybersecurity camp at Messiah University - Done!
76. All three kids compete at Nationals at Houghton University - Done!
77. Vanderbilt Mansion* - done!
78. FDR* - done!
79. Eleanor Roosevelt* - done!
80. Saint Croix International* - done!
81. Fundy National Park~ done!
82. Hopewell Rocks - done!
83. Cavendish Beach and Cliffs in Prince Edward Island National Park - done!
84. Green Gables Heritage Place~ done!
85. Eat ice cream from COWS on Prince Edward Island - done!
86. Halifax Public Gardens - done!
87. Go kayaking with seals in Nova Scotia - done!
88. Peggy's Cove - done!
89. Maritime Museum of the Atlantic - done!
90. Halifax Citadel - done!
91. Alexander Graham Bell National Historic Site~ done!
92. Walk on the earth's mantle - done!
93. Fortress of Louisbourg - done!
94. Take ferry to and from Labrador - done!
95. Gros Morne National Park~ done!
96. Western Brook Pond boat tour - done!
97. Spillars Cove - done!
98. Dungeon Provincial Park - done!
99. Cape Bonavista Lighthouse - done!
100. Elliston puffin viewing - done!
101. Skerwink Trail - done!
102. Signal Hill National Historic Site~ done!
103. Cape Spear Lighthouse - done!
104. Salem Maritime* - done!
105. Saugus Iron Works* - done!
106. JFK* - done!
107. Nadia moves into a dorm at Liberty University - done!
108. See the elk in Benezette, PA
109. Compass program at Ricketts Glen State Park
110. Kinzua State Park
111. Army Expo in Carlisle
112. Nadia completes her first semester as a resident student at Liberty University
113. Ian gets his learner's permit
114. Watch six episodes of Chosen in the Wild with Bear Grylls
115. Watch six episodes of season 6 of The Chosen

~Denotes a place the kids can earn an Xplorers reward (Canada)

*Denotes a place the kids can earn a Junior Ranger badge

Thankfully, Oliver's cousins were happy to play Monopoly with him

*

Home Sweet Home

Hawaii is a very beautiful place, but it's quite an ordeal getting there. It took us a little more time to get to Hawaii than it did for Paul and I to travel to China in 2006. We passed through twelve time zones on that trip, so the jet lag wasn't *as* brutal on this trip as it was *only* six time zones away. We are very thankful to be at home again, and as much as Milo loves the Seiberts, he's also very, very glad to be reunited with us. In light of all the traveling we did, I determined not to drive anywhere today except to take Nadia to work. She's planning to get her license next month, so my days of driving her to work will be coming to an end in the very near future.

Tonight, I'm grateful for:

1. The free coffee farm tour we were able to schedule at the last minute when something else fell through last Friday morning. 

2. For all the fish we were able to see when we snorkeled on Friday in Honaunau Bay and Kahalu'u Beach Park. 

3. Although we didn't get to see any monk seals, we saw many, many sea turtles on the trip - some in the water and some on land. 

4. We ate some VERY delicious island cream on Maui. Yum! We also were finally able to try shave ice once. We went all out and got the two possible additions - ice cream and a snow cap on top.

5. One of the kids' most favorite beaches from our trip was Napili Bay Beach on Maui. 

6. One of Paul's top three meals on the trip was the beef brisket sandwich he had at Mama's Ribs on Maui.

My view as I looked up from where I was lying down at the beach on Maui

7. The volcano on Maui was one of my top experiences from the trip. The views were breathtaking from 10,000 feet elevation. 

8. Everything went smoothly with our two flights from Maui to DC, and Joe picked us up from the airport.

9. We enjoyed having some time with the Towfighis. When we arrived before our flight to Hawaii, everyone was there except for Jenna and Joe. When we returned, everyone was there except for Andrew; so over the course of the two trips we saw all eleven members of their family plus my dad. 

10. Westyn mowed our lawn once and took out our recycling once while we were gone, Cooper gave Lily food and water and watered my plants, and the Seiberts took care of Milo. It takes a village to go on vacation, ha ha! I'm thankful for all their help. 

11. Nadia has been signed up to work in the kitchen at Camp Susque when they are hosting some retreats in September and October. She could have worked there over Labor Day weekend, but she had to decline that retreat because she's already scheduled to work at the kennel in the evening on August 31. I'm thankful that she has two jobs that she enjoys. Her favorite job is Camp Susque, but I think working with animals is better for her resume. 

12. I didn't get much sleep for three consecutive nights, but last night I got 9.5 hours of sleep! I almost never sleep in until 7:00 am, but I slept until about 7:45! Nadia and Ian didn't wake up until after 11:00 am, and Paul slept until 10:00 am. This is a result of jet lag. I think my body is making the six hour transition, for which I'm grateful. I felt *much* better today than I did yesterday. 

Silversword plant we admired at the top of Haleakala 

13. I had a request from another mom for her two girls to join our co-op. That will probably put us at 19 kids if I say yes. If we didn't meet in our home, I wouldn't have to think about it. My kids are very excited about co-op resuming in a little less than a month.

14. We all were healthy during our trip. Two of the Towfighis tested positive for strep throat while we were with them. We're hoping we didn't catch it from them.

15. We visited six National Park sites on this trip. As of August 18, we've been to 175 National Park sites, of which 30 of those were "National Parks." Nadia and Ian have each earned 231 Junior Ranger badges, and Oliver has earned 219 so far.

Farewell, Hawaii

On Monday morning we left our Airbnb and started our drive to the Haleakala National Park. On the way there we stopped at the Komoda Bakery in Makawao. We did a few small hikes, the kids earned Junior Ranger badges, and we enjoyed many amazing views as we drove to the summit (10,023 feet elevation). We were looking down at the clouds! The road was filled with many sharp turns. The kids and I felt like we were on an amusement park ride on the way down. The two volcanos (one on Hawaii and this one on Maui) were two of my favorite experiences from the trip. We weren't supposed to board our flight to San Diego until after 10:00 pm. We passed some of the time by watching sea turtles at three different beaches on the north shore (not too far from the airport). At this first beach there were 22 sea turtles on the beach, there were 3 at the second, and there were 17 at the third. At each beach we also saw sea turtles in the water, but it was impossible to count those. We also had pizza at the Flatbread Company. It was very tasty, but it was very expensive. Still, it was cheaper than ordering five entrees elsewhere. The pizzas were too small for one large to feed five people. Oliver and I didn't want to get just a cheese pizza. We chose Mopsy's Kalua Pork which included pork, a mango BBQ sauce, red onions, Maui pineapple, goat cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella. Paul only had the regular cheese pizza, but the rest of us had some of the pork one. 

We had a glitch with using our TSA Precheck because Alaska Airlines required us to book our tickets as three different reservations. Since Oliver was 12 when we flew here, he was able to go with us through TSA Precheck, but now that he's thirteen they wouldn't permit that. I don't plan to buy tickets through Alaska Airlines again. Our first flight took us from Maui to San Diego. We all slept a little bit on the flight. Thankfully, the food prices were more reasonable in this airport than they are in the Seattle airport. I bought five breakfast sandwiches at a Jack in the Box near our gate. When we shopped for groceries on Maui, I had purchased a cheese Danish for us to share and also some Club and Cheddar cracker sandwiches. This will constitute our "lunch" on the second flight to DC. We plan to spend the night at Yvonne's house and drive back to our home and Milo tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully, it won't take us too long to adjust to the six-hour time change. We will stop hearing the words Aloha and Mahalo that we've heard so many times over the last two weeks! Thankfully, we were all healthy during our trip, and the weather was nice. We had almost no rain. The only time rain impacted our plans was part of the day that we were hiking at the Volcano National Park on Hawaii.  I'm thankful we have been able to visit all fifty states! As beautiful as Hawaii was, I feel the same as I did when we left Alaska. I loved our time there but don't anticipate Paul and I will ever return to either state. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed tomorrow night and snuggling with Milo. Nadia's Astronomy class began yesterday through Liberty, and Ian's two classes through Cedarville begin tomorrow. Summer is almost done. It's been a good one!

