Last few days on Big Island

Day 4, Sunday:

We made it to the green sand beach parking and got in the back of a truck to make our way to the beach: 

It was a pretty long bumpy but fun trip! The road would be impossible to drive without a 4wd high clearance truck:

The sand is kind of an olive green and it's in the beautiful secluded cove where we swam:

Back in the truck to make our way back:

Our driver stopped on the way back and got some green sand from a little hidden spot for us to take home:

After that fun, we stopped at the Southernmost point of the US. There is a place there where people can jump into the ocean. Of course Dad wanted to jump. Darin and Emily liked it too! They are so brave:

Here are a bunch of pics of Dad's first jump:

There is a crazy ladder that both Darin and Dad climbed up:

This sign says "Danger No Jumping." I took this sign to heart haha. I'm sure it is a sign from another spot that was brought here because a lot of people jump here every day:

Another jump:

And an easier way to get out around the corner from the jumping spot:

I got brave and jumped off this smaller spot, which was still scary for me! I did it though!:

It was pretty fun to watch Darin and Dad cheer on and convince bystanders to get the courage to jump as well. 

Then it was time to drive up the coast towards Kona. We went to Pine Trees beach on the recommendation from our next Airbnb host to watch the sun set:

We checked into our last home and made yummy taco salad for dinner.

This mama chicken and her babies loved Darin because he fed them:

Monday we went snorkeling at a place called 2-step. It was a fun place to snorkel!:

Right next door is a National Historical Park called Pu'uhonua O Honaunau. It was a place of refuge for Hawaiians. It was a pretty spot:

Then we tried to find a place to rent kayaks near the Captain Cook monument. We were not successful but after a picnic lunch we found the temple and walked around the grounds and then did some shopping:

This is a cool little church. And look at those rain clouds. Every afternoon:

I wanted to find turtles at Kaloko. This was a cool spot too because hardly anyone was there. We did find turtles eating on the rocks in the shallow water!:

Time for dinner! We got some classic Hawaiian fare that was yummy. Hawaiian pork sandwich, island beef, and moco loco (which is hamburger with gravy and an egg on top):

Our last day we made it to a beautiful beach and spent most of the day there. The sand was so soft! Dad made this cool sculpture:

You know what's funny is that we some a couple from our ward here! We swam with them in the water:

The airbnb had boogie boards so we tried them out here, but as you can see the waves weren't quite big enough:

It was still kinda fun though:

Then Emily and I snorkeled with the turtles again. They were right by the beach:

One last shopping stop, where I saw these two cute animals:

Our airbnb had avocado trees:

and macadamia nut trees:

They made quite a bit of sound when they fell off and hit the house! We tried some of the nuts and brought an avocado home. 

Here's the cute porch:

Sunset from the porch:

This home was quite a way up the mountain but you can see the water out there:

Last dinner, right on the beach, with music that wasn't bad but was way too loud:

We left so early the next morning that we saw the moon setting where the sun set the night before:

What a fun trip and lots of pictures. Thanks for reading through! I'm glad you had fun at home too with Grammie.

Love,

Mom