day 9

today's big adventure was 84 miles away on the other side of the big island.  we chose to drive directly across the saddle (as they say) and were able to enjoy the scenery of big sky and land formed over time by all the volcanic activity.  it was truly mindblowing to think about.

we were headed to an afternoon snorkel & sail that departed from kailua-kona.  with a little bit of time to explore, we stopped at a beach to see what this west side of the island had to offer.

there were so many beautiful colors to the water.

we made our way to the harbor area where we were to board the boat after grabbing a quick sub sandwich lunch.  parking was tight so after some maneuvering we got changed into our snorkel attire and found our ride for the excursion.

the ride to captain cook's monument in kealakekua bay took about an hour. i was happy to have overcast skies so that we were not too hot and easily found shade on the main deck.

when we neared the snorkel spot, masks were distributed, with very little instruction for us first time snorkelers.....so i thought "eh, how hard can it be??"

just as we exited the boat into the water, we were given flippers and a noodle.....and we were off! free to explore on our own.

of course, i did not take any pics while snorkeling - but this is similar to what we saw:

our view was a little less vibrant that these images due to the sun not being out, but there were definite color contrasts and yellow fishes. ;-)

this is what i imagine we looked like from above (again, not my photo):

all in all, kealakekua bay did not disappoint!!!

happy and tired all at the same time!

the girls were braver on the ride back to the harbor and sat on the netting.

our return trip to the house was roughly 2 hours, similar to the drive there, but we took the northern route that more or less followed the shoreline.

we ran into some rain and in the darkness, daddy did an excellent job getting us back safely.  back at the house, we enjoyed a warm spaghetti & meatballs dinner and collapsed for the night from all the excitement of our snorkeling adventure.

miles driven: 176