Hawaiian goose "Nene" at the volcano

Coffee and more

When planning a vacation there are umpteen decisions to make regarding where to spend the night, what to see and do, where to eat, and where to get a vehicle. Some activities that I originally thought to include in this trip were eliminated due to the fact that we haven't made any money this year. These included going to a luau, going on a snorkeling trip near the Captain Cook memorial, and visiting the pineapple farm on Maui. One tour I had booked (abalone farm tour) was cancelled due to the company going out of business, and another was impossible (octopus farm) because they are temporarily closed due to moving to a new location. At one point I considered a beekeeping tour on this island, but I eliminated that because that's something we can do on the mainland. I wanted to stick to tours that are unique to this climate. Oliver wishes I had included a tea farm (on the Hilo side as there wouldn't be enough rain on this side to grow tea), and Nadia wishes I had included a macadamia nut farm tour (which surprised me because she and Ian don't eat tree nuts). I definitely could have included the macadamia nut farm tour, and that is something strongly associated with this island. The farm tours I selected were coffee, chocolate, vanilla, sea horse, and sea salt. The sea horse farm was the most expensive, and the coffee farm was the cheapest to visit.

Nadia wanted to shop at a t-shirt store near our hotel, but when we went there after dinner one evening, they were closed. She and I ventured out for a coffee/shopping trip yesterday morning around 9:00 am. I bought myself one t-shirt. She bought herself one t-shirt and one sweatshirt. I bought her a Kona coffee latte. Then the five of us left the hotel and began to drive south of Kona. I had planned for us to visit the Kona Coffee Living History Farm, but when we arrived there yesterday, we found out that they were closed due to August 15 being the holiday when they celebrate the fact that Hawaii was admitted to the Union (August 21, 1959). Thankfully, Greenwell Farms was less than 2 miles away, and they give free tours and free samples. When we pay for a tour of a farm, I don't tip the tour guide, but I did tip that tour guide since the tour was free. The tour was excellent. It mostly focused on coffee, but she did tell us a little about other things growing on the farm (mangos, white pineapple, lychee, apple bananas, vanilla, cacao, etc.). We were able to eat some lychee fruit. Yum! This family has been farming coffee for 173 years at this location. At a grocery store in Maui the next day, I bought a few apple bananas. When I'm buying a regular banana, I like to buy them when they are still partially green. The tour guide had said that apple bananas are much firmer, and that you need to buy ones that are yellow with some brown spots. She was correct! I love the apple bananas!!

Our second stop was at the oldest restaurant on the island. The Manago hotel and restaurant have been in operation since 1917. Our third stop was *supposed* to be St. Benedict Church (aka the "Painted Church"), but when we arrived, we found out it's closed for a few weeks due to construction. So, our third stop was actually Pu'uhonua O Honaunau National Historical Park. The kids each earned a junior ranger badge. The kids also snorkeled in Honaunau Bay (aka "two step") which is right beside the NPS site. On our way back toward Kona we also snorkeled at Kahalu'u Beach Park. It was a beach without any sand, but there were SO many different fish to be seen in the water if you snorkeled. We had dinner in Kona right along the harbor. Although it was still inexpensive by Hawaii standards, it was definitely our most expensive meal on the trip so far. We had a beautiful view, but the food wasn't anything to write home about, especially considering how much we paid. Some days the kids went to the swimming pool at our hotel after dinner, and other nights they used the gym. Last night they chose the gym. 

Coffee cherries (picked when they are dark red) - with coffee bean inside

This morning, we had our final breakfast the Holiday Inn. In general, the breakfast was very similar to what is served at Holiday Inns on the mainland, but there were some differences. The first couple of mornings they served sausage as the meat option. At most Holiday Inns, they usually serve either bacon or sausage. At this Holiday Inn, they served fried chicken as the meat option one morning, spam the next morning, and I couldn't tell what the meat was this morning. After breakfast, we checked out, loaded up the van, and drove to the Kona Sea Salt Farm which is located very close to the airport. We had a guided tour which ended with a tasting session. They gave us cucumbers, tomatoes, and pineapples to use to taste a variety of types of sea salt. Although I enjoy all three of those foods, I found the only one I liked with salt was the tomato. The farm is located right along the harbor, and the tour guide said monk seals can be seen along the trail. Paul, Nadia, and I walked along the trail after the tour, but alas we didn't see any monk seals on the island all week despite the fact we saw many signs mentioning their presence at various beaches. The farm was located very close to the Kona airport, but we had to drive back to Kona for a car wash and to vacuum out the vehicle we rented through Turo before we dropped it off at the airport. We were flying from Kona to Maui. More about that tomorrow! Although we saw license plates from other states on Oahu, every single license plate I saw on Hawaii was from Hawaii. Paul appreciated that the traffic was much less stressful on Hawaii than it was on Oahu. Parking could still be problematic at times, but we were grateful every time we found a parking spot at the beach or whatever place we were visiting. 

