The Hawaii Story

Brett and I are on the big island of Hawaii this week. Brett has had a timeshare here for a long time but we never used it. I didn't want to stay in a place he bought with his previous wife, a place that held memories for him of that other life. The thing is, he never used it (I think she did with the kids a few times) but he ended up with it after their divorce.

When we were first married we gave the timeshare away to someone Brett worked with. That family used it for about ten years -- until the wife got cancer and lost the battle. Understandably, her husband didn't want the timeshare and gave it back. They had never gotten around to finalizing the paperwork transferring ownership so it landed back in our lap. For the past two years we unsuccessfully tried to give it away again. Meanwhile, we were paying the maintenance fees each year. Last year, I got over the "history" of the timeshare and said to Brett that we should go use it since we were paying fees. We booked it for this wee (my birthday present).

Flying here was trying -- flights delayed, standing in line to check our baggage we listened to people screaming at the ticket people because they had missed their flights -- because they forgot to change their clocks. For some reason, this was not their fault. By the time we reached Kona, I was done with people. It was pouring rain and dark. Brett was sharing memories of when he was in Hawaii last and I had to ask him to stop. I was ready to turn around and go back home. I'm glad I didn't.

The time share is gorgeous. Huge. Kitchen, washer/dryer, two bathrooms, sitting room, tile, view of the ocean over the golf course. It blew me away -- not at all what I expected. I thought we were going to a Courtyard Marriott type place and this feels like the Ritz.

This morning dawned sunny and balmy. We had breakfast at a coffee shop overlooking the water. Then we started exploring. We found a road that took us through the lava fields to the water. We followed a path over the lava fields, past a sacred site...








We ended up on a secluded black sand beach lined with coconut trees.




We stopped at a fruit stand on the way back and picked up apple bananas, guava, and all sorts of other tropical fruit. I'm going to make Ahi tonight for dinner with a lovely fruit salad.

Tomorrow we make more memories -- memories of us in Hawaii.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad