The Big Island, Hawaii. A girls trip to Hawaii

Part 1—the intro: how our girls trip to Hawaii led to waterfalls, lava rock, and adventure.

As I sat on the couch one evening last year with my husband, my legs draped over his lap in our usual fashion, winding down after a full day, my phone beeped—a text message. My cousin Beth lives up North in South Bend, IN, about 6 hours from St. Louis. It was her. It simply said, “How about Hawaii? This is where we’re thinking of staying,” with a link to a condo rental on the Big Island. A girl’s trip to Hawaii sounds amazing.

I showed the text to my husband. I said, “You know I have to go.” He rolled his eyes. You see, hours earlier (literally), I had told him I was not going to Paris. A museum exhibit I had produced some printing for was opening in Paris. I had hoped to attend the opening. But because of some unforeseen circumstances, I could not travel to France. Just hours before this text arrived from my cousin, I had told him I was not going to the opening. But Hawaii? Could I make that work? It was the same week Paris was supposed to happen after all.

Now here is this text from my cousin. A trip to Hawaii, scheduled for the same week I would have been in Paris. You can’t tell me things don’t happen for a reason; yes, I had to go.

My sister, Barb, and Beth’s sister Sue were ready to join the fun. Two sets of sisters—cousins were heading to Hawaii. The four of us had never actually taken a trip together, but since childhood, we’ve always traveled to visit each other and our families. I only had two goals—seeing a black sand beach and a volcano. Besides that, I was along for the ride, knowing it would be a good time no matter what was in store.

We made our plan and set off. My sister and I met Beth and Sue at the airport, flying into Kona International Airport. The landscape was so unlike anything I’d ever seen before. I’d been to Maui years ago, but it differed from this. Was I on the moon? I felt transported into a science fiction movie, the black lava rock surrounding us.

Sue and Beth were experts in navigating the tourist books and figuring out what to do daily. Having lived in Ohau years back, Sue had the best skill at helping us translate some of the Hawaiian words and pronunciations. And they both had done plenty of research on what to do and see.

As we settled in our condo in Kona, with a slight view of the beach in one direction and the mountainside in the other, we contemplated our agenda for the upcoming week.

Our condo in Kona, view of the mountain.

In upcoming articles, I’ll walk you through our experiences, the beaches, the foods, the history, and the landscape. And a couple of fun tales along the way.

You’ll hear about our traversing the lava rock road (which required a 4-wheel drive, but hey! why not try it in our little SUV?) that led to one of the most stunning beaches I’ve ever experienced, to a snorkeling experience that Beth loved, and got gently told to come back closer to the boat after being entranced by the beautiful fish and floating too far away. And my getting so seasick, I was given a “cocktail” for my “tummy” that consisted of Benadryl, ginger, and citrus that knocked me out.

Then there is our visit to Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in search of the path that led to lava, only to discover too late that it was the wrong path. It led us to the base of a volcano crater, where we got rained on and had to climb back up the side of the crater to get out, feeling like death was inevitable in every next step.

And, of course, we were wet every day—if not from the beach, it was from being on the Hilo side in search of volcanos and waterfalls, where it rained every day, and we were, yes, rained on.