Thankful Thursday

1. We really appreciate that we can spend the night at Yvonne's house before and after our trip. It means we get to spend time with their family, and because they provide us a ride to and from the airport in our vehicle, we avoid paying to park our vehicle at the airport for two weeks.

2. We've been able to visit all fifty states! Paul and I have talked about coming to Hawaii for 25 years, and it finally happened. Paul's mom really wanted to come here also, and his parents bought a time share in 2019 so that the seven of us could go to Hawaii, but her health (plus COVID) made that impossible. I know being with the Lord is much better than being in Hawaii, but still it's a bit bittersweet knowing she never made it here. 

3. Paul and I have been married for 24 years!

4. I'm very thankful for the thirteen years of life Oliver has had so far. Praying the next year will be filled with growth and many blessings for him.

5. We've had some amazing experiences here in Hawaii such as swimming with dolphins, parasailing over Diamond Head, surfing lessons, hiking on a volcano, swimming at beautiful beaches, holding a sea horse, etc. 

6. Yesterday when we stopped for malasadas, the man who was ordering ahead of us only wanted to purchase one, and the minimum you could buy was three. He gave us two and wouldn't accept any money from me. 

7. Yesterday we visited a National Park site where we learned more about Hawaiian culture and history. It was our 179th National Park site that we've visited (29 of those were "National Parks"). The kids have each earned four Junior Ranger badges so far on this trip. If all goes as planned, they will earn one more tomorrow and another on Maui next week. 

Oliver tried so hard to catch this gecko!

8. Today we saw many sea turtles at a National Park site that is 1,500 years older than the one we visited yesterday. It was our 173rd National Park site that we've visited (29 of those were "National Parks"). We also swam at Alula beach which is very close to the National Park. When we first arrived, there were other people there, but after they left, we had the beach to ourselves. As we were exiting, another family was walking toward the beach. The "path" to get to the beach involved walking over a lot of rocks! Ian had a bad encounter with a sea urchin shortly after we arrived, but thankfully we otherwise had a lovely time. The waves were almost non-existent, but the water was so clear that you didn't even need to wear a mask and snorkel to see many beautiful fish. Not counting the sea creatures, the animals that have caught our attention the most have been mongooses (SO many of them), chickens (ALL over the place), geckos, and cattle egrets. 

9. This morning, we had a wonderful tour of a vanilla farm. It was very informative - even more so than the chocolate farm tour. At the end of the tour we ate some delicious homemade vanilla ice cream. 

10. This evening, we had an amazing experience with manta rays. It was our second biggest "splurge" of the vacation in terms of cost (followed by swimming with dolphins last week). We had a very short (less than 5 minute) boat ride. There was one other family who was on the boat with us. The ten of us held on to a board that had lights underneath which attract plankton which then attract the manta rays. They are each between 12-23 feet across in length! As soon as we got into the water, one manta ray was already there. We had four females swimming up toward us and diving back down and then coming up again at the start of our time in the water. Then we had a break without any manta rays coming close. Sometimes we could see them swimming under us, but they weren't coming up to the board. When they came up, some would actually bump into us. After the break we saw two males, one of which came up really close to us. Ian used an underwater camera my sister gave me a few years ago to take some videos of this. It was a once in a lifetime experience to be so close to such majestic creatures! 

11. Yesterday when we stopped for malasadas, there were two other stands set up by the food truck. I bought us a fresh pineapple. It was SO delicious! We had to pay $5 extra to have it cut up, but since we're staying in a hotel right now, we don't have access to a big knife or cutting board. The kids and I consumed it in one afternoon.

