First Ride in Hawaii

When Brett and I were in Hawaii earlier this month we went horse back riding on two different days.  The first ride was into the Waipi'o Valley.  The valley is on the west side of the island, very tropical and has very steep sides.  This creates spectacular waterfalls but it also means you can only get in by hiking straight down a very steep road or via four wheel drive. 

We gathered with the rest of our group at the top of the valley and then climbed into an old four wheel drive van for the descent down the single lane, first gear, steep road.  At the bottom we were mounted on our horses.  This was a nose-to-tail walking ride through the streams and rivers that criss-cross the valley floor.  We passed by taro root farms, past trees twining above us dripping heavy with papaya, mango and avocado.

Our guide wanted us to give the Hawaiian hand signal for "hello" in a hang-loose kind of way.  Brett had trouble getting it right.  His index finger kept popping up.  It's a thumb and pinky wave.

On the way back, we came across one of the herds of wild horses that live in the valley.  They seemed pretty accustomed to people and wanted to investigate us.  We were advised to keep moving as they also like "rodeo" a bit.  There were babies... so cute!

 

Big Island Time Share

I'm going to intersperse posts with pictures and narrative from our trip to Hawaii.  I'll schedule these for my long days in the office -- we can't miss out on Aspen Meadows news when I'm at home, right? 

I told you that we were pleasantly surprised by how nice the time share was.  By the end of the week we were referring to it as "home" as in When we get home tonight, I'll make some Ono for dinner.  

No pictures of the bedroom or bathrooms but they were equally as nice.  We ate dinner out on the patio every meal that we were home.  Our view of the ocean was partially obstructed by a large tree but the sunsets were beautiful regardless.

We noticed people walking on the golf course every morning and evening and we figured out how to get out there as well.  It involved walking past the pool and the banana tree, then cutting through a break in the shrubs where there was a well worn path.

We walked across the golf course to the ocean's edge and then turned and looked back at the resort.

Meanwhile, the ocean slapped against the lava rock and spit itself into the air.  It was heaven.