Hawaiian Vacation

Lori and I were awarded the Cisco Systems 2009 Chairman's Club. We were flown first class to Kona, Hawaii and stayed at the Four Seasons Hualalai.  It was a once in a lifetime experience.  Here are some photos and videos.

Here is a quick tour of our suite.




Here we are after 8 hours of flying arriving at the resort:

The next morning, we drove up around the island to Hilo.  On the way, we stopped for lunch.  Here's a panoramic view from the parking lot.

We then had lunch at the Ono Kine.  The mango Malasadas are a must.

Lori got the purple chips:

The vegetation going into Hilo is magnificent:

We went to see Volcano National Park, but didn't get to see any lava.  Lots of steam and the rim road was closed due to the sulfur dioxide levels:

We had to watch out for the Nenes

That night, we had a wonderful dinner with a co-worker and his wife.

The next day, we took a trek to the north side of the island.  When we got there, they put us on a Pinztrek and took us over the cane fields to the edge of the forest:

The mango trees are not native to Hawaii. But they sure do love it there:



The waterfalls were beautiful.  We even got to swim in one of the water holes:

We also saw these really neat fainting ferns that would wilt if touched as a defense mechanism:

And this is where we had lunch after the hike:

The next day we went snorkeling next to the Capt. Cook Monument:

We went out with these powerful twim 150s:

Here we are getting some instruction:

And Lori's getting into the water:

After resting at this vista:

We had a nightime performance of Smashmouth.

 

We were very sad to leave all this the next day:

Breakfasts

The pools:

The plants:

The sunsets:

And most of all, the people.  We were blessed to see my cousin, Daniel Nietz, and his wife Nikki for lunch:

As I was waiting for Daniel in the lobby, Auntie Tutu and her brother sang this for us: