This is a super belated post about the trip I took to Hawaii back in June with 7 awesome friends.
I have to admit being invited in the first place was quite a surprise to me! Heather told me there was an extra spot and that the collective decided I could be allowed to come along. I heard there were bets placed on the sort of debauchery that I’d be up to when stranded on an island with so many nerdy girls who fit my M.O.: Ex GF, Someone Else’s Wife, Someone Else’s GF, and prior.. whatever that was. Apparently I have a reputation for indiscretion.
You’ll be happy to hear that in the theme of “me becoming an improved person” there was no havoc wreaked of any sort whatsoever. I’d like to claim full responsibility for this, but I think the reality is more mundane in that my reputation is over hyped. I sound like some lady killer when instead I’m just a lonely dude who sometimes finds love in the wrong places.
ANYWAY – on to stories of incredible vacation!
Justin managed to swing a super sweet place to stay on the West coast of The Big Island. I arrived very late after a full day of travel. Everyone else had booked airfare before I was invited, so I wound up traveling about 20 hours by myself. I enjoy the alone time so this is cool. I rented my own car at the Kona Airport and drove the 30 minutes up to the house. It was about 10:00PM local time, so about 4AM Eastern time. Everyone was passed out!
The next morning Heather gave me a tour:
The best part about this place was that every single area was large enough to accommodate a group of 8 people in that endeavor. Breakfast for 8? No problem? Hot tub for 8? No problem! Outdoor meal for 8? No problem. Movie time for 8? No problem.
We enjoyed a day of relaxing and exploring the local area. We woke up crazy early since we were on East Coast time, 6 hours ahead. We had group breakfast in the bag by 8AM and were ready for a day of just vacation.
One of the first exploration items was Kona Brewery, right down the road. If you love beer this is a highly recommended destination!
Everyone got a sampler (except for me). There is a nice distinction in Before and After pics. See if you can spot the difference. Heather is the outlier here. Sorry for posting that terrible before pic of you Heather!
After Kona our house was well stocked for games and socializing. The group is very game centric so we brought games with us as important travel items:
We also explored the whole island. To me the most amazing part was that the West side was barren desert lava wasteland.
The East side was lush tropical rain forest. When you crossed over the crest it was cold fog and wind!
There is a lot of stuff we fit in here, so I’m going to start the abridged version. Use your imagination to fill in the story.
Waterfall group shot
Funny times instructing people to be whacky while I take photos
Crazy lobster claw plants that secreted a super slippery fluid that was worth touching
Snapping a cute candid of Heather BECAUSE she hates being photographed.
Everyone in the group!
Triple waterfall
Great view from the pool deck at our house.
Jesse had an AMAZING idea that we should get a keg from Kona for the house.
Ostensibly the trip was to capture the Transit of Venus. Justin did that. I helped with SD card rotation and moral support when everyone else was like “Are you still fucking with that camera?!?” 😉
Hawaii has sunsets
We hiked across a volcano crater. It was hot and there was still steam coming up in spots.
Double rainbow nearly caused me to crash the minivan in excitement
I photographed well
Hawaii has great signs
Things got a little saucy when we pretended to be adults and dress up for a fancy dinner. This one wasn’t my fault.
Hawaii was the best vacation I’ve ever been on. Things were pretty much perfect and I couldn’t ask for a cooler group of people to go with. Would definitely go back.