Hawaii 2025

Hilo

Well, I'd hoped this post would occupy one of my other blogs (East Texas Biker), but had a lil twist and we didn't rent any bikes that weekend...

Several months back, a good friend of mine in the CVMA (Boomer) made a side comment to me privately that he and Ya-Ya were headed to Hawaii to visit family, but ... also timed with the CVMA's Hawaii State Meeting. I was thinking ...... ' hmmmm.. Hawaii State Meeting?' So on a whim, I mentioned it to our close friends Mark n' Nancy, along with Lucy .... and was surprised when all agreed. Hawaii it is! The State meeting was the driver, but now we could wrap a nice vaca' around it.

Well, first thing I did was find a bike and trike to rent, but it'd turn out to be a scam that we quickly figured out and got off without losing any $. Checked with the local rental businesses (Eaglerider, Dealers, etc.) and none had a trike for Mark so decided against it all. As it'd turn out, wouldn't have been an option anyways..... his back has been taking a toll on him as of late.

Well, we kept it a secret from pretty much everyone but a few folks that were in on it, and we were soon headed West! I'd found us a place in Oahu on the West Side (https://www.paradisebayresort.com) that was 'close' to the CVMA meeting area and locked it down. Found a large SUV rental for the week vs a Jeep Wrangler and locked it down. Found a good deal on AA First Class flights with a stop to cut the costs in half, vs a non-stop. Then we decided on a side trip to the Big Island and found some Hawaiian Air tickets. Found a good 2 bedroom place on the Island for the days we'd be there, but turns out they were redoing their pool, so changed it up to the Marriot Courtyard on the Kona side which turned out to be a blessing. Another big SUV locked in and ...we're ready!

Here we go!

Up Up 'n Away

View at Paradise Bay

Seemed liked forever before that day would arrive. Crazy part is, we had another 'trip' pop up during the mean time in Phoenix with family, our return layover was in Phoenix, so we're soon scrambling to change up the plans for everyone to/from the airport. We decided to jump off after the first leg and book a diff' flight a week later. Cleared the plans with all and ... good to go (separate cars to/from DFW). Well, the 10th of APR is finally upon as and we're rolling. Lucy and I had decided to pack MINIMAL this time around which worked out perfect. We'd spend upwards of 10 days on the Hawaii trip and did it with a single carry on each; no checked bags. Kennedy's did the same. Well, headed to the Admirals Club at DFW, started the preflight party and ... our trip is on! Few hours later, we're headed to LAX for another Admirals Club layover, then onward to Oahu. We'd land late afternoon .. well early evening... and soon headed to the Paradise Bay Resort. Once there, I'm a lil surprised. It's nestled in an area that is almost all local housing, but notched in a private area of sorts. Crazy parking there, but we figured it out. We'd have a 2 bedroom Suite down near the waters edge, minimalist but functional. In many ways, the place was great. Problem was, we all are used to high end resorts, high end hotel chains. This was the opposite. More like a Super 8 on the bay. Views were beautiful, grounds were beautiful, but..... well... just not what I was expecting. So, made the best of it. Found a supermarket ten miles away, stocked up with goods and adult beverages, and we're set. Explored the grounds, found a few good places to eat and we're scheming about Saturday. We had Boomer and Ya-Ya in the dark still, but as luck would have it when he was out at the grounds (Bellows AFS) that Friday, he ran into a guy from 23-6 (Ft Worth) and told him about the event which he didn't know about. He said something to Boomer about another guy from TX was also on the Island... and ... folks connected dots and Boomer realized we were also there for the event. Arrrgggghhh! Well, we tried :) Saturday we rolled in, gave him and Ya-Ya some hugs and the State Meeting was now happening. Well actually had started the day before ; lol. Folks set up Friday, popped their tents, members were cooking up a crazy amount of food, State Rep (Maddog) was a great host, members of the local chapter were awesome and hospitable. Hours flew by before we made the decision to head back to our place. The invite was there to stay as long as we wanted but ... we were beat. Still, what a great time and we'd only scratched the surface. Hell, has us scheming for next year?

Sunday we decided to tour the Island. Headed north up the west side to enjoy the views of this beautiful Island. Found lots of beaches, surfing, cool small towns. When we hit the North side, found a great place to eat some incredible food, and enjoy the weather/views. Then worked out way to Waikiki Beach where one realizes... Honolulu is crazy busy and packed! Still, wasn't too bad. We worked our way over to the Hale Koa which is a military hotel there in the mix and enjoyed the afternoon sipping Mai Tai's on the beach. This place has come a long way! My family stayed there in 2007 and in some ways, still the same beautiful place. In other ways, better. New pool, rooms refreshed, beach was busy (in a positive way). So much so that ... we have reservations there next year for a vaca'! Beach Front this time around! Few hours later, headed back to our place. Been a busy day and ready to calm it all down .....

Monday is here and we're headed to the airport .... the Big Island is calling our name! Haven't been on this airline since 1986 (or was that Aloha Air?), and off we go! This is our first time to the Big Island (for all 4 of us) and I'm pretty pumped. Have to admit, I'm not ready for what I see. It's HUGE. Looks like it's own continent! We land at Kailua-Kona which has a cool old-skool airport. Grab the Wagoneer rental and we're off. Cool part this is a pretty small town. We're literally a few minutes away from the Hotel and checking in. Its right on the beach, near the pier where the Cruise ships come in, has a great pool and pool bar, good restaurant, and literally across the street from several other great places to eat. Weather is in the 80s and ... all good! The following day we'll realize there is an "ABC Stores" on the corner which sells 'everything' at a fair cost. Snacks and adult beverages.. bam! Shirts? Bam! You name it. Well, we head to the pool bar to relax and Day one is soon in the books. Day 2 we hang out at the pool, enjoy the beach view, get to know the place. Across the street is great grub for dinner at Quinn's almost by the Sea .. which rocked. Sort of an Irish Pub Feel (Green Bay packers crap everywhere! lol). Next day Lucy and I jumped into the SUV and headed across the Island to Hilo. What a view! Volcanic rock everywhere, wide open spaces and then 90 miles later, dropped into Hilo Bay. We ended up at a Hilton Hotel by the water for an awesome lunch, then worked our way around the southern portion back to our hotel. Roads and views were awesome .. all I could think was I wished I was on two wheels enjoying all this. Soon, back with the Kennedys of more good times. Sadly our trip was over way too soon, and headed back to Oahu.

This time we grabbed a Marriot Courtyard in Waikiki for the evening. We were looking forward to a long afternoon at the pool, but not to be. They were doing maintenance on it but did NOT advertise the fact. So, we said screw it and headed over to the Hilton next to the Hale Koa for the day. Great Lunch .. Great Views..... and ... we're soon headed to the airport. Nine days of good times and over in a blink! We had a stop in Phoenix ... but .. our plans have been modified. Kennedys continued on to DFW ... we rolled out of the airport to grab and Uber ... to the next stop with family that we're waiting for us at an Airbnb