Aloha to the Big Island...soon we're homeward bound!

We spent a fun, last full day here exploring an amazing 62 acre resort in the Waikoloa area under sunny blue skies.  Enjoyed 'getting our cardio workout' on miles of beautifully landscaped walking paths and even took advantage of a short ride on the resort's monorail.......

and had a great meal there, as well.

Check-out is 10 am tomorrow so that meant packing our bags was the order of the day today.  One thing that we feel especially blessed to be able to bring back with us is the cd that was playing when we walked into this condo.  We've gotten awfully attached to it over these past two weeks, so we went down to ask if copies of it were available for purchase.  She smiled and said, "It's yours to take home with you as a memory of what a great time you had here." Nice, huh?

There's no 'mediocre' place for a sunset (or sunrise) anywhere on this earth....we're confident of that!   Sunsets only come in one flavor: spectacular!   But one of our favorites is this.....the grounds of the Living Stones Church where we spent the last two Sunday mornings.  We returned there this evening for our last Kona sunset.

We've learned lots of things about the Hawaiian culture (and ourselves) while we've been here.  If you travel right, that's what ought to happen.  One of the things we've learned about the culture is the high value they place on 'ohana (family) and, as much as we've enjoyed this time and this place, we sure miss our 'ohana.......if it weren't for Keith and Laura, Tim and Ally, Brian and Lara and our precious 'grands' being 4, 000 miles away, we could get used to life in a place like this. 

I wonder if we could ever get them here........hmm?