Hilo

There are two airports on Hawaii (Big Island). We flew into Hilo yesterday (eastern side), and we're flying out of Kona on Saturday (western side). This morning, we started our day by driving to the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The visitor center is currently closed as they are building a larger one, but we were able to get Junior Ranger booklets and badges and a magnet at a temporary welcome station. I'm counting today as our second day of school for 2025-26. We saw steam vents, hiked through a lava tube, and then hiked the Kilauea Iki Trail, which is 3.3 miles long and is a pit crater created through an eruption in 1959. This volcano has erupted many times this year. We would have liked to watch it erupting, but it hasn't erupted for the last four days. It wasn't raining while we hiked those trails, but it started raining a bit later. I had left the umbrella back in our Airbnb. Thankfully it wasn't raining when we parked to see the Holei Sea Arch, but it started raining again so we skipped the Petroglyph hike and the Desolation trail hike. It was raining when we viewed the Kilauea Overlook. I didn't include the larger volcano (Mauna Loa) in our plans. We do plan to visit one more volcano (Haleakala) when we are on Maui next week. Paul and I have been to several volcanos over the years (ex. Mt. Etna and La Soufriere), but the only other ones the kids have been to before are Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Rainier. Mount Rainier is one of my most favorite national parks in terms of natural beauty, but I have to say that the hikes we did on Kilauea were phenomenal - very unique. Today we spotted one mongoose and three wild pigs. I enjoyed seeing some beautiful flowers. We also saw a mongoose on Oahu. 

Our next stop was in Punalu'u where we visited a black sand beach and had dinner at the Punalu'u Bake Shop. At the beach, there were palm trees, and someone was selling them for $10. Paul and I enjoyed one in the Caribbean back in 2021, and when I told Oliver that he wanted to try one. I'm not sure if it wasn't ripe or what the deal was, but neither the liquid nor the solid part tasted good at all. It's a risk you take when you try something new. Oliver wanted to try a poke bowl. He ordered one at the beach on Oahu yesterday and discovered he doesn't like to eat raw fish. Thankfully he usually likes the new foods that he tries. Once we were back in Hilo, we made a five-minute detour to see Rainbow Falls. We weren't there at the ideal time to see a rainbow in the water, but we did get to see a rainbow last week on our first hike of the day on Oahu. 

In the first several months of the year we saw 48 of the 50 states' license plates. We haven't made any progress since May in finding the last two (Wyoming and New Hampshire). When we toured Cedarville in June, a woman in the admission's office said that they had students from 49 states. She was very surprised when I correctly guessed that Wyoming was the state they don't have any students from. She said usually people say Alaska or Hawaii. I made that guess due to playing the license plate game, ha ha! When we were in Ecuador it surprised me that we only saw license plates from Ecuador. Here in Hawaii the vast majority (I'd guess at least 99%) of the license plates are Hawaii plates, but I have seen some from Texas, California, and Oregon. I'm doubtful that this trip will help us find the last two states. We did a fair amount of driving today, but at least the driving wasn't stressful for Paul like it was on Oahu. Neither of us like driving in city traffic, and although Honolulu is very small compared to Chicago or NYC, it still has far more traffic than we're accustomed to dealing with. 

The swimming pool at our first Airbnb was closed due to renovations. It turns out the pool at our second Airbnb is only open from 9-6, and we weren't around to swim at time yesterday or today. The last seven days the kids will have plenty of opportunities to swim in the ocean, and maybe they will swim in a pool at the Holiday Inn in Kona. We're accustomed to eating a free breakfast at the hotel when we're on vacation, but because 8 of the nights of this trip we're staying at an Airbnb, we are only getting a free breakfast five mornings (at the Holiday Inn). 

Many years ago, I bought five t-shirts that were either Larry or Bob (the tomato). We wore them when we were at Sea World in Florida. For the second time in my life, I bought us each a t-shirt. I wanted one that recognized we have visited all 50 states. I would have picked a slightly different style, but I let Nadia pick one on Etsy. When it was time to start packing, I kept reminding everyone to pack their 50-state t-shirt. Ian told me he had packed his, but it turns out he didn't. I was very disappointed. So the pictures today just have four of us. Sometime in Pennsylvania I'll get a picture of all five of us wearing our traveled to fifty states t-shirts. We did bring other outfits that I coordinated for a family photo at the beach (a little dressier). I'm hoping to do that either in Kona or on Maui. The last time we had family beach photos was in 2019. Paul accidentally forgot to pack socks, and the only shoes he brought were sneakers. Since Ian brought sneakers, crocs, and sandals, he loaned Paul some of the socks he packed. We're hoping to buy Paul some more socks while we're on this island.

All in all, things have been going smoothly. We're all healthy. Nothing has been cancelled. The only time rain interfered with our plans so far was today. Thankfully, Nadia figured out that Cafe 100 wouldn't be open tomorrow at the time we planned to go there for breakfast, so we had time to make alternate plans. I wasn't keen on the mattress at our Airbnb in Oahu, but I like the mattress at this one in Hilo just as much as our one at home. We also are enjoying that the boys have one bedroom, we have another bedroom, and Nadia is sleeping on a futon in the living room. 

Farewell, Oahu!

 

In 2000 when Paul and I were discussing where we wanted to go on our honeymoon, Hawaii was high on our list, and at that time I thought we'd spend a week on Kaui. I knew that we could *never* go to Hawaii without visiting Pearl Harbor, so back then I assumed we'd add a few days on Oahu to that trip, but we ended up going to St. Lucia for our honeymoon, and we don't regret that choice. We went to several different Caribbean islands in subsequent years, and St. Lucia remained our favorite. Ironically, when I planned this trip to Hawaii, Kaui wasn't included in our itinerary. Considering we were only on Oahu for four days, we certainly didn't thoroughly visit the island. During our week on Hawaii (aka "Big Island") we will almost completely make our way around the island. When the kids were younger, we stopped at almost every science or children's museum along the way. They outgrew children's museums first, and now it's much rarer for me to include a science museum. We've had an ASTC membership for quite a few years, but ours expires this week, and I'm not planning to renew it. More recently we've been visiting zoos and aquariums far more often than we had in the earlier years, but on this trip, I didn't include any zoos or aquariums. Ironically, we were parked in the zoo parking lot today as it was close to where the kids had their surfing lessons. I figured we would just enjoy seeing animals in the wild on this vacation. 

August 7, which was Oliver's 13th birthday, was definitely the kids' favorite day of our trip to Oahu as they all loved the dolphin boat tour and the parasailing. Surprisingly, Paul said that dolphin experience was his favorite also. In particular, he loved it when a sea turtle swam right up close to his face. You're supposed to stay 6 feet away from sea turtles, but the sea turtles don't seem to know about that rule. Pearl Harbor came in as #2 in his rankings. Nadia and Oliver said their top three for Oahu were the dolphins, parasailing, and surfing. Ian agreed with their top two, but he picked the Kailua beach as his third most favorite. Paul's third favorite was the hike to the summit of Diamond Head. 

August 8 counted as the first day of 7th, 10th, and 12th grade for my kiddos because we toured Iolani Palace and then spent six hours at Pearl Harbor. The kids earned Junior Ranger badges. We visited the USS Arizona Memorial (by boat) and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. We had a guided bus tour of the USS Oklahoma and USS Utah Memorials on Ford Island. We had dinner at the Pit Stop Food Truck near our lodging. I *thought* we'd spend time at Waikiki Beach that evening. Our unit was a few minutes' walk away from the beach, but we opted to just relax in our unit after dinner and forgo the time at the beach (and skip seeing the fireworks that one hotel does every Friday night).

Today our day began by hiking to the summit of Diamond Head Crater. This is a VERY popular hike. You have to have paid reservations to do it at a very specific time, and even so it was crowded. We did a total of four hikes on Oahu. None of them were terribly long, but all of them involved significant elevation changes. The least was the first one (about 500 feet), and Diamond Head was pretty similar at 560. I thought the Lanikai Pillbox Trail (613 feet elevation change) was definitely the hardest. Manoa Falls included about 800 feet of elevation change. I purposefully excluded The Koko Head Crater trail although it is located very close to the first trail we did because it has an elevation gain of 1,200 feet in just seven tenths of a mile! After our hike, we had lunch at Barefoot Cafe on the beach. Oliver learned he doesn't like to eat raw fish as he ordered a poke bowl for lunch. Kudos to him for trying many new things! After lunch, the kids had surfing lessons. Oliver was the first to succeed, but all three were successful! After surfing, we began the process of returning the vehicle (we remembered not to get gas right near the airport) and going back to the airport. In hindsight, we should have packed sandwiches for dinner. The prices of food in the airport in Honolulu were ridiculous. Finally, we found some breakfast sandwiches at a Starbucks that weren't as absurdly priced. Our flight on Southwest was very short. The flight wasn't full, and they didn't serve any snacks or drinks due to how short of a flight it is. After we landed in Hilo, we got the van we've rented through Turo. This van was parked MUCH closer than the one in Honolulu. We had a long walk again today (with our luggage) after we returned the van in Honolulu. We stopped and got some groceries and then checked into an Airbnb where we are spending two nights before we head over to Kona's side of the island. 

I haven't even looked through all the parasailing or surfing pictures yet, but I've included a few surfing photos in this post. I took pictures, and Paul took some